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San Francisco Days

Community Planner Neal Patel on a mission for the right to ride.
Photographed by Chris Millimann.

For 29 year old Neal Patel of San Francisco, the question was not if he would help change how cities work, but when and how. Luckily, he´s found his calling as Community Planner at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC). After studying Public Health in college, Neal was an HIV prevention volunteer through the Peace Corps in Madagascar. His interests have always been tied to making a difference and working with a community, working actively on improving standards and creating better places to live. Neal began to think about the current transportation challenges in America, and after discovering his enthusiasm for bicycles he knew he had to get involved and help spread bicycling: a simple solution to many complicated problems.

When Neal Patel moved to San Francisco in 2006, he quickly fell in love with the bicycle for transportation. Through his work first as a volunteer and now as a staff member of the SFBC, he knows that one way to spread his passion is simply to get more people riding every day. ''While San Francisco rates among the top five US bicycle-friendly cities, we are still light years from enjoying the livable streets that define many European cities, and still face challenges in transforming our streets''. Politics and public perception is shifting though, and Neal loves creating and improving the streets of San Francisco for all who use them.