The Makeover Market Desperately Deserves
Market Street has been SF’s biggest artery for 150 years. It is the backbone of San Francisco.
Let's give this iconic street a makeover that is tailored to our community’s real needs, bold style, and historical pragmatism.
🌇 Downtown (formerly The Financial District)
The Embarcadero → 5th Street
The beating heart of San Francisco’s commerce and commute. Skyscrapers, streetcars, and the city's most iconic retail and business destinations make this stretch pulse with daily energy and fast foot traffic.
More museums that celebrate SF, NorCal and West Coast history: A new Cable Car Museum at the Powell turnaround seems… amazing?!
Turn empty offices into living spaces: The only way to make Downtown a 24-hour neighborhood is to get people to want to live there. SNS.
Activate the sidewalks: These few blocks have the widest sidewalks in The City. Let’s take advantage of them!
🛍️ Market Center (formerly Mid-Market)
5th Street → Van Ness
Lights up on SF’s entertainment corridor — where there is theater, nightlife, protest, and parade! By retaining its grit with reverence, Market Center will become the city’s dynamic core. It will be a place that we can come together to have fun, to celebrate, to mourn, and to debate.
Memorable experiences: Go beyond traditional retail. Get new operators that will create unconventional, memorable, affordable experiences of all kinds.
Convert Civic Center Plaza into a true cultural park with better landscaping, food kiosks, and year-round events.
SF-style Street Art: Cutting edge installations that keep the district dazzling—and safe—long after sunset.
🚲 The Hub (formerly Upper Market)
Van Ness → Church Street
At the crossroads of neighborhoods, transit, and new development, The Hub is about creating a safe but fun way to get around the heart of SF. The Hub is where urban design meets momentum, rising up with bold ideas and bold architecture.
We need to focus on making commutes for residents easier and safer. We also need to show the country what much of the rest of the world already knows: biking and walking to work is good for you—and it can even be fun!
Build protected bike lanes and pedestrian zones along Octavia and connecting streets to tie in with The Wiggle and Market.
Bring Bikes Underground — Install a bike & scooter entrance ramp to a safe, secure, cheap underground storage garage that is connected to Church St. Muni Station—and Safeway if we’re feeling fancy.
Construct two new Muni Metro entrances - Add one at Church between Duboce & Market and the other at Church between Market and 15th. These new entrance points will make transfers from the J, the N and the 22 easier, safer and faster.
Across the board
Beautify sidewalks, alleys and rooftops: TREES! Vertical gardens! Dynamic lighting! Insta-worthy murals! Rooftop gardens! Landscaping and greenery will increase safety, enhance experience and further our sustainability progress.
Introduce a nightlife corridor plan with late-night street cleaning, police presence, and safe, frequent transit access that will encourage tourists to stay out later and make it easier for frontline workers to get around and have some fun of their own!
Market Street doesn’t need to be saved—it needs to be seen for what it has always been: a living, breathing, people-first corridor that reflects San Francisco’s grit, charm, and radical creativity.
By breaking it into distinct zones—each with its own vibe and purpose—we’re not chasing some utopian fantasy. We’re laying the groundwork for a street that actually works: for commuters, residents, small businesses, drag queens, cyclists, tourists, the dog walkers, the scooters, and the dog walkers dodging the scooters. This isn’t just urban design—it’s civic self-respect. Let’s stop settling and start building the Market Street we deserve.