From the Editor: April 2026

Hello neighbor! You are holding the eighth issue of Lower Haight Local, a local newsletter / zine for all of the amazing people and things happening in Lower Haight. This magazine is the direct product of your neighbors’ writing, doodling, and designing. This month we have some fun updates:

• We are officially a 501(c)(3), with a mission to connect neighbors and promote arts and culture in Lower Haight. Please reach out if interested in donating!

• We’re running a Lower Haight Yard Sale Day where we all coordinate to do yard sales on the same day: April 19th! Sign up to put your garage on the map or to receive a copy.

For this month’s theme, we chose the idea of Repurposing.

In a city, we face strong constraints - of space, of time, of resources. I believe the healthiest thing a city can do is to evolve to meet the needs of its people as those needs inevitably change.

Take The Wiggle. It was a thoroughfare of bikes before any official designation because it’s a natural path between hills. Eventually, the route was named. But every day, bikers and cars navigate the route and together define how the space is used. Later, this can bubble up through our elected officials into changes that the city might turn into signs and concrete.

Even on a small scale, individual neighbors adapt space and resources to their needs and the needs of those around them.

For the neighbor that wants a workshop but lives in an apartment, converting their garage to a workshop is a much better use of the space. It’s even better if they get to know their neighbors while they work! Or the neighbors that started a pop-up cafe for friends. Or the neighbor that turns a bit of sidewalk into a beautiful garden. Or the neighbor that sits on their stoop to sip coffee with neighbors passing by.

Another example: we have been using the corner of sidewalk on Scott & Page for our magazine release block parties (despite its lack of shade) because it’s an open space. One Saturday a month we turn an often-blank sidewalk into a neighborhood celebration.

Maybe you’ve had an idea like that — something you’ve been wanting to try on your block or in your building. This issue is full of people repairing, adapting, and repurposing — who went ahead and did it. We hope it inspires you to do the same.