Patricia’s Green

I’m a fan of urban green spaces, and Patricia’s Green is a great example that has it all: a small playground area for kids, fenced in areas and bag stations for dogs, seating for adults, clear and smooth paved grounds for walking, and multiple community art installations.
This area is one you can wander around for hours with all of the boutiques, restaurants, bars, coffee and ice cream shops, and having a space to run around with your kids or dog and relax for a bit is a nice perk to the area. It’s surprisingly well maintained and clean, too, unlike many other park areas in the city.

Great spot to just chill in Hayes Valley. Surrounded by great eats, drinks and people. Pick up a ice cream from smitten, coffee from ritual or an organic juice from juice shop and relax. Sometimes there is live Jazz and currently a walk in theater on Friday nights.

Patricia Green is a real person. But I don’t think she has anything to do with this park. Does Patricia’s Green mean the herb she smokes? I’ve not a clue but Patricia’s Green these days isn’t so green, due to the drought and all. I wonder how that affects the marijuana business. *seriously contemplating*
It turns out this park, one of the lesser-​known of the 220+ parks San Francisco has in her 7×7 square miles, was the product of a 1999 initiative by Patricia Walkup. *now I want to think of something clever to say about such a unique name* That Patricia wanted to clean up the freeway and create a safe, public, green space. And so Patricia’s Green was born.
Hayes Valley didn’t use to be so hip. In fact, back in the day, these parts were forgotten, a wasteland of poverty-​stricken and less privileged people struggling, drug-​addled youth, gangs, violence and murder. The gentrification that swung into motion in the late 1990s and early 2000s, brought all sorts which caused a clash and ensuing political debate that many still argue over. The remaining denizens seem to be homeless and mentally unstable people roaming aimlessly, young urbanites and professionals.
An urban park with some wooden benches, tables to share, with your lover as you French pastries from La Boulange or yummies from any of the other new eateries that surround her. This ”green” patch in the middle of this ever-​changing ‘hood, shares space with Smitten Ice Cream, Revolt Coffee and Aether, who hosts Basic Training 55-​minute urban adventures that make me think of Parkour. It’s free on Saturday mornings, 10 – 11 a.m.
In 2005, the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association unveiled the first in a series of large-​scale public art works at Patricia’s Green. Every year, a new artists sculpture is installed in the center of to be enjoyed and admired and even doodled on by visitors and locals alike.
This year, as it was back in 2005, David Best is the artist of the hour, and his new piece «The Temple» reminds me of a temple in Thailand. It is laser cut wood of intricate design and quite stunning and sturdy, in person. The theme of «The Temple» is a collective one that reached out to Hayes Valley residents to share their very personal stories of loss and grief. The installation allows for certain corners to sit in reflection, remember your loves with affection, and maintain a hopefulness for the future and a chance to contemplate the human experience. Beautiful tributes, wrinkled photographs and memories are scratched out in every corner. This art project cost $ 36,000 and was supported by the Market Octavia Area Plan.

Absolutely an adorable little neighborhood park. I loved the convenience of the small park for our puppy in relation to our hotel. It provided the ‘backyard’ we needed for outside time. It is a cute park with lots of friendly people. Daytime seems to attract a lunch crowd, people who want to be outside enjoying the sunshine. Nighttime was quieter and I felt safe no matter what time it was to be out there alone with the puppy. Great location for a little slice of green in the middle of a bustling city. There’s even options for coffee or ice cream or even dinner, with lots of cute shops (or shipping containers!) full of offerings. Great location!!!
Art is always an added benefit in my eyes, and this park had a little of that too.

To me this is the perfect neighborhood park. I try to come here every day after work to watch dogs playing, the sun set, and experience the everyday peace of Hayes Valley life. So hard to believe it used to be a freeway.

Grab yourself a coffee from Ritual or Blue Bottle, and enjoy the wonderful eclectic mix of people and animals playing on the grass. From dogs, to babies, to pigs, to cockatoos, you’ll be thoroughly entertained sitting here on a weekend morning. I snapped a 10 sec video —

Nice little park in the middle of Hayes Valley!
It’s a great place to hang out on a picnic bench, let the kids climb on the jungle gym, and walk the dog! There were a good number of little dogs out here, but I was glad to see that there are doggie poop bags, and they get used frequently, and there wasn’t any offending dog poop!
There’s a nice restaurant, a beer garden, a coffee stand, and an ice cream stand all next to the park. They keep the place up nicely, and there’s even some works of art in the area.
I felt safe at all hours in this park, and people were very friendly.
There are restrooms along the park, but I couldn’t figure out how to get in them. There’s some sort of code to get in.

Good location. There’s a paved area with a couple tables and benches. Then there are a couple smelly patches of grass, but watch out for dog poop! Finally there’s a small climbing/​rope park. The actual playground is small and not super exciting. Also it’s not fenced off from the rest of the park so I have to keep an extra close eye on my escape artist. There are tons of dogs around which is fun to see but also. poop & pee. I bring my son here after brunch nearby but it’s not my favorite park. Definitely wouldn’t go out of my way to come here.

Lots of little nearby cafes and shops. Great park to sit and relax for a few, inbetween stops.

This was like stepping into another world. Cute grass areas. Cute dogs galore. Fun food trucks. Smittens ice cream. Shops. Play area for the kids. I’d like to relax here for a day

Cute, small little park in Hayes Valley. Lots of people are always here with their dogs and there’s a great playground for the kids. I appreciate the ample amount of benches and seating. Definitely a great spot for eating lunch or enjoying a cup of coffee on a nice day.

I had a friend that lived in the area when the freeway used to dump out onto Laguna. Now with the Octavia dead end, this area has really developed into a community friendly space. Lots of kids eating ice cream, playing ball, food trucks. Luckily it was a nice day too. Lots of foot traffic. Couple that with funky art and a long weekend and you can just kick it here for hours

Friendly place to bring dogs. Get coffee and ice cream at two walk up shipping containers then grab a spot to do some fabulous people watching. It’s my fave thing to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Join me.

Buster enjoys rooting around in this small but lively park, in Hayes Valley. I enjoy the options of Ritual or Blue Bottle Coffee, which are also surrounding this park. Come to think of it, this entire park is surrounded by food, ice cream, candy, coffee, and pancakes at Stacks. Nice place to bring your pooch, it’s small here but there’s enough grass for sniffing and peeing on. (for your dog)

One of my favorite urban parks. Perfectly situated in Hayes Valley among boutique shops and cultural centers, including Smitten ice cream, Chantal Guillon Macarons, La Boulange, the San Francisco Symphony, and much more.
Hip, chill atmosphere. Best for sunny, lazy days.

What a relaxing and creative little park.
PROS:
–Dog friendly
— cool shipping container businesses
–creative community
— fun foodie places nearby
–the park is small and lush
CONS:
–homeless around everywhere, but they were cool, not like hippy hill ones
— some animals were off leash which totally is fine with me if the owner is paying attention
— not a ton of seating (sat on planter ledges)
still, a very lovely neighborhood, I would totally like in the hayes valley area, and the park was super cute! Great Gelato place and coffee place in the park too!

Back when I had a car, I used to take the central freeway all the time. The end of the freeway was in a funky little neighborhood that didn’t seem like it should have an off-​ramp dumping cars into it.
Now the freeway’s gone and the neighborhood has gone upscale. The off-​ramp itself has been replaced with Patricia’s Green and its rotating selection of art curated by the Burning Man folks.
In its own right it’s a good public space, but compared to what preceded it, the park is the perfect example of a «pavement to park» transformation done right.

Lovely park for sitting and drinking my Blue Bottle latte. Sure, there’s the usual crazy/​homeless population, but I’ve never been harrassed or bothered like in other public spaces in SF. It’s a really nice gathering place.

This little park is the most refreshing and essential part of this lively area. I was surprised to see something like this in SF, but I’m so glad it’s here.
It was so nice to relax on a bench with ice cream and watch the families and dogs go by. The park is super clean and a perfect size for the area. There is a playground for the kids and beautiful artwork around to enjoy. If I were to ever to live in SF, I would want to live in this neighborhood. Far enough away from all the traffic, but still within the city.
Very cute, very tranquil in a city known for its wild ways.

This sliver of an urban oasis is used by Jamie W. and myself as a post-​meal derrière-​parking spot. I’m not particularly attracted to the public art. Not into little puppies being walked by indulgent owners. I’m certainly not attracted to the Astrodome-​shaped jungle gym. I believe I would be arrested if I was. No, it’s one of the open benches against the planters that always draw us to this space, usually after overeating at Paxti’s. Or Flipper’s. Or Stacks. OK, we may have one of those $ 5 bags of cookies from Miette or a latte from Blue Bottle.
We would just sit and then ignore each other as I play on my iPhone and he on his Droid. When I tire of that, then I move onto my Blackberry to see if I need to respond to some accusatory email from a colleague who hopes her toxic missive will diminish my professional credibility. Not that that ever happens. Bitch. Oh wait, I digress. Once we power our mobile devices down, it is only that we notice Patricia’s Green is a pleasant place in a neighborhood in constant transition.