Guy begins shooting gun in Jackson Square near school bus and while mayor and police commissioner were nearby

No to the surveillance state. There needs to be a balance between government powers and protection from government abuse. When you build out the infrastructure for a surveillance state, it gets abused.

Some cyclists are really fast no matter where they are, so it is no surprise that the same people "speed by" the playground. Nevertheless, I completely agree with the OP implying that some cyclists are going too fast for a residential area, though unfortunately the proximity of the path and the way it divides the residences and playground from the sidewalk and T stop means pedestrians will always be impacted by certain heartless cyclists who think they own the path.

In fact, I liken crossing the bike path at Jackson Sq to crossing a road (with cars) -- especially for small children -- so I would completely understand why it's annoying to the residents.

Why does this matter to the topic at hand? Every time I ride past that area I do feel that the residents, who are already hard done by life in general, are being made to also suffer the indignity of fighting with bike traffic. Nowhere else along the SWC do you have anywhere near the level of inconvenience to residents that the Jackson Sq area has to deal with. It's ... really unfair.

I feel guilty every time I pass Jackson Sq on a bike. I almost feel we should be made to walk our bikes there.

Wow that's it. You figured it out. No-one told these kids to grow up and now you've solved it. Well done. Thank you for that well thought out solution.

No-one told you and your friends to live here btw. There are plenty of other places to spend $2k+ On a 1br.

I agree with all those who have had only good experiences on the path.

It is true that there was one hopefully isolated bike path incident recently -- someone built a barrier across the path and threw something (possibly crab apples) at passing bicyclists. A couple of cyclists posted photos on FB. The incident was taken seriously and discussed among youth workers, parents & kids. Hopefully that was an isolated incident.

Meanwhile, I think long-ago incidents get repeated a lot and become urban folklore. If you have had any troubling public safety incidents anywhere on the bike path you should report it to BPD so there is an official record.

About bicyclists and speed: in the midst of a conversation about bike path safety around the playground, children expressed concern about the speed of some bicyclists and the attitude of some, saying that some bicyclists swear at the children and make inappropriate gestures at the children. I don't know how common this is -- I've seen high speeds but not the other things -- but it is a concern.

The incident with the barrier was not a protest against bicyclists. [In fact, as the conversation moved from the incident to bike path safety one child asked 'how is this relevant' and others agreed that it wasn't directly relevant, but all aspects of safety, civility and courtesy are at least indirectly connected.]

We're trying to get some markings on the bike path to improve bike safety and playground safety ....and to spread the word that it makes sense to use slow-to-moderate speeds when biking by any playgrounds or other active pedestrian & children's areas.

Southwest Corridor Park supports youth & family programs all along the park, with a philosophy that parks are great assets for community building. This is a sad/troubling time right now. But there are great kids and strong community.