San Francisco Castro district neighbors are hoping planter boxes will help clear out sometimes dangerous police activity along a popular street corner.
The Walgreens at the corner of Castro and 18th streets is very often a hub for all kinds of activity -- not all of it good. The store on Saturday morning will get a new feature when a series of brand new, oak barrel planters are set up outside the windows of the business.
The hope is that the new planters will help prevent other problems like sidewalk tents or problematic loiterers. It is a plan Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said has been in the works for months.
Walgreens is providing the planters, the city is helping with the soil and plants, and neighborhood volunteers will fill and plant them.
"It's sending the signal that people care about this area. People work here and live here," Mandelman said. "We hope it actually does repel some of the bad activity and it actually creates, frankly, less space for other less desirable activities to be happening."
Neighborhood business owners said they hope the planters are really aimed at preventing more dangerous activities.
The idea for the planters comes from different parts of the neighborhood that have had them installed for the last couple of years, and residents said they seem to be working.
Residents installed several planters at Eureka and Market streets because tent encampments had popped up there during the pandemic. Several others have been installed around the neighborhood.
The city does have strict rules for the size and volume of the planters, so Mandelman said if residents want to install more at other trouble spots his office is happy to help in the process.
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