There’s no need to leave Mission Street to get gifts for everyone on your list. This holiday season get all your shopping done in the Excelsior! “Like” EAG on facebook in order to see our past posts and upcoming tips on where you can find great gifts at low prices right here in our neighborhood. 

"Like" EAG on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Excelsior-Action-Group-EAG/115807331784477 

The Excelsior Action Group has transitioned to a new fiscal sponsor, Bay Area Community Resources.  EAG is eager to embark on our new relationship with BACR, which currently runs after school programs in 5 Excelsior schools.  We have been highlighted on BACR's website in a great news article.  Please visit the following link to read the full story and learn more about BACR.  

The Excelsior Action Group would like to invite anyone who wants to participate in our Sunday Streets Festival Art Contest! We are opening up the contest to participants of all ages and skill levels. If chosen, the winner's artwork will be featured in this year's Sunday Street poster- which is hung all over the City! Submissions are due August 24th, and will be reviewed by the Festival Committee September 6th. 

More details are attached in the following links in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

If you want some ideas for your design and what Sunday Streets is about, it is a series of events put on by the City of San Francisco to encourage health, community, and fun, inspired by similar events in cities throughout the world. A Sunday Streets event creates a large, temporary, public space by closing off stretches of a neighborhood’s streets to automobile traffic, and opening them to pedestrians, bicyclists, and activities for several hours on a predetermined Sunday.

Sunday Streets events are free to all participants. Some will enjoy the route by strolling, skating, cycling, or just
people-watching. Others will participate in free group events such as tai chi, yoga, aerobics, swing
dance, cultural performances and other activities. The most important part is that everything is free.

For more information of Sunday Streets, click here. 

From 2005-2007, the Excelsior Action Group worked with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority to develop a community-based transportation plan.  The Mission-Geneva Neighborhood Transportation Plan identifies transportation improvements that can be implemented in the near- to mid-term to address key neighborhood transportation-related concerns.  Although some of the recommendations outlined in the plan have come to fruition since it was authored in 2007, EAG is advocating for funding to implement the comprehensive improvements outlined in this plan through the Road Repavement and Street Safety Bond.  Show your support for the Mission-Geneva Neighborhood Transportation Plan by signing our online petition to Mayor Ed Lee and spreading the word among your friends and neighbors in the Excelsior.

It's time again for EAG's quarterly community-wide meeting.  Please join us May 7th for updates from EAG Subcommittees, a Community Design Activity, and a Presentation from Livable City about Sunday Streets in District 11 this coming October 21, 2012.  Sunday Streets will be a companion event with the annual Excelsior Art and Music Festival!  We look forward to seeing you there. 

As you may have noticed, the intersection improvements in the vicinity of Mission and Geneva are finally nearing completion. 

The sidewalks have been widened on Mission Street and the free right-turn lane on the northwest corner around the gas station has been reconfigured to provide a new public open space.

The final step of this project will be to reconfigure the traffic lane striping on Mission Street to accommodate the left turn pockets and to relocate the bus stop in front of Popeyes to a new location across the street where the sidewalk is wider.

As of January 1, 2012, EAG's office has moved.  You can now find us at:

Excelsior Action Group 
35 San Juan Avenue
SF, CA 94112
(1/2 block off of Mission Street)


We look forward to continuing our diligent efforts to improve the Excelsior Commercial Corridor from our new location!

On October 27, 2011, the Wall Street Journal published "San Francisco Tries Again to Upgrade Excelsior District," an article by Vauhini Vara outlining efforts to improve the neighborhood and commercial corridor over the years.  Excelsior Action Group submitted the following response in a Letter to the Editor:

We at the Excelsior Action Group (EAG) were pleased to see the article in the Wall Street Journal shedding some attention on this underserved district of San Francisco.  The issues of blight and lack of safety and cleanliness described in the article are what necessitate groups like EAG and the work we do here.  As the article described, the terrible economic climate has hit the Excelsior very hard, making EAG’s efforts to revitalize the Excelsior’s commercial corridor more difficult, but also much more needed.

Of the $393,400 of city funding cited in the article, only $184,000 has gone directly to capital improvement projects, while the rest has helped to keep our organization’s doors open for almost a decade now.  Beyond the ad-hoc cleanings referred to in the article, EAG also engages in campaigns year after year for safety, beautification, business attraction, and community engagement.  Last year alone, over 350 community members dedicated over 1200 volunteer hours to work with EAG on community improvement projects, such as painting 10 murals along the corridor, planting greenery, and cleaning the corridor monthly.  EAG also organizes the Annual Excelsior Art and Music Festival, which draws over 3,000 participants from around the Bay Area to experience the culture and local flavor of our corridor. 

We are hopeful that the most recent $50,000 investment the city has made in the Excelsior will help to make a visible and inspiring impact on the commercial corridor through our façade improvement program, Excelsior Extreme Makeover.  To this end, we have garnered a significant amount of volunteer support to supplement these funds and stretch the impact of this program beyond just $50,000. 

Buy-in from local merchants is essential to the success of this program and the work that we do in general.  As an example, Paulo Acosta Cabezas, owner of Mama Art Café, has been integral in our effort to construct a parklet in front of his business as part of this program.  Established in 2004, Mama Art Café is a strong and active advocate for youth development and the arts in the Excelsior.  Ultimately, partnerships with businesses like this one are what will move our neighborhood forward.

As Amy Cohen, the city’s Director of Neighborhood Business Development, reflected, the goal of this facade improvement program is to make a visible impact that inspires Excelsior businesses and individuals to take further action.  We think Zhong Luo, owner of the Dragon House in the Excelsior, exemplifies the success of this philosophy in saying, “When I see people stopping by my front door and picking up garbage, it motivates me to pick up my garbage too.” 

Nicole Agbayani, Excelsior Action Group Corridor Manager