A series of community spaces in the Excelsior
From 2016- 2019, several City agencies together with the Excelsior Outer Mission community developed the Excelsior Outer Mission Neighborhood Strategy and Streetscape Design Guidelines to shape and improve pedestrian safety, walking experience, and provide a unified vision for near- and long-term streetscape improvements along the Mission Street corridor.
SF Planning’s Groundplay program partnered with Youth Art Exchange (YAX) and the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) to develop a series of temporary installations (or streetscape prototypes), to test out ideas for residents and visitors to pause, gather, wait for transit, and enjoy and support local businesses.
These installations have three main goals:
Demonstrate the principles and recommendations presented in the Streetscape Design Guidelines, which reflect the community’s vision for a unified streetscape corridor.
Pilot streetscape elements that create public open spaces for the community
Showcase near-term streetscape improvements as a way to bridge long-term capital improvement projects.
In 2020, Excelsior Action Group (EAG), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), along with local merchants and community stewards, are joining this partnership to bring two additional installations to life.
Project locations:
The team identified three potential locations for the streetscape prototypes, based on community outreach completed for the Streetscape Design Guidelines, as well as feasibility, pedestrian volumes, commercial activity, and in coordination with SFMTA’s Mission/Geneva Safety Project:
Youth Art Exchange (Mission St at Geneva Ave)
Excelsior Strong: Casa de Apoyo (4834 Mission St)
Excelsior Coffee (Excelsior Ave at Mission St)
