The Golden Gate Greenway Phase 1: Building Parklets and Positivity in the Tenderloin

February 27, 2023

Thank you to KQED News for interviewing Nils Behnke, CEO, St. Anthony Foundation who is leading the Golden Gate Greenway Coalition to make the COVID-19 slow street at 100 Golden Gate Avenue a permanent green oasis in the heart of the Tenderloin.  

In December, the project was included as part of the Tenderloin Community Action Plan (TCAP), a voting process for neighborhood residents and workers to fund specific initiatives to improve the quality of life for local residents and the community. The Golden Gate Greenway received 360 votes for the approval of $200k in city funding to build three parklets for the enjoyment of seniors, children, families and individuals.  

The completion of the Golden Gate Greenway could reduce the Tenderloin neighborhood’s struggles with drug sales. 

If there are lots of people doing positive things out on the block, it leaves less space for people to engage in behaviors that are not positive. And we’ve seen that all along. It’s when we abandon parts of town and abandon certain blocks where drug trafficking and other things happen. 

Nils Behnke, St. Anthony’s CEO

One of the most densely populated and diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Tenderloin is home to approximately 30,000 residents and an estimated 3,500 children. It also provides little in the way of green, open space. We want to change that. 

Listen to brief KQED interview here