Surviving the 2010 Outside Lands Festival

It's that time of the year again when the Outside Lands festival returns to conquer Golden Gate Park with music, traffic, and everything else in between.

Akit's Complaint Department is here to give you all the tips you need to make it an easier weekend for all of the Sunset and Richmond district residents who has to put up with this stuff.

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First of all, Outside Lands will NOT be starting this Friday and having a three day music orgy. This year's event will only be on Saturday, August 14th and Sunday, August 15th. This is a big relief for those who commute on Muni to and from downtown on weekdays.

Second, for neighbors who live near Golden Gate Park, you should have received a letter from the event organizers. It's hard to identify as they mailed it to "Resident" and the return address says "Outside Lands" in very small print. If not, click here to read the same info on their site.

Important Phone Numbers:

• (415) 752-2098: Outside Land's community hotline will be manned on Saturday and Sunday from 10AM to 11PM if you care to bitch and moan at the event organizers. Be warned, this is not a government agency and thereby not responsible for maintaining public records of phone calls.
• (415) 831-2774: SF's Park and Rec's office will have signs available for residents who want to tell people to not block their driveways.
• (415) 553-0123: The non-emergency line of the police if people start getting out of line. Call 911 if it's a really bad problem.
• (415) 553-1200: Department of Parking and Traffic's hotline if you want to report illegal parking, including blocked driveways.
• (415) 554-7410: Supervisor Eric Mar's office for the Richmond (District 1). Highly likely nobody will answer the phone on the weekend.
• (415) 554-7460: Supervisor Carmen Chu's office for the Outer Sunset (District 4). Also unlikely to answer phones over weekend.
• 311 or (415) 701-2311: San Francisco 311; the all in one place to get answers and file complaints; manned by some of the most incompetent idiots in San Francisco.
  

Transit Information:
Outside Lands is offering private shuttle buses for the second year in a row to drive people to the event and back. The three pick-up locations are: Marina Square, Daly City BART, and 22nd Street Caltrain. For the locals who don't want to go to the concert, Daly City BART's parking lot won't fill-up because it's illegal to park in their garage and ride the shuttle to the concert, it's only for BART passengers only.

Taxicabs will be heavily used and abused, so be wary that if you depend on a taxi, you might not get one this weekend. Warning, watch out for price gouging by legal cab drivers, and never ride an illegal taxi or livery car. (Tips from the Taxicab Commission).

As usual, the cheap concertgoers will take advantage of Muni, which means more pain for us residents trying to get somewhere. Here's some tips I provided last year (modified due to certain lines not running on weekends):

Avoid the following Muni lines (in no particular order):

• 5-Fulton **SEVERE IMPACT**
  
• 71-Haight/Noriega
• 28-19th Avenue **THE BUS FOR CHEAPSKATES WHO DON'T WANT TO PAY FOR THE SHUTTLE FROM DALY CITY BART**
  
• 29-Sunset
• N-Judah **SEVERE IMPACT**
  

Alternate lines to ride:

• 6-Parnassus (inner Sunset residents)
• 18-46th Avenue (outer Sunset & Richmond residents, in exchange for the 29-Sunset)
• 31-Balboa (Richmond district residents)
  
• 38-Geary (everyday) and 38L-Geary Limited (doesn't operate on Sundays)
• 43-Masonic

Driving around the event from hell:
The same park roads will be shut-down from last year. Here's my driving tips from last year's event:

If you must drive, definitely stay away from these East-West direction streets.

• Fulton
• Cabrillo
• Balboa (maybe)
• Lincoln
• Irving (it's always crowded with the merchants on those blocks from 25th Avenue to 19th Avenue)
• Judah

If you are trying to go North-South, you can still drive through:

• 19th Avenue (GG Park South) via Crossover Drive to North entrances 25th Avenue and Park Presidio. EXPECT DELAYS.
• Great Highway, but do expect traffic delays as the Sunset Blvd. road entrance to Golden Gate Park will be shut down and forced to used Great Highway at Lincoln.
  
• Stanyan (east edge of GG Park)

Other Information:

• If you live near the event site and park your car on the street, park it on Friday night and don't move your car until Monday morning. Once you move your car, don't expect to find a space in your area.
• If you need to take care of any required business like grocery shopping, get it done as early as you can.
• For information about park access and details on park road closures, click here.

The best alternative:
If you want to have free entertainment without paying tons of money to Outside Lands, why not join me this weekend in SF's Japantown for the annual Nihonmachi Street Fair? Free music, great food, and lion dancing.

Lastly... Your rights as a San Francisco citizen during Outside Lands:

1. You have the right to complain to your district supervisor, police department, mayor's office, or any other appropriate city agency.
2. You have the right to have your complaint heard by a competent individual and you shall expect a response within a timely manner.
3. If you need help, call 311. If you believe the information they provided to you sounds incorrect or unhelpful, either hang-up and call again, or demand a supervisor. If they refuse to take complaints on certain matters regarding the event, keep cramming it down their throats until the report is filed.
4. Any comments, suggestions and complaints filed with a city agency, including SFPD, DPT, and 311 are considered public records under the Sunshine Ordinance. Calling Outside Land's hotline may not be considered as "part of the record."
   
5. If you notice limo or towncar drivers trying to pick-up passengers "on-demand," this is illegal under San Francisco law. Take down their plate and their unique chauffeur vehicle number on their rear bumper and call 311.
6. If you still hear concert music beyond 10PM, the end of the day's event, report it to your city supervisor and police department.
7. If you notice something shady going on in your neighborhood, don't sit on it, and give the cops a call.