San Francisco recently hosted a series of events to make the city's backbone, Market Street, a little more fun. It's the latest of many efforts to revitalize a street that has been problematic even as the rest of the city has boomed.
For the most part, San Francisco's Market Street is no fun. The section in the Financial District is all business, with commuters scurrying into and out of office buildings at all hours of the day. Further up, the mid-Market stretch through the notorious Tenderloin District has been a pocket of blight in one of the nation's most gentrified cities. The city has a $500 million plan to redesign and revitalize the street by 2018.
In the meantime, the Market Street Prototyping Festival, held in early April, is an attempt to inject some fun into the plans for the new Market Street. The festival featured 50 tactical urbanist projects intended to bring fun and neighborholiness to the urban environment. Projects included six-way table tennis, chalk art, combinations of dance and video art, and odd versions of karaoke. The San Francisco planning department's City Design Group, in collaboration with Ghel Studio, is part of the team that will evaluate the 50 prototypes and choose finalists for permanent installation.
“There are old and new residents vying for space in the city, and so we, as city planners, have to find a way to start bringing these sides together. We feel our public spaces have to be those places where people from different backgrounds come together and start to build some empathy," Neil Hrushowy, manager of the City Design Group, told Next City.
FULL STORY: Will S.F.’s Market Street Be Redesigned Into a Place for Play?
How San Francisco’s ‘People Protected Bike Lanes’ are Moving the Needle on Road Safety
A local bike safety protest has become a global phenomenon.
Car-Free Streets Aren't a Silver Bullet
The San Francisco Chronicle's urban design critic tempers expectations for Market Street in San Francisco, where the city this week undertook an ambitious, but perhaps over-sold, redesign of the busy street.
Market Street in San Francisco Closed to Cars
The historic, car-free transformation of San Francisco's busiest street opens to the public today.
Analysis: Cybertruck Fatality Rate Far Exceeds That of Ford Pinto
The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled seven times last year.
National Parks Layoffs Will Cause Communities to Lose Billions
Thousands of essential park workers were laid off this week, just before the busy spring break season.
Retro-silient?: America’s First “Eco-burb,” The Woodlands Turns 50
A master-planned community north of Houston offers lessons on green infrastructure and resilient design, but falls short of its founder’s lofty affordability and walkability goals.
Test News Post 1
This is a summary
Analysis: Cybertruck Fatality Rate Far Exceeds That of Ford Pinto
The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled seven times last year.
Test News Headline 46
Test for the image on the front page.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service