Open a west side entry gate at the San Francisco Botanical Garden
The Issue
We the undersigned request The San Francisco Botanical Garden open an entrance and exit on the west side of the garden to increase accessibility for all.
Currently, SFBG has two entrances/exits, located on the east and north-east sides of the garden.
Visitors often enter near 9th avenue. If visitors want to go to the children's garden, they need to walk over a mile from the entrance and back to the exit (.6 miles each way). For community members on the west side of the park, the minimum commute is over 2.5 miles there and back, even though they might live just blocks away from the garden.
The issue is access.
Families with small children are dissuaded from visiting the children's garden because the extra commute time just isn't realistic for children's patience and stamina. Adding nap times to this equation means some kids living just blocks away will never visit the children's garden until they're school age or above. Ages 0-5 are extraordinarily formative years, and an important time to foster a connection with nature and plants. We shouldn't have to wait until kids are able to withstand long distance commutes to be able to take part in the SFBG's offerings.
When westside neighbors consider going to the botanical garden, they are more likely to drive and park in and around GGP, adding to the neighborhood's congestion, and defeating the purpose of accessible public spaces designed with environmental consciousness. With a west side entrance, more families can opt for walking or taking public transit. The 7, 19, 28, and 29 buses all connect outer residents to within a block of a potential west-side entrance. Only the 7 bus connects outer sunset residents to the current east-side entrance, and no bus connects folks to the north side entrance. The lack of access to public transit becomes an equity issue. Opening a west side gate would double the public transit options to help visitors access the SFBG. For visitors who do drive, their options for parking are greatly extended if they can park further west, away from the busy 9th avenue hub.
This combination of lengthy commutes and lack of access means fewer people visit the garden than would like to, especially the Children's Garden. This prevents the SFBG from connecting people to plants, the planet, and each other, which is their stated mission.
The main hurdles we anticipate are the cost of adding one person daily to monitor the gate, and the cost of constructing a functional and appealing west-side gate. We anticipate that these costs will be counter-balanced by the increase in visitors, and the increase in community support.
(this was not written with AI)
192
The Issue
We the undersigned request The San Francisco Botanical Garden open an entrance and exit on the west side of the garden to increase accessibility for all.
Currently, SFBG has two entrances/exits, located on the east and north-east sides of the garden.
Visitors often enter near 9th avenue. If visitors want to go to the children's garden, they need to walk over a mile from the entrance and back to the exit (.6 miles each way). For community members on the west side of the park, the minimum commute is over 2.5 miles there and back, even though they might live just blocks away from the garden.
The issue is access.
Families with small children are dissuaded from visiting the children's garden because the extra commute time just isn't realistic for children's patience and stamina. Adding nap times to this equation means some kids living just blocks away will never visit the children's garden until they're school age or above. Ages 0-5 are extraordinarily formative years, and an important time to foster a connection with nature and plants. We shouldn't have to wait until kids are able to withstand long distance commutes to be able to take part in the SFBG's offerings.
When westside neighbors consider going to the botanical garden, they are more likely to drive and park in and around GGP, adding to the neighborhood's congestion, and defeating the purpose of accessible public spaces designed with environmental consciousness. With a west side entrance, more families can opt for walking or taking public transit. The 7, 19, 28, and 29 buses all connect outer residents to within a block of a potential west-side entrance. Only the 7 bus connects outer sunset residents to the current east-side entrance, and no bus connects folks to the north side entrance. The lack of access to public transit becomes an equity issue. Opening a west side gate would double the public transit options to help visitors access the SFBG. For visitors who do drive, their options for parking are greatly extended if they can park further west, away from the busy 9th avenue hub.
This combination of lengthy commutes and lack of access means fewer people visit the garden than would like to, especially the Children's Garden. This prevents the SFBG from connecting people to plants, the planet, and each other, which is their stated mission.
The main hurdles we anticipate are the cost of adding one person daily to monitor the gate, and the cost of constructing a functional and appealing west-side gate. We anticipate that these costs will be counter-balanced by the increase in visitors, and the increase in community support.
(this was not written with AI)
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Petition created on November 5, 2026