Mayor Daniel Lurie just put the word out about a $100,000 prize to “reimagine” Market Street, though it may have helped if he had actually done this more than six days before the contest's deadline.
Last month, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie ruffled some feathers when announcing that Waymos will be allowed to drive on the otherwise mostly car-free Market Street. But Lurie wants more big changes on the still-recovering Market Street corridor.
KRON4 reports he’s announced a $100,000 contest to “reimagine” Market Street to “identify new urban possibilities for downtown San Francisco’s Market Street, responding to the disruptions caused by the pandemic, remote work, and other cultural changes," in the words of the contest announcement.
Lurie’s announcement is seen below, and it was posted yesterday, May 29. But the contest’s rules say the deadline for submissions is Tuesday, June 3 — it seems that the Urban Land Institute actually rolled this contest out two months ago, and the window for submissions opened on April 3. So it's not clear why Lurie waited this long to bring attention to the contest.
“We need your help. We have to reimagine Market Street. This is a world-class boulevard, and we need world-class ideas,” Lurie says with his trademark lukewarm enthusiasm in the message above. “No matter how big, no matter how small, I want you to submit some great ideas. We have the Urban Land Institute and the Civic Joy Fund partnering up. We’ve got Jony Ive and John King and a whole host of other judges. We need your help. Let’s go, San Francisco.”
As Lurie mentioned, the panel of judges includes heavy hitters like designer Jony Ive and the retired Chron design critic John King, and also has superstar architect Stanley Saitowitz and Lurie's wife Becca Prowda. Wow, wonder how she got the position!
The contest's entry rules say you need to submit a JPG or PDF that contains “jargon-free text in English that clearly and concisely communicates the essence of your idea.” The rules add that “Successful entries will suggest ways to counter the disruptive effects of remote work while also putting forward viable strategies and visions for creating new patterns of urban energy, productivity and joy.”
Notice how they say “successful entries” in the plural. That means there will be a pool of winners splitting the $100,000 prize, it will not all go to one winner.
Oh, and it costs $75 to enter the contest. Winners will apparently be announced sometime in July.
Related: Lurie Announces Market Street to Open Up to Waymos [SFist]
Image: Market Street, San Francisco - stock photo (Getty Images)
