9th Street Signals Are Working! Woo Hoo! Plus, an Ask to the Loyal Readers

By now if you’ve been to the 9th/Irving and 9th/Judah intersections, you’ve probably noticed the famous “countdown” signals and special signals for the trains are up and running, more or less. The signals seemed to start up over the weekend, and with a little fine tuning, do seem to be trying to do what they’re intended to do.
That said, I think that someone is going to have to do some sort of education campaign to explain to people, who seem to walk around in a haze these days, that running in front of a train, especially when the Big Red Hand says “Don’t Walk” is a really stupid idea. Plus, many people still seem to automatically cross on a green light, despite said Red Hand, not realizing that in fact, the big train that weighs tons is coming around the corner. So perhaps some flyers or a big “Walk only with Walk” sign is in order.
Overall, though, it’s at least a bit of improvement, and I’m hoping that during the summer months we’ll reduce accidents and near-misses to a more manageable level…now if someone could just edumacate bicyclists on the stupidity of running red lights in front of trains and buses (as well as how illegal and rude it is to ride your stupid bike on the sidewalk), we might get somewhere. That and teaching people how to make a left turn in traffic. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
In other news…I’ve been looking for a new place lately and haven’t really been able to find a studio or 1br within striking distance of the N (it seems like lately all I can find are 2 bedrooms or 3 bedroom flats). More than one landlord has told me, however, that soon more units will be up since school is letting out at UCSF, etc.
Since this worked out well last time when I put the question to the Loyal Readers (wherein I got a wonderful place with a 6 month lease that sadly has to expire next month), I’ll toss it out again – if you know of a decent, non-crackhouse 1br or studio within spitting distance of the N or the like and can put me in touch with the landlord or whoever’s responsible and I score said place, you get a prize. (It’s a “real” prize too, not a case of Turtle Wax).
I’ve found that in this rental environment the best deals never make it to Craigslist or the classifieds, and that word of mouth (or email) works best. So drop me a line and let me know what you’re seeing out there!