Jane Martin, Founding Director
Plant*SF

Ironically, the very imprecision of the term ‘greening’ may be its strength – for the concept is hollow if not holistically applied.  To some “green” connotes a cosmetic layer of beautification.  To others it is a degree of material sustainability.  For all, it is a reminder of our society’s prevailing mode of facilitation, money.  It is only through the mutual inclusion of these three aspects, however, that the application of greening to San Francisco’s streetscapes will be truly successful.  By way of example, traditional forms of public space plantings such as raised beds and hanging flower baskets may provide an immediate beautification lift, but because their soil is isolated and exposed to wind and sun, they require frequent watering even when climate adapted plants are selected.  This is neither environmentally supportive nor fiscally responsible.

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We need your help right now to save the Community Justice Center.  Supervisor Daly introduced legislation yesterday to stop the Community Justice Center and to cut funds for more police, funds to fix our roads and sidewalks, funds to upgrade the successful new 311 Call Center, funds for new trees, funds to help rebuild public housing, funds to help small businesses and many other vital services.  We need the Community Justice Center to keep making progress on the homeless crisis. The court is a proven way to direct those who commit quality-of-life crimes like aggressive panhandling into social services.  In a time of rising homicide rates, we need the new police officers Daly wants to cut to keep our streets safe.  We need the funds Daly wants to cut to repair our roads and infrastructure after decades of neglect. Read more »