Unaccepted streets
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Joel Pomerantz
May 30, 2025, 12:56:57 PM5/30/25
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Good morning!
One of the explorers on my Thinkwalk last week got very interested in the concept of ‘unaccepted streets’ due to a fun moment of learning from a chance encounter with a resident along our walk. (I love those interactions!)
I realized lots of folks may be interested in this concept, so here’s a bit about it to entice.
In 2018, Sarah Moos Thompson sent me her project sheet on the subject, which is partly a map. Attached is a photo of the one section (front cover) that is a map, per se.
She says lots of cool stuff in the text including that there were, in 2011 when she made it, 2224 unaccepted streets in SF. That means streets the city acknowledges as public space but doesn’t accept the responsibility to maintain.
There are many kinds. And from other adventures, I know that it’s a whole ball of knots where it overlaps with the concept of property that is privately owned but for public use, or vice versa—and property where ownership is unknown, disputed, ambiguous, or unknowable!
[I must acknowledge that so much more of what we consider clear and predictable is now showing itself as unknowable, etc. thanks to the present ignoring and disputation of all expectations about how laws and societal norms work. Mmmmph. Kinda interesting and brutally scary, especially for those caught in the path of its truncheons.]
Sarah's a landscape architect and urban planner, and graciously sent me this item when a 2018 Thinkwalker asked her to. I may have met her during the Resilient By Design Bay Area Challenge, but I’m not sure.
Anyhow, I hope you have some fun with this idea based on the attached.
Enjoy!
Joel
One of the explorers on my Thinkwalk last week got very interested in the concept of ‘unaccepted streets’ due to a fun moment of learning from a chance encounter with a resident along our walk. (I love those interactions!)
I realized lots of folks may be interested in this concept, so here’s a bit about it to entice.
In 2018, Sarah Moos Thompson sent me her project sheet on the subject, which is partly a map. Attached is a photo of the one section (front cover) that is a map, per se.
She says lots of cool stuff in the text including that there were, in 2011 when she made it, 2224 unaccepted streets in SF. That means streets the city acknowledges as public space but doesn’t accept the responsibility to maintain.
There are many kinds. And from other adventures, I know that it’s a whole ball of knots where it overlaps with the concept of property that is privately owned but for public use, or vice versa—and property where ownership is unknown, disputed, ambiguous, or unknowable!
[I must acknowledge that so much more of what we consider clear and predictable is now showing itself as unknowable, etc. thanks to the present ignoring and disputation of all expectations about how laws and societal norms work. Mmmmph. Kinda interesting and brutally scary, especially for those caught in the path of its truncheons.]
Sarah's a landscape architect and urban planner, and graciously sent me this item when a 2018 Thinkwalker asked her to. I may have met her during the Resilient By Design Bay Area Challenge, but I’m not sure.
Anyhow, I hope you have some fun with this idea based on the attached.
Enjoy!
Joel
Joel Pomerantz
May 30, 2025, 5:55:20 PM5/30/25
to Thinkwalks email list
Alert Thinkwalker Jeremiah Moore found one side of the brochure as a digital version:
https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/2013-09/2011Patri_Map_Part2.pdf
That’s the side with some of the SF unaccepted streets listed.
Joel
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https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/2013-09/2011Patri_Map_Part2.pdf
That’s the side with some of the SF unaccepted streets listed.
Joel
> ALL REPLIES to this email go directly to Joel. You can read all the earlier Thinkwalks posts at the "Visit" link, below.
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Joel Pomerantz
May 30, 2025, 5:59:24 PM5/30/25
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One last addendum fro Jeremiah:
A much better link:
https://www.spur.org/news/2011-09-14/vision-new-greenspace-southeastern-sf
it has the other side of the map!
https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/2013-09/2011Patri_Map_part1.pdf
all from 2011.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thinkwalks/BA0AB78F-5FAB-480C-856C-3B57EDDC8E30%40icloud.com.
A much better link:
https://www.spur.org/news/2011-09-14/vision-new-greenspace-southeastern-sf
it has the other side of the map!
https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/2013-09/2011Patri_Map_part1.pdf
all from 2011.
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