Stockton Street “Winter Walk” Plaza to Return Next Holiday Season

The incredibly popular (but temporary) "Winter Walk" plaza will return to Stockton Street in Union Square for another holiday season in December, the local business improvement district announced.

The news isn't a huge surprise, given the boost to business brought by the plaza and the fact that the one-block section of Stockton is already filled with machinery for the construction of Central Subway, as it has been since 2012 and will be until at least 2016. But it's a promising sign that when construction is over the street may not be surrendered to cars.

Katy Lim of the Union Square BID said a visitor poll found that 96 percent of respondents would return to Winter Walk plaza if it were brought back, and that 88 percent would like to see it made permanent. Twenty-six percent of respondents were SF residents, 40 percent were from the Bay Area, and the rest from elsewhere.

No word on just how much foot traffic the plaza saw, but Philz Coffee reportedly sold over 6,000 cups from its stand during the month it was open.

So San Franciscans and visitors have clearly embraced the idea of devoting at least one block in SF's bustling downtown shopping district to people, though it's also clear from the detours for Muni's 30 and 45 lines that surface transit needs greater priority.