Cityside Park — Treasure Island, San Francisco
From high above on Yerba Buena Island, Treasure Island offers one of my favorite views of San Francisco Bay. From this bird’s-eye perspective, you can see the entire 400-acre man-made island — and right now, watch its landscape being transformed.
Built in the 1930s for the Golden Gate International Exposition and originally intended to become an airport, Treasure Island later spent decades as a naval base. Today, it is undergoing another major transformation into a new San Francisco neighborhood.
One of the first places where that future is really taking shape is Cityside Park, along the island’s San Francisco-facing waterfront. Beginning near the new ferry terminal, the park replaces what was once a largely utilitarian shoreline with lawns, plazas, walking and cycling paths, and broad areas of new landscaping.
What I particularly like is the vegetation. The landscape uses California native, drought-tolerant and climate-adapted plants, selected to handle the island’s wind, fog and salt air while also providing habitat for birds and pollinators. Stormwater gardens are incorporated into the landscape as well.
New housing sits well back from the shoreline, leaving a broad stretch of public green space along the Bay — all with some pretty spectacular views of San Francisco.
After photographing Treasure Island and its changing landscape for nearly 20 years, it’s fascinating to watch this next chapter take shape.
The greening of Treasure Island has begun.
