In the Works - Community Newsletter - June 2020 | Page 33

the City’s major
transportation corridors
– all BART and Muni
lines pass through this
area, as well Highway 101
and major thoroughfares,
such as Van Ness Avenue
and Gough Street – its
wealth of transit options
has made it a hotspot for
development in recent years.
Over the past decade, nearly
5,000 housing units have
been built or are under
construction in this small
area, adding additional
density and its related
burdens to an already
tightly packed section of
the City. Although there
are a few large parks to the
area’s north and west, the
Market Octavia Area Plan
encompasses very little
open public space within
its actual boundaries. These
limitations mean that to
provide the residents of this
area with adequate outdoor
space to exercise, socialize
and relax, we had to get
creative. A solution? Alleys.
Although they’re easy to
miss, alleys make up 6
percent of the total Market
Octavia Plan Area, which
is considerable given the
fact that a vast majority of
this area is either private
property or high-traffic
thoroughfares. In similarly
dense portions of the City,
namely Chinatown and
South of Market, alleys and
side streets long have been
hubs for community activity
and recreation. In recent
decades, the City has taken
a more proactive approach
in terms of making these
spaces as accessible, safe and
functional as possible.
This approach has
culminated with the
incorporation of “Living
Alleys” into the wider
Market Octavia Area Plan,
which itself began in 2008.
San Francisco has drawn
heavily from a concept
rooted in the Netherlands
called “woonerfs,” or
living streets, which
reconceptualizes back alleys
in dense urban settings as
social spaces rather than
just byways for vehicles.
Locally, Public Works, the
San Francisco Municipal
Transportation Agency and
the Planning Department
are collaborating on the
initiative.
The alleyways improvement
idea takes this concept even
further by incorporating
a wide range of features,
among them street trees,
living walls, seating
areas, play areas for kids,
pedestrian-scaled lighting
and public art. To further
disincentivize car traffic,
many unique roadway
features, such as raised
crosswalks, chicane turns
and special paving, are
included in these plans. The
design features aim to land
on the ideal combination
of safety and attractiveness
that transforms these
spaces into hubs of
community and activity for
the area’s rapidly growing
population.
There are currently two
living alleys in the Market
Octavia area – on Linden
Street, between Octavia
and Gough streets, and on
Hickory Street, between
Octavia and Laguna streets
– but there are ample
opportunities for expansion
throughout the area. This
untapped potential, as well
as the need to provide
enhanced opportunities
for safe, socially distanced
outdoor gathering due to
the COVID-19 pandemic,
prompted us to hold
a digital community
workshop on the Market
Octavia Area Plan’s Living
Alley component on June
24. The workshop gave
us a chance to provide an
update on the project’s
status, namely its budget
limitations – exacerbated
by the COVID crisis –
and a general timeline for
implementation. The Living
Alley project is slated to run
until about 2026, with the
initial design phase taking
place this summer and fall.
At the meeting, officials
shared information on a
total of 36 alleys throughout
the Market Octavia Plan
Area that have been
identified as candidates for
renovation. Presenters also
outlined the criteria for
selecting which of these 36
ultimately will be renovated.
Despite the uncertainties of
these times, Public Works
and its City partners remain
determined to see more
Living Alleys move from
concept to reality.