Temporary 17th Street Plaza!

Based on feedback from the community and ideas developed in the  Upper Market Community Vision & Recommendations Plan , the end of 17th Street at the intersection of Castro and Market has been chosen as the first temporary installation in the City’s “Pavement to Parks” program. Pavement to Parks seeks to create new public spaces by reclaiming excess roadway, especially through the use of simple and low-cost design interventions. The City has been working closely with community organizations, local businesses, and residents to ensure the temporary plaza on 17th Street will bring a viable new open space to the Castro.

The portion of 17th Street from the southern edge of the F-Line boarding island to Castro Street will be closed to automobile traffic and redesigned into a temporary plaza. F-Line trains will continue to operate through the plaza and access will be provided for emergency and maintenance vehicles. The adjacent Chevron Station will remain open.

Construction of the temporary plaza is set for from May 10th to May 13th.  

A grand opening for the plaza is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13 at 10:00 am.  Additionally, there will be a community celebration for the opening of the plaza on May 16th in conjunction with the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro’s sidewalk sales.

Below are the temporary closure plan, an informational FAQ on the project, and a memo outlining the City's evaluation proposal.

17th Street Temporary Plaza Design

17th Street Temporary Plaza FAQs

17th Street Temporary Plaza Evaluation Memo

Do you have a general comment or suggestion about this project?

Plan En dorsement

The Upper Market Plans unanimously passed the Planning Commission on October 23, 2008. The Upper Market Design Guidelines are now in affect. 

Thanks to all community members for your support of throughout the planning process.

The details of the hearing are:

The Planning Commission endorsed the Upper Market Community Vision and Recommendations, as a standing statement of the community’s broad work in the workshops, and a call to action for future work on the recommendations made by the community through that process. For those of you familiar with the draft document for review, this document contains all of the initial draft’s chapters 1-4 and 6.

The Planning Commission adopted the Upper Market Development Design Guidelines as a policy of the Planning Commission, requiring adherence to the Guidelines as a Driving Criteria for Project review and Approval. This document directs building and site design to be of the character and quality specified by the community through the workshop process. For those of you familiar with the draft document for review, this document represents chapter 5 of the draft.

Upper Market Community Vision and Recommendations

Upper Market Development Design Guidelines

Upper Market Corridor - Study Area Map  

Project Summary

The Upper Market Street study area lies primarily within the Castro neighborhood, along Market Street fromOctavia Boulevard to Castro Street. A significant number of new development proposals, combined with community concern about community infrastructure and the ability of new development to affect the area’s vibrant streetlife and neighborhood character, led to the initiation of a community process by Supervisor Dufty that would set a vision for the future of the corridor.  This process allowed community members a chance to create a comprehensive vision for what public improvements should be provided and how private development can contribute to the existing urban fabric on this critical corridor.  The product of this success process yielded recommendations concerning the public realm, development guidelines and an implementation strategy for all parties involved in the process. 

The result of the Workshop Series were two products:  the Upper Market Community Vision and Recommendations, which enunciates the community vision for the Upper Market corridor, including opportunities to improve the public realm, to look at changes to stimulate future development and to provide ways for all parties to continue with its implementation; a nd the Upper Market Development Design Guidelines, which provides design guidelines for development along the Upper Market Corridor. 

The Upper Market Plans unannimously passed the Planning Commission on October 23, 2008. The Upper Market Design Guidelines are now in affect.  

Project Team

The most important members of the project team are the neighborhood residents and business owners that participate or live in the study area.

This project has been sponsored by Supervisor Bevan Dufty, and will be directed by the Planning Department. A consultant team - Moore Iacofano Goltsman (MIG), with Seifel Consulting - has been hired to assist the Planning Department in completing the Workshop Series. MIG will be responsible for the public participation and urban design functions of the process, while Seifel Consulting will provide an economic analysis for the study area.

Project Timeline 

Click to download PDF - 869 kB

Project Update

Staff and consultant work has already begun on the project. The Planning Department and its consultants have begun an intensive study of the existing conditions of the neighborhood, including the physical, demographic and market conditions of the planning area. In developing the project, the team has also met with representatives of nearby neighborhood organizations and developers active within the planning area. A separate LGBTQ youth meeting was held to solicit the unique perspective of youth who either live or participate in the Upper Market Study Area.

Workshop 1

The first community workshop was held on September 11, 2007. Approximately 150 community members were in attendance to collaborate on a community vision for the Upper Market area. Supervisor Dufty led the workshops’ introduction, which was followed by a presentation from MIG, an urban design firm hired to lead the planning process.Together, the community reviewed the Upper Market area’s assets, issues, and opportunities; then broke out into small groups to prioritize issues on the corridor. Discussion focused on the categories of streetscape and intersection improvements; transit and bike circulation, safety and amenities; public spaces especiallyHarvey Milk Plaza; LGBT identity and urban design; youth needs; new development character; land use activities; identity and sense of place. (e.g. historic preservation and public art).  Community participants offered many creative and thoughtful ideas for improving the future of their community.Other issues that rose to the forefront of consideration were affordable housing, public safety, and sustainability and green design.

Workshop 2

The second community workshop was held on October 27, 2007. Approximately 100 community members were in attendance to discuss the vision framework that emerged from the first workshop and assess community preference for preliminary design strategies to achieve the community vision. The vision elements confirmed by the community are:

• Inclusivity: Celebrate the many identities of the Upper Market area.
• Livability: Encourage and support neighborhood needs.
• Connectivity: Improve circulation, safety and amenities for all modes of travel.
• Quality: Promote and maintain quality design in public and private developments.
• Health: Ensure the public and environmental health of the area.

In small breakout groups community members discussed two strategies for achieving the vision.  The first strategy asked community members to prioritize public realm improvement ideas (sidewalks, green infrastructure, open spaces, pedestrian/transit-orientated improvements, bicycle-orientated improvements, and parking). The following is a list of the Top 5 public realm improvements surveyed by the participants:

1. Encourage socially-engaging use of sidewalks by adjacent businesses for flexible seating, landscaping, display of goods in the building zone and curb zone. Alternate and allow creative, organic design of building and curb zone design.
2. Improve and increase crossings for pedestrians across Market Street. For example, use creative, low-maintenance pavement materials in/on crosswalks or create pedestrian refuges for crosswalks across Market Street.
3. (Equal in preference as 4): Install more natural landscaping and materials on sidewalks, occasional-on street parking spaces and the center median. Use permeable paving on sidewalks and retention basins.
4. (Equal in preference as 3): Create a community gathering space at the Castro and Market intersection. Build on Heidi Sokolowsky’s Harvey Milk Plaza redesign. Create a flexible open space for gathering, events, and performances.
5. Create additional open spaces in the Upper Market area, such as at the Church and Market intersection

Workshop 3
The third and final community workshop was held on December 10, 2007, with a great turnout and wonderful participation by all attendees.  This meeting allowed residents to reaffirm the vision, community design framework, and the public realm and new development guidelines set during the second workshop. 

Upon conclusion of the workshop series, our consultants will be taking the next two to three months to sculpt the recommendations that have been crafted and affirmed at the workshops into a plan document.  We hope to present that document to the community at an open house in March 2008, followed by a presentation to the Planning Commission for their endorsement later that month.

Please continue to check the website for periodic updates, but understand that not much will be updated throughout January and February as our consultants continue to work on creating the plan document.  A variety of methods (website, postcards, posters, etc.) will be used to alert people about the creation of a draft document and the subsequent openhouse.  Thank you for all of your participation to date!

Community Open House

Thanks to all who attended the Community Open House on May 12, 2008.  Over 75 members of the public, Supervisor Dufty, San Francisco County Transportation Authority Executive Direct Jose Luis Moscovich and Planning Department Director John Rahaim were on hand to hear a presentation summarizing the recommendations proposed in the plan.  Community members were encouraged to provide feedback on the plan recommendations through an open house format following the presentation.  The comments received at this meeting are posted below.