Sights and Culture - March 31, 2015

Firehouse 8: 

A historic firehouse located in Russian Hill. This building was left vacant for 30 years and is now revived into an event space, with co-working and mixed retail. Pop-ups with food, fashion, art and performance will intertwine and rotate throughout the space. Expect well curated, cohesive collections with a mix of local artisans, designers and producers.                                                  

• Open Hours: Closed on Wednesdays, but otherwise open from 10AM-3PM if private events permit. Sunday is currently by appointment only. 

• Tours: Based on appointment. Email us to schedule: contact@firehouse-8.com 

• Firehouse 8’s Accommodations: Skylight Room- Up to 127 banquet style or 280 standing. The Engine Room- 100 seated or standing. Penthouse and Mezzanine each accommodate 20 guests. 

San Francisco Market Street Railway brings Trolley Tours back! 

Come ride the not-often-seen streetcar 737 representing Zürich, Switzerland, built in 1952, by going on this 2-hour excursion on Muni’s oldest surviving rail line, the J-Church line, about a 13-mile round-trip. 

• Excursion is on Sunday, April 12, 1:30-3:30pm. 

• Destinations : Market Street, the Castro, scenic Mission Dolores Park, Noe Valley, Bernal Heights, Glen Park, Balboa Park, and Cameron Beach Yard, Muni’s storage and maintenance facility for the historic streetcar fleet (normally off limits to the public). 
• All Tours and Excursions start and stop at the San Francisco Railway Museum, 77 Steuart Street 

Fresh Air Club

Come check out the newest initiative run by the Alite Outpost called the Fresh Air Club (FAC).

Created to motivate and inspire urbaneers to take part in accessible outdoor adventures. With an abundance of unique spaces and places in the Bay Area, Alite has compiled a list of local outdoor activities as well as group events this spring and summer for club members, as well as numerous campsite giveaways, product discounts and Alite schwag as encouragement for participation.

Today's Pick

Privately-Owned Public Open Space (POPOS)

Privately-owned public open spaces (POPOS) are publicly accessible spaces in forms of plazas, terraces, atriums, small parks, and even snippets that are provided and maintained by private developers. In San Francisco, POPOS mostly appear in the Downtown office district area.






525 MARKET PLAZA
The plaza at 525 Market is one of the most pleasant plazas in the Financial District, thanks in part to the huge fountain and rock sculpture that blocks out noise from the street. The plaza is surrounded by eateries, which makes it one of the most popular lunch spots in the FiDi.

Where: 50 Post St; the rooftop deck at Crocker Galleria

How to get here: Take the escalators to the third floor, turn left, and look for a hallway that says "Garden Terrace".

Amenities: Well, aside from the fact that it's super easy to pick up some food in any of the shops below, they also offer free Wi-Fi, so you can "work from home" while getting a tan/probably not really getting a tan.

Where: 343 Sansome St

How to get here: Walk into the lobby, pass the security guard, and get into one of the elevators to the 15th floor.

Amenities: It's got a ton of linear benches and seating areas around large planters, plus, there's an awesome view of the Transamerica Pyramid, a view of the Bay, and a sundial... for all your ancient time-telling purposes.

Where: 555 California

How to get here: If you walk up from California, then it's right there. If you're coming off Pine, you'll need to walk in and look for escalators up to the terrace.

Amenities: Though not exactly a rooftop, the mezzanine does still overlook the rest of the FiDi. There are a ton of benches and a bamboo tree forest thing in the middle of it all. You can almost pretend you're not in the FiDi. Almost.

Where: 303 2nd St

How to get here: Not really visible from the street, the terraced sides of the plaza protect a large, sunken, grassy area with a huge fountain. Best bet: find the plaza on 2nd St between Folsom and Harrison, and walk towards the grass steps.

Amenities: The aforementioned huge fountain, abstract wooden benches, and alcoves complete with tables to eat/work off of. You could even sunbathe here without feeling too weird. Decently weird, but not too weird.

Where: 835 Market St; the Westfield Sky Terrace.

How to get here: This one's the hardest to find. Don't go into the mall, but instead into the building to the left at 835 Market with an SF state flag over it. Walk in past the guard at the lobby (like you know what you're doing, so no one gets weirded out), and hop in one of the elevators to the 8th floor. Only one elevator goes to the 9th, so rather than waiting for that one, just hop off on the 8th (unless you lucked out) and hit the 'Up' button to call an elevator to the 9th floor.