Heard the jackhammers lately?
The city is forcing property owners to rip up and replace the busted sidewalk squares that front their buildings. But they don’t have to be replaced with the same old, boring slabs. The sidewalk in front of your residence could look more like these.
DPW’s Bureau of Urban Forestry issues low-cost permits allowing property owners to convert a portion of their sidewalk into an attractive landscaped area.
Even better, this recently came across the @SpotsUnknown Twitter feed:
FREE SIDEWALK LANDSCAPING DESIGN & INSTALLATION
In the Sunset District sidewalk gardens can not only make our streetscapes beautiful but also help recharge the aquifer and reduce sewer overflow contamination of the ocean.
Plant*SF and the San Francisco Parks Trust are offering the free installation of a demonstration sidewalk landscaping garden in the Sunset District using native and drought tolerant plants and permeable pavers. Corner properties are especially encouraged to apply.
To have a property be considered to receive free sidewalk landscaping, interested parties should email their contact information and property address to info@PlantSF.org by 5pm December 10, 2009. See PlantSF.org for examples of sidewalk gardens.
Funding for this project comes from the City of San Francisco Community Challenge Grant Program (CCG) with sponsorship from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
Outside of the Sunset District, there is a robust community of city eco-nerds who will help you design and install a sustainable sidewalk garden no matter where in the city you live. Start at the Plant*SF and Nature In The City websites.
The fun part is that after all the plants die off due to neglect, they fill with trash, weeds and general debris that would have been swept away if there was a cement sidewalk. Makes me feel like I’m in post apocalyptic movie set. Check out the area in front of the community garden 23rd and Folsom.
What’s with the increase in citations for sidewalk repairs? All over Noe Valley I see marked sidewalks. I got dinged two months ago myself, and while I can’t exactly argue it needed repairing why now. Does the city really need a bunch of $500 permit fees?
Wish my Golden Gate Ave sidewalk wasn’t too narrow to plant! But, the neighborhood at large is starting to do this on Baker St and Broderick St in north panhandle area. And Portland OR is way ahead of SF on this, with its “Greenstreets” work, which was discussed at Streetsblog today
Seems the comment section of every website full of grouchy, lazy, negative posts like the above. Why not do something about that ugly corner, King of Marigolds? Check out Shotwell Street! It’s like a streetwide garden. My neighborhood has almost none of this and it feels like i’m living in a pre-modern film noir movie set. I’d rather have green sidewalks any day.