New location of popular Farmers’ Market opens in SF Civic Center, vendors and shoppers still look at its impacts

(SAN FRANCISCO) On September 3, a Sunday at the Labor Day weekend, the popular Heart of the City's Farmers' Market (HOCFM) was relocated to the nearby Fulton Street parking lot and opened for business for the first time. Both the vendors and the shoppers said there were pros and cons at both locations. They would need more time to assess the impacts of the new location.

After 42 years of operating at the United Nations Plaza, HOCFM, one of the oldest farmers' markets in San Francisco, landed a new venue on September 3 at Fulton Street parking lot which is one block away from the previous site. The market and vendors were vocal to oppose the move by the city for months.

For decades, the HOCFM has run twice a week on all Wednesdays and Sundays. Prior to the move, the market hours on both days were until 5pm. The new location has reduced their business hours to 4pm on both days.

The Fulton Street parking lot location is between Larkin and Hyde Streets, and between the San Francisco Public Library and the Asian Art Museum. The vendors complained before the move that the new location was smaller than the UN Plaza and difficult to accommodate all vendors.

On the first day of moving into the new location, all vendors were able to participate. Most of the vendors being interviewed agreed that the new location provided a smaller area for them to set up their booths. It was not convenient for them to unload the vegetables and fruits to the markets, although one side of the parking lot was arranged for the vendors' vehicles.

Ben Phan, a farmer from the Sacramento area who has participated in HOCFM market for 13 years, sells Asian vegetables and is well known to the shoppers. "The new location is neat and cleaner compared to UN Plaza because of the homeless issue there," said Phan.

"Today is a Labor Day holiday. Fewer customers came by to shop here. We expected more customers to be back on the upcoming Wednesday when people are back in town to work," Phan said more vendors would also show up on September 6, the first Wednesday at the new location.

Many of the shoppers at the new location of the farmers’ Market were seniors and of Asian ethnicity. Miss Huang, an 82-year-old frequent shopper, said she liked the old market better because it was closer to where she lived. "Although there is only one block away, it is not easy for me at my age to walk one more block. Except for the distance, the new market looks nice to me."

"As long as a farmers' market is still around in this area, I am happy," said another Chinese elderly woman shopper who did not want to be identified.

"Rec and Park understands change is hard, that’s why we’re offering a ton of city support to make sure the farmers’ market can succeed," said Daniel Montes, Communication Manager of San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department.

"The new Fulton Plaza site will include things like dedicated vendor and staff parking and increased parking enforcement to ensure spots are not taken by non-vendors, overflow space at Civic Center Plaza, and monitored loading zone for restaurants picking up large orders," Montes added. "Also, security assistance will be provided through Civic Center Community Benefit District ambassadors, Urban Alchemy, SFPD, Sheriff’s Office and Park Rangers. Additionally, there will be free customer parking at Civic Center Garage—something that UN Plaza lacked."

The new space at Fulton Plaza location is larger than the market’s footprint at UN Plaza. At the height of the season, the Heart of the City Farmers Market had 70 stalls, and the new location across the street could accommodate all of them, according to Montes.

"This move is not a last-minute plan. Rec and Park and the Civic Center Community Benefit District have been in conversation with farmers market stakeholders about a proposed move for the past four months, meeting more than a dozen times since April 10," Montes said. "The CCCBD team has spent countless hours ensuring the farmers market’s move to Fulton Plaza is a better experience for vendors and customers."

United Nations Plaza has also been known as the city's open drug market with an overdose crisis. San Francisco's Recreation and Park Department proposed a pilot project in July to make the Plaza safer.

Under the United Nations Plaza Activation pilot project, it will be a testament as a solution to the public safety and public health challenges in the area. The project's inspiration was drawn from similar activations in Paris, Madrid,and Philadelphia.

The Rec and Parks Department will install a 13,000-15,000 square foot street skating area at the future United Nations Plaza. Exercise equipment, along with chess, ping pong, teqball tables will provide fun, healthy activities for non-skaters. The facilities are expected to open in mid-Fall 2023.