Boeddeker Park

“It was a dead zone.” “People felt like they were in a jail.” “It wasn’t an appealing park.” That’s how residents of San Francisco’s Tenderloin District—a highly populated area with many families living below the poverty line—described the uninviting maze of brick walkways surrounded by a tall iron fence that was, for many residents, the only outdoor space available.

In fact, it had been ranked the city’s worst playground in survey conducted by the San Francisco Parks Alliance and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department.

Within walking distance of 50,000 people, the space had potential to serve a critical role in providing recreational space to the city’s densest neighborhood. Now, thanks to neighbors who envisioned more for themselves and their children, and a strong partnership of organizations and stakeholder groups that included Trust for Public Land, Boeddeker Park is living up to its potential and helping to close San Francisco’s outdoor equity gap.

On the day of the park reopening in 2014, shouts from a basketball game on the new court mixed with the chimes of a giant xylophone as grinning schoolkids swarmed a new climbing structure. Neighbors toured the remodeled clubhouse, Fitness Zone® area, and garden. There’s still a perimeter fence—but it’s now threaded with wrought iron flowers.

For the neighbors who watched Boeddeker’s transformation, the opening was the culmination of a long fight for the park they deserve—including an extensive community workshop process to identify the features locals wanted most. But though there’s plenty to impress in the final product—from green infrastructure elements to custom artwork— Boeddeker’s reinvention is more than a textbook entry for good design. San Francisco then-mayor Ed Lee put it this way: “It’s not just about the space—it’s about the people. It is a tremendous investment in equity.”

“[Involving community members] was vital to the work at Boeddeker Park,” says Mike Williams, a park neighbor and volunteer on the project. “People in the neighborhood have complained about the park for years. What I like about the rebuild process is that TPL did this right; they went to all the stakeholders. That’s not how things have been done here in the past.” That community-led approach underpins TPL’s work in parks across the country, where our priority is to listen to what residents say they want and need in their public outdoor spaces.

Boeddeker Park offers outdoor fitness equipment, a walking path with accessible ramps, a large lawn, new play equipment, a full-size basketball court, and a state-of-the-art community clubhouse. Features such as water-efficient landscaping and recycled materials make the park and clubhouse a model of sustainable design.

San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, the San Francisco’s Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA, and SF SAFE collectively manage the park and clubhouse. These organizations offer a variety of free programs for the community.

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