The 1 Burrows Pocket Park, located in the diverse, working-class neighborhood of Portola in San Francisco, will transform an underutilized cul-de-sac into an attractive, green public plaza.
Running east-west, Burrows Street is nearly one-mile long and abuts the retaining wall of US Highway 101 on the eastern edge, where this project is located. To date, the project site and surrounding area have been a dumping ground for rubbish and gathering spot for vandals and illicit activity, creating an unsafe environment for neighborhood residents and students at the Martin Luther King Middle School less than two blocks away. The project is part of an on-going effort to revitalize and stabilize Portola's commercial corridor by increasing cleanliness, working with property owners to fill vacancies, providing support to existing merchants, promoting the shopping district, attracting resources for physical improvements and by building community pride and empowerment.
The pocket park is a working blueprint of a comprehensive, community-led effort for revitalization and will set a precedent for future public space improvement projects for underutilized spaces throughout the City of San Francisco. This greening project will offer a lasting and significant legacy and contribution to the people of San Francisco.
The support of the following organizations will help ensure that the project is environmentally and financially sustainable:
- Portola Neighborhood Steering Committee, a group of neighborhood merchants, property owners and residents of Portola.
- The landscaping plans of the project have been the outcome of a direct collaboration with the Portola Garden Tour Association. This non-profit group holds an annual neighborhood garden tour.
- Herrero-Boldt and Arup Engineering are providing professional pro-bono services.
- The project has received support and endorsement of the City of San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
- San Francisco Department of Public Works
- Caltrans, the state agency that owns the land on which the project is to be built.
