Esplanade, Yerba Buena Gardens

The Esplanade serves as the central public heart of the Yerba Buena Gardens, though its existence is a direct result of decades of intense civic struggle. During the 1960s and 1970s, this site was the subject of a massive urban renewal project that aimed to clear what city planners labeled as a blighted district of residential hotels and small businesses. A grassroots organization known as Tenants and Owners in Opposition to Redevelopment fought the plan in court for years, ultimately forcing the city to compromise. The park you see today is the product of that settlement, which traded the total destruction of the neighborhood for a public-focused design that prioritizes community spaces over purely commercial development.