Greening Projects

Who We Serve:

• Community groups and leaders in urban areas (especially San Francisco)
• Individuals and organizations seeking to improve local neighborhoods through green space creation
• Municipalities and public agencies interested in sustainable urban planning and environmental stewardship

Greening Projects distinguishes itself through:

• End-to-End Support: Unlike many organizations that engage only at certain project phases, Greening Projects provides comprehensive support from the earliest conceptual stages through to project completion. This includes technical, design, managerial, and permit processing expertise.
• Community Empowerment: They actively recruit, educate, and train resident volunteers to foster local stewardship and long-term project sustainability.
• Technical and Professional Expertise: Led by licensed civil engineers and certified project managers, the team offers high-level consulting, planning, and construction management services tailored to green infrastructure and urban greening.
• Focus on Urban Impact: Projects are designed to maximize environmental, social, and health benefits in dense urban settings, addressing challenges such as air quality, heat islands, and equitable access to green spaces.

Who Benefits Most

• Urban Communities: Especially neighborhoods lacking green spaces or facing environmental challenges, that gain improved air quality, recreational opportunities, and climate resilience.
• Community Leaders & Groups: Those seeking expert guidance to turn ideas for green spaces into actionable, sustainable projects.
• Public Agencies & Municipalities: Entities aiming to meet sustainability goals, comply with environmental regulations, or enhance public health and well-being through green infrastructure.
• Volunteers and Residents: Individuals looking for meaningful engagement in their communities and opportunities to learn about environmental stewardship.

Ongoing Projects

• 3218 Mission Street Rain Garden – January 27, 2024 – A dedicated group of volunteers gathered to undertake a critical task – cleaning the rain garden’s sumps and removing the top layer of soil. This initiative is a shining example of community engagement in urban ecological projects, underscoring the Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) crucial role in maintaining these vital green spaces.
• Bernal Cut – The Bernal Cut encompasses existing and proposed green spaces in the Bernal, Glen Park, and Mission neighborhoods. Their current plan is to add rain gardens in their target region by removing concrete to create a bioretention swale and by designing and constructing a traffic bulb that will serve as a rain garden, providing traffic calming. Our work included outlining the drainage sheds feeding into the potential gardens, calculating their areas, and estimating the location and sizes of the new rain gardens.
• Bernal Heights Rec Center Plaza: Help Shape the Future of Bernal Heights at the Rec Center! Greening Projects, in collaboration with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, invites you to participate in this exciting project to create a greener, more welcoming space at the Bernal Heights Rec Center. We encourage all community members to continue sharing their thoughts and ideas. Additionally, we are seeking community members to join the Friends of the BHRC Group, which will support design, finance, fundraising, outreach, and volunteer coordination.
• Bernal Wild – Bernal Wild, a collective of friends bonded by a love for nature, embarked on a mission to restore a section of wilderness near Bernal Hill. Their journey commenced in spring 2021 after discovering a coast live oak overrun by Scotch Broom. What started as a mission to save this oak and a neighboring toyon soon expanded into a more extensive habitat restoration effort. Over two years, their dedicated work led to the area’s flourishing. The native plants they nurtured thrived, creating a haven for butterflies, moths, insects, and birds that depend on them, marking a significant and successful ecological transformation.
• César Chávez Greenway – Located at the southwest corner of César Chávez Street and Highway 101, this 0.25-acre vacant lot is the only property left on this corridor where its namesake can be honored. Additionally, the site will provide much-needed green space in this part of the city and a way station on a heavily trafficked bike route. Although the design is still conceptual, the way station will include bike racks and benches for gathering and resting, as well as a designated area to celebrate César Chávez’s life and legacy. Our work includes a site feasibility analysis, outreach, and grant application preparation.
• Carolina Green Space – Established in late 2016, the Carolina Green Space, created by a volunteer group of Potrero Hill neighbors, works to enhance the safety and beauty of the large median on Carolina Street, between 22nd and 23rd Streets, one of San Francisco’s largest vegetated islands. This group has united to transform their “island,” which was once a beautifully maintained space by the City, into an inviting green space and gathering spot for their neighborhood, the community, and the citizens and visitors to San Francisco.
• Halloween on Cortland – We’re reimagining Halloween to create a more inclusive, safe, and enjoyable experience for everyone. By closing Cortland Avenue to vehicles, we’re fostering a festive atmosphere where families and friends can celebrate without worry.
• Good Prospect Community Garden (GPCG) – The GPCG is located on an unaccepted street in the Bernal Heights District, between Cortland Avenue and Santa Marina Street. Half the site comprises community garden plots and a walkway connecting Cortland and Santa Marina. This project aims to add more garden plots to the other half of the site, create a community gathering area, and plant more orchard trees. Additionally, the garden’s main entrance on Cortland Avenue will feature a sizable rain garden that captures significant stormwater runoff and serves as an integral part of the new gateway landmark for the district, providing additional landscaping.
• Mariners Village – Bayview District -January 18, 2024: PUC awarded GP $1,150,000 for landscaping and tree planting to manage stormwater runoff in this neighborhood enclave in the Bayview. We expect to begin work within the next 60 days, once the contracts are finalized and executed.
• Ogden Avenue Gardens – The objective of the initial project is to transform the unaccepted street section between Folsom and Gates Streets into a neighborhood garden and park, providing a green space for the neighborhood and a playground for the adjacent daycare center. The rain gardens will be located at both ends of the block (intersections at Ogden/Folsom and Ogden/Gates). They will provide additional landscaping and a method to capture and filter stormwater runoff, thereby replenishing groundwater.
• Tompkins Stairway Gardens, Bernal Heights – From a trash-covered hillside to a vibrant community oasis, the Tompkins Stairway Garden embodies the power of neighborhood action. What began as a grassroots effort by residents determined to reclaim neglected space has blossomed into one of San Francisco’s most celebrated public gardens and artistic stairways.

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