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Transforming a Parking Lot Into a Pop-Up Cargo Container Village

| Emily

One corner of an enormous parking lot in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood has been temporarily transformed into a lively pop-up “village”, featuring food trucks, seating, planters, retail, and a beer garden all based on repurposed shipping containers. The colorful concept, dubbed “The Yard”, features Gehl Architects’ methodology of activating public spaces and focusing on human interaction. 

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Photo by Emily Peckenham

The Mission Bay neighborhood has gone through numerous changes in its lifetime, beginning with its origins as, well, an actual bay. The bay was slowly filled in over the past two hundred years of San Francisco’s urbanization, seeing use as a shipyard, industrial zone, dump, paved over empty space, and soon, will feature condos (are you surprised?).  

The part of the project that may be a bit unusual is one of its aims – to “create community” and a sense of place –in advance of condos and mixed use development breaking ground. It will be interesting to see how and if this concept succeeds. 

For now, you can enjoy a beer at Anchor Brewing’s pop up outdoor beer garden (watch out on game days – its sure to be packed to capacity), and The Yard project hopes to activate the space with free public performances and happenings of various kinds over the coming months. 

Read my whole article and check out a photoset from my visit to The Yard last week (and don’t forget to try the food – the greasy, delicious Filipino BBQ pork from Señor Sisig filled me up for the entire day!) 

Streetwalk SF: Land’s End 2_2_2015

| Emily

ello everyone. This week’s streetwalk is off-road. Thus, less architecture and urbanism talk, and a bit more marine biology. Join me on the west side of San Francisco, where the Pacific Ocean crashes into the land. I hopped on my bike and rode from my apartment, through the Panhandle, on down through Golden Gate Park, then up the super steep hill past Cliff House. Almost at the top of the hill, I came to Land’s End, home of a new visitor’s center (replacing porta potties!), a large parking lot, and a view over the Sutro Baths. Usually full of tourists, there are several walking paths that branch off down and right out of the lot. I locked up my bike and headed straight for my favorite destination, the Land’s End Trail down to Mile Rock Beach (I always just call it Land’s End beach….). I planned to walk the labyrinth perched above the beach, but I’m so uncentered I’m not sure one labyrinth walk is going to do the trick. At the point above the beach look right: there’s the Golden Gate Bridge. 

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Look left: there’s Mile Rock Beach, a nice low tide, with sea mist and green spring growth carpeting the cliffside. 

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And here’s the labyrinth. Its quite nice, you should really visit. If there aren’t too many people visiting, you can walk it all by yourself while you enjoy the crash of the waves, the diving seabirds, and the illusion that there are no cars, houses, or people nearby. 

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Walking down the cliff to the beach, the ice plant is in bloom. I know its boring, and invasive, but ever since we moved out West I’ve loved the look of its spiky green branches dotted with hot pink cup shaped blossoms. I’ve Googled so you don’t have to: its botanic name is Carpobrotus edulis, and one of the common names that always struck me is “Hottentot Fig” – doesn’t that sound a little, I don’t know, colonialist and reminiscent of the 1800s? Let’s call it Ice Plant. Its native to South Africa but likes coastal California very much. Its considered invasive in the Mediterranean and New Zealand too. Apparently you can eat its fruit – “sour figs” – but I’ve never spotted one. Have you?

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I headed down to the beach, excited to see that it was low tide. Even though the low mark had been hours before the water was still well out – low enough to expose most of the rocks that are usually buried in crashing surf when I visit. I peeked under the largest boulder near the beach to find this sweet cluster of aggregating anemones with pinkish tentacles buried in sand. You can the one above the waterline is closed to protect its tentacles. 

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Check out this gooey cluster of aggregating anemones hanging from the rock!. There are tons of them everywhere around the mid-tide line. They open up underwater but look rather gross when they’re retracted and out of water. Anthopleura elegantissima are actually CLONES! Yes, all those anemones are genetically identical and branched off from one another. Even more wierdly, different clone groups are enemies, and will sting each other if a cluster gets close to a different cluster. 

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Look at that giant green….butthole? I know you were thinking it. But its actually a giant green anemone Anthopleura xanthogrammica. What a great name for a giant bulbous awesome anemone. I never get to see these guys, the tide usually isn’t low enough. They live a little deeper out, past the aggregating clone anemones, and around where you start to see clusters of mussels crowding the rocks. I’ve just learned that this is because they like to eat mussels, and as the starfish cruise through the mussel beds, knocking them off, these guys get a mussel treat when they fall down toward their buttholes…I mean, mouths. Actually – it is a butthole. Yes, anemones eat and eject waste from the same opening – who knew! 

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Look at the size of these things. 

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This one just had its tentacles open underwater before the tide sucked back out again. 

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This guy is in defensive posture. I think its a “shield backed kelp crab” – because of its distinctive shape. But I’m not sure how common it is for it to be dark red like that. 

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Here is a mossy chiton. An overlooked little intertidal mollusk. It clings onto the rock and rasps delicious algae off with its barbed radula (tongue like). It really anchors itself on there – not going anywhere. 

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When its low tide, the further rocks are really completely encrusted with barnacles, mussels, and gooseneck barnacles (the white ones, below). Have you ever eaten a gooseneck barnacle? I haven’t – looks like a lot of work for the meat. 

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Look at those rocks, totally encrusted. Its the perfect habitat for … 

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The big hunter, the Ochre Sea Star (below). They love to chow on mussels and wrap their bodies around mussel, pry it open with their sticky leg tubercules, and then eject their stomach pouch down in there to digest some sushi. 

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Headed back out – this streetwalk has a lot of stairs. 

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Oh – and Jesus was here. 

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Gorgeous outlook over the Pacific with a scalloped mackerel sky and cypresses in the foreground. 

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Back across the parking lot to my steed – the only one on the bike rack this fine afternoon. 

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This was mostly a nature streetwalk, but on my way up and out of Land’s End I had to snap a shot of a building a love to hate – this pistachio-mint-green building right on the corner of Geary. It actually works in this photo, contrasting with the blue and white sky and the zebra striped crossing. The building is a tragedy, but “at least” its not beige, right? (see neighbor building) 

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Streetwalk SF: Japantown/Geary 1_28_2015

| Emily

I toted my camera along with me on a walk to the Post Office the other day. It was about 3 in the afternoon, with scudding white clouds across a blue sky – very warm temperatures. Between the clouds (instead of fog) and the temperature, it was hard to believe that is Janauary and that its San Francisco. Come with me on a walk down Geary and through Japantown.

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Man checks the 38 MUNI Schedule

This isn’t one of San Francisco’s most beautiful neighborhoods. The huge road cutting through doesn’t help. Most of the walk is up against rather monolithic structures. 

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This is a charter school that butts up to the sidewalk. There isn’t any landscaping, and its always dirty. There is a colorful and large mosaic along the east end of the building. 

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The playground and open space/rec center at the corner is under construction. It was always kind of a wierd place. There are kids playing, soccer fields, but if you go by early in the morning, its obviously a major spot for people who are sleeping out, using the bathrooms, and sheltering. That whole stretch of Geary features a lot of abandoned food containers, suitcases, rough clothing, and shopping carts. Now there’s less, since the whole park area is blocked off. Maybe its because there aren’t any homes on that stretch of Geary, and no one is around to get them kicked out, that people feel its a good spot to hunker down.

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There’s a lot, LOT of broken glass from car windows along Geary here.

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 Geary is a real scar on the landscape, especially with the strange undertunnels, but there are still some things to look at. I always liked the “California” paint on the side of the Boom Boom Room’s building. 

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The whole area was obviously developed (or should I say, redeveloped?) at another time. It echoes a lot of Eastern Bloc shape memories. Even the “Japanese” style landmarks are cast concrete, and the type of apartment towers in the background don’t show up in many other neighborhoods. 

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I walk up over one of the pedestrian overpasses. Geary has a couple of these, and they’re weird. Not many people use them. You either have to rotate up a super long winding accessible ramp, or tramp up a bunch of stairs. Its quicker to wait and cross at the crosswalk. Looking down from halfway up, you can see the general flavor of the pedestrian experience on this part of Geary – leftover. Trashed. Unattractive. Gray. 

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This pedestrian overpass is styled with Japanese (?) style lampposts to let you know where you are, I guess. 

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One was broken. Its a CFL. 

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Looking down onto Geary…you can see how easy it would be to add BRT or light rail! It would make commuting so much easier. Instead, its a huge paved slice. At this time of day, its not even that busy. 

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See? A little burst of traffic, then no traffic on all that open space. But we can’t use it for anything else, noooo!

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It stinks up here on the pedestrian overpass, too much diesel fumes. Time to head down…I’ve crossed the border! Now I’m on the north side of Geary, I’m officially in Japantown. 

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Its pretty quiet over here mid-afternoon. Just some retirees, school kids, and people doing their daily work and errands. Some Nijiya Market employees are enjoying a late lunch in the sun on the loading dock. There are some great old signs. 

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Part of the whole 1960s style redesign here is this odd little village-style pedestrian only street. San Francisco DOES have pedestrian only street! Oh, does it count if it’s only a block long? Oh well. I still like it. Its a little cold, and grey though … and the fountain’s been off for a long time. Drought? 

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Some more fun signs on the “pedestrian street”…

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This one is pretty serious! Watch out, old ladies who love feeding pigeons – you are not allowed to feed them in front of the hardware store….or else….

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Walk across the street with me to Peace Plaza, perched right over Geary, in between sections of the Japantown Mall. 

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Is that concrete I spy? Why yes it is! Because there’s nothing more pleasant to sit on in cold, foggy San Francisco than a concrete plaza, right over a giant 8-10 lane road. So much gray, so little permeable surface! I imagine a green river looping right through the middle of this photo, planted with moss, and ferns. 

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Furniture outside the entrance to the mall surprised me. Hulking assymetrical cast concrete benches, angularly elbowing us with their pointy armrests, actually have warm, weathered seats made of natural wood. Who knew? Onward, into the mall! Its never terribly busy. Lots of fun stores and restaurants, that would bask in street frontage and passersby, but they’re locked away in a dated mall. I do love animal-headed babies, though….

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Its late afternoon so the sunlight hits the buildings facing south in a nice way. This classic SF apartment building sits on Post Street, as I walked back home (enough of Geary, thank you). 

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But what’s this, right next to our friend with the nice trim and window finishes? 

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Its…a beige box next to its friend, the gray box? Wait, is that supposed to be someone’s house? I spy a rare bird though, a balcony in San Francisco. Along own Post street, here’s another juxtaposition – a small, wooden apartment building in faded pink huddles under the cold shoulder of a concrete box (with floor to ceiling windows no less). 

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I could make a comment about the contrast of the uninspired and sure-to-age-poorly condos going up all over SF right now, but these buildings are so much older. Probably the 1910s and the 1960s. Guess people have valued ROI and using every/last/scrap of building footprint more than creating a beautiful city and livable homes for a long time then….

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Finally, a shot of a colorful mural along Post, on the side of the Rec Center. SF has a lot of potential for murals and color…more would be lovely. Some neighborhoods have absolutely none. 

Thanks for walking with me, now headed to the Western Addition Library then down the street to my apartment. 

| Emily

Bartlett Street Redesign

The Mission Community Market is teaming up with local designers at Rebar Studio. along with other community organizations, to plan a better streetscape for Bartlett Street between 21st and 22nd Streets in San Francisco’s Mission District.

I’m volunteering to help the MCM with the outreach effort, as they move into the key phase of gathering community input on different options for the project. Recently, MCM and Rebar hosted a community meeting where different ideas for the streetscape redesign – including murals, pedestrian improvements, plazas, seating, and more – were presented, and participants were asked to highlight their own favorite ideas or add their own.

Check out my coverage of the event here and be sure to stop by the Market on Thursdays from 4-8 PM at Bartlett & 22nd Streets to give your OWN feedback on the design options – there will be posters set up! 

OOOH haven’t you always wanted to look in an old suitcase?

| Emily

John Crispin’s photography of these old suitcases from the attic of an asylum that was closed in the 1960s (though much of the contents appear quite a bit older than the 60’s) is really fascinating. Though most of these items must have appeared quite prosaic when they were stored away in the attics – never, apparently, to be reunited with their owners – they are now really interesting to look into. Just as my toothpaste, underwear, journal, headache medicine and ipod wouldn’t give my contemporaries much to look at, at some point in the future, people would perhaps marvel at the uncomfortable stretch lace on my underwear, the illegal drugs embedded in my toothpaste, and the clunky retro look of my music player. I also love that they are real suitcases. I’ve often wondered how people ever packed in them, even though I love the hard-sided avocado, vermillion and slate blue vintage suitcases I’ve seen, especially with their satiny linings and pockets. I suppose it means people really didn’t have as many coats, shoes, handbags, and toiletries as today, since it seems all you could really fit would be a few changes of underwear and a couple shirts. I suppose my pride at never needing more than a carryon-sized suitcase for even trips of several weeks would seem misplaced in an earlier era. Though I also would have been considered a scandalous hussy for wearing bare legs with dresses and going out in public in leggings (gasp). In any case, check out this unique historical memento set – a bit sad, considering the circumstances. Perhaps some family members might end up being reunited with a bit of their history that would have otherwise been scattered to the winds of garages, attics, goodwills and “upcycling”.

| Emily

Happy Birthday To Me – now that I’m officially “old” (I’m sure you can guess what age I just turned), I’m hoping things will improve this year. The birthday weekend in question was spent in the “high dry mountain desert” of central California. Quite an odd landscape, wedged in between flat-as-a-pancake agricultural  fields and foggy windy coast. The dry and crumbly mountains are striated sideways due to tectonic forces and the crumbly dry sandstone and conglomerate is full of old sea rocks and fossils. Today, it’s mostly full of bullet casings (shotgun, 22, 44, and more!) and mineral encrusted rocks with not a drop of water to be found.

BLM lands were a wonderful find if you want to get away from the horrible user interface and overpriced suckage that is Reserveamerica (the contractor for the state, and national park systems). Since we didn’t decide a year ago that we wanted to camp this weekend, I’m pretty sure the state, county, and federal parks systems are all packed with RV and family vacation reservations from last January. Obviously the parks don’t care about tourists, odd work schedules, last minute through hikers, budgets or basically anything that should make our taxpayer funded parks accessible and open to all. Oh, and I didn’t have $43 to dump on a patch of dirt that I’ll be driving to myself, and pitching a tent on that I brought myself, to sleep on for the night. I’m not sure what the value added is to that patch of dirt that requires an $8 reservation fee and a fee increase of $2-4 every year?

No, I have found the wonder that is the Bureau of Land Management – if only it weren’t for all the damn ranch fences, it would have been downright perfect. We went equipped with the offroad vehicle, food, tent, water, and a tarp with poles for shelter, but we never even needed it! All these wilderness management areas had campsites that were completely open and completely free of charge, including really well designed shelter with a picnic table constructed of steel – complete with short benches for cooking under the waterproof metal shelter should it be raining! What a find. Sure, there’s not much to do there aside from walk, sit, hike around on a dirt road and it’s hot and dry as hell, but at least you’re alone. That’s the point of camping, right?

We saw and heard a variety of creature while there, from shrub jays to coyotes, and a tarantula (!) as well as tons of annoying giant gnats. We basically enjoyed ourselves until we came back to foggy, freezing San Francisco and the reality that is my foot pain, ongoing and extended rehab process, neighbor who wakes me up at 2 am every day and the hellish job search. At least the BLM adventure afforded the opportunity get out in the woods – especially since I still can’t hike – and have a couple night’s peace and quiet (aside from the damn coyotes, that is – it was a full moon.) 

Treasure Island Redevelopment – Is It Really “Green”?

| Emily

Aerial rendering of SF (left) and Yerba Buena/Planned TI Development (right) via Skidmore, Owings + Merrill

The SF Board of Supes recently gave the go-ahead to a billion dollar plan to redevelop Treasure Island, a flat and wind-scoured artificial island built from fill in the 1930s. Envisioned as a a “green utopia”, there are serious doubts as to how sustainable a 19,000 inhabitant island community can be, considering it will be built on toxic weapons dumps and accessible mainly by car. Read more in my recent Inhabitat post, with architects renderings. 

Can San Francisco benefit from international cooperation on livable cities?

| Emily

I recently attended a lunchtime talk at at the San Francisco Planning & Urban Research Association (SPUR) entitled “International Experiments in Public Space" featuring Tilly Chang of the SF County Transportation Authority, John King, Urban Design Critic and columnist at the SF Chronicle, and Kit Hodge of the SF Bicycle Coalition/Great Streets Project. SPUR has been addressing issues close to my heart recently – including hosting one of my all-time favorite organizations, waterscaping design studio Atelier Dreiseitl. I first saw Atelier Dreiseitl at the German Embassy in Washington, DC and then stalked them all the way across the country to their gorgeous "water park” in Portland, Oregon (below). 

Here I am at Tanner’s Creek Park by atelier dreiseitl in Portland, Oregon’s Pearl District, Spring 2010

While I couldn’t make it to see the Dreiseitl talk, I thought Wednesday’s discussion at SPUR would be a great opportunity to catch up with San Francisco’s take on international cooperation. With my background in international relations, including my Master’s research on human landscapes and my past two years working with the German government, I was quite interested to hear how San Francisco was partnering with its international colleagues.

Mary McCue of the SPUR board gave a brief welcome, and Hodge kicked off the event by giving some brief remarks, followed by the introduction of Tilly Chang. Chang began her presentation by sharing photos of popular large-scale public space projects including Paris, France’s “Paris Plage”, London, England’s “Very Important Pedestrian Day”, and New York City’s Times Square Plaza. She also introduced San Francisco’s “Better Streets” program and “Pavement to Parks” – all great initiatives that caught my attention soon after moving here. Chang showed the audience an assortment of successful “parklets”: a public seating area created from one or two former parking spaces adjacent to the sidewalk.

Parklet in front of Mojo Bike/Coffeeshop on Divisadero right near my place. Photo courtesy socketsite

In her presentation, Chang also indicated that certain sections of Market Street, including those separated green bikeways with my friend, the mushroom-headed cyclist, were indicative of a successful cooperation between the Planning Department, MTA, and Department of Public Works. They look nice, but unfortunately there aren’t any on the downtown section of Market Street I was biking on regularly.

Photo of Market Street separated bike lane courtesy Streetsblog

Chang finished her discussion with a slide show of future projects meant to turn alleys into better public spaces – particularly Minna and Natoma alleys downtown. A key challenge in the planning of the alley spaces may be engaging the community in the upkeep and care of the space, as well as making them ADA compliant. 

Rounding out the panel, John King presented a slide show of his whirlwind tour of all of San Francisco’s parklets – including a new one right in my neighborhood at Fulton and Divisadero! I was quite surprised to see the photo, but then realized that since I broke my foot I haven’t actually been able to get that far away from the house – I probably haven’t even gone past McAllister Street.  I can’t believe there’s a neat new urban design project going on only blocks from my door, and will be sure to post photos later this week when I check it out.

Location of your new neighborhood parklet, above

Quick to point out that he didn’t have any trouble parking during the day near any of the parklets – King anecdotally suggested that taking away one or two parking spots didn’t seem to make a major difference in parking difficulty.  King also emphasized the new signage on all of the parklets indicating that the seating is open to the public – while also showing us how several of the parklets front directly on cafes or restaurants, lending the impression that they are café seating only. King concluded his presentation by noting that in order for public space projects to succeed, they must work long term and be more than a trend – he pointed out a park edge project in Bernal Heights as an example of cooperation between residents and the DPW that has the potential to be tended properly and last a long time.


Of course, park-"lets” need plants to be more of a park than a parking space. 

The presentations at SPUR were a great overview of the parklet program and indicative of the commitment by San Francisco and its business community to spend time and resources on public space projects. I was disappointed not to hear more from Kit Hodge, however, and I was also looking forward to hearing a bit more about the “international experiments” promised in the event’s title and photos published on SPUR’s website.

International exchange for urban planning and livable cities is an incredibly fruitful area for exploration and I am eager to see San Francisco do more with this opportunity. When the slide photo of Paris’ “Urban Beach” – on a converted waterside expressway – went up, the accompanying sentiment was simply that it was a neat idea. I wanted to shout “So what if that was the Embarcadero?” In fact, it is possible the landscape of the Embarcadero may be due for some big changes due to the upcoming America’s Cup planning – more on that later.

Unique, large scale, and innovative uses of public space – particularly in urban areas, and particularly when they include landscaping and waterscaping – are a huge draw for the media, for tourism, and for the international design and planning community. One need only look at the constant media adoration generated by the High Line Park in New York City – it is almost as if it were the only park in Manhattan. The media and tourism frenzy surrounding the park hasn’t abated since its debut, and that’s a good thing. Honestly, who gets excited about another multimillion dollar downtown office complex or a new block of blandly colored “luxury” condos that will do nothing for the streetscape?


High Line Park NYC courtesy of Inhabitat

The benefits for city dwellers, their civic pride, and the opportunity to use and enjoy these spaces are infinite. Thinking about the Embarcadero, I’m reminded of the Düsseldorf Rheinuferpromenade – which was developed as a multi-use pedestrian promenade with cafes, boat moorings, beer gardens, benches, trees, and grass. The promenade was wonderfully built over a former motorway, and is now a huge draw for locals and tourists. The river’s edge is set against the backdrop of the old city downtown, and there is no 9 lane pedestrian crossing required to mingle back into the old restaurant quarter.

Photo credit Virtual Tourist

Having experienced the promenade as a resident, it was a wonderful place to take a lazy Sunday afternoon bicycle ride, sit at a cafe, or just walk year round. The trees and landscaping added a touch of shape and color in the winter months that is sorely missing from many modern concrete embankments and human-managed waterscapes, and the multitude of benches provided spots to people-watch, eat lunch, or track the progress of on of the huge river-barges. Like the Embarcadero, the promenade is centrally located, at a hub of Düsseldorf’s public transportation, and being on the waterfront, it is a natural “walking hub” to other areas such as botanical gardens, art museums, the old downtown, bars, and tourist attractions like the bridge and Frank Gehry buildings.

Rheinuferpromenade from the south, photo from Nordrhein-Westfalen Tourism

I’m curious about San Francisco’s participation in international exchange programs based around transit, public space, and sustainability issues since the SPUR presentations didn’t actually address this. The Northern Virginia Regional Commission, for example, has a long-standing program of cooperation with the German city Stuttgart on urban sustainability issues – in addition to workshops and programs, city leaders participate in actual exchanges to see and feel firsthand how various projects are working.

I was also rather surprised that the presentation at SPUR did not make the connection to the next day’s presenters, Atelier Dreiseitl. Dreseitl’s studio is a prime example of international inspiration and cooperation for better spaces and places with an ecological focus. Based in Germany and with offices in Portland, Oregon as well as Singapore, the studio has used its focus on “waterscaping” to address out-of-the-box environmental and design challenges across the world, including keystone work in Singapore addressing water management issues. The nexus of environmental and engineering challenges with design and community involvment is a key area for San Francisco to address in coming years.

Another view of Tanner Creek Park, Portland, OR – April 2010

While I have come across a few examples of international and regional cooperation since arriving here – the Delta Alliance (which includes the SF Bay area, the Mekong river delta area and the Netherlands among others) and the Global Green Cities conference in February – I am curious to learn if there are more. There may well be many initiatives I’ve not yet heard of, which is what I was hoping to learn about at the SPUR presentation.  

Many cities and regions across the world struggle with the same challenges of population growth, aging transit systems, integration of technology and climate change planning. While each region has its own challenges due to environmental and cultural factors, there are many areas where cooperation and idea sharing can lead to innovation, partnership, and even investment. I would like to support this work, and I’m curious as to who in the San Francisco Bay area is investigating the potential to host other city planners and designers in reciprocal idea-sharing and best-practices exchanges. If you know more or have comments, please contact me.