Small businesses in Sunset District hit hard by L Taraval Improvement Project

(SAN FRANCISCO) "What can I do? What can I do?" Shu Bo Wang said when she was anxiously sitting at one of the empty tables in her dumplings restaurant on Taraval Street waiting for customers walking in on the evening of January 18.

Wang was one of the 50 business owners hit hard by the L Taraval Improvement Project starting January 4, 2024. All parking spaces on three blocks of Taraval Street between 19th and 22nd Avenues were removed to become a single-lane moving traffic street in both directions. There were no crossings available both for pedestrians and motorists for three blocks. The merchants along the 3-block Taraval Street have lost 20% to 70% of their revenues in 2 weeks.

Anger, frustration, disappointment, and anxiety were the responses from the merchants impacted. That 3-block Taraval Street is the largest business corridor for the residents in the area. The vast majority of the merchants on Taraval Street corridor are Chinese and Asian Americans.

The merchants said Mayor London Breed administration has continuously overlooked and ignored the needs of the Asian community and the small businesses in the City. The anti-Asian violence, crime, homelessness, and drug overdoses in the City have driven more of their customers going down south to the nearby counties, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, for shopping and dining at restaurants, according to merchants.

Wang, 65, is an immigrant from Shandong Province, China. Wang first started a restaurant with her husband specializing in noodles and dumplings in Xinjiang, China, before they immigrated to the United States and settled down at the Sunset District in San Francisco. Wang's husband was a chef at hotels prior to starting their own restaurant in China.

Wang and her husband came to the United States 15 years ago. Two years after they arrived, they opened Happy Family Gourmet Dumplings and Noodles on Taraval Street at 20th Avenue.

Happy Family Gourmet has been very popular in the neighborhood for over a decade because of their unique recipe in Shandong and Xinjiang cuisine. "I have never seen anything like this in our restaurant for the past 13 years with many empty tables and very few takeouts. Our business has lost 70% of our revenue in 2 weeks since January 4 this year," Wang hoped the news story to get the City's attention for actions to save the businesses.

"What can I do? What can I do?” Wang said she didn’t know how she could bring her customers back. She had thought of laying off her workers, but she was even more concerned if she could not hire them back to work in the future. She had no choices and had to continue paying her workers wages.

When the Wind Newspaper reporter walked in Happy Family Gourmet during dinner hours on January 18 and spoke to Wang for 30 minutes. There was only one table with customers in the restaurant. No order of food or takeout was seen.

In accordance with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), the L Taraval Improvement Project is a multi-agency collaboration with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Public Works to improve and upgrade the L-Taraval light rail transportation system which connects Sunset District to San Francisco Downtown.

"The corridor will get the much-needed improvements to the aging infrastructure to make pedestrian crossing safer, increase accessibility, improve transit reliability, rehabilitate water and sewer infrastructure, enhance landscaping and replace road pavement along the L Taraval line," SFMTA stated.

Construction for the L Taraval Improvement Project started in 2019. "We knew that the construction had been going on for years. But at least our customers could be able to park or stop in front of our bakery shop all these years," said Mrs. Sam, co-owner of the popular bakery Mr. Bread which has been in business in the Taraval neighborhood for a total of 18 years.

"All of a sudden, we saw the construction signs put along the curbside telling us that there would be no parking along the Taraval Street starting January 4 until the end of February," said Sam, an immigrant from Hong Kong. "It has been a nightmare for us since the new year of 2024."

Sam said the motorists were not able to drive through Taraval Street, pedestrians were not able to cross the 3-block Taraval Street. "All the transportation obstacles have driven away our customers."

"We are now paying our workers without sufficient revenues from our business. We try not to lay off our workers," Sam further said. "We have not heard anything from the City. No information delivered to us. No grants or funds from the City to cover our losses. Should the City think of the impacts hitting the small businesses and set aside a certain budget for us?"

Sam said the merchants had a meeting with a representative from Supervisor Joel Engardio Office lately after they complained.

But Smile House Cafe has already laid off three workers. "We have temporarily laid off three workers because of the Taraval Project," said Lok Wan Lei, co-owner of Smile House Cafe and an immigrant from Macau. He hoped they could have three workers return to work as soon as possible.

Lei, 36, opened Smile House Cafe with his older brother and other investors right before the pandemic about five years ago. As an immigrant, Lei needed to work hard saving money to start the restaurant and received support from his parents.

"As an Asian small business owner in the City, I don't think the current city administration cares about our community. Our voices have not been heard. I am very disappointed and frustrated with our City," Lei said.

"I fully support improving city service by investing in infrastructure. Should the city be considerate of small businesses by the impacts over a long period of time and have a budget to cover our losses?" Lei said in frustration. "It has not been easy for our cafe for the past few years since the pandemic. Now the construction has even hit us harder. We have lost at least 20% to 30% of our business income."

Before noon on January 18, Lei and his co-workers were intimidated by a construction truck driver when they put their takeout food for delivery into their vehicle.

"It would only take a few seconds for us to put the food into our car for delivery. A construction truck was behind us. The driver kept honking against us with an insulting gesture," Lei recalled the incident.

Not only no parking was allowed on the 3-block long Taraval Street, the pedestrians were not able to cross Taraval Street for three blocks. Younger people and students could be frequently seen taking the risk of crossing the construction zone. Older pedestrians had to walk for a long distance around the blocks to go to the other sides of the street.

"The City should be well-prepared before this huge project started," Lei said. He had seen no construction work during the 2-day weekends which were crucial to all the small businesses. Lei demanded crossing bridges be installed on the 3-block Taraval Street and city funds be provided to the merchants impacted.

"The City has never thought of the impacts to the small businesses. No one from any city departments spoke to us until we complained to Supervisor Engardio office," Lei added.

Zhi Ming Zheng, who is in his 60s, opened his Chinese restaurant, Old Pier, two years ago on Taraval Street. When the Wind Newspaper reporter walked in Old Pier at noon time on January 19, no customer was seen in the restaurant. There were a few customers ordering takeouts.

"We have received no information and no funds from the City about this project. No city employee had stopped by to inform us about the construction," said Zheng. "We have lost 50% of our business income. The City should be held accountable and provide us with grants to cover the losses."

Wind Newspaper send inquiries on January 19 morning to Mayor Breed, Supervisor Engardio, SFMTA Director Jeff Tumlin, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Dennis Herrera, San Francisco Department of Public Works Director Carla Short, Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) Executive Director Sarah Dennis Phillips, and Office of Small Business Executive Director Katy Tang.

"The replacement of the Muni tracks on Taraval is a necessary once-in-a-century infrastructure improvement to ensure the train can run safely and effectively for the next 100 years," Engardio responded. "It is a huge disruption we cannot avoid but it is painful for everyone who has to live through it."

"It is important that SFMTA work with small businesses to inform them about what is happening and mitigate the disruption in the best ways possible," said Engardio. "I called a meeting with small business owners on Taraval and Katy Tang, the Director of the Office of Small Business, to discuss how we can support merchants during this disruptive period. The meeting will be at O'Briens Irish Pub on January 25 at 5pm."

SFMTA responded and stated that they understood the concerns of the merchants on the Taraval corridor and have partnered with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) to support small businesses during the L Taraval Improvement Project.

"The city is committed to providing a suite of services including access to grants, loans, marketing support, events and activations specifically geared towards supporting small businesses. A key component is providing free one-on-one business consulting and technical assistance and other resources to local small businesses," SFMTA said in a statement.

SFMTA announced on January 19 evening that a pedestrian bridge installation between 19th and 22nd avenues completed on the same day at the corner of 21st Avenue.

"We are dedicated to ensuring safe access to the streets during construction," SFMTA said. "While there may be no active construction work during the evenings and weekends, the construction zone must continue to stay cordoned off for the safety of the community. Hence, no-parking restrictions must stay in place to leave room for one lane of traffic for vehicles, transit buses and emergency vehicles traveling in east and west bound so we can continue to keep Taraval open to through traffic," SFMTA answered the questions raised by the merchants.

SFMTA said the project team has provided regular updates to the community via email, the website (SFMTA.com/LTaraval), and door-to-door noticing. The community was encouraged to have updates delivered to their phones or emails by signing up on the project page.

SFMTA anticipated that the sequence for rail construction between 19th and 22nd Avenues would be completed in late February allowing for the release of parking in the area.

The additional construction will include boarding islands, ramps, underground electrical work and constructing ADA compliant ramps. The overall L Taraval project is scheduled to be completed in fall of 2024, according to SFMTA.