San Francisco Great Streets Project believes that livable city streets are essential to building a strong, welcoming community. By working with government, business, and neighborhood leaders, the Great Streets Project actively advocates this mission.
San Francisco Great Streets Project envisions a community whose streets attract people of all kinds to create compelling public places. These streets should serve as a network to connect people and places through the use of sidewalks, bikeways, and public transportation. In order to turn this vision into reality, the Great Streets Project engages in community outreach, conducts studies on the impact of street projects around the city, and develops best practice tools and outreach materials to support innovative street transformation. Currently, the project is working on three key campaigns: Institutionalizing Parklets in San Francisco, A Better Market Street, and Sunday Streets.
Parklets are a popular new development that transform parking spaces into attractive new community gathering spaces. By building a platform over 2 to 3 parking spaces, the widened sidewalk provides a public sitting space with some combination of benches, planters, landscaping, bike parking, and tables and chairs. Research confirmed that parklets lead to increased pedestrian activity, pedestrian satisfaction, and sense of community character. Due to this success, the Great Streets Project is actively working with businesses and organizations interested in hosting them around the city.
The Great Streets Project also recognizes that Market Street is the civic and cultural backbone of San Francisco for automobile transportation, but believes that it has a long way to go in terms of a transit and biking corridor. In hopes of revitalizing the community on this street, they are reaching out to community partners and stakeholders for support in A Better Market Street’s plan.
The Great Streets Project’s third campaign is to expand Sunday Streets into a weekly program. This project hosts events that encourage health, community, and fun by creating miles of car-free roads where San Franciscans can walk, bike, shop, and play in diverse San Francisco neighborhoods.
Institutionalizing Parklets:
• To test the impact of parklets, a before and after study was conducted on pedestrian counts, stationary activity counts, pedestrian surveys, and business surveys of the first parklet built in the city on Divisadero Street.
• In anticipation of the creation of many more parklets in the city, a broader study of the impacts of parklets in three additional neighborhoods was recently completed.
• Best practices tools and outreach materials are developed to ensure that parklets continue to be created around the city, including:
o Guidelines for how to apply for a permit
o Pdf files of a flyer and a door hanger for those who are working towards a permit to share with and encourage their neighbors
o Funding ideas
• A How-to Guide has been created to aid other cities looking to create livable city streets and a vibrant community. This guide includes parklet program strategies and tips based off of the success of parklets in San Francisco.
A Better Market Street & Sunday Streets:
As an active participant in both of these campaigns, the Great Streets Projects engages in community outreach and helps organize events to advocate the mission of each project.
The main costs are associated with parklet permit holders. This includes a permit base fee of $791, a yearly renewal fee of $221, an inspection fee of $191, design and construction costs typically ranging from $5,000 - $15,000, and maintenance costs.
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