Public Perception of San Francisco’s Parklets

Published: December 2014

by Ecker & Kim; Agoe, Newton, & Stein / UC Berkeley

Excerpt from the introduction — For the businesses, restaurants, and organizations sponsoring these sites from across the sidewalk, it is usually anticipated that a new parklet will increase their customer or user base. Yet, when a public space is not controlled by a public entity, an important question arises: does the public actually understand the function of this type of space? Or, put another way, do people perceive parklets to be public spaces or sites for patrons?

In the course of this four-month research project, we used a variety of research methods to answer this key research question at three parklets along Polk Street in San Francisco, and three parklets along Divisadero Street. In addition, we further examined how, depending on socioeconomic neighborhood composition, the answer to this question may potentially differ.

Polk Street Parklets
“Are Parklets Public? Perceptions of Polk Street Parklets” (Ecker & Kim, December 2014)

Download the Report – PDF 4MB

Divisadero Street Parklets
“The Public Perception of San Francisco’s Parklets: Divisadero Cluster” (Agoe, Newton & Stein, December 2014)

Download the Report – PDF 6MB