ALESSANDRA LUNDIN

Buchanan Street Mall is an underutilized five blocks of parkland among the density of the Fillmore/Western Addition neighborhoods of San Francisco. The Mall runs north-south from Grove to Turk Streets. Although the Mall is surrounded by HUD and public housing developments and several community organizations, few people actively use or gather in the park. The Mall is currently lacking in recreational amenities and programming, and has a perception of being unsafe. The Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national non-profit that conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, historic sites, playgrounds, and natural areas. Buchanan Street Mall has been on TPL’s radar as a potential renovation project for several years. I worked with TPL during the summer of 2012 to research and analyze the existing conditions of Buchanan Street Mall.

This client report provides a preliminary overview of the park and its current conditions. It includes base maps, case studies/best practices from similar park spaces, and visual renderings of potential renovation ideas. This report could serve as a starting point for a Buchanan Street Mall Master Plan and assist the community visioning process by illustrating what a safe, active, and vibrant Buchanan Street Mall might look like.