East Cut CBD Public Realm Plan | San Francisco, CA

Project Status: Complete

The East Cut CBD partnered with the SF Planning Department to develop a public realm plan for the Greater Rincon Hill/Transit Center District featuring more than 20 different planned and existing publicly- and privately-owned spaces. The primary goal of the public realm plan was to provide a unifying document with recommendations for improvements to the public realm in this newly residential neighborhood, and to assist in creating an identity for the community. Public engagement was a primary focus of the public realm plan. As such, SF Planning developed a Public Participation Plan (P3) for the effort with East Cut CBD. The BID initially hired StreetPlans to support the organization in public outreach strategy and engagement event delivery.

Street Plans helped East Cut CBD create a framework and toolkit of materials for three small outreach events with businesses, residents, and community groups. Additionally, Street Plans assisted in developing Activation Strategy visuals and presentation materials, which included ideas for an activation framework (a key deliverable for public comment at this meeting). Street Plans then supported coordination, production, and execution of the three events – two indoor workshops and one outdoor “walkshop.” 

The process included research into relevant case studies in other neighborhoods of San Francisco and other peer cities, as well as specific actionable recommendations for the East Cut neighborhood. The case studies highlighted a variety of examples of revenue-generating interim public space designs which could be used to inform a program to activate a 2-acre temporary TransBay bus terminal, pending the site being vacated by existing bus operations but before eventually being constructed into a permanent neighborhood park. 

Finally, Street Plans created operating plans for five different public spaces in the East Cut neighborhood which were slated for management by the CBD. The operating plans included a site analysis with an inventory of features, notable assets and challenges, recommended improvements, programming ideas, and a suggested schedule of maintenance. Based on this background analysis, Street Plans generated projected revenue and expense pro formas for each space which East Cut CBD could then use for budgeting purposes and for reference when negotiating management agreements with site owners.