San Francisco has been the envy of boiling hot California all summer, now it's time for us to have a little sunshine and warmth. Day one of September is a bit disappointing, but summer really is around the corner and we will be able to send all those tourists up to Twin Peaks for a great view of this glorious city. Make sure you also enjoy the city, come out to our Live! In The Castro performances. In September the CBD has performances every weekend, see the schedule at the bottom of this newsletter.

Rainbow Crosswalks
The long awaited replacement of the rainbow crosswalks at 18th & Castro will take place the week of September 19th. During the community planning process for the Castro St. Improvement Project, decorative crosswalks were one of the beautification strategies ranked high by the community. However, the city was not able to include them in the overall budget. Learning this, the Castro CBD board of directors voted to pay for these decorative crosswalks. The CBD led a community design selection process and vertically striped rainbow crosswalks were overwhelmingly selected. In 2014, the rainbow crosswalks were installed and were immediately a success. Everyday people can be seen taking pictures of the crosswalks and sharing them on social media. 

Then, during the filming of the ABC miniseries, When We Rise, the crosswalks were damaged. After several failed attempts to clean the crosswalks, ABC offered to pay to replace them. However, there was an outstanding issue that hadn't been resolved during the sidewalk widening project - the ponding that occurs at 18th & Castro. The best plan was to coordinate the replacing of the rainbow crosswalks and fixing the ponding issue. A miracle happened and the timing is being coordinated!  The work will take place between September 12th - September 21st.

The regrading/paving work to fix the ponding at 18th & Castro will start overnight on Monday September 12th and continue during the day through Wednesday the 14th. The new rainbow crosswalks will take two (2) days to install, with installation beginning on Monday the 19th and scheduled to end on Tuesday the 20th. (scroll down for more details)

Another outstanding issue from the sidewalk widening project was the faulty pavement at Jane Warner Plaza. New pavement will be installed at Jane Warner Plaza between September 19th - 21st. 


Installation of rainbow crosswalks in 2014

Clean Team
The Castro CBD Clean Team works hard to keep the Castro/Upper Market clean. Our crew is out sweeping the sidewalks from 5:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. seven (7) days a week. In June we swept up 5800 pounds of trash, painted out 118 graffiti tags and power washed 52 hot spots. Read our June Report.

Call the CBD cleaning dispatch # 415-471-7536 to report an urgent cleaning issue in the CBD footprint.

Beautification Grant 
We're applying for a grant to artistically paint the utility boxes in the district. If we get funded we'll be putting out a Request For Qualifications (RFQ) to artists. If your interested in being on the list to receive the RFQ, email: info@castrocbd.org 

Get Involved!
Are you interested in making your neighborhood better? Get involved! There are many opportunities in the Castro to volunteer, including with the Castro CBD. If you're interested in working with the CBD, email: info@castrocbd.org 
Check out http://ourtownsf.org/ for more ideas on where to volunteer.

Castro Street Fair 
The Castro Street Fair is coming up quickly, Sunday October 2nd. We're planning a really fun and interesting booth. Stop by the Castro CBD booth to say hi!
 

 

Castro Cares

This Castro Cares funded officer arrested a suspect in the Bank of the West burglary on August 23rd. The bank manager called the police when he opened up the bank on the morning of the 24th. The Castro Cares funded officer heard the call over the radio and went directly there. The bank manager recognized a man who looked like the burglar from the video, the suspect was stopped and arrested. Thanks to Castro Cares!

 

 

Castro Cares Needs your help to keep additional officers and additional homeless outreach workers on the street! Your chance to help is now!
1) Donate now by clicking the donate button below
          OR
2) Sign up to work at the Castro Street Fair and Castro Cares will get paid for your hours worked. It's easy and fun! Signing up is easy.

To sign up click here!

1) Fill in your name and email
2) Which Organization are you Volunteering For? pull down menu and select Castro Benefit District/Castro Cares
3)  Select a job type...click next and then you will read about the job and the time slots that are available. If the job doesn't suit you or you can't work those times, click back and then click on a different job....you can do this until you find a job that works!
I just signed up for Safety from 6:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. 

Castro Cares is supported by city grants and donations from neighbors and merchants. To help support Castro Cares.