TL Transforms is an initiative to build community power and agency through an emergent engagement process resulting in physical streetscape improvements and programming throughout the Tenderloin.
TL Transforms is led by the Tenderloin Community Benefit District (TLCBD) in partnership with Envelope Architecture + Design, and Studio O. Tenderloin residents, merchants, property owners, and community based organizations, as well city agencies work collaboratively to advance projects. TL Transforms has been supported by the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Additional funding support has been provided by TLCBD, Chinatown CDC, Cross Cultural Family Center, DCYF, and SFMTA.
Interested in supporting these community-led initiatives? Donate to TL Transforms and Safe Passage Park here.
projects
ABOUT TL TRANSFORMS
TL Transforms utilizes the tenets of Community Pride Through Environmental Design (CPTED) to inspire pride and agency for residents, small businesses, and property owners on their specific blocks. There are four goals that guide the TL Transforms project:
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Transformation of place and quality of life
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Sense of community agency, stewardship, and power
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Youth engagement and leadership
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Building a framework for partnership and community capacity
Through surveys, design exercises, and direct engagement and partnership with Block Groups, residents are asked how they want to see their block improved and are invited to co-create the improvements with TLCBD and the design team. Residents are invited to sit in on meetings between TLCBD and City agencies to discuss the process for implementing physical changes to the street. Once projects are in place, they remain iterative, changeable, temporary physical installations that are assessed and tweaked and built upon as they progress.
Through work with Livable City, SFMTA and other community partners and City agencies Play Streets was approved, creating temporary space for play on the 200 block of Turk Street, which fronts several densely residential buildings, including high numbers of children and families. Play Streets closed the street to automobile traffic from 10am-3pm on select Saturdays and opened up for activities such as bike riding, art, chalk drawing, hula hooping, movement classes, drumming classes, backpack giveaways, resource sharing, and COVID-19 testing.
During the Play Streets series which launched in 2020, residents voiced a clear desire and need for more open spaces in the neighborhood.
From Play Streets, a new TL Transforms project was set into motion. Working with the 200/300 Block of Turk Group, Safe Passage Park (SPark) was imagined and brought to life as a three-month pilot program in April 2021.
SPark is an 1800 square foot community space that runs along the southern sidewalk of the 200 block of Turk Street. The space provides much needed access to outdoor play areas for local youth, rest spaces for residents, and a space for community movement, arts, and health classes. Residents, businesses, and community organizations have come together to help in funding the design, development, and stewardship of this new community space to ensure that it remains a welcoming space for all.
SPark is made possible by the support of Tenderloin Residents and the partnership of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, as well as the Covid Command Center, SFMTA, SF Fire, SFPD, HSOC, the 200 Turk Street Block Group, and the Chinatown Community Development Center.
Residents and community organizations on the block are active participants in Safe Passage Park, supporting programming and stewardship on an ongoing basis. Learnings and feedback from this project are also shared with other Tenderloin Block Groups, furthering their capacity to directly engage with the city on long-term, transformative projects that foster safe, clean, and inviting public spaces.