Study Subject:  Whole Neighborhood Project

Date: 07.15.1998
Client or Sponsor:  Southside Conservancy Group
Objective: Community redesign by and for the neighborhood.

Summary:  This project was designed to help Sunnyside Neighborhood affect its own destiny by initiating a collaborative design process. The neighborhood had suffered by not having a vital, accessible center yet it had all the basic ingredients: diverse, educated population, large institutions, small businesses, young and old. Yet as a working class neighborhood it had been grouped by the City with a more affluent and influential neighborhood "up the hill" in Mira Loma, as a result resources for a community center were scarce and tended to flow uphill. The neighborhood was reconcieved as a wheel, with the Sunnyside Elementary School at the hub. Funding and infrastructure was the chief challenge. Although the community garden, senior center, science partnership between Sunnyside & St FinnBarr (a catholic elementary school on the same block) didnt come to fruition as envisioned but inspired neighbors did renovate Sunnyside Park, plant trees all around the school yard and continue to think proactively about design in their lives. When the City launched a planning effort in the area 2 years later perhaps more neighbors were ready to join in.

Keywords:  collaborative dessign & urban planning

Additional Documentation: 

• Balboa Park, Better Neighborhoods Effort, SF City Planning Dept
• Ocean Ave-Balboa Park 2002 Arts Master Plan, SF Art Commission