The cost of street improvements ranges from simple interventions such as adding a street tree or landscaping to full re-designs of an entire corridor, which can cost millions of dollars per block.

This page lists potential funding sources and technical assistance available to individuals and community groups for street improvements, from small to large scale projects

Individual-scale

Resources for individual property owners, tenants, and merchants

• DPW Adopt-a-Street (City/community partnership to keep streets clean)
• DPW Sidewalk Inspection and Repair Program  Resources to make it easier and less expensive for property owners to maintain fronting sidewalks

Community-scale

Resources for community groups, merchants associations, business districts, and the like

• San Francisco Community Challenge Grant Program (Grants for neighborhood beautification projects)
• SFPUC Urban Watershed Stewardship Grant Program (Grants for community-led stormwater management projects – included within the San Francisco Community Challenge Grant Program)
• DPW Street Parks Program (Partnership between DPW and community members to create community managed gardens on underutilized public rights of way owned by DPW)
• Community Benefit Districts (special assessment districts to fund neighborhood improvements)
• Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative (Program to provide resources and technical assistance to help promote and revitalize the City’s neighborhood commercial districts)

Public Sector

In addition to the funding sources listed above, there are many federal, state, regional and local grant programs available to public sector agencies to fund street improvements. Please refer to the San Francisco County Transportation Authority’s website, Funding Opportunities, to learn more about San Francisco’s Proposition K transportation sales tax and a number of other funding opportunities.

For additional stormwater-related technical resources, see SFPUC Stormwater Design Guidelines page.

External Resources

These organizations provide resources for making street improvements.

• Friends of the Urban Forest (process assistance for street trees and sidewalk landscaping)
• PlantSF (process assistance for sidewalk landscaping)
• Public Architecture 1% Program (Pro bono design services for community projects)

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