Neighborhood Lessons Learned From Bay to Breakers

This year saw a drastic change in the Bay to Breakers. Most neighbors (78% that were surveyed) felt that it was a lot better than last year and most had a great time. In order to quantify and capture these findings, the neighborhood task force on the 100th Bay to Breakers complied a lessons learned report along with conducting a survey. The report can be found here and the raw survey results here. A brief summary is also presented below:

What Worked

Overall, neighbors and survey respondents felt that these actions and policies helped make the 100th Bay to Breakers fun for everyone:

 

• Police Presence – Set the Tone

• Enforcement of Open Container Laws

• Course Barriers – Made the Race Flow

• More Port-o-Potties – Helped Everywhere

• Earlier Start – Allowed Streets to Open

• No Floats – Kept the Crowd Moving

• Neighbor Involvement – Created Ownership

• Clean Up Crews – Kept The Course Clean

• Outreach – Crystal Clear Message

• Amateur Radio – Reliable Communications

• Medical Staff – Prompt & Attentive

 

Of the 139 survey respondents, 78% felt that this year was better than last year. The report also shows dramatic improvements on all dimentions.

What Didn’t Work

Several actions and polices fell short this year. Those include:

 

• Lockdown on Fell – Crossing was Challenging

• Barriers – Prevented Some Port-o-John Access

• Private Security – Mixed Reviews

• Hot Spots – Some Were Missed

• House Party Enforcement

• Off Course Monitoring / Clean-up

• After Race Crowd Needs a Focus

 

The issue surrounding hot spots seemed to be focused off the race course and in the main corridors. The report presents a graphic of reported hots spots that need attention next year.

What We Should Do Different

It’s clear that this years effort was successful because all of the stakeholders needs were basically met. For next year and years to come, we need to work on streamlining the baseline resources and focus on the following areas:

 

• Port-o-Johns Access – Rethink Deployment

• Access Across the Course – Pedestrian Bridges

• Volunteer Training – Formalize

• After Tear Down – More Hot Spot Monitoring

• In Park Hydration – “Participants” Need Water

• Redeploy/Retrain Private Security

• Host an Event People Can Go To

 

If we all continue to work together, we can make the next 100 years of bay to breakers what it should be — Fun for Everyone with Zero Neighborhood Impact.