Better Neighborhoods Program

About the Program

The Neighborhoods

Market & Octavia

Central Waterfront

Balboa Park Station

Glen Plark

Japantown

The 2002 Program: The Changing City

San Francisco is changing, as cities do. Today, about 799,000 people live in San Francisco, an increase of 66,000 residents since 1990. By 2010, we are expected to grow to 819,000 and add almost 60,000 jobs. Yet we don't have enough housing for our growing population, and we cannot move about easily because we have too many cars on our streets. If San Francisco is to continue to thrive, we must address our housing and transportation challenges by strengthening the link between our use of land and our transit system, so that each supports the other. Urban neighborhoods function well when residents can easily meet their daily needs, such as getting to work and shopping. This means having the right neighborhood mix of housing, retail, open space, and transit, with new housing located near reliable transit lines. We need to accommodate cars without having to rely on them. A great neighborhood also needs a full range of city services, safe and lively streets, gathering places, and an appreciation for its special character.

Eight Elements of a Great Neighborhood

Many neighborhoods have some, but not all, of these elements. Sound neighborhood planning can provide those elements that may be missing in a neighborhood and thus help create a better place for people to live. The goal of the Better Neighborhoods 2002 program is to create plans that improve the neighborhood where possible while supporting what's already working well.

Better Neighborhoods 2002 will do this through an open public discussion with residents about the appropriate future for San Francisco's neighborhoods. As a beginning, the City has chosen three areas for which to create neighborhood plans: the vicinity around the Balboa Park BART station; the Central Waterfront south of Mission Bay, north of Islais Creek, and east of I-280; and along Market Street between the Van Ness and Church Street MUNI Metro stations and the new Octavia Boulevard.

We all love our City and its neighborhoods, and by responding thoughtfully to the changes that are happening we can make San Francisco and its neighborhoods even better places to live.