Bay Area Pop-Ups Aim To Activate Vacant Storefronts

As stories from around the country attest, the last two and a half years accelerated a hollowing-out of central business districts in many U.S. cities. Regardless of how quickly the pandemic officially ends, writes John King in a paywalled article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “What cities and building owners must do now is find intriguing, inventive ways to plug holes on a short-term basis — so that today’s terrain of ‘for rent’ signs doesn’t become a permanent blight on too many urban blocks.”

King argues that “Cities need to find ways to prime the pump, and facilitate new types of ongoing activities within otherwise vacant ground floor spaces.” Kate Sofis, director of the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, agrees. As King writes, “One promising initiative comes out of Sofis’ office: ‘Vacant to Vibrant,’ which would allocate $750,000 in the 2022-23 city budget to ‘pairing property owners with artists and small businesses who can use the space for short term activations.’”

King imagines even more possibilities: “Imagine if civic or cultural institutions committed to programming a year of exhibitions in a spacious storefront near Salesforce Tower, one after the other, each showcasing a niche within their collection.” Or “City Hall itself could commit to a storefront that would function as a service center — an easy spot for residents to get assistance face to face.”

“It also makes sense to loosen the definition of what is allowed along could-be-busy sidewalks,” King writes, pointing to the city of Oakland’s experiment in doing just that. Across the bay, “San Francisco’s proposed budget next year includes $2.5 million for special events and streetscape improvements in what the city calls the ‘economic core.’ The goal: to ‘draw a wide range of both business and leisure visitors over the course of a week.’ And give them a reason to stop by more than once.”