Heart of City Farmers' Market host its first day at new location after move from UN Plaza

SAN FRANCISCO — The farmers' market that was previously at San Francisco's Union Nations Plaza hosted its first day at the new site on Sunday.

The city moved the farmers' market from the UN plaza, where it had been for 42 years, in an effort to clean up open-air drug sales and use at the plaza. The city will be redeveloping the area into a recreational venue.

Meanwhile, the Heart of the City Farmers' Market carried on across the street this weekend in what used to be parking. There were complaints that the new location was smaller and wouldn't accommodate as many farmers, and while there was obviously some open space, vendor Isabel Bui said she knew why.

"Not all the vendors came today, either," she said.  "So, it's given us a little more space, but then you lost some vendors that are typically here."

The city insists the property is actually 10,000 square feet larger, but market Executive Director Steve Pulliam said that's not what he found on their first day.

"There's ten vendors over there. On Wednesdays, there'll be about eight vendors across the street. I'm parking 20 vehicles off this place. Everybody used to be on the plaza, so you tell me does that sound like the same amount of space to you. Or bigger space. I would say no," said Pulliam.

Tony Mellow has been selling at the market since it began in 1981.  He said he displayed less than he normally does because of the space limitations.

"Yes, it's smaller," said Mellow. "And I loaded less than I normally do because I had a hunch that it was going to be a problem. And it was."

On the positive side, some vendors said there was good foot traffic, but they wondered if that was because of all the publicity generated by the controversy. Most vendors said they would work to make the best of it.

Bui, whose family owns Paredez Farms, grew up at the produce stand in the Plaza and said it's not an easy thing to just pick up and leave.

"We've built up a clientele. We have regulars," she said. "I've seen kids that have grown up and go to college out here. We're dedicated to this market. So, this kind of change was drastic to us."

The city believes that drawing people seven days a week to UN Plaza will cut down on the riff-raff. So, the plan is to tear out the bricks to build a skate park, with room for ping pong, Teqball and chess tables.

Many believe the rush is on to improve the area in time for November's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. But shopper Javier Barreto lives in the Tenderloin and thinks the changes are a Band-Aid approach to the drug addiction crisis.

"I don't know if you're going to fight drug consumption with putting in a skate park," he said. "It's going to take enforcement. It's going to take a lot more stuff than that."

Vendors said there are plenty of issues to work out in the new market. Parking is short, there are no lights for the early morning hours and no tie-downs for their tents. One worker at a flower stand had to physically hold down his canopy when the winds picked up.

"This wind is … I don't even want to talk about how bad it is," he said.

But the winds of change are always met with skepticism. And shopper Robin Levitt said you just have to accept that in a city like San Francisco.

 "I realize that change can seem scary sometimes, but I like change, you know. That's the way a city works," Levitt said. "So, we just get through it."

And that's what they did for at least the first day.

The Heart of the City Farmers' Market will be open at its new location on Fulton Street on Wednesdays and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.