The SF Bicycle Coalition is excited to announce the launch of San Francisco’s first-ever Bicycle Friendly Business District in Yerba Buena! The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has partnered with neighborhood businesses and the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District to organize the first San Francisco neighborhood promoting bicycling for shopping, dining and exploring neighborhood businesses. As part of the first Bicycle-Friendly Business District, over 30 Yerba Buena companies are offering discounts, great bike parking, and/or supporting biking in the neighborhood through infrastructure campaigns or bike-related events. This business district is not only San Francisco’s first, it’s one of the first in the country!
Candy Kwong, Manager at Central Computers on Howard Street, says of the Yerba Buena Bicycle-Friendly Business District, “we’ve seen more and more people bike to our store the last couple years, and customers arriving by bike don’t have to worry about looking for parking space. We’re excited to work with other businesses and the SF Bicycle Coalition to bring more people to the area by bike.” Central Computers has applied for more bike racks in front of their store to accommodate the growing demand.
Another local business owner, Ron Silberstein of Thirsty Bear Brewing Company on Howard Street, is excited to “support cycling by our employees, by our customers and by every able bodied person in San Francisco.” Thirsty Bear will be offering a free drink with any tapas order for people arriving by bike.
The Yerba Buena neighborhood touches some of San Francisco’s busiest bike routes on Market, 2nd, Folsom and Howard Streets. Creating an official bicycle-friendly business district makes this area even more attractive to neighbors and visitors by encouraging more people to shop, dine and explore by bike. In the new bicycle-friendly business district, neighborhood events will actively integrate biking, making it easier for many San Franciscans to attend, and spend more time in the neighborhood.
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition staff and interns have been working for months, pounding the pavement and talking to neighborhood businesses about how more bicycling helps local business. This outreach led to the creation of programs designed to attract more bicyclists to the neighborhood to shop, dine and enjoy the neighborhood’s countless cultural institutions. Many thanks to Business Outreach Intern Chris Siegel for his great work!
Businesses participate by providing:
- A discount to people arriving by bike – ask about Bike Thursday discounts!
- Great bike parking for customers and employees; or
- Support for neighborhood bike infrastructure and/or events.
Launch Ride
The Yerba Buena Bicycle-Friendly Business District kicks off with a ride and sampling of area merchant offerings on Thursday, June 12th at 4:30pm. We’ll hear from participating business owners along the way, and we’ll end with a happy hour at one of the participating bars and restaurants, complete with special offers for bicyclists.
Ride Meetup:
Thursday, June 12, 2014, 4:30 pm
Cartoon Art Museum
655 Mission Street