“The first thing I remember [after moving here] was in 2004 was Gavin Newsom and the [same sex] marriages. I’d been living here four months at that point and I thought ‘Oh my God, I’m in a totally different place than what I’ve ever lived in before!’ There was such an energy that was happening around City Hall at that time for the short time they were doing the marriages until the court stopped them. And I loved it.”
“When it [Civic Center] was closed up at 5:00 and there’s nobody here because there’s no residents around and all the employees went home, it’s just a wasteland. When you have people walking their dogs after work and playing volleyball at night and kids playing soccer on Saturdays, it makes a big difference. It’s not a matter of pushing people out, they’re still there. But you see a hundred million other people there doing something else so it’s not as intimidating.
That’s the challenge! It’s to not let one activity preclude the others. Let them all exist in their way.”
