MARCH | Twin Peaks
historic image from "Report on a Plan For San Francisco," Daniel Burnham, 1905. Digital image from David Rumsey Map Collection.
Twin Peaks is one of the best vantage points from which to admire our city. It’s a regular stop on every tour bus route, and a must for visiting friends and parents. The peaks have a rich history as a look out, hunting grounds and were within the boundaries of the last Spanish Land Grant, Rancho San Miguel. The view from the Peaks inspired the architect Daniel Burnham to incorporate them into one end of a great park stretching all the way to Lake Merced and the Ocean as part of his 1905 Burnham Plan for San Francisco.
Despite the visiting hordes, it is currently part of the Mission Blue butterfly habitat conservation plan, and considered a great natural resource. Now an icon of the city, Sutro Tower was once a controversial addition to Twin Peaks that we now take for granted.
In many ways, it’s the pinnacle of San Francisco, with the whole glittering city laid out below your feet… but it can also be the pits. The viewing scopes don’t work, it’s cold cold cold and WINDY and you have to battle the tour buses to park. Riding your bike up is a Herculean effort, and once there, the trails to the top are an erosive slip-N-slide.
If you could redesign the public space on Twin Peaks what would you include? What would you remove, change, or what could be restored or preserved? How would people get up and down? What amenities do you wish were up there now that aren’t?
Want to submit an entry to this contest? Check out the entry guidelines and register through the HOW page!