The new Friday market on mid-Market Street in San Francisco was a big hit with hundreds of people enjoying drinks, food trucks, and shopping eclectic stalls on a warm autumn evening. Mayor Ed Lee and several supervisors arrived, too. I managed to speak briefly with the Mayor about some of the tech community issues and urged him to integrate the tech community and not keep it segregated. He agreed and said the Friday market was a step in that direction.
Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to tell the mayor about an idea I had, to have Google et al. up the extra quarter on Muni bus fares. They rose by a quarter to $2.25 on September 1. It would be a great publicity gesture if those firms picked up that quarter for all riders as a show of support for busses for everyone. They have often been criticized for using bus stops and city resources and not paying a full share.
The mayor poses with a Homeland security guard who is always ready to draw.
A charity called San Francisco Beautiful that was founded in 1947 helped organize the event. I spoke with its Executive Director Kearstin Krehbiel. He was very pleased with the turnout. “It’s a success, the Mayor is here and at least three supervisors have come.” He said he was hoping to entice local restaurants to be involved in future Fridays, not just food trucks.
There will be a Friday Night Market every Friday until October 24 and then it will be extended if it continues to do well.
Tom Foremski is the Editor and Founder of the popular and top-ranked news site Silicon Valley Watcher, reporting on business and culture of innovation. He is a former journalist at the Financial Times and in 2004, became the first journalist from a leading newspaper to resign and become a full-time journalist blogger.
Tom has been reporting on Silicon Valley and the US tech industry since 1984 and has been named as one of the top 50 (#28) most influential bloggers in Silicon Valley. His current focus is on the convergence of media and technology — the making of a new era for Silicon Valley. He also writes a column at ZDNET.
