The Benches Garden

Benches Park and Garden sits at the eastern end of the 18th Street footbridge, a structure that spans the busy traffic of Highway 101. This small, landscaped space occupies what was originally a remnant parcel of land controlled by the state transit department after the freeway was carved through the neighborhood in the 1950s. While the highway acted as a physical barrier that split the community in two, this park serves as a deliberate effort to stitch those sides back together. Local volunteers and groups like the Green Benefit District transformed this once-vacant, concrete-adjacent strip into a green refuge, installing the namesake benches that give the park its identity. It serves as a quiet, elevated rest stop for residents moving between the disparate sections of Potrero Hill.