SF misses chance to name street after Harvey Milk

While San Francisco residents lose hope in renaming SFO after Harvey Milk, San Diego claims to be the first city to officially name a street in honor of the slain civil rights activist.

Formerly named Blaine Avenue, Harvey Milk Street got its fancy new sign Thursday, giving San Diego some major bragging rights.

How the heck did San Diego get to rename a street after our late city supervisor? Well, it turns out that Milk was stationed in San Diego when he was in the Navy in the early 50s, according to SFist.

City officials felt the best location for the the two-block stretch was near San Diego’s Gay and Lesbian Community Center in the Hillcrest neighborhood. While the renaming process took nearly a year, City Council President Todd Gloria said the city’s costs were covered by donations

San Francisco residents took to Twitter to tweet out their dissent for missing out on this endeavor:

https://twitter.com/satellitehigh/status/322783496970067968

San Diego now has a Harvey Milk Street! When are we going to have SFO/Harvey Milk Airport? http://t.co/8UBfaWwr1f

— SF Green Party (@SFGreenParty) April 12, 2013

While it’s unclear if or when San Francisco will rename SFO in honor of Milk, voters may get to ultimately decide in November, reports San Mateo County Times. But before that happens, officials recently set up a nine-person committee to facilitate naming policies.

Airport spokesman Doug Yakel explained the purpose of the committee, which is comprised of business, airport and city officials:

“It’s a way to add structure to the effort and to define a set policy. The goal is not intended to halt or stop or render judge on the current proposal.”

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San Francisco residents have been torn over the possibility of a Harvey Milk SFO airport when Supervisor David Campos proposed the idea in January. Although more than 100 people rallied at City Hall to show their support in February, a poll revealed most San Franciscans are not digging the name change.