Austin Klar shows how San Francisco's Mechanics Monument plaza went from abandoned to thriving after a Downtown SF Partnership renovation added seating, chess tables, and landscaping. New businesses like Aboychik Bagels chose the location specifically because of the upgrades, and foot traffic surged.
This is exactly why a city should spend money improving public spaces. Mechanics Monument was installed in downtown San Francisco over 120 years ago where Market, Bush, and Battery Streets intersect in memory of Peter Donahue, who was the founder of the first Pacific Coast Foundry. The monument withstood the 1906 earthquake and fires, but over time, especially with the onset of the pandemic, the plaza surrounding it became an underutilized, deteriorating public space. Thankfully, over the past couple years, the Downtown SF Partnership, which is charged with reinvigorating our public spaces in the downtown area, completely overhauled the space. New chairs, new planter boxes, new landscaping, chess, ping pong, just turned it into a more usable, open, beautiful space. And that work has led directly to increased foot traffic and new commercial tenants surrounding the plaza. For example, Sweetgreen, Aboychik Bagels. In fact, actually, Aboychik Bagels explicitly cited the work that was done on the plaza as the reason why they opened in that space. That is exactly what the city should be doing, especially in downtown. Let me know what you think in the comments and follow me for more Bay Area real estate.
