Linden Living Alley
2010 – $10,000 General Support
Linden Living Alley is a neighborhood initiative that transformed a section of Linden Street in Hayes Valley into San Francisco’s first modern ‘shared space’ street. Shared spaces soften the segregation of roadway and sidewalk to create safe, low-speed environments where walking, cycling, and automobile access coexist with greenery and space for socializing and play.
The project tabled the street to the level of the sidewalk, added trees and planted areas, along with seating and traffic calming.Linden Living Alley’s team, which included architect David Winslow, Loring Sagan and his colleagues from Build, Inc, and Meredith Thomas and her colleagues from the San Francisco Parks Alliance, spent many years working with City staff and disability advocates to develop the design to preserve accessibility while staying true to the shared space vision. Linden Living Alley opened October 2010. It serves as a model for shared spaces in San Francisco and opens the door for future alleyway beautification and greening.
photo credit: Lucy Goodhart