San Francisco Public Works Annual Report - Fiscal Year 2017-18 | Page 83

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Sister City
Signage
One Hallidie Plaza
San Francisco began its sister city program more than 60 years ago when a
partnership with Osaka, Japan, was cemented. Since then, 18 other cities joined.
There’s a new attraction in the heart of downtown at Hallidie
Plaza: a nifty directional sign highlighting San Francisco’s
19 sister cities.
The towering display has a separate blade for each sister
city attached to a single pole and notes their approximate
distances from San Francisco.
Interim Mayor Mark Farrell, presided over the official
dedication on June 28.
The Public Works Bureau of Building Repair oversaw
the project, set the foundation and made sure the
direction of the signs closely matched the actual
locations of the cities; the San Francisco Municipal
Transportation Agency made and installed the individual
signs; and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
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provided and set the pole. The Mayor’s Office of Protocol
and the San Francisco Host Committee partnered on
the installation. The sister cities display showcases San
Francisco’s embrace of our global partnerships and a desire
to build bridges, not walls.
Several sites were considered, but Hallidie Plaza, which
is under Public Works jurisdiction, rose to the top. The
location, at Powell and Market streets, is a true crossroads
in San Francisco where visitors come from all over the
world to ride a cable car and shop in one of our greatest
commercial districts. Or just to people watch.
The sister city relationships promote person-to-person
diplomacy, with exchanges taking place in sports, the
arts, culture, business, science, government best practices,
education and more.
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