We chatted with Chris Keene, one of the community activists behind the beloved Noe Valley Town Square. Read on to learn more about how this space went from an underused parking lot to a lively public gathering space.
“Years ago, our local Church was looking to sell their parking lot. I started wondering: what if we got the City to buy the space and turn it into something for the community?
For about 3 years, Todd David and I tabled in that parking lot every Saturday at the Noe Valley Farmers’ Market. Each week, we set up our ironing board and asked neighbors to support our campaign, ‘Save the Noe Valley Town Square.’
We raised a couple hundred thousand dollars and discovered this amazing fact about San Francisco: if you get several hundred folks together to raise money, you get a lot of visibility in the local political scene here because they know how hard it is to do that.
So we went from being two guys and an ironing board, to a group of people from all over the city really excited about this idea.
To me, that was all made possible by SF Parks Alliance. They really supported us and embraced our vision.”
“Today, Noe Valley is markedly more cohesive because for years, we’ve all been getting together every Saturday to go and buy tomatoes.”
“The park officially opened in March 2016. The idea was always to make this an urban park where people can sit or do Tai Chi or just be in community. Now, when you go by Noe Valley Town Square, you see all of those things happening at once. It’s pretty extraordinary.
Because of this project, we’ve been able to keep our Farmers’ Market going. Today, Noe Valley is markedly more cohesive because for years, we’ve all been getting together every Saturday to go and buy tomatoes.
For folks looking to start a project in their own neighborhood, know that not everybody is going to see things the same way as you do. Take the time to tell people your plans and understand their concerns.
Projects in the public realm require patience and organization, so take a step back and find good partners.
If you’re looking to get involved with Noe Valley Town Square, there are events going on all the time. We welcome volunteers! You can also get involved with the Farmers’ Market or Slow Sanchez.
There’s a very active Slow Sanchez volunteer group who organizes cleanups and block parties. Sanchez cuts through a big part of the neighborhood, and on Saturdays, everybody walks along it to get to the Farmers’ Market.”
