July, 2008

        By Deia de Brito
 

City’s Worst Playgrounds Get Dream Makeovers

Bounded by 16th, 17th, Bryant and Hampshire streets, Franklin Square is located at the outer edges of the Mission and Potrero Hill.  Well-used by soccer teams from outside the neighborhood, the park is rarely visited by nearby residents, save the occasional dog walker.  Once a shining example of Victorian-era design, complete with an athletic field and meandering pathways, the 4.4 acre park is dilapidated and dangerous; a magnet for the homeless, drug use and prostitution... (more...)

 

April 25, 2007
By Robynne Boyd

Where Will The People Play?

Maintaining enough open space for San Francisco’s dense population is challenging. With five and a half acres of parks, playgrounds, or urban wilderness for every 1,000 people, the City has about half as much green space as the national average... (more...)

September 16, 2005
By George McConnell

Biodiversity Program Stirs Debate In San Francisco

Bernal Heights Park, located at the nexus of Highway 280 and the 101, is webbed with hiking trails and covered with patches of willow scrub... (more...)

August 15, 2005
By Erica Gies

Artists Sculpt What the Oceans Can't Swallow

Milk containers, a toothbrush, a flip-flop, plastic cutlery, bottlecaps, shotgun wadding, prescription bottles... (more...)

June 18, 2005
By Erica Gies

Life Near the Fast Lane

Stalled in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Highway 101 between the Vermont and Cesar Chavez exits, a driver's eye may be drawn to the few tracts of greenery on San Francisco's freeway corridor... (more...)

June 9, 2005
By Daniel Porras

Humans a Minority in Wild City by the Bay

From fungi to insects to rats, birds and coyotes, Josiah Clark knows about life in the city. San Francisco is not just a concrete human habitat, he says... (more...)

April 29, 2005
By Alison Fromme

Sowing Seeds of Sustainability

At the corner of 7th Avenue and Lawton, Stacey Parker begins her Garden for the Environment tour with a question, “Do you notice anything different about these plants?” (more...)

April 15, 2005
By Alison Fromme

Schoolyard Gardens: A Place to Grow

Boys huddled around a magnifying glass and an encyclopedia, busily identifying bugs... (more...)

April 13, 2005
By Daniel Porras

Small Park Represented Big Dreams

Less than a hundred yards from the drawbridge at Third Street and Cargo Way in Southeast San Francisco, rare chorus frogs used to chirp and edible pickle weed grew... (more...)

April 6, 2005
By Erica Gies

San Francisco's Urban Forest May be Stranger than Necessary

Cities are often defined by their skylines, but what makes them "livable" – that nebulous quality that sooths urban dwellers' jangled nerves – may have more to do with patches of nature than architecture... (more...)

March 28, 2005
By Alison Fromme

Season of Change: Community Gardening in San Francisco

From the North Beach Michelangelo Community Garden, the bustle and noise of the city seems far away... (more...)

March 26, 2005
By Ryder W. Miller

Despite Providing Important Wildlife Habitat, Lake Merced Remains Under-Funded and Over-Polluted

Lake Merced is “one of the most treasured remnants of San Francisco's original landscape," according to the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department... (more...)

March 21, 2005
By Cristi Hegranes

San Francisco Parks Receive Mixed Reviews in First-Ever Survey

When more than 100 San Franciscans took to all 144 of the City’s playgrounds on a sunny Saturday in February they had more than play on their minds... (more...)

February 17, 2005
By Alison Fromme

Potrero Hill’s Hidden Streams

Water flowing down Potrero Hill follows the path of least resistance: around rocks, through gardens, via sewers, and — in some cases — under houses... (more...)

January 14, 2005
By Erica Gies

Presidio Maintains Its Role as Battle Site, This Time Over Nature

Seen from the air, or on a map, the Presidio appears to be one of San Francisco’s largest green spaces... (more...)