With the ribbon for San Francisco’s Brannan Street Wharf project having been cut last month, has the new park gone to the dogs?
While the Wharf’s 400-foot lawn was intended for “informal play,” it’s perfect for running a pooch. And while it isn’t a designated dog park, the use of it as such by some is keeping others off the grass and raises the question of whether the lawn can effectively serve as an informal play area for both kids and canines.
The count this afternoon: 1 person, 1 pooch and 2 new stations with free pet waste bags.
The city shouldn’t allow dogs there. It’ll get ruined in a hurry.
Enjoy this view now because if the Warriors build you won’t see it in the future.
Anowned, probably more dogs use Rincon Park (the bow & arrow) and the park is not ‘ruined.’ That being said, I am disgusted when I see people sitting on the grass without a blanket (and worse, doing pushups..eeew!) in these parks which are primarily used as dog bathrooms. Yuck!
Anyway, drunken redneck Giants fans from Fresno do far more damage to the South Beach than some dogs in a park.
A dog’s piss is a lot cleaner than most stuff you touch every day, anon.
🙂
And when the Warriors do build their arena and amazing public plazas ON THE WATERFRONT, you will have amazing views all around this side of the bay.
Views are always changing. Just walk a little.
you’ll find that both people and dogs spit/drool, piss and crap in some of these parks, so always use a blanket.
I can’t comment on the dog situation but skateboarders have been grinding away on the concrete near the steps.
@CH
I saw that coming from the first peek at the designs for those banks. Almost like they made it specifically for skateboards in places 😉
It’s bound to happen, and in most cases should prob just be embraced as a part of the character of the location… and so on.
Kids and dogs generally go hand in hand.
People who complain about dogs playing on grass… EWWW
Not to mention there is a new dedicated dog park literally a block and half away at Beale and Bryant.
I’ve used the grass a few times already and while I am a little perplexed by someone who would let their dog relieve itself there when there is a dog park three blocks away, my biggest complaint is the skate rats who insist on video taping themselves falling off the concrete edges, generally being a nuisance and likely to hurt an innocent passer-by with their projectile skate boards.
In a climate where thereS no rain for 6 months, non dog run areas in parks are fully saturated with urine and poo -/ why act like they dont stink?
Even in parks where most dog owners respect the dog area -/ the grassy areas generally reek. Love dogs have kid -. Kathleen doubt you have kids or have tried to use a park in summer in any real way.
And cue doggie apologists. Get real doggie apologists. Not everyone likes lots and lots of dog pee in small patches of grass. Wow. Shocker.
I think the city’s so-called “homeless advocates” should have a say in this. After all, if it’s a public park, they have first right of refusal.
Skateboarding is not a crime.
Quick note: I love dogs and cats and other animals, but in SF, I’ve seen a lot of people greatly underestimate how many children are afraid of dogs, and who want to play where there are no dogs. And then they say, “well, kids should learn to love dogs,” i.e., have your kid get therapeutized according to my convenience so my dog can run…..which is insensitive.
Look to NYC for really great designated, separate, fenced dog play areas that are also appropriately much smaller than the areas for humans.
Not to split hairs, Fishchum, but I believe SF does have an ordinance on the books against skateboarding on city sidewalks. So skateboarding technically is a crime in certain parts of town – see name link.
LD – Yeah, I know. Just harkening back to my hardcore/punk days when all my friends had the “Skateboarding Is Not A Crime” bumper stickers on their cars, boards, etc.
Yeah, I remember those days. Good punk music, bad hair cuts, dirt weed, and banged up knees and shins. I think kids today have apps and video games for that – much easier than actually going outside.
I’ll take skateboarders and dogs over the numerous bums and their shopping cart flotilla(s) any day. This park is still new and is already becoming a sleeping area for the crazies. The Embarcadero is disgusting, starting at the Ferry Building and now all the way to PacBell. (Don’t get me wrong, I love the city and run this stretch every day…just hate to see what it’s become since OccupySF days…)
Skate and Destroy!
The problem with the skate boarders is their need to “rail grind” brand new concrete planting boarders and destroying the concrete in the process. I too, however, will take those guys over the aggresive crazies that seem to be multiplying in the area. Not sure what’s going on in the City, but it seems that there are more of the screaming and aggressive street people who clearly aren’t taking meds than there has ever been.
Destroying concrete, people! Please, grandpa, street skating has been like this for 25 years and people rarely get “injured by projectile skateboards.” If you’re really CW Nevius, you should be upfront about it and post under your name.
This area cannot serve both dogs and people. It is either a place to sit or lie in the grass or it is a place for dogs to relieve themselves and play. The local dog owners have taken over this spot. So much for the adults and children who were hoping to rest and play on the grass, The city missed this big time! NO DOGS!
The skaters are interesting – one would think that this would involve teenagers skating but no! These skaters are mid-twenty, 30 and 40 something’s that are destroying the new park. Maybe we need to build a skaters park?
@Grace Speaking of which, what happened to the Valencia / Stevenson alley skate park build? Still looks like an city employee parking lot.
So much for the adults and children who were hoping to rest and play on the grass
I’m not exactly pro-dog, but this is really extreme, as if there were no people-parks in the area, let alone the city. POOR HUMANS!
Rob: It’s in bidding? You can’t exactly go to Home Depot and pick up a skatepark kit, you know.
http://mission.sfgov.org/OCABidPublication/BidDetail.aspx?K=6960
I can speak for the responsible dog owners out there. I think that it is possible for dogs and people to co-exist. Most of the dog owners I know pick up after their pets. It only takes one bad owner to ruin things for everyone.
As far as the smell on the grass. I know that on most of the grass by the bay, they use fish fertilizer on the lawn because it is organic and won’t be a problem if it gets in the water. May be a large part of the smell.
For parents – please teach your kids not to run up to dogs they do not know. No dog like screaming children running at them. They are frightened and will react. This causes most of the problems between dogs and kids. You also need to be responsible in order to co-exist. There are more households in South Beach with dogs than children.
It is a beautiful little park. I took a stroll the first week it opened. Everyone behaving. Everything pristine and new. The second week: skateboarders grinding the new concrete “benches”. The third week, a homeless guy with two shopping carts tied together had set up camp. The fourth week, the dogs, jumping and barking, had moved on to the grassy knoll. Next week?
dog park = dog toilet
I also wouldn’t want my kid around some stranger’s dog. You know nothing of the dog’s temperament, training, vaccinations, etc. Better to be safe than sorry. A lot of dog owners vastly overrate how well behaved their own dogs are.
As the mother of 5 children, parents vastly overrate how well behaved their own children are.
That neighborhood has far more dogs than children.
Are Brannan Street Warf and South Beach Park designated off leash for dogs?
Does anyone know if the dog leash law is the same for SF Port as SF REC?
Thanks.
Hey – i love dogs. But, I do not want to sit on grass that the dogs have peed on and I certainly don’t want my granddaughter to play or crawl on that grass. This is something that the city should have sorted out before it opened.
My problems with skateboards on embarcadero are that they are noisy and they tend to monopolize areas.
There is a new dog park next to the Bay Bridge off Brannan.
The dog people should hang out there not at the new Embarcadero park let.
Park and Rec. HELP!!
South Beach Park is a few steps away. I don’t know if it’s technically designated as a dog park but all I ever see there are off-leash dogs so it is de facto a dog park. If the dog owners in the area don’t have enough sense by themselves to let the new park be dog-free then the city needs to step in. It would be nice if everybody could coexist without the need for written rules but that only works if everybody can be adult about it.
San Francisco Health Code
Section 40 – states that dogs must be controlled so as not to commit nuisances; all dog feces must be removed; and all dog walkers must carry materials to remove dog feces.
Sec. 41.12 – All dogs must be leashed or tethered except in designated exercise areas. Dog guardians must be physically present at all times. Ordinance also describes circumstances when dog barking becomes an offense.
Given that leash law enforcement is non-existent, SF definitely needs some fenced kid and people parks with grass. Some of the diseases these dogs carry are serious, girardia especially, which is rampant in SF dogs. Most SF public lawns are plain nasty. Too bad they didn’t create a fenced dog-free area in the park.
SF Dog Owner- the difference is that we’ve all been kids. Dogs [are not the same as] kids.