Eyes on the Street: Twitter’s Alley-Turned-Plaza Bustles Near Civic Center

A plaza is bustling with life several months after its creation on a segment of the Stevenson Street alleyway at 10th Street, next to the Twitter offices.

By Aaron Bialick

2:32 PM PDT on July 30, 2015

City transportation staffers enjoy the astroturfed plaza created on the Stevenson Street alley as part of the Twitter building's renovation. Photo: Jessica Kuo — City transportation staffers enjoy the astroturfed plaza created on the Stevenson Street alley as part of the Twitter building’s renovation. Photo: Jessica Kuo

A plaza is bustling with life several months after its creation on a segment of the Stevenson Street alleyway at 10th Street, next to the Twitter offices.

The “Market Square” plaza is a privately-owned public open space built as part of Twitter’s office construction and renovations. That intersection of the mid-Market, SoMa, and Civic Center areas was relatively dead just a few years ago before unoccupied buildings and lots were filled by condo buildings like NEMA and tech companies like Twitter and Uber. Occupying the floor of Twitter’s building next to the alley is “The Market,” a grocery store and food hall complete with tech-salary prices.

Today, the plaza serves as a gathering space filled largely with a mix of tech workers and city government employees coming from nearby offices to enjoy some coffee. (Is there any more effective way to populate a pedestrianized alley than by opening a Blue Bottle?)

Stevenson's previous iterations, as seen in 2007 (left) and 2012 (right). Photos: Google Street View — Stevenson’s previous iterations, as seen in 2007 (left) and 2012 (right). Photos: Google Street View

Aaron Bialick

Aaron was the editor of Streetsblog San Francisco from January 2012 until October 2015. He joined Streetsblog in 2010 after studying rhetoric and political communication at SF State University and spending a semester in Denmark.

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