Pop-Up Town Squares

Creating vibrant public spaces along San Francisco’s commercial corridors.

Pop-up Town Squares is an emerging program from the Civic Joy Fund to create a new kind of public space. Rooted in helping San Franciscans improve their neighborhoods through pilot projects, this initiative aims to reveal fresh ideas for San Francisco’s streetscape. 

These new public amenities will pop up in parking lots, and activate underutilized sections of the roadway with greenery, art, and music. They’ll aim to bolster San Francisco’s merchant corridors by highlighting the culture and vibrancy of our neighborhoods, while building more connected communities.

As the name implies, Pop-up Town Squares are designed as pilot projects. This iterative approach helps foster community buy-in and local stewardship by creating opportunities to test, modify, and improve these new public spaces. 

Through simple solutions like seating, planters, and art, we can make public spaces that feel lush and welcoming. Existing events like night markets, street fairs, and festivals offer fertile ground for testing these new neighborhood amenities, as space to sit, eat, and enjoy the festivities are often in high demand. Pairing these Pop-Up Town Squares with existing events is an opportunity to imagine new possibilities for the public realm, at a time when the larger community is already there to experience and enjoy it.