Finding Aid to the San Francisco Department of City Planning Records
SFH 465
Finding aid prepared by Tami J. Suzuki.
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
2018
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
sfhistory@sfpl.org
Title: San Francisco Department of City Planning Records
Date (inclusive): 1922-2003
Identifier/Call Number: SFH 465
Creator:
San Francisco (Calif.). Planning Department
Creator:
San Francisco (Calif.). Department of City Planning
Physical Description:
6.6 Cubic Feet
(7 boxes)
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: Contains reports, plans and proposals, and property surveys shaping the physical development of San Francisco in the 20th
century. Also includes photographic prints and negatives documenting neighborhoods, streets, and traffic scenes.
Physical Location: Collection is stored on site.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in
English.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours, with photographs available during Photo Desk
hours.
Photographs cannot be photocopied. Gloves are required when handling photographs.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], San Francisco Department of City Planning Records (SFH 465), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco
Public Library.
Provenance
Transferred to the San Francisco City Archives from the San Francisco Department of City Planning in separate accessions.
Photographs and negatives were transferred from the Planning Department to the San Francisco Public Library in the 1980s,
with a second transfer in 2013.
Related Materials
Researchers are encouraged to see also the San Francisco Department of Public Works Bureau of Engineering Records (SFH 458),
for files on a city-wide mapping project and related construction of a wood model of the city, created by the federal Work
Projects Administration.
See also the History Center's subject files and the library catalog.
See also
Making City Planning Work,
Allan B. Jacobs, Washington, D.C.: American Planning Association, c1980.
Processing Information
Processed by Tami J. Suzuki and Christina Moretta. Primary processing and description of Block Profiles series by Ed Michael,
1991.
Conservation Note
During processing, the collection was re-housed in acid-free folders and boxes.
Materials Transferred
Some reports were transferred to the library's book collection. Photographs have been transferred to the San Francisco Historical
Photograph Collection.
Administrative History
Long known as the San Francisco Department of City Planning, the agency more recently became known as the San Francisco Planning
Department. It plays a central role in guiding the city's growth and development, including enforcing the Planning Code. The
Planning Commission maintains the city's General Plan and advises the department on long-range goals, policies and programs,
on issues related to land use, transportation, and current planning.
Early city planning was based on a rectilinear block plan laid out and modified by surveyors Capt. Jean Jacques Vioget (in
1839), Jasper O'Farrell (in 1847), and William Eddy (in 1849). In 1904, architect Daniel Burnham laid out a plan that was
completed just before the earthquake and fire of 1906, but the plan was ignored in the city's rebuilding. Later, some of Burnham's
ideas were implemented, including the Great Highway, Yacht Harbor, Aquatic Park, Civic Center, John McLaren Park, and Telegraph
Hill Park. Development westward also ensued.
Mayor James Rolph appointed the first City Planning Commission members on Dec. 28, 1917. The commission became a city agency
in 1929, charged with responsibility under the Charter to make, accept, and maintain a Master Plan for the physical development
of the city. The agency was known as the San Francisco Department of City Planning.
Scope and Contents
Contains reports, plans and proposals, property surveys, block drawings, and photographic images shaping and documenting the
physical development of San Francisco in the 20th century. Block drawings were prepared in 1938 and 1939 for construction
of a 3-dimensional model of the city. Subjects include height limits, urban design, lot sizes, rezoning, street connections,
and redevelopment.
Photographs consist of prints, negatives, and color slides of neighborhoods, streets, and traffic scenes. Photo subjects include
construction of the Work Projects Administration (WPA) Sectional Model of San Francisco and the Market Street transit thoroughfare.
Arrangement
Organized into three series: 1. Subject Files; 2. Block Profiles; and 3. Photographs and Negatives. Subject Files are arranged
alphabetically. Block Profiles are arranged numerically by map number. Photographs are arranged chronologically, and by project.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
San Francisco (Calif.). Planning Department -- Archives
San Francisco (Calif.). Department of City Planning -- Archives
City planning -- California -- San Francisco.
Land use -- California -- San Francisco.
Cities and towns -- California -- San Francisco -- Growth
San Francisco (Calif.). -- Relief models
Photographic prints -- 20th century.
Transparencies
Slides--Color—1940-1950
Slides -- Color --1970-1980
Series 1
Subject Files
1922-2003
Physical Description:
2.6 Cubic Feet
(3 boxes)
Scope and Contents
Includes reports, plans and proposals, and property surveys. Subjects include height limits, urban design, lot sizes, rezoning,
street connections, and redevelopment. Of note are Mayor Roger Lapham's memos and reports on postwar municipal construction
and assessments; these are indexed. Model Cities documents include an outline of the development program to handle blight,
in both Spanish and English.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by subject title.
box 1, folder 1-3
Inner Mission North Survey
2003
Scope and Contents
Documentation of a few hundred buildings with evaluations both individually and as historic districts. As a single body of
work, it was adopted by the Planning Commission.
box 1, folder 4
Architectural Survey
1976-1977
box 1, folder 5
Chinatown 701 Planning Project, Interim Status Report to the City Planning Commission
1971
box 2, folder 1
City Plan San Francisco Proposal and Photographs
[1965?]
box 1, folder 6
"City Planning in San Francisco," Stanford Community Development Study
1972
box 1, folder 7
Community Renewal Program (CRP)/Citizens Advisory Committee Correspondence and Minutes
March-April, 1965
box 1, folder 8
CRP, San Francisco Community Renewal Program, Organization and Administration Study, Supplement Number 2
1964
box 2, volume 2
Comprehensive Plan of the City & County of San Francisco
1966-1974?
box 1, folder 9-12
Context Statement and Architectural/Historical Survey of Unreinforced Masonry Building (UMB) Construction in San Francisco
from 1850 to 1940
1990
box 1, folder 13
Discovering the Design Rules for Compatibility with Existing Neighborhoods (Preliminary)
box 1, folder 14
Downtown Open Spaces Tour
1994
box 1, folder 15
Downtown Plan Monitoring Report
1994
box 1, folder 16
Downtown Plan Review Reports: 150 California Street, 524 Howard Street, 101 Second Street, 222 Second Street
1989
box 1, folder 17
Downtown Zoning Study Proposals
1967
box 1, folder 18
Draft EIR for the Proposed Amendments to the Text of the City Planning Code and to the Zoning Map...
1977
box 1, folder 19
Embarcadero-Lower Market Redevelopment Area E-1
1958
box 1, folder 20
Feasibility Study for a Proposed Recreation/Entertainment Complex in Yerba Buena Center
1978
box 1, folder 21
Form, Design and a More Attractive City Environment
box 1, folder 22
4th Biennial HUD Awards for Design Excellence
1970
box 1, folder 23
Height Limits in Northeastern San Francisco
1963
box 1, folder 24
Here Today Resolution
1979
box 1, folder 25
Hetch Hetchy Water and Power: Western Addition Redevelopment
1970-1974
box 1, folder 26
Highrise Office Growth in Downtown San Francisco
1985
box 1, folder 27
I-280 Concept Program/City Staff Recommendation
1985
box 1, folder 28, box 3, folder 1-3
Lapham, Mayor Roger: Citizens Postwar Planning Committee Reports, 1945
box 3, folder 4
Lapham, Mayor Roger: Lot Size Ordinance Change
1945-1946
box 3, folder 5
Local Coastal Program, Private Lands including Housing Element…
1980
box 3, folder 6
Local Coastal Program, Public Lands
1980
box 3, folder 7
Management Information and Control System Reports, Yerba Buena Center Exhibition Hall
1977
box 3, folder 8
Master Plan of the City and County of San Francisco
[1966?]
box 2, folder 3
Amendment: Neighborhood Center Facilities
1976-1977
box 2, folder 4
Amendment: Northeastern Waterfront
1977
box 2, folder 5
Amendment: Transportation Noise
1974
box 2, folder 6
Amendment: Urban Design Element
1971-1972
box 3, folder 10
Postwar Improvements Handbook
July 1944
box 3, folder 11
Redevelopment of Blighted Areas
1945
box 3, folder 12
Shoreline Development, Preliminary Report
1943
box 3, folder 13
Model Cities Program Documents
1968-[1971]
box 3, folder 14
Neighborhood Commercial Rezoning Study Documents
1984
box 3, folder 15
New City: San Francisco Redeveloped
1947
box 3, folder 16
The Next Step in Urban Redevelopment, a Report to the Board of Supervisors on the Selection of the First Redevelopment Area
1947
box 2, folder 7
Plan for the Development of the San Francisco-San Mateo Peninsula
1922
box 3, folder 18-19
Planning Area Study
1955-1958
box 3, folder 21
Preservation of Landmarks in San Francisco
1966
box 3, folder 22
Progress in City Planning Report
1948
box 3, folder 23
"The Real Estate Industry and the Politics of Zoning in San Francisco, 1914-1928," (article)
1988
box 3, folder 24
Redevelopment Report: Planning and Rebuilding of Area "E"
1956
box 3, folder 25
Report on Street Connections and Developments Recommended for the Central District
1936
box 3, folder 26
Report on Yerba Buena Convention and Exhibit Center
1978
box 3, folder 27
Residence: Housing Demolition and Replacement Report
1981
box 3, folder 28
Residence: Residential Hotel Unit Conversion and Demolition Ordinance Report
1988
box 2, folder 8
San Francisco Enterprise Zone, [Draft] Environmental Impact Report
1991
box 3, folder 29
South Bayshore Issues Report, Executive Summary
1987
box 3, folder 30
South of Market, UC Berkeley City Planning Course Report
1966
box 3, folder 31
Summary of Market Analysis, Redevelopment Area "E"
1956
box 3, folder 32
Tentative Plan for the Redevelopment of Western Addition Project Area Number One
1952
box 3, folder 33
Three Alternative Proposed Policy Plans Preliminary to a Revised Transportation Plan for San Francisco
1968
box 3, folder 34
Transbay Area Plan, Background Date Report
1995
box 3, folder 35
Transbay Area Plan, Land Use Issues & Opportunities
1996
box 3, folder 36-38
Unreinforced Masonry Buildings (UMBs)
1983-1996
box 3, folder 39
Urban Design Plan Adoption
[1971?]
box 3, folder 40
The Use of Land in San Francisco
1964
box 3, folder 41
Workable Program for Community Improvement, Application for Recertification, 1972-1973
[1971]
Series 2
Block Profiles
1938-1940
Physical Description:
2 Cubic Feet
(2 boxes)
Related Materials
See also the San Francisco Department of Public Works Bureau of Engineering Records (SFH 458), for some files on the city-wide
mapping project and related construction of a wood model of the city.
Scope and Contents
Contains original block drawings prepared for construction of a 3-dimensional wood model of the city. In 1938, the City Planning
Commission sponsored this work. The relief map, called the WPA Sectional Model, was built by federal Work Projects Administration
workers. The block drawings sometimes include the draftsman's name. A map, "Key to the WPA Sectional Model," is included.
Large areas of the Sunset District, Diamond Heights, and Twin Peaks were not developed until after 1946, thus, no block profiles
exist for them. The collection is missing profiles for Downtown (blocks 234-355), South of Market (blocks 3701-3758), and
Civic Center (blocks 768-791, and possibly others.
Generally, only one block appears on a sheet. The scale of the maps, as well as the model, is 1 inch = 100 feet, both horizontally
and vertically. The drawings include building footprints, or outlines of buildings at ground level, and block-long street
elevations at appropriate grade. The official grade elevation is stated in feet at corners, or where mid-block changes occur.
Street addresses, lot sizes, and building uses are not given. The profiles can be used to determine a building's footprint
and relative height in stories can be determined.
A portion of the relief map, "The San Francisco Model," was exhibited at the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939
and 1940. The map/model was presented to the City on April 16, 1940. The model currently resides at the University of California,
Berkeley.
Transferred Material
A letter from the City Planning Commission secretary to Mayor Angelo J. Rossi was transferred from the San Francisco History
Center's Ephemera Collection. It details the planned presentation of the wood model to the City (on April 16, 1940).
Arrangement
The drawings are organized numerically by Assessor's block map number.
box 4
Inventory of Block Profiles
no date
box 4
Key to WPA Sectional Model
Circa 1939
box 5
Presentation of Wood Model
1940
box 6-7
Series 3
Photographs and Negatives
1939-1995
Physical Description:
2 Cubic Feet
(2 boxes)
Physical Location: The collection is stored onsite.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is available for use during Photo Desk hours. Photos can be photographed but cannot be photocopied.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Photographs and negatives were transferred from the Planning Department to the San Francisco Public Library in the 1980s,
with a second transfer in 2013.
Scope and Contents
The Photographs and Negatives series includes approximately 1,200 photographic prints, 1,000 negatives and 120 color slides
of San Francisco's neighborhoods, streets, and traffic scenes between 1939 and 1995. The earliest negatives document the construction
and dedication of the Work Projects Administration (WPA) Sectional Model of San Francisco, 1939-1940. Project documentation
includes photographs and 35 mm negatives used in the 1990 Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, San Francisco Department
of City Planning report "A Context Statement and Architectural/Historical Survey of Unreinforced Masonry Building (UMB) Construction
in San Francisco from 1850 to 1940." There is extensive documentation (in black-and-white photographs) of the Market Street
Transit Thoroughfare, 1988-1989.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged loosely chronologically and by project.
box 7, folder 1
San Francisco Work Projects Administration (W.P.A.)'s San Francisco Scale Model construction and dedication, negatives
4/7/1938 - 4/16/1940
Physical Description:
52 Film negatives
Scope and Contents
Documents the construction of the San Francisco Scale Model by Federal Works Agency Work Projects Administration sponsored
by City Planning Commission. Includes documentation of the dedication at City Hall in the Registrar of Voter's Office on April
16, 1940. Clyde E. Healy, Ralph G. Wadsworth and Mrs. Albert W. Stokes were at the dedication.
box 6, folder 65
San Francisco WPA's San Francisco Scale Model construction and dedication, photographs
1938-1940
Physical Description:
3 Photographic Prints
box 7, folder 56
Maps included in "A Report to the City Planning Commission on a Transportation Plan for San Francisco" by De Leuw, Cather
and Company, slides
1948
box 6, folder 1
Community 3: Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, photographs
1960
box 7, folder 2
Community 3: Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, negatives
1960
box 6, folder 2
Community 4: North Beach, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Chinatown, photographs
1960-1970
box 7, folder 3-4
Community 4: North Beach, Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, negatives
1946-1960s
box 6, folder 3
Community 5: Western Addition, Alta Plaza, Lafayette Park, Geary, Hayes Valley, Lone Mountain, photographs
1960s
box 7, folder 5
Community 5: Western Addition, Alta Plaza, Lafayette Park, Geary, Hayes Valley, Lone Mountain, negatives
1960s
box 6, folder 4
Community 6: Buena Vista, Haight, Duboce, Twin Peaks, photographs
1950s
box 7, folder 6
Community 6: Buena Vista, Haight, Duboce, Twin Peaks, negatives
1960s
box 6, folder 5
Community 7: Mission, Eureka Valley, Dolores, Upper Noe, Noe Valley, Diamond Heights, photographs
1960s
box 7, folder 7
Community 7: Mission, Eureka Valley, Dolores, Upper Noe, Noe Valley, Diamond Heights, negatives
1960s
box 6, folder 6-7
Community 8: Potrero Hill, Bernal Hill, Potrero-Precita, photographs
1950s
box 7, folder 8-9
Community 8: Potrero Hill, Bernal Hill, Potrero-Precita, negatives
1950s
box 6, folder 8-10
Community 9: Bayshore, McLaren Park, Portola, Silver Terrace, Hunters Point, Bayview Park, Visitacion Valley, Sunnydale, photographs
1960s
box 7, folder 10-11
Community 9: Bayshore, McLaren Park, Portola, Silver Terrace, Hunters Point, Bayview Park, Visitacion Valley, Sunnydale, negatives
1957-1960s
box 6, folder 11
Community 10: Outer Mission, Cayuga, Excelsior, Crocker Amazon, Alemany, photographs
1941-1966
box 7, folder 12
Community 10: Outer Mission, Cayuga, Excelsior, Crocker Amazon, Alemany, negatives
1960s
box 6, folder 12-14
Community 11: West of Twin Peaks, Forest Hill, West Portal, Mt. Davidson, Sunnyside, Monterey, Ocean View, Junipero Serra,
Merced Heights, Park Merced, Lakeshore, Sunset, photographs
1950s
box 7, folder 13-14
Community 11: West of Twin Peaks, Forest Hill, West Portal, Mt. Davidson, Sunnyside, Monterey, Ocean View, Junipero Serra,
Merced Heights, Park Merced, Lakeshore, Sunset, negatives
1940s-1960s
box 6, folder 15-18
Community W: North Embarcadero, Downtown, Civic Center, photographs
1940s-1960s
box 7, folder 15-17
Community W: North Embarcadero, Downtown, Civic Center, negatives
1950s-1970
box 6, folder 61
Community X: South of Market, Rincon Hill, Division, photographs
1960s
box 7, folder 18
Community X: South of Market, Rincon Hill, Division, negatives
1960s
box 6, folder 19-20
Redevelopment: Golden Gateway-Embarcadero, South of Market, Western Addition, Diamond Heights, photographs
1950s-1967
box 7, folder 19
Redevelopment: Golden Gateway-Embarcadero, South of Market, Western Addition, Diamond Heights, negatives
1950s-1960s
box 6, folder 21
Parks and Recreation Centers, photographs
1950s-1960s
box 7, folder 20-21
Parks and Recreation Centers, negatives
1950s-1960s
box 6, folder 22
Fort Funston, photographs
1950s-1960s
box 7, folder 22
Fort Funston, negatives
1950s-1960s
box 6, folder 23
Presidio, photographs
1950s-1960s
box 7, folder 23
Presidio, negatives
1950s-1960s
box 6, folder 24
Schools, photographs
1955-1962
box 7, folder 25
Schools, negatives
1962-1963
box 6, folder 25-26
Parking lots, photographs
1950s-1963
box 7, folder 26-27
Parking lots, negatives
1950s-1960s
box 6, folder 27-28
Trafficways and freeways, photographs
1946-1960s
box 7, folder 28-29
Trafficways and freeways, negatives
1946-1964
box 6, folder 29
San Francisco Planning exhibits, photographs
1950s-1960s
box 7, folder 33
San Francisco Planning exhibits, negatives
1950s-1960s
box 6, folder 30
Westlake, San Mateo County, photographs
1961
box 7, folder 34
Westlake, San Mateo County, negatives
1961
box 6, folder 31
Department of Public Works copy prints, photographs
1926-1942
box 6, folder 32
Aerials, photographs
1940s-1960s
box 6, folder 33
Fisherman's Wharf, photographs
1970s
box 6, folder 34
South End, photographs
1970s
box 6, folder 35
Waterfront, photographs
1970s
box 6, folder 36
San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau publicity photos, photographs
1970s
box 6, folder 37
Downtown and Market Street, photographs
1975
box 6, folder 38
China Basin Building, photographs
1976
box 6, folder 39
St. Patrick's Church, photographs
1970s
box 6, folder 40
Broadway and California Streets, photographs
1970s
box 7, folder 55
Golden Gateway, slides
1977
box 6, folder 41
Martha Avenue, photographs
1978
box 6, folder 42
Hotel Nikko (pre-construction), Union Square, photographs
1984
box 6, folder 43
New Montgomery Tower, photographs
1986
box 6, folder 44
135 Main Street, photographs
1986
box 6, folder 45
505 Montgomery Site Plan, photographs
1987
box 6, folder 46-51
Market Street Transit Thoroughfare Community Outreach and Public Information Services, Photographic Progress of the Report,
photographs
1988-1989
box 6, folder 52
South of Market, photographs
1990
box 6, folder 53
41 Castle Street, photographs
1990
box 6, folder 54
Subject buildings, photographs
1992
box 6, folder 55
Yerba Buena, MLK Jr. Memorial dedication, photographs
1993
box 6, folder 56
Ghirardelli Square, photographs
1990
box 6, folder 57
Downtown, photographs
1990s
box 6, folder 58
South End, 166-178 Townsend
1995
box 7, folder 30
Market Street, negatives
1950s
box 7, folder 31
Special Studies (overpass Mission St and Shoreline), negatives
1961-1962
box 7, folder 32
Plantings, Stanford University area, negatives
c. 1960
box 7, folder 36
Significant buildings and neighborhoods, negatives
1969-1976
box 7, folder 37
Golden Gate Park, negatives
1980s
box 7, folder 38
Northern Waterfront historic buildings, negatives
Nov. 1988
box 7, folder 39-40
Residences and buildings (unidentified), negatives
1950s-1990s
box 7, folder 41
Copy negatives made for publications, negatives
1960s-1980s
box 7, folder 42-54
Architectural Survey of Unreinforced Masonry Building (U.M.B.) construction, negatives
1989-1994
Scope and Contents
Includes architectural survey photo logs recorded by photographers for the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board. Logs include
address of each building and the survey has 57 rolls of negatives. The architectural survey was used to prepare A Context
Statement and Architectural / Historical Survey of Unreinforced Masonry Building (UMB) Construction in San Francisco from
1850 to 1940 (1990).