[homebucket]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Downtown was lit tonight. Double major events occurring simultaneously this afternoon/evening with the Giants thumping the Cardinals on Buster Posey Day with over 40,000 in attendance and the Warriors dominating the Grizzlies in NBA playoff action with over 18,000 in attendance.

Can't state enough how lucky we are to be able to enjoy these two premier teams/franchises of their respective sports in two state of the art venues in our downtown core. So many people walking around before and after the game, taking in the sights along the waterfront, packing in the bars and restaurants. You love to see it!

Originally Posted by dktshb

Glad to hear. How is the Mission Bay neighborhood coming along? It seems like the area around Chase Center is a bit lacking as far a vibrant urban environment, but I have yet to be down in that area. With the parking garages, parking lots and UCSF campus it seems a little underwhelming. When Mission Rock gets built out with China Basin Park I think the area could become a destination for locals and tourists especially with the park right on the waterfront. Fingers crossed. Just got back from Sydney and what that city did with Darling Harbour is nothing short of amazing. This won't be a Darling Harbour but I hope it is truly another neighborhood to be proud of.

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Get down there. I’m uninspired by the bland modernist architecture of most of the area but it really has become a neighborhood with more activity than you suggest. And when the areas on both sides of it, north and south, get built out that will be even more true.

Originally Posted by obemearg

The lack of patina doesn't appeal to me personally, though it seems to check the right boxes for some people. I have some friends living on the peninsula that are considering a move to SF and as a neighborhood it's their top choice.

The area directly surrounding the Chase Center is typically the quietest outside of events days as there are two garages, and a surface lot still across the street. The main structures of the Uber campus next door also still have yet to fill their retail space, though with Ubers recent RTO-lite there has been a little more foot traffic.

The residential areas along 4th street have been lively though, especially Spark Social. When I've been by Mission Creek park on the weekends it's always been very vibrant. The neighborhood in general seems to especially attract new families.

Crane Cove Park has also definitely activated the area quite a bit too. It's been busy every time I've been, and I think it draws in people from Potrero Hill, and parts of SoMa. I agree that Mission Rock will really liven up the area even more, and definitely make the overall development feel more urban and integrated with the rest of the city.

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

It's clean, it's modern, it reminds me of a suburban office park or even mall. So it's no surprise it appeals to folks as an alternative to actual suburbs.

Originally Posted by homebucket

Agree with many of the comments here. It doesn’t have the organic feel of some of the legacy neighborhoods, even the SFH outer ones, but that’s to be expected. And while it is generic and bland in some instances it is pretty vibrant for being essentially a brand new neighborhood with a good amount of activity especially around the parks and some of the food places. Chase Center is also surrounded by the medical center and offices so that area in particular is going to be pretty quiet on non event weekends and weeknights. And as other things fill in like Restoration Hardware and Crane Cove Park have, and soon Mission Rock, it should attract more tourists and residents from other neighborhoods.

Originally Posted by dktshb

That is all disappointing regarding Mission Bay. Looking at Google Maps some of the apartments really do have a suburban feel and some of the streets seem to have dead zones with no retail and have no pedestrian appeal. The Mission Rock that they're building out now looks much more promising with interesting architecture and nice public space including a square. When Mission Rock is complete (at least phase one with the park included) I will head down there and check it out. SF really had an opportunity to build a vibrant urban neighborhood from scratch. I hope they didn't completely blow it.

Originally Posted by iamfishhead

Having lived in Mission Bay for 11 years now, one of the things that makes it very different than many other parts of the city is that it was basically built all at once. Most of the rest of the city has a mix of buildings built over a hundred years, but Mission Bay was basically built over roughly 10-15 years, mostly with large apartments, and mostly with a zoning code that only presents a few options if you want to maximize $$$$. The 4th street retail corridor is actually pretty nice. I do think Mission Rock will need to be more fully built out before it feels more like a neighborhood. I do personally like the neighborhood, but I do live right around where it blurs into SoMa and South Beach, so that does give me a different perception, I suppose.

Originally Posted by homebucket

Although it's a little further south in the Dogpatch, the Potrero Power Station project is going to be a huge, both figuratively and literally, in terms of being an activator of the area. The architecture in this particular project is also quite stunning. If MB were built like MR and PPS that would've been nice, but at least we're getting the good stuff now. The Dogpatch blends pretty seamlessly into MB so that's nice as well. You can walk along 3rd and make a pit stop at the excellent Neighbor Bakehouse or take the scenic route along the waterfront.

Originally Posted by pseudolus

To me, what makes Mission Bay feel sterile are the block-long wide buildings on large lots, as opposed to most of the rest of the city, where 25 foot wide lots are the standard.

Originally Posted by edale

I biked around Mission Bay last November, and I thought it was pretty impressive. I can see how some might find it a bit sterile because it was developed basically all at once, but I think it gets the basics right- the street grid was maintained, there's plenty of transit and bike infrastructure, nice new green spaces, and some signature buildings (Chase Center, some UCSF buildings) that provide some visual interest.

For basically building an entire neighborhood from scratch, I think it's pretty good. Not quite Boston Seaport good, but there is still a fair amount left to be developed. Mission Rock definitely is a step up in quality and intensity. I echo others comments that people should check it out for themselves rather than relying on google street view.

Including these comments here to help curate relevant discussion.