potrero view

August 2009

Rebuild Potrero Project Seeks Community Input

By Lisa Tehrani

Under Hope SF, the San Francisco Housing Authority plans to replace the existing 606 public housing units located at Potrero Annex and Terrace with an equal number of new public housing units, and build an additional units offered at a range of income levels, resulting in an economically integrated development.  Nonprofit BRIDGE Housing is leading the project, which is in the site assessment and physical planning phase, with construction unlikely to start for at least three years.  A final site plan is expected by the end of the year, with environmental evaluation of the plan to be completed by the end of 2010.

BRIDGE is working to keep the community engaged in the rebuilding process.  According to Ben Golvin, the project’s community relations manager, “One of the key objectives of the community building effort is to ensure as broad of participation by Terrace and Annex residents and the full Potrero Hill community as possible in planning for the rebuilding.” As part of that effort, BRIDGE has held three meetings with Potrero Annex and Terrace residents, as well as with other Potrero Hill residents.  Upwards of 40 people have participated in the gatherings, with representatives from the Potrero Branch Public Library and the San Francisco Housing Authority in regular attendance.

Public participation is a key element in the project, according to Golvin.  “[It] is important because one of the goals is to achieve much greater integration of the redeveloped housing development with the rest of Potrero Hill, both physically and socially. We want the rebuilt Potrero Hill housing to be more connected to the rest of the community,” he said.  

Golvin and other BRIDGE team members are planning a Community Building Workshop and Community Building Day, both to be held in August. The workshop, scheduled for August 6, will prepare participants for the Community Building Day, planned for August 29, and will include a presentation by Joy Bryngelson, a community builder from the Seattle Housing Authority.  Bryngelson spoke at the first Community Building Workshop, held in May, where initial ideas about how to engage the community were discussed.  The Community Building Day will feature several elements, including a community clean up project, food, children’s activities and an opportunity to review the design process to date.

Participants at previous meetings offered ideas about ways to involve Potrero Hill in the Rebuild Potrero project, and remove the barrier that many agree exists between public housing residents and the rest of the Hill.  Attendees also discussed ways to gather more community support and trust. Erecting a community bulletin board and developing a logo that can be used on t-shirts and banners were offered as possible solutions.  Golvin explained that a bulletin board will likely be located on the public housing site, and will showcase ongoing projects and Rebuild Potrero’s progress.  When asked why she’s participating in the planning effort, Uzuri Pease-Greene explained, “I am participating because I live here, I don’t want to see people displaced and I want to have input on what they build.”

In addition to hiring another staff member to work with the residents, neighbors, and neighborhood institutions, among other responsibilities, the community building team would like to engage the community through an art project, as well as an oral history project involving youth.  A tile-making project will be included as part of the Workshop and Community Building Day, with Ruby’s Clay Studio, which has previously helped with a tile-making project at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, lending their expertise.   

To learn more about the Community Building Workshop, or the Rebuild Potrero project in general, visit www.rebuildpotrero.com.

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