The Pennsylvania Avenue pedestrian path and garden is a block-long sidewalk garden featuring succulents and other drought-tolerant plants along a decomposed granite footpath on the eastern side of Pennsylvania Avenue south of 23rd St. Balanced between the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and the 22nd St. Caltrain station, the property and offers shoulder-of-the-hill views of Dogpatch and the bay beyond.

 The property is part of Caltrain’s right of way, purchased from the old railroad lines that used to crisscross the district. Once an abandoned, weedy, trash- and debris-filled wasteland that made for an intimidating walk for commuters, Food Bank volunteers and local residents, the long block was transformed by massive community effort in 2016. GBD contractors prepared the site and over 100 Warriors fans, PG&E employees, GBD Board members, and Dogpatch and Potrero Hill neighbors participated in a Neighborhood Revitalization Day that planted the garden. In 2017 the GBD partnered with Friends of the Urban Forest to add olive trees.

 Eventually the block will be civilized - with paved sidewalks and street lights. In the meantime the GBD-led makeover provides a safe, clear path for pedestrians and a planted border along Pennsylvania. GBD crews tend to the garden weekly, typically watering only 2 months of the year to help establish the plantings. Janitorial crews make sure the habits of dumping and trashing the area don’t return.

GREENSPACES