Right Under My Nose: Secret Gardens of San Francisco
One of the nice things about the San Francisco Bay Area is its vast array of gorgeous open space. Yesterday, a few friends and I literally stopped to smell the flowers out at Mount Diablo State Park.
The amount of colorful life in this area is really something. In addition to wildflowers in the east bay, there are mushrooms down low in the north bay, eagles up high in the south bay.
But what of the city itself?
(cc) patrick boury
Today I explored a whole different side to open space in the bay area: public urban green-space. Spots such as the Yerba Buena Gardens and Golden Gate Park are well known, but there are many hidden green gems in even the densest urban areas of San Francisco. By city ordinance, newly built or renovated buildings must dedicate a portion of their square footage to open space that is publicly accessible. Rick Evans of SFCityGuides.com writes that while developers will fulfill their legal responsibility in creating these spaces, they often keep these small gardens and parks unadvertised. Evans maintains that in order to find these quiet gems, you have to poke around, ask questions and overcome the “I don’t belong here” feeling.
Knowing (the location of the park) is often half the battle. And there are a variety of ways to find them, from browsing online satellite images to observing the high perimeters from the sidewalks. But sometimes you have to push open an unmarked door, wander to the end of a hallway or go to an odd floor in a tall building to find these secret patches of green.
A sample:
The sun terrace at the famous Crown Zellerbach building features a peaceful tree-lined seating area, a stunning view of the cityscape (including a full-length look at the iconic Transamerica tower), a small monument to our first president — all on the 15th floor.
Also, there’s a small rooftop cafe at a SF art school that features a Diego Rivera fresco and cheap bites to eat.
But I’m not going to be that guy that spills the beans. The value of these places is in the secrecy.
Many of you will be pleased just to know that these emerald patches exist. For those that must explore, I’ve compiled a map (using this handy mapping tool) of some of the hidden urban parks and rooftop gardens. If you’d like to browse the compilation, or add your own secret spots, please leave a comment here, or drop us a line: localoaf at free-google-email-domain dot com.
March 28th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Nice detective work! Speaking of public green space, the new California Academy of Sciences that is now being rebuilt in Golden Gate Park (and designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano) is supposed to have a ‘living roof’ planted with trees, shrubs, flowers and lawn. The drawings look fabulous; for the reality, we still have to wait a year or so…
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Hello, Hello! I am VERY intriged by this story and would love to “browse the compilation” you have already found. SF is a great city with so many little secrets!
Thank you!
Danielle
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:48 am
Hi,
This is a fantastic article thanks for sharing. I am quite interested in viewing the compliation you have put together. I will be sure to pass along other spots that I hear about or locate myself. Thank you!
Keith
August 6th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Keith, Danielle, A superset of my own personal list of these is featured in the book _San Francisco: The Unknown City_ (ISBN 1551521881). Amazon has a nice “search inside” feature, and this will allow you to browse the book, if you like. But I strongly encourage you to get a copy, it’s a great read, even for someone who’s been in the bay area for a while.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:02 am
I would love to see your map of theses urban green spaces.
Thanks!
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:22 am
Thats awesome! ive heard rumors of these secret parks lately, but i havnt checked any of them out yet. But, i would love to see this map of yours!
thanks a bundle!
June 28th, 2008 at 1:53 am
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July 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Hi there,
Have been living in the city for about five years now but always have been intrigued by the the elusive secret gardens of San Francisco. I would love to have a look into your compilation if you don’t mind.
Thanks,
Arch
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:47 am
Hello,
I would like to have a look at your compilation. I love living in the city of secret gardens, stairs, labyrinths, bars, etc… Thanks so much for sharing.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
the link to mapr.benjaminhill.info is broken!
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September 4th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
thank you for this interesting article! as small as san francisco is, there’s always new, exciting parts to be discovered and i would love to take a look at your garden compilation. also, mundanejourneys.com offers lovely ideas for ways to enjoy the little details of the city. for anyone who really loves san francisco, i would recommend checking it out.