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San Francisco Smart Growth Tour

Why should environmentalists care about cities? The design of a city can significantly affect the environment. By re-using land and building compactly and efficiently, we can reduce the amount of open space paved over by development. Furthermore, one central element of cities has a direct negative impact on the environment: automobiles. By designing cities to make travel by foot and by transit pleasant and convenient, we can reduce the number of cars on the road, thus decreasing pollution, global warming, and dependence on the petroleum economy.

Some cities are turning to smart growth for a sustainable model of urban planning. Smart growth creates walkable neighborhoods with a mix of homes, shops, schools and jobs, so that a car is not necessary for most trips. Smart growth also includes a range of housing types affordable to all income levels. An integral part of smart growth is infill development, which means building within existing cities instead of out in the greenbelt. Infill can include building on vacant lots, building up instead of out, re-use of underutilized sites, and rehabilitation or expansion of buildings. Good public transportation is important too, as are amenities like pedestrian/bike paths, creeks, and parks.

This self-guided tour will look at some San Francisco examples to explore how cities can accommodate growth, become better places to live, and preserve open space through smart growth planning.

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The Tour

Hayes Valley Neighborhood Octavia Boulevard Hayes Green Linden Alley Merchants Hayes Street Duboce Bikeway and Mural One Church Street Apartments Duboce Park City CarShare Pod Noe Street Noe Beaver Community Garden 2300 Market Street Market and Noe Center Market/15th/Sanchez

The Tour

The tour starts at the corner of Fell Street and Octavia Boulevard.

There are a number of ways to get here by transit:

1. From Civic Center BART, walk six blocks west on Grove Street through the Civic Center to Octavia. Turn left on Octavia to Fell.
2. From the Van Ness Muni station on Market, walk north on Van Ness to Fell, turn left, and walk three blocks to Octavia.
3. There are a number of Muni buses that pass through the area, including 5, 16, and 21.

1. Hayes Valley Neighborhood

In the last twenty years, the Hayes Valley neighborhood has experienced a radical transformation. This change can be traced in part to the 1989 earthquake. The earthquake damaged the Central Freeway, which once bisected the neighborhood. The noise and unsightliness of the elevated freeway made the street unwelcoming to pedestrians and made business difficult for local merchants. The northern portion of the Central Freeway leading to the Franklin and Gough Street ramps was demolished in 1992. San Franciscans voted in 1998 to have the final northern off-ramp onto Fell Street removed, and it came down in 2003. The demolition of the freeway has brought new vitality to the neighborhood it once divided. The aesthetics of the neighborhood have improved, highway noise and air pollution have decreased, and new businesses have sprung up in the community.

Turn and look down Octavia Boulevard toward the freeway ramp.

2. Octavia Boulevard

On November 3, 1998, the people of San Francisco voted to replace the remaining portion of the elevated Central Freeway, north of Market Street, with a surface boulevard along Octavia Street. The design of the new Octavia Boulevard was crafted with neighborhood input during a series of planning and design meetings in 1999. Construction began in 2004, and the new boulevard opened in 2005. The result is a tree-lined boulevard with four lanes for freeway traffic, two lanes for local traffic, landscaped medians, sidewalks, ornamental lighting fixtures, and benches. Narrow lots along the boulevard will be home to transit-oriented development with ground floor retail and housing, including affordable housing. Parking will be minimal when required (0.5 spaces per unit), as the boulevard is so close to transit. The boulevard is situated in a very active site; besides being near major transit lines, it is also close to shops and restaurants, and walking distance from cultural amenities and civic institutions. Above is a photo of Octavia Boulevard viewed from Market Street, before the freeway was demolished.

Turn and face the park.

3. Hayes Green

Click on the image for the enlarged size.

This new park, which opened in June of 2005, provides a pleasant transition from busy Market Street to the south into the Hayes Valley neighborhood. It offers a public open space for residents to gather and play, and for many people, it represents the grassroots advocacy efforts to remove a damaged freeway and convert the space into a beautiful community amenity. Food for thought: How can cities balance the regional need for freeways and automobile traffic with the neighborhood need for a vibrant pedestrian environment? Walk north through the park. On the right, part of the way through the park, is Linden Street. Turn right and walk down the alleyway.

4. Linden Alley Merchants

The merchants on Linden Alley are transforming a narrow, little-used street into a bustling business corridor with a community flavor. Hicham Tazi, of Tazi Designs, made use of a larger two-story building for his Moroccan imports store. In the front of a defunct garage space, James Freeman of Blue Bottle Coffee created a small organic coffee stand that is a popular destination. He shares the building with an architecture firm and a wood shop.

At the end of the alley, turn left on Gough Street and left again on Hayes.

5. Hayes Street

Hayes Street is the central retail corridor of Hayes Valley. The character of the street has changed over time. It was once considered seedy by many San Franciscans—a place for illegal activities. Now, new upscale boutiques and hip eateries share the street with long-standing businesses such as the Hayes Street Grill. This retail district attracts customers who live nearby as well as those traveling from other parts of the city. Many symphony-, theater- and opera-goers come here for a meal or a drink before or after the show in the Civic Center area.

Food for thought: Although this revitalization and prosperity has brought improved retail, increased property values, and a cleaner and more pleasant neighborhood, many Hayes Valley residents have also felt the negative effects of gentrification—displacement of poorer renters who can no longer afford to live here. What might cities do to have vibrant neighborhoods and at the same time make sure housing is available for all?

Stroll down Hayes Street, stopping to shop or grab a bite to eat if you desire, two blocks to Laguna Street. Turn left on Laguna and walk about six long blocks to Market Street. Turn right. In about a block, look for the Duboce Bikeway angling off to the right. Turn right here.

6. Duboce Bikeway and Mural

Together, bicycling advocates and Muni transformed the rundown back street of the Safeway shopping complex into what is now the Duboce Bikeway. The bikeway provides bicyclists a connection between Market and Church Streets, and is the first project in San Francisco featuring a car-free, bicycle-oriented street. The 6,000 square foot mural running along the Bikeway celebrates the space with scenery evoking a bike ride from the Bay to the ocean.

Food for thought: Would more such bicycle-oriented features encourage you to ride a bike more often? What are the impediments to bicycling in an urban area?

As you near the end of the bikeway, notice the One Church Street apartment building on the right, across the Muni tracks. This is our next destination.

At the corner, carefully cross Duboce (the Muni tracks).

7. One Church Street Apartments

This development has 93 units of rental apartments affordable to families earning 20-60% of the Area Median Income. Some units are reserved for the lowest income bracket, and 23 apartments are for families with one or more residents living with AIDS. The building offers on-site social services staff, childcare, a computer learning center, a community room, and an interior play area for children. It also has a café on the corner of Church and Duboce.

Food for thought: Is this what you would expect an affordable housing project to look like? How would you feel about living next door to this apartment building?

If you wish, walk around the perimeter of the Church Street Apartments, returning to the corner of Church and Duboce. Continue several blocks up Duboce Avenue to Duboce Park.

8. Duboce Park

Originally established in 1900, today the Duboce Park continues to provide crucial open space within the cityscape. Muni runs alongside the park, helping to make the park convenient to the Castro, Lower Haight, and the Church and Market area. The park gets heavy use and is enjoyed by children as well as dogs and their owners. Duboce Park also houses the Harvey Milk Recreational Arts Center, which includes a performance space, a photography center, and a studio for dance, music and aerobics classes.

Food for thought: When people have access to nearby parks, do you think they are less likely to want large backyards? What benefits do parks have for a neighborhood?

For an optional detour to see a City CarShare Pod, take a left on Noe Street, which hits Duboce about halfway up the park. Go right on 14th and up a very steep hill; the City CarShare Pod is in the parking lot about halfway up the hill on the right.

9. City CarShare Pod

City CarShare is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote car-sharing as a means to reduce automobile dependence and to enhance the environmental and social integrity of our urban neighborhoods and planet. Car-sharing allows residents to use a car when needed without incurring the fixed costs of ownership. City CarShare provides a network of vehicles throughout San Francisco, the East Bay, and the Peninsula. Cars are available on a per-use basis; members pay per month, per mile, and per hour.

Food for thought: Do you think CarShare could significantly reduce the number of vehicles on the road? What would be the benefits and drawbacks, as compared with owning your own car? If convenient shared cars existed in your neighborhood, would you be less likely to own a car?

Return to Noe Street by heading back down 14th and take a right on Noe.

If you did not take the detour, continue up Duboce Street and turn left on Noe Street, about halfway through the park.

10. Noe Street

The pedestrian enhancements on Noe Street in the Duboce Triangle, a result of citizen involvement and city investment, made a very positive impact on the neighborhood. The street was improved with wider, bulbed out sidewalks and extensive tree plantings, which residents of Noe Street help to maintain and beautify with benches and planters. The result is a quiet street without much car traffic and with beautiful spaces to sit down and meet neighbors.

Food for thought: What do you find appealing about this street? Could these types of changes be implemented in other neighborhoods?

At the intersection of Noe and Beaver Street, look to your right and notice Noe Beaver community garden.

11. Noe Beaver Community Garden

This site, originally a bar, was left to the city when the owner passed away. In its disuse it became a haven for drug users and the homeless. When a murder occurred here, the neighborhood petitioned the city to make it into a city park that would serve as a community garden. The garden's 15 plots are well used and all organic. While many apartment buildings and other compact developments lack gardens and backyards, community gardens can make up for this lack and can be a boon to the neighborhood by providing beauty and a social gathering opportunity for neighbors.

Food for thought: What other plots of abandoned or ill-used land might benefit from a community garden?

Continue down Noe until you reach Market. On your right, notice the building on the narrow-angled corner.

12. 2300 Market Street

This older, higher-density mixed-use building has 36 housing units and ground floor restaurants and retail, but no parking. Such a project is unlikely to be approved today. Although a large number of residents in this area don't own cars, and transit is easily accessible, the City and many neighbors insist on a minimum 1:1 parking ratio. As long as residents drive cars, they will need places to put them; but the parking requirement makes it more difficult build a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood and wastes precious space.

Food for thought: Do you think the easy availability of parking spaces makes residents more likely to own cars?

Turn left onto Market. At this corner, notice the Market and Noe Center (Tower Records building).

13. Market and Noe Center

This building's innovative design allows for parking without breaking up Market Street's pedestrian-friendly feel. Although it's barely noticeable from Market, there is parking on top of the building, which can be accessed on Noe Street. You may have noticed cars entering the lot when you walked down Noe to Market. By hiding the parking on the roof, the street maintains its character, with retail facing the sidewalk. Drivers still get parking, and the building is still welcoming to people on foot.

Continue down Market until you reach the intersection with 15th Street and Sanchez. There is a gas station on the opposite side. From this vantage point you can observe the rest of the items on our tour.

14. Market/15th/Sanchez

This intersection could be more pedestrian-friendly. The combination of gas stations, large parking lots, long distances between sidewalks, and low-density developments create an environment that favors cars over pedestrians. Two new mixed-use infill developments are located near this corner: 166 Sanchez (next to the paint store) and 2191 Market (on the southwest corner). Both are examples of higher density buildings that have housing above retail. The Market Street development also has one floor of office space. On Market, near the southwest corner, is an older, 18-unit mixed-use building with zero parking. The rear of the building is on Sanchez Street.It has both housing and commercial space on the Market Street and Sanchez Street fronts. The design of this building is worth noting: the commercial entrances are right on the sidewalk, and the residential entrances are tucked back in between, creating the illusion of separate buildings and a feeling of privacy for the residents.

The lot that is currently the Dulux paint store was recently considered to be a site for Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's proposed building an 11,000-square-foot store with two levels of parking. There was controversy over the project. Some neighbors welcomed the retailer, while others felt the chain store will cause traffic problems, and still others felt that it was inappropriate to build a new parking garage, which would bring more cars into the neighborhood. Many were also concerned that the chain would drive local mom-and-pop retailers out of business. The property owner has since stated his intention of creating an upscale, multi-vendor fresh food marketplace in the existing 5,000 square-foot Dulux paint store building. The store would serve the neighborhood and would not be intended to attract shoppers from other parts of the city.

Food for thought: What would be the benefits and drawbacks to having a large retailer like Trader Joe's in a neighborhood like this one? Can large chain stores be compatible with a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood?

This concludes the tour. To return to the starting point, continue back up Market Street about a half mile to Octavia and turn left.