Sunday Streets Western Addition
September 27th, 2020 | 11:00am – 4:00pm
Come dance in the streets with Sunday Streets car-free route along The Western Addition’s main corridors! Fillmore and sections of Fulton and Baker Streets will be open to pedestrians, cyclists, roller-skaters, toddlers, families, seniors and more on September 27th.
Starting at Geary, the route travels down lower Fillmore, then heads down Fulton to pass Alamo Square Park, concluding on the residential Baker Street with a fun block party.
Open streets transform neighborhood roadways into a free, temporary park with plenty of space for everyone to enjoy, whether you’re playing chess in the streets, dancing to live music, bringing the kids for a hula-hoop session, worshipping at an outdoor religious service or simply walking the route to get your weekly exercise.
Check out Activity Hubs on Lower Fillmore and Baker at Hayes. On Fillmore Street, enjoy a Market Square and Picnic Grounds, and pick up a Common Cents Passport at a Sunday Streets Info Booth to get stamped (and win prizes from!) local businesses.
The Explore Local Map is your key to all the area has to offer as you explore local businesses, landmarks and the neighborhood’s rich history as an African American hub of art, culture and creation. Take a variety of public transit options to celebrate local establishments like music venue the Boom Boom Room, after-school hangout Miyako Old Fashioned Ice Cream for deli lunches, and the African American Art & Culture Complex for gallery exhibits, theater performances and classes. On Sundays, shop at the Divisadero Farmer’s Market at the DMV parking lot on Fell and Baker.
TRANSIT & LIVABILITY
Sunday Streets creates over a mile of open space through lower Fillmore, encouraging foot traffic and small business engagement with a celebration of all things Western Addition. With stretches of lower Fillmore identified as a Vision Zero high injury-corridor, car-free streets give residents a chance to safely enjoy their neighborhood.
With their wide roadways and set-back buildings, redeveloped areas in the Fillmore and Japantown are a window into 1960s and 70’s-era car-centered city planning. This model aimed to separate street-level pedestrian traffic from auto traffic – check out Buchanan Street’s pedestrian bridge and lack of crosswalks as an example.
The Central Freeway used to run through the neighborhood to Turk Street, but that section of the freeway was closed immediately after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and was later demolished.
DID YOU KNOW?
When the fires from the 1906 earthquake engulfed downtown, merchants and citizens migrated to the untouched Fillmore to continue doing business. Even after merchants moved back to Market Street, Fillmore Street remained a vibrant and bustling commercial corridor.
African Americans seeking jobs in wartime industries dramatically changed the demographics of the neighborhood. The burgeoning African American community supported new jazz clubs as the neighborhood flourished with black-owned businesses; the district was dubbed ‘the Harlem of the West’. Much of this thriving community was permanently displaced when the city began demolishing the area’s businesses and homes in the 1960s and 70s during redevelopment.
The historic Fillmore Auditorium, made famous by Bill Graham during the 1960s counterculture revolution, remains one of the most famous music venues in the Bay Area.