It is vital that the people who live, work, visit, and otherwise depend on the San Francisco waterfront shape the Port's Waterfront Resilience Program. Your ideas and feedback are key as the Port develops projects to ensure the waterfront is safe, sustainable, accessible, and inspiring for future generations.
Since 2017, the Port of San Francisco's Waterfront Resilience Program has connected with tens of thousands of you through community meetings, event tabling, waterfront boat, bike, and walking tours, mixers, online engagement, and much more.
Please see below for a summary of things we've heard and ways to continue to share your feedback digitally. The Port is deeply appreciative of your time and engagement.
Envisioning the Waterfront
Since 2017, the Port has connected with Bay Area families at 100+ events and counting. We've heard important feedback and many great ideas that have helped direct the Waterfront Resilience Program.
Here's a brief overview of what we've heard so far...
Connecting the city with the waterfront. We hear you love the waterfront and want to be more connected to this part of the city. We couldn't agree more!
A natural and environmentally sustainable waterfront. We hear the importance of "nature in the city" and connecting to the Bay and wildlife. This includes wanting more marine habitat and education around this wildlife. We hear a desire for a cleaner and greener waterfront.
Increased transportation options. We hear you want it to be easier and safer to visit the waterfront and travel along the waterfront. This means biking, driving, walking, scooting, taking transit, and ADA accessibility.
Public space and an accessible waterfront. We hear that public space is key. Ideas for public space included dog parks, playgrounds, skate parks, beaches, recreation facilities, picnic areas, and more.
Recreation opportunities. We hear that you want fun things to do along the waterfront like fields, courts, and swimming pools as well as opportunities to get out on the water.
A vibrant and exciting waterfront. The waterfront is seen as a special place to visit, even for San Franciscans and longtime Bay Area residents. We hear you want it to be vibrant with fun activities like public art, kiosks, picnics and places to grill, food and juice stands, and programming such as live music and drive-in movies.
Affordable activities and family friendly activities. We hear you say the waterfront should be affordable with lots of public and community space, affordable places to eat, and free activities.
Respite from the city. We hear the desire for a relaxing and peaceful waterfront.
Special destinations and big attractions. We hear big ideas about new waterfront attractions like gondolas, water parks, theme parks, zoos, seawater pools, and other ideas that would be unique to this waterfront.
Small things to improve the waterfront. We asked you to think big but you also continue to share important small fixes to make our waterfront a more enjoyable place to visit like more public bathrooms, benches, trees, water fountains, lighting, and more.
Asset Mapping
Through a series of community meetings and mixers, the Port continues to hear from stakeholders about priorities for waterfront resilience, including feedback on assets, goals, and evaluation criteria. For each community meeting, the Port has summarized community feedback and recorded all responses from the engagement exercises.
Here's a brief overview of what we've heard so far...
Assets we love. We hear you about the many loved community assets including open space and parks, commercial centers that support jobs, senior housing, schools and youth facilities, waterfront access, habitat, cultural districts, the Ferry Building, the beloved Port tenants including the Exploratorium, Recology, the Giants, and Fisherman’s Wharf, the views, and the communities that live along the waterfront.
Assets important to the city. We hear you about the assets you see as most important to the city including affordable housing, the Southeast Treatment Plant, CCSF, emergency response facilities, transportation facilities, utility facilities, cargo and maritime operations, local businesses and other job creators, and the piers.
Assets of greatest concern. When it comes to the risks from earthquakes and sea level rise, we hear you about the assets that are of greatest concern to you including housing, disaster recovery facilities, utilities, and businesses.
Waterfront Resilience Program Vision and Goals
Vision
The Port’s Waterfront Resilience Program will take actions to reduce seismic and climate change risks that support a safe, equitable, sustainable, and vibrant waterfront.
Goals
We asked you to weigh in on the Program vision and goals. Community feedback strongly affirmed the Port’s vision and goals, and the public encouraged the Port to:
Evaluation Criteria
We asked you to share feedback on Program evaluation criteria. Community feedback strongly affirmed the Port’s key focus on life safety and disaster response. The Port heard “put people first” loudly and clearly. The assets and services most prioritized: housing, disaster recovery facilities, utilities, and businesses. Community members shared a key focus on protecting transportation assets.
Differences Along the Waterfront
While community feedback heard over the last three years carried many universal themes along the Port's entire 7.5 mile jurisdiction, there were some specific concerns related to each geography along the waterfront. Here is what we heard that resonated as distinct feedback for each of the three waterfront geographies:
Embarcadero Waterfront
- Key community-prioritized assets include: Muni Tunnel, Ferry Building, Exploratorium, and Fisherman’s Wharf.
- We heard the importance of increased transportation options, open space and parks, and more family friendly activities .
- We heard a desire to preserve and enhance jobs and diversity of jobs along the Embarcadero .
- The Embarcadero Promenade is viewed as a critical asset and there is a strong desire to preserve and enhance it.
Get to know more about Embarcadero Seawall Resilience.
Mission Creek / Mission Bay Waterfront
- Key community-prioritized assets include: the Giants ballpark, water and public space access, and the environment.
- We heard the importance of prioritizing homes, including affordable housing.
- Environmental issues were highlighted, including Mission Creek as an ecological and open space asset.
- We also heard how vital it is to reach youth via our public engagement effort.
Get to know more about Mission Creek / Mission Bay Resilience.
Islais Creek / Bayview Waterfront
- Key community-prioritized assets include: Recology, the Southeast Treatment Plant, CCSF, and cargo and maritime operations.
- We heard the importance of prioritizing homes, including low-income housing.
- We heard to prioritize environmental concerns and ensure anti-displacement is centered in any work.
- Community members broadly supported the work on the Embarcadero Seawall, recognizing the critical nature of the risk and importance to the entire City, including Bayview. However, they also made it clear that they wanted resilience projects in the southern waterfront and that continued engagement with the communities in the southeast is critical to ensuring equitable and sustainable outcomes along the Port’s entire 7.5 mile jurisdiction.
Get to know more about Islais Creek / Bayview Resilience.
View and download community meeting presentations and materials from the Program Library. Check out activities and resources for youth and families from the Waterfront Resilience Family Activities and Learning.