Patricia’s Green In Hayes Valley Park

This park occupies a footprint that was once dominated by the massive concrete pillars of the Central Freeway. After the Loma Prieta earthquake in nineteen eighty-nine damaged the structure, a long and intense local campaign led by neighborhood activist Patricia Walkup successfully pushed for the freeway's demolition rather than its reconstruction. In its place, the city developed this green space and the surrounding boulevard, physically reconnecting two halves of the neighborhood that had been severed for decades. The park is named in honor of Walkup, who spent over a decade advocating for the project before her passing in two thousand six.