By Betty Louie and Bob Harrer Special to The Examiner • March 30, 2022 11:30 am - Updated March 30, 2022 1:55 pm
One previously proposed map for District 3 is so convoluted it resembles a distorted hourglass tipping over. It would have cut North Beach in half at Columbus Avenue, and remove large parts of Russian Hill, Chinatown, Nob Hill and the Financial District. It separated the Barbary Coast neighborhood from the children’s playground it created and from the Ferry Building. The proposed boundaries defied logic. For example, Columbus Avenue is NOT a boundary. It is the backbone of the neighborhood.
Now, various new proposals are emerging, many seeking to ignore the natural and historical boundaries involving Van Ness Avenue, Market Street and the northern waterfront. Those boundaries have traditionally defined an area with a multitude of interests in common. Given The City’s significant population growth over the past 10 years, some adjustment to the boundaries is necessary. District 3 needs to expand its boundaries to add population. Fortunately, there is an obvious and logical solution. The Russian Hill neighborhood is split between two districts now. By merely extending the existing Van Ness Avenue boundary northward to the Bay, Russian Hill’s “missing notch” can be included in District 3 as desired.