Change is constant.
The Portola, known as the Garden District, was once home to as many as 19 flower growing enterprises and farms. The stairs connect Goettingen Street to Dwight Street and has been used daily for decades by neighbors going to church and school, catching the bus, and shopping on San Bruno Avenue, the commercial corridor.
A once neglected hill
where paraphernalia from sex, drugs, and crime riddled the hill and stairs, our group of neighbors banded together to make a change.
Frustrated with the unsafe conditions, dumping and graffiti, we set out to clean up, landscape, and beautify the hillside at Goettingen Street and Dwight Street with the ultimate goal of having an outdoor community space and a public art stairway to deter blight and beautify the neighborhood.
Through seeking awards and grants from SF Beautiful, SF Parks Trust and the Fiskars “Project Orange Thumb” Award, we landscaped the hill in 2008, adding native plants, a retaining wall, and an irrigation system.
Since then, we’ve continued to maintain the hill with neighbors and allies and added a vista point with benches for the community to enjoy.
Our final phase is to create a tiled art stairway to connect the community while beautifying and landmarking the hill.
San Francisco is known for its storied stairways and we want to contribute to this collection while improving the deteriorating steps. Our design will bring the community into the process and vibrancy to the stairs.