Past Events
Focus Group #5 & #6
March 7, 2009 & March 9, 2009
Topic: Unit Plans
The last of our Focus Group meetings drew a great turnout of residents from Potrero Terrace and Annex for a conversation about Unit Plans. Two resident-only Focus Groups were held: first on Saturday morning at the Potrero Hill Recreation Center (thanks again to Charlie O. and Jon Greenburg for hosting us); and second on Monday evening at Starr King Elementary (many thanks to Chris Rosenberg). Both meetings kicked-off with a competitive game of trivia, testing how many north/south streets through Potrero Hill could be named from memory. We were then brought back to task by the master plan architect, Fred Pollack of Van Meter Williams Pollack, with a presentation on unit plans.
Looking back to our previous discussion of building prototypes, Fred described how units can be arranged as either flats or townhouses. We also reviewed different ways of entering units through shared stairwells, corridors or individual walk-up entrances from either a street or courtyard. Fred and his colleague Chris Sensenig walked us through graphic depictions of existing 1-5 bedroom units at Potrero Terrace and Annex, as well as depictions of units at two completed HOPE VI developments, North Beach Place and Valencia Gardens. We then arranged ourselves at tables for an exercise to map our ideal unit.
Working within a point limit assigned by unit type (1BR flat, 2BR flat, 2BR town home, etc.), individuals or small groups mapped units by prioritizing sizes and layouts of living spaces. We chose between different sized bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens, the number and size of closets or storage spaces, and an array of other options to be incorporated into our ideal unit. Once we had prioritized rooms, we put together our units. Taping down rooms, we organized our units on one or two floors and made note of anything not directly inferred from the game pieces — e.g. lots of windows, or closets in every bedroom. After much discussion taping and re-taping, a representative for each unit type shared their map with the larger group.
Mapping units proved to be a challenging but engaging exercise, sparking conversation about likes and dislikes of current homes and what could be done differently in the redeveloped units. Animated conversations continued over a delicious lunch from Hazel’s Kitchen for some, or for the Monday night group, dinner from Goat Hill pizza.
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