Grass Roots Urbanism

The culmination of many community-focused design workshops, and stakeholder input, that created the California Cable Car Turn-Around Vision Plan ignited the formation of a separate group committed to seeing this area become the gateway to the Polk Street mercantile corridor.  The idea of creating a more formalized pedestrian focused transit node, away from the busy Van Nes corridor, here at the Polk intersection was the starting point for the Polk Plaza Vision

A New Cable Car Social Hub

Working with the growing group of “friends” of Polk-Plaza,  INTERSTICE was asked to create an addendum to the original vision plan that focused on the Polk intersection cable car stop,  with its obvious connections to the community, and to the heritage of San Francisco’s iconic cable car past.  The intersection is envisioned to serve as the gateway to the city’s western center – With widened sidewalks, bulbed curbs, street amenities and plantings at the four corners, the intersection at California street forms a larger hub connecting the bike lanes, and personal mobility routes to this very walkable neighborhood, with its heritage merchants, eateries and lively bars, that characterize this thriving Polk Gulch neighborhood.

From this new activated area, visitors and locals are just steps away from Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Cathedral Hill, Civic Center and the Tenderloin neighborhoods – so, it seemed the natural place to envision a lively orientation point at the western most terminus of the Cable car system.

Focusing Community

Here Street musicians would serenade the waiting commuters, the passing shoppers,  and the tourists on their elevated journey over the hills – to and from the Embarcadero and Chinatown. The plan imagines a redesigned civic space that makes people welcome and provides opportunity for interpretive signage, wayfinding , and musical programming from the nearby Music City Studios and hotel. The entire Vision plan can be found here – with the Polk Plaza addendum published here as a standalone document.

Join the friends of Polk Plaza and the Polk Corridor Neighbors as we continue to work on the best public commons for our San Francisco neighborhood.  

 

• Landscape
• Residential