Surviving the 2010 Outside Lands Festival

It's that time of the year again when the Outside Lands festival returns to conquer Golden Gate Park with music, traffic, and everything else in between.

Akit's Complaint Department is here to give you all the tips you need to make it an easier weekend for all of the Sunset and Richmond district residents who has to put up with this stuff.

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First of all, Outside Lands will NOT be starting this Friday and having a three day music orgy. This year's event will only be on Saturday, August 14th and Sunday, August 15th. This is a big relief for those who commute on Muni to and from downtown on weekdays.

Second, for neighbors who live near Golden Gate Park, you should have received a letter from the event organizers. It's hard to identify as they mailed it to "Resident" and the return address says "Outside Lands" in very small print. If not, click here to read the same info on their site.

Important Phone Numbers:

• (415) 752-2098: Outside Land's community hotline will be manned on Saturday and Sunday from 10AM to 11PM if you care to bitch and moan at the event organizers. Be warned, this is not a government agency and thereby not responsible for maintaining public records of phone calls.
• (415) 831-2774: SF's Park and Rec's office will have signs available for residents who want to tell people to not block their driveways.
• (415) 553-0123: The non-emergency line of the police if people start getting out of line. Call 911 if it's a really bad problem.
• (415) 553-1200: Department of Parking and Traffic's hotline if you want to report illegal parking, including blocked driveways.
• (415) 554-7410: Supervisor Eric Mar's office for the Richmond (District 1). Highly likely nobody will answer the phone on the weekend.
• (415) 554-7460: Supervisor Carmen Chu's office for the Outer Sunset (District 4). Also unlikely to answer phones over weekend.
• 311 or (415) 701-2311: San Francisco 311; the all in one place to get answers and file complaints; manned by some of the most incompetent idiots in San Francisco.
  

Transit Information:
Outside Lands is offering private shuttle buses for the second year in a row to drive people to the event and back. The three pick-up locations are: Marina Square, Daly City BART, and 22nd Street Caltrain. For the locals who don't want to go to the concert, Daly City BART's parking lot won't fill-up because it's illegal to park in their garage and ride the shuttle to the concert, it's only for BART passengers only.

Taxicabs will be heavily used and abused, so be wary that if you depend on a taxi, you might not get one this weekend. Warning, watch out for price gouging by legal cab drivers, and never ride an illegal taxi or livery car. (Tips from the Taxicab Commission).

As usual, the cheap concertgoers will take advantage of Muni, which means more pain for us residents trying to get somewhere. Here's some tips I provided last year (modified due to certain lines not running on weekends):

Avoid the following Muni lines (in no particular order):

• 5-Fulton **SEVERE IMPACT**
  
• 71-Haight/Noriega
• 28-19th Avenue **THE BUS FOR CHEAPSKATES WHO DON'T WANT TO PAY FOR THE SHUTTLE FROM DALY CITY BART**
  
• 29-Sunset
• N-Judah **SEVERE IMPACT**
  

Alternate lines to ride:

• 6-Parnassus (inner Sunset residents)
• 18-46th Avenue (outer Sunset & Richmond residents, in exchange for the 29-Sunset)
• 31-Balboa (Richmond district residents)
  
• 38-Geary (everyday) and 38L-Geary Limited (doesn't operate on Sundays)
• 43-Masonic

Driving around the event from hell:
The same park roads will be shut-down from last year. Here's my driving tips from last year's event:

If you must drive, definitely stay away from these East-West direction streets.

• Fulton
• Cabrillo
• Balboa (maybe)
• Lincoln
• Irving (it's always crowded with the merchants on those blocks from 25th Avenue to 19th Avenue)
• Judah

If you are trying to go North-South, you can still drive through:

• 19th Avenue (GG Park South) via Crossover Drive to North entrances 25th Avenue and Park Presidio. EXPECT DELAYS.
• Great Highway, but do expect traffic delays as the Sunset Blvd. road entrance to Golden Gate Park will be shut down and forced to used Great Highway at Lincoln.
  
• Stanyan (east edge of GG Park)

Other Information:

• If you live near the event site and park your car on the street, park it on Friday night and don't move your car until Monday morning. Once you move your car, don't expect to find a space in your area.
• If you need to take care of any required business like grocery shopping, get it done as early as you can.
• For information about park access and details on park road closures, click here.

The best alternative:
If you want to have free entertainment without paying tons of money to Outside Lands, why not join me this weekend in SF's Japantown for the annual Nihonmachi Street Fair? Free music, great food, and lion dancing.

Lastly... Your rights as a San Francisco citizen during Outside Lands:

1. You have the right to complain to your district supervisor, police department, mayor's office, or any other appropriate city agency.
2. You have the right to have your complaint heard by a competent individual and you shall expect a response within a timely manner.
3. If you need help, call 311. If you believe the information they provided to you sounds incorrect or unhelpful, either hang-up and call again, or demand a supervisor. If they refuse to take complaints on certain matters regarding the event, keep cramming it down their throats until the report is filed.
4. Any comments, suggestions and complaints filed with a city agency, including SFPD, DPT, and 311 are considered public records under the Sunshine Ordinance. Calling Outside Land's hotline may not be considered as "part of the record."
   
5. If you notice limo or towncar drivers trying to pick-up passengers "on-demand," this is illegal under San Francisco law. Take down their plate and their unique chauffeur vehicle number on their rear bumper and call 311.
6. If you still hear concert music beyond 10PM, the end of the day's event, report it to your city supervisor and police department.
7. If you notice something shady going on in your neighborhood, don't sit on it, and give the cops a call.

What's the Policy for Riding Muni Buses when Transfer Expires During Trip?

Here's an interesting question to think about:

What is Muni's official policy when a transfer expires while in journey on a non "Proof of Payment" line?


I have to ask this question because the SFMTA/Muni posted a new campaign on fare evasion as well as updated their "Proof of Payment" policies in coordination with the Clipper card.

The expired transfer policy on buses (NOT TRAINS) has been a frustrating policy and the fear of fare inspectors giving out $75 tickets makes the matter worse. During SFMTA board meetings, public commentators express that if they ride a bus line like the 30-Stockton and it expires during their journey, they allegedly claim the passengers get ticketed by the fare inspector for an expired transfer.

I originally stated in April the policy was confusing, but while doing very in-depth reading, it is clearly separated between metro vehicles and non-metro vehicles. For metro vehicles, an expired transfer is bad. But for buses, an expired transfer during the journey is OK.

It's time for Akit to ask the hard questions to Muni officials. I expect a response.

As for their most recent changes to the POP page:
I can easily understand the policy for all metro lines regarding expired transfers:

• The transfer must be valid during the entire trip, that includes waiting at paid waiting areas.
• If the transfer expires during the journey, a passenger must pay the driver, or if in subway, can also go up to surface to pay.

But with the updated material added to the "Proof of Payment" page, it's really confusing what the SFMTA is telling us passengers about the expired transfer policy:

As it says on the newly updated material near the top of the page:

• "Don't get stuck entering with a transfer/fare receipt that will later expire while you are waiting on a platform or riding in a vehicle. If you are not sure your transfer/fare receipt will last, then pay for a fresh transfer/fare receipt on the surface or at a faregate in the subway."

This sounds a little confusing. What is a definition of a "vehicle" in this context? Does it pertain to metro vehicles only or all vehicles (including buses)?

To make matters worse, when it comes to their FAQ section titled: What if you lose your Proof of Payment? What if your Proof of Payment expires during your trip?

• "There is no need to correct the problem on non-POP lines, but you will not be able to subsequently board a POP line or enter the paid area of a subway station without obtaining Proof of Payment."

This tells me if I ride a non-POP line (buses), if my transfer expires, I don't have to do anything, and I can continue riding without being cited/ticketed by a fare inspector.

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Two conflicting statements... so what's the answer?
OK SFMTA PR folks, let's get your official answer. If my transfer expires during the journey on a bus (but was valid upon boarding), what's the rule? Will I get cited for an expired transfer by inspectors?

Outside Lands Festival 2010 - It Won't Start on a Friday

There's some much needed cheering for all you Sunset and Richmond district residents who had to suffer through two years of the Outside Lands Festival that started on a Friday and went through to Sunday.

Yeah, you know that feeling when Outside Lands started on a Friday, it was pure hell trying to get home from downtown. If you took Muni, you probably noticed the massive overcrowding on the 5-Fulton or the N-Judah lines full of drunken partygoers who could afford to attend the event. For those who have to travel north and south, such as myself to my job at SF State, many of the park roads were closed and we are forced to take already crowded artery routes like Crossover Drive (19th Avenue/Park Presidio) and Great Highway. For once in many years, the backup at the Upper Great Highway was over a mile long to go north.

Now we can breathe a sigh of relief, Outside Lands will only be happening August 14th and 15th, a Saturday and Sunday. This means us commuters can cheer on the fact we can commute with minimal impact, unless if those event organizers get the permits to close-off the park roads on Friday the 13th.

Need to vent Outside Lands anger? Do it HERE

Strangely... there's not many forums out there right now that are letting people comment like crazy about Outside Lands and the impact on communities. Last year, SFGate, SFist, Curbed SF, and my blog were the primary places for disgruntled people to complain.

This year, a lot of people are noting their experiences on Twitter with the hashtag "#outsidelands," some noise complaints, and Muni problems.

Just a few minutes ago, SF Appeal posted their own Friday recap. Kudos to them for posting it up faster!

Update: Want to read over 30 disgruntled comments? See SFGate's little hidden comments page about the event here. A lot of people are not happy with the sound, now with accusations that the sound management folks jacked-up the bass.

Here's some of what I've noticed on Friday:

• Gridlocked traffic going northbound on Great Highway on the [upper] portion starting at Lawton and ending at Balboa (1.3 mile backup).
• Heavy traffic going southbound on Great Highway from Balboa to Fulton (0.3 mile backup).
• Backup going southbound on Great Highway from Santiago to Sloat (0.8 miles).
• Gridlock westbound on Lincoln between Sunset Blvd. to Great Highway (0.8 miles) with illegal right turns in second right lane on westbound Lincoln at Great Highway intersection.
  
• Gridlock westbound on Fulton from at least Chain of Lakes/43rd Avenue to Great Highway.
• Traffic was clear going eastbound on Fulton and Lincoln.
• Drivers didn't realize the next east-west streets like Irving and Cabrillo was much quicker to drive through.
• Muni suffered, including lines that don't go nearby, like the 18-46th Avenue that suffered through the traffic mess on the brief drive on the Great Highway portion.
• Today, Supervisor Mar is meeting with Outside Lands organizers about the noise problem, including the bass that can be heard way beyond the boundaries of the event.
  

As always, I have my helpful survival guide to Outside Lands available to you with helpful phone numbers if things start to become a problem.


Here's some additional info I'm also going to update the survival guide with:

Your rights as a San Francisco citizen during Outside Lands:

1. You have the right to complain to your district supervisor, police department, mayor's office, or any other appropriate city agency.
2. You have the right to have your complaint heard by a competent individual and you shall expect a response within a timely manner.
3. If you need help, call 311. If you believe the information they provided to you sounds incorrect or unhelpful, either hang-up and call again, or demand a supervisor. If they refuse to take complaints on certain matters regarding the event, keep cramming it down their throats until the report is filed.
4. Any comments, suggestions and complaints filed with a city agency, including SFPD, DPT, and 311 are considered public records under the Sunshine Ordinance. Calling Outside Lands' hotline may not be considered as "part of the record."
   
5. If you notice limo or towncar drivers trying to pick-up passengers "on-demand," this is illegal under San Francisco law. Take down their plate and their unique chauffeur vehicle number on their rear bumper and call 311.
6. If you still hear concert music beyond 10PM, the end of the day's event, report it to your city supervisor and police department.
7. If you notice something shady going on in your neighborhood, don't sit on it, and give the cops a call.
   

(Screenshot taken at 6:25PM)

SF Residents - How to Survive Outside Lands

Get your aspirin ready because hell is starting this Friday through the end of Sunday. OK, actually it starts this Thursday at 8PM.

As you may recall from last year, Akit's Complaint Department was the lead opposition against the Outside Lands for such major problems as:

• Overselling tickets to the point where people were breaking down fences to get around the festival.
• Failure to give proper road closure information to SF 311, 511, city supervisors' offices, and the local police stations.
  
• Destroying the park's irrigation system.
• Massive amounts of litter in the park.
• Muni overcrowding and overloading.
• Limo companies illegally trying to pick-up passengers and ripping them off in cost.
  
• Loud and drunk people doing their "business" at people's homes.
• Noise so loud, you can hear it a mile away from the event site.

Read the stories that grabbed me over 500 visitors a day, and lasted for nearly a week:
No Park Street Closure Information
Muni Terrible, Complaints, and Not Making any Friends
Goodbye, Get Lost, and Never Come Back

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This year, I am still opposed to this event. The city is the pimp and basically sold their beautiful park for a cool $1.5 million dollars for a few years to literally rack up costs that will nearly meet or exceed the money being raked in.

Once again, there will be tons of people going to Golden Gate Park, playing loud music late into the night, and leaving the area on public transit. If you think this is going to be pretty, expect the worst.

Outside of the negative crap, I will acknowledge some improvements versus last year's mess:

1. Tons of signage are on lamp posts all around Golden Gate Park and points towards major event entry points and main exits to streets.
2. Golden Gate Park finally installed street name signs at nearly every intersection (something we citizens have been begging for decades).
3. Shuttles, thank god, private shuttles.
   
4. Mass mailed every resident in the Richmond and Sunset districts about the event, with at least two weeks notice. The letter is basically this website page from SF Outside Lands.

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Here's Akit's guide for neighborhood residents to survive Outside Lands:

If you get ticked-off by something gone wrong from Friday through Sunday, call their community hotline at: (415) 933-6901 (number fixed).

Akit suggests you should also contact your city supervisor. If you have Muni problems or witness cab and limo drivers ripping people off, call 311 (415-701-2311).

Remember, reporting to public officials goes on public records (Sunshine Ordinance); calling Outside Land's public hotline may not be considered part of public records.


Almost all Golden Gate Park road entry points will shut-down at 8PM this Thursday and will re-open at 11PM on Sunday. I say, expect the park roads to re-open much later, say early Monday morning before the commuters take Chain of Lakes. Road closure info here.

Since Outside Lands starts on FRIDAY, you should make some alternate plans to ride MUNI to work, SF State, public school, or wherever it goes near Golden Gate Park. Avoid the following Muni lines (in no particular order):

• 5-Fulton **SEVERE IMPACT**
  
• 71-Haight/Noriega
• 71L-Haight/Noriega Limited
• 28-19th Avenue **THE BUS FOR CHEAPSKATES WHO DON'T WANT TO PAY FOR THE SHUTTLE FROM DALY CITY BART**
  
• 28L-19th Avenue Limited
  
• 29-Sunset
• N-Judah **SEVERE IMPACT**
  

Alternate lines to ride:

• All Muni express buses like the 16X, 31 AX and BX, 38AX and BX (weekday peak hours only).
• 6-Parnassus (inner Sunset residents)
• 18-46th Avenue (outer Sunset residents, in exchange for the 29-Sunset)
• 31-Balboa (Richmond district residents)
  
• 38-Geary (everyday) and 38L-Geary Limited (doesn't operate on Sundays)
• 43-Masonic
  
• 66 Quintara and transfer to 6-Parnassus at 9th Avenue (all Sunset residents)
  

If you live near the concert site, or somewhere close to Golden Gate Park (even if away from the main site), park your car on the street Friday and don't plan to move it until Monday. If you have a garage, good for you (and bad for me).

If you must drive, definitely stay away from these East-West direction streets.

• Fulton
• Cabrillo
• Balboa (maybe)
• Lincoln
• Irving (it's always crowded with the merchants on those blocks from 25th Avenue to 19th Avenue)
• Judah

If you are trying to go North-South, you can still drive through:

• 19th Avenue (GG Park South) via Crossover Drive to North entrances 25th Avenue and Park Presidio. EXPECT DELAYS.
• Great Highway; but JFK Drive entrance closed, and you won't have a lot of luck parking at Ocean Beach or Beach Chalet.
• Stanyan (east edge of GG Park)

Outside Lands has promised at least two tow trucks and a parking officer dedicated to both the Richmond and Sunset districts. While this sounds like a nice thing to do, remember the parking officer will be overloaded and may not be able to address issues such as a car blocking your driveway because hundreds of others will complain too.

If you need to take care of any business, from grabbing breakfast at your favorite dim sum restaurant, or buying groceries, do it in the early morning. Less traffic congestion equals a brighter day.

And if you decide to sequester yourself at home, I don't mind playing against you online on my Xbox 360.

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If you have any suggestions on how to survive Outside Lands this weekend, post a comment!

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Added information as of 11:45AM on Saturday, August 29, 2009:

Your rights as a San Francisco citizen during Outside Lands:

1. You have the right to complain to your district supervisor, police department, mayor's office, or any other appropriate city agency.
2. You have the right to have your complaint heard by a competent individual and you shall expect a response within a timely manner.
3. If you need help, call 311. If you believe the information they provided to you sounds incorrect or unhelpful, either hang-up and call again, or demand a supervisor. If they refuse to take complaints on certain matters regarding the event, keep cramming it down their throats until the report is filed.
4. Any comments, suggestions and complaints filed with a city agency, including SFPD, DPT, and 311 are considered public records under the Sunshine Ordinance. Calling Outside Land's hotline may not be considered as "part of the record."
   
5. If you notice limo or towncar drivers trying to pick-up passengers "on-demand," this is illegal under San Francisco law. Take down their plate and their unique chauffeur vehicle number on their rear bumper and call 311.
6. If you still hear concert music beyond 10PM, the end of the day's event, report it to your city supervisor and police department.
7. If you notice something shady going on in your neighborhood, don't sit on it, and give the cops a call.

OutsideLands 2009 - Here comes the bad comments

OutsideLands... the big festival during August in San Francisco. If you have been reading my blog entries, I've been the leading negative point of view about the event, causing hundreds (and maybe thousands) of visitors to converge on my site.

Word has is that this mega event for 2009 released its list of bands that will be performing. This includes Pearl Jam, Black Eyed Peas, and the Dave Matthews band.

But since the Chronicle posted the list of bands, comment land was open for all... at least a third of the comments posted on the Gate was negative comments about the hell they experienced last year alone. And I'm going to share those comments with you!

• I said: "Great... a major event on a Friday. Ask the Friday afternoon commuters last year who had to suffer on Muni with skipping buses, and super crowded conditions."
• I also said: "Muni is not ready to take this kind of brunt. The system will be on the brink of destruction and insanity because while this three-day festival is taking place, Muni metro is also responsible for the three-game series at AT&T Park. OutsideLands should start considering to contract out private bus companies to shuttle the masses to the closest BART station (probably Civic Center or Daly City)."
• Citizen said: "Weak lineup this year and definitely not worth spending hundreds of dollars on. Last year was a waste of time. Short set lists and the sound cut out during two of the three 'headliners'. The General Admission areas were so over-crowded at times that people had to be pulled out and carried away, while the 'amenities' of the VIP areas never quite seemed justify the top-dollar price of admission. All this, and an overlapping schedule that forced you to choose one band over another (and then get caught in a stampede rushing from one stage to the next). I'll save my cash and check out bands in smaller venues throughout the year."
• Mudwaters said: word of advice: Don't buy the tix and get it at WILL CALL. We waited 2 hours to get our FREAKIN' tix. We missed 30 mins of Radiohead last year. Not worth the $100 we paid. Also they better organize the shows so they don't collide with each other. PICK UP YOUR GARBAGE PEOPLE!
• Sffili said: "Plus- lineup, venue, layaway ticket plan. Minus- crazy out of town crowds with no SF resident discount (for out of town-ers trashing the park, and crowding/delaying muni), still SUPER expensive...did they learn anything from last year?!"
• Sfhopeful said: "Take a walk through Speedway Meadows and you'll see the HUGE ruts and bald spots that are STILL not healed from last year's Outside Lands. I run there almost every day and NOTHING AT ALL has been done to repair the huge damage that was done last year by this concert. I am a huge fan of concerts and love these bands -- but Golden Gate Park is one of the greatest urban parks in the world -- but the City is whoring it and doing untold damage to it because it needs the money. A concert this size for 3 days SHOULD NEVER be allowed in this area."
• Sfhopeful also said: "Imagine if you are a resident of the Richmond or Sunset. You have NO SAY whatsoever about this being held -- it's just done. THREE DAYS of music for hours and hours -- and it is VERY loud for blocks. that's great if you chose to go to the concert - but what if you're 80 and sick in bed? What if you don't like the music? Hardly Strictly has to end in the evening, this went well into the night THREE DAYS really gets on your nerves. Plus, people have to jockey cars for 3 days so they always have one parked in their own drives ($100 ticket, cause it's illegal to do that!) or they'd be blocked in and unable to get out, tow service backed up for hours... Like I said, I like the music -- but believe me, it's different when you're at a concert vs. trying to do work or put your kids down for a nap or invite friends over for dinner. AS usual, the City just tells tax-paying homeowners to screw themselves and walks roughshod over us."
• Sfhopeful said too: "I did not choose to buy property next to AT&T Park of the Oakland Coliseum. I chose to buy it three doors from a beautiful park and open space. Now, it's not one or two events - it's enormous events drawing hundreds of thousands all summer long: Bay-to-Breakers, AIDS walk, Nike Women's Marathon, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Outsides Lands. All GREAT EVENTS! All great causes! And I love the bands! But huge swathes of the Park are fenced off throughout the summer, Speedway and Marx Meadows are hugely damaged, and having this many people all summer in what was planned as a quiet, residential neighborhood -- with no parking facilities not great mass transit and no shops, etc. near the park (because it's a PARK, not a stadium) -- it's just gotten totally out of hand. Before you bad-mouth me, remember that not everyone in the world is 17-25 and imagine you had finally saved to buy a home in a quiet neighborhood near a PARK -- and this is what happened over the next 15 years..."
• hpbromine said: "Pardon me for asking a pretty fundamental question. Why should anything be allowed that chases the folks that live in the area out of their homes for 3 days because of noise? Seems to me that a reasonable amount of peace and quiet is a right; not one that the city has any right to auction off for the benefit of folks who don't live in the area. The suggestion that driving folks out of their homes is OK so long as 'not too many calls were received' is totally absurd. I'd like to see neighbors get together and sue the city for damages. After all, if the city is going to profit from an event that chases folks from their homes, then those folks ought to receive compensation for the inconvenience."
• missiondweller2 said: "I have to say I feel for the neighbors who are inconvenienced. I'm sure the local businesses don't see much increase either."
• markatos said: "This sucked last year. Overpriced, people were extremely rude walking on top of people who were sitting down, radiohead's sounds kept cutting out, crowd control wasn't even apparent with people tearing fences down. This festival is bogus."
• schueyshadow1 said: "For those of us who live in the Outer Sunset and spend all summer re-routing our lives for the sake of the Rec and Park Dept's coffers, I hope the exorbitant ticket price drives a stake through the heart of this event. You could have the Second Coming as a headliner and it would still annoy the neighbors."
• stevied20 said: "Public parks, which belong to the people of this city, should not be closed off for private profit making businesses unless every taxpayer gets a check in the mail. The parks belong to the people of this city, not to the corrupt Dept of Parks and Recreation. On another related issue, if money is not going to Muni for extra runs to the park then Muni should not provide the service. Last year I waited for an hour and a half for a bus to the Sunset. I finally took a cab. As we passed Golden Gate Park there were at least 20 buses waiting for the concert to end so they could pick up concert goers. This is a big scam on the people who live in this city."
• vernshillinger said: "I hope the DPW has enough tow trucks on hand to tow away the cars illegally parked in driveways. Last year I had to wait for an hour to get out of my garage. A few pieces of advice if you're one of the unwashed masses attending this event: 1. Take MUNI, bike, pay for a cab, walk or hitchhike -don't drive. B. Clean up after yourself, don't litter my front yard. 3. - The street isn't a toilet. 4. If you do drive and choose to park illegally - Oh Oh, Better Call Maaco."
• opinions_r_like said: "Hey, where can I pay $299 to never have to hear Dave Matthews Band or Pearl Jam again?"
• thenisaid said: "This sucked so hard. I went last year on Friday and was excited to attend, and ended up swearing off festivals because of how terrible the experience was."
• nezumi said: "Not only is the MUNI situation going to be horrific, parking will be a general disaster because of the Academy of Science and Tut exhibition at the DeYoung. Rec and Park really ought to consider other locations as there are simply not enough services or properly paved roads on the west side. I am already trying to figure out whether it will be more efficient to go downtown or out to the Beach to get from the Richmond to the Sunset on MUNI during summer since there are no real decent supermarkets (butcher & produce) on this side. It normally took 30-45 minutes to get from Lincoln Way to Fulton Street when the parking lot was full. As to all you non-west siders, we don't hear the music; we hear the drums and bass only and some high notes from singers. It depends on exactly the speakers are placed. Essentially, it is loud, throbbing and non-descript. I personally don't care for mobs and portapotties so go enjoy yourselves. Don't park on my sidewalk or puke on my front stairs. Pick up your trash too."
• james718 said: "Does anyone even remember the last time muni 'stepped up to the plate' for any large, special event? Look up 'Golden Gate Bridge 50th Year Anniversary' if you care to read a horror story."

That's enough negative comments to read. This city has made a deal with the devil and everyone is going to hell. NO PARK EVENT SHOULD EVER START ON A FRIDAY and CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING. It's a public park for freakin' sake.

If you want to call me a NIMBY, go ahead, and go to that concert. But just wait until you say:
"You were right Akit, we got screwed over by Muni, OutsideLands, overpriced taxicabs, overflowing porta-johns, and much more."

Akit is not happy: OutsideLands Releases 2009 Concert Dates (August 28-30)

Word from the local blogs (City Insider & SF Citizen) is the OutsideLands festival will hold their 2009 event from August 28-30, which means another three days of hell for the entire city.

So... will the city experience once again the agony of the following:

1. Loud noise heard for miles?
2. Sardine packed Muni buses and trains?
3. Missing Muni buses?
   
4. Trashing of the park, even though they claim to be a "green" event?
5. Limos and Luxury Towncars illegally trying to sell you a ride for an insane price?
6. Failure to notify city residents of park road closures and delays?
7. Drunk people vomiting all over the street?
8. Overselling the concert?
9. People knocking over temporary fences before a stampede breaks out?
10. $100K to $200K in irrigation damage in the park?
11. Idiots at San Francisco 311 who can't give you accurate answers?
12. Calling your local police station for information, but telling you that they don't know either? (Yeah, just wait until an ambulance is trying to rescue you, but can't get through because the city, once again, screws-up information).
13. And the list goes on and on...

My old postings to read:
My investigation into lack of street closure info and getting support.
A huge conglomerate of complaints from random citizens.
And the post-event report.

The city claims they will get 1.5 million dollars for leasing the land to OutsideLands to destroy, cause havoc, and sure piss-off the surrounding neighborhoods. It's not 1.5 million per day, it's 1.5 million for THREE DAYS.

And I'm going to bet that the city will spend more than 1.5 million dollars in that three days doing what they do best:

1. Police overtime
2. Muni overtime
3. Meter maid overtime
4. SF Park Service overtime
5. Sunset Scavenger extra pickups
6. Gasoline costs for cop cars, buses, and other city vehicles.
7. Maintenance costs for the vehicles above.
   
8. City Supervisors and their staff working extra hours answering complaint calls and e-mails.
9. Fixing destroyed park fixtures, irrigation lines, patches of grass.
10. Lawsuits brought forth by residents.
11. 311 needing extra people to handle the extreme number of phone calls and complaints.

And lastly, why host an event on a FRIDAY? Do they understand that Muni is already operating at capacity during regular commutes, and just adding a hundred thousand people to the mix will put the system in a wreck? If they want to win support, you don't piss off the weekday commuters trying to get home on the outbound lines that goes next to and even several blocks away from the event site (this includes, but not limited to N-Judah, 5-Fulton, 29-Sunset, 31-Balboa, 71-Haight/Noriega, any peak express buses heading west, etc.).

The concert company should start thinking about leasing as many tour buses, school buses, and literally any bus they can get their hands on to transport people to/from the event site to major transit hubs, like Daly City BART, downtown, local ferry terminals, etc. And maybe they could also lease some local ferry boats to transport those folks home across the bay after a late night concert. If they want to recover the costs, do what Bay to Breakers does, charge them for a special pass that gives them the privilege to ride the vehicles.

California's State Economy is Falling and I'm Worried

I'm an employee of the State of California, in particular the California State University system. I love working at San Francisco State University, and I'm also proud that I am going to earn my second degree (M.A.) at this university as well in the coming weeks.

But I am not just an employee and a double graduate, I'm also an ambassador to San Francisco State, almost like the perfect poster child of SFSU; a young educated professional who works hard, representing the University, and working for the university as a student employee for nearly four years and being hired as a regular employee. I even enjoy meeting random new students and parents on the University campus and providing them help on their way to an enjoyable day and to a successful future.

I worry about how the economy and state budget is doing. In fact, while everyone in the University tries to keep their morale up, we also notice morale going down, especially the faculty who realize that some of their classes they normally teach will practically be double the size, particularly the cutting of sections, thereby forcing students to fight for a seat in one of the few remaining classes. A fear throughout my employee's union is that some of us may be laid-off, and that has to be one of the worst feelings in the world to know that you will be let go, regardless if you were a good employee with high marks on your evaluation.

Our state legislators keep bickering over how to resolve this crisis, but doesn't seem to find a good solution. Even if the legislature passes something from the democrats, we just know that the "Governator" will just turn it down (veto), and we the regular employees take the brunt of the government leaders' failures. I am neither a Democrat or Republican, I consider myself to be an "independent thinker" because I feel that I should never be influenced by any political party and I make decisions based on what I feel is right and good for everyone. This is why I am an outspoken person who is a blogger.

We can never forget that we are a cash strapped state, and everyone is tightening their belts a little bit more just so that the state can provide the essential services needed to keep the state running.

Us state employees always get stereotyped as lazy people who sit on our butts all day to get a paycheck every month. That is a terrible stereotype. I work very hard because I have pride in my line of work, I might just be an Administrative Assistant, but I know that when I get my paycheck, I truly earned it. My supervisor expects me to work hard, and I clearly show it when I work on projects, speak with concerned students and parents, and my other daily tasks I am committed to doing. I even put a little bit of my own money into getting my uniform professionally cleaned and pressed so I can give a lasting impression to our students and parents that hard working professionals, as myself, are serving the University community with honesty, pride, and professionalism.

I am very grateful that I have a job that I can serve with pride. I am honored to be a member of CSUEU (California State University Employees Union) and a double alumnus. There must be a fair solution to assure that we don't have to lay-off people, and minimize the suffering of every citizen of the State of California.

Wondering about Japantown's Future

On late Tuesday evening around 8:30PM, I went to San Francisco's Japantown for a nice late night dinner, which is rare because I don't usually go to Japantown at night.

And something crossed my mind as I walked through the Kintetsu mall that evening, I looked around and saw not many people walking down the aisles of the mall, yet it was so interesting to just go to Mifune for an order of cold noodles (the "Mifune Special") and realize that the place is nearly packed. I also realized that the other restaurants, including the ever so expensive Benihana was crowded too.

Sometimes I wonder if Japantown is really changing for the good or the bad. One observation I noticed as I was eating my dinner at Mifune is the other people around me. Interestingly, there was not even one fellow Japanese American in sight, and it was a little difficult to find a fellow Asian American. Most of the people I saw are European American.

Just this observation alone made me wonder about what might happen to Japantown. In a previous discussion with a friend, we talked and agreed that while we believe the people who have been raised or have been very active in this community feel that "outsiders" who want to help is an uncomfortable idea; the other point of view I mentioned is the concept of "strength in numbers."

In the society of Japantown, it is becoming much harder to gather the support of the people of the community to fight for the preservation of our community. Yet, when we think about it, we need that "strength in numbers" to help secure our community. One particular example I have noticed these days is at the Cherry Blossom Festival. As always, the "regulars" are out there to support our community, but these so-called "outsiders" also play a major role in supporting our community as a whole. In this situation, the best example I can provide is the anime fair and their segment of the parade. It is amazing to see many young people, many of whom are not even Japanese American, participating in this event.

In some form, our community needs to find a way to promote this idea of "strength in numbers," and anime and Japanese popular culture may be the new way to do it.

Right now, our community is like an "old school" society, where the community is old fashioned. We practice some good old traditions including martial arts, and our restaurants reflect an old fashioned style. Right now, the community is taking a turn, trying to get those numbers by simply relaxing this old fashioned ideal and welcoming in the anime and J-pop theme. The Miyako inn was transformed into a J-pop themed hotel, and we are now building the new J-Pop center.

To many people I speak to in the community, all of them believe in preservation of the community. To many of them, it is keeping the traditions of Japantown alive. Yet, I see that the anime and J-pop idea may be a new concept that might actually help us, although we are sacraficing the old fashioned ideals that have been with us for generations.

I love Japantown a lot. It is difficult for our community to come together and fight because many of us have a job and it makes it a challenge to be out there. I feel that I sometimes regret that I can't always be out there to be the young leader of the community, yet I am still proud of the accomplishments that I have taken part of, including my leadership work to fight to preserve Japantown during the massive sale of the malls and hotels in 2006.

In one view, it can be said that Japantown will always be here, no matter what happens in the future. To others, they feel that Japantown will disappear if we don't do anything.

Today, we are struggling with the planned demolition and renovation of the Japan center. There is word that they will destroy our existing infastructure and insert something even worse: a taller facility that houses businesses and homes, and may destroy the economy of our community. Those malls and the businesses who lease the spaces make a big impact to our community, and if they destroy the malls and the shopkeeps are forced to find somewhere else, will they ever return? Will they be guaranteed a space with the promise of the same rent rate?

It seems that nobody has the true guts to ask this question to the people. Many Japanese Americans in our community have this feeling that they should not speak out, yet there are legendary Japanese Americans who have spoken out on items in the past and have became the true leaders and representatives of our community.

• Steve Nakajo, co-founder and Executive Director of Kimochi Inc., a non-profit senior services organization wanted to provide services to Japanese American elders because of the tradition of younger people always taking care of our elderly.
• Paul Osaki, Executive Director of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California always speaks out about the issues surrounding our community.
• My late grandmother, Ms. Tsuyako "Sox" Kitashima was a survivor of the Japanese Interment Camps and was given a reality check from younger Japanese Americans that they should demand redress and an apology from the goverment for violating their civil rights and making them lose all their property. She was the first to speak out about her experiences in the Japanese interment camps and she went out of her way to ask other people give their testimony to government representatives at a special hearing at Golden Gate University. And nobody could really believe that a 2nd generation 60+ year old grandmother and the belief that 2nd generation Japanese Americans would keep quiet about their camp experiences, would be out there pushing congress and other people to fight for redress. In the end, a big reward came to light; Japanese Americans interned in the camps received a $20,000 check and an apology from the president. And all it took was to speak-out and fight for what you believe in. Even after redress, my late grandmother helped other Japanese Americans sign-up for redress, and went to local public schools to tell the story to make sure nobody ever forgets.

I sure want to be like my grandmother someday, and I did earn that true respect during the "Save Japantown" days. Yet, I always keep worrying about this little community that I call home.