2.10.2021 – Lee Heidhues
Great Highway Reality Check Part III. The conversation on Nextdoor re the Great Highway is a reprise of the Embarcadero Freeway. Following the October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake San Francisco and the State of California made the forward looking decision to tear down the eyesore Embarcadero Freeway. There was a predictable uproar which prophesized traffic would turn into gridlock; neighborhoods would be destroyed, and businesses would collapse. Fast forward 32 years and the waterfront along the Embarcadero is one of San Francisco’s true scenic treasures. All the doomsayer predictions turned out to be incorrect. The only thing that has changed is back in the day we did not have social media such as Nextdoor to sound the clarion call of doom. One day the Great Highway will be a beautiful urban park and another San Francisco treasure. Thank goodness.
Lee's Perspective 