Franklin Square Park

Nice play area for the kiddo. There may be some bums hanging around, but that’s not uncommon in SF anymore, unfortunately. Lots of space for my kiddo to run and climb and be a kid. There’s a huge soccer field above too, so it felt safe and family friendly.

This place is clean and has a pretty nice playground. We had a good time. There are a few climbing areas, swings, and a sand pit.

I work really close to this park, so going for a run here over my lunch break is super convenient. But, this park is and does get super sketchy. I would NOT recommend coming here at night. However, I do recommend running on the pavement around their soccer field! Just be safe. :)

Wreck & Park hasn’t taken care of the artificial turf here. Big health hazard, especially for children! Don’t go there and call the Mayor’s office and ask he get this fixed!

now over run by agressive homeless, needles, human feces, vomit… one thing I can say that’s good, is that dog owners pick up their mess. I would NEVER bring my children anywhere around this park. Why doesn’t SF take care of the parks?

The playground is amazing and the soccer field is fine. There’s parking too! The HUGE problem is that there is no bathroom. There’s a Starbucks 1 block away, but that’s not the same. How can Rec and Park rebuild places and not put in bathrooms? It’s unconscionable and outrageous.

I love taking my niece and nephew here! They have so much fun. I love that this is gated off and a sign clearly states that NO ADULT IS ALLOWED TO ENTER UNLESS ACCOMPANIED BY A CHILD.
Thank you San Francisco!

It’s a really nice park than I expected but there are two things I do not like about this park. One ramp and the soccer field is right next to the playground. It can be dangerous!

This park is the park I would have wished for when I was young and my heart was an open book. I used to say live and let live. You know I did, you know I did, u no I did.
At this park I have: (this is not a multiple choice question, but real things)
a. hurt my nuts on the slide, because you’re supposed to put your legs on the outside of it.
b. launched my son face first off the merry go round.
c. stepped in poop in the sandbox.
d. gotten vomitous on the spinning circle stick of laughter at the end of the monkey bars area.
e. slipped off the planter by the street.
f. met other parents who let their kids run freely because it’s totally contained…
g. walked here while waiting for my tires to be replaced at Costco.
h. given food to homeless women and their dogs.
i. given food to homeless teens and their dogs.
j. talked to migrant farm workers looking for some work.
k. listened to tons of children from all walks of life laugh their faces off.
l. enjoyed the architecture and physics of the play structure and discussed the merits of old vs new playgrounds
m. taken my kids there time and time again even though it’s not really in our ‘hood.
n. run barefoot all over the area, while rich moms were disgusted and continued to text their mom’s group about it.
o. left numerous hats and accessories that we never found again.
FUN
ps– side note to Unilocal: If someone is reviewing a playground, I like how you offer the Good For Kids choices at the bottom. It probably helps parents decide which parks are legit.

I play in a Sunday soccer league and a lot of our games are at Franklin Square. The park consists mostly of a fenced-​off turf soccer field and a pretty nice playground. I like that there’s a soccer field/​park like this tucked in the mission, very easily accessible by bus and they have a parking lot too. The views are nice, which is definitely a plus.
The downside is that the field is getting really worn down and I’m starting to wonder what kind of effort goes into maintenance. The fake grass part is very worn, so much that a large amount of the rubber bits that go beneath the fake grass are exposed, which sucks because they can get kicked up very easily into your eyes or mouth. One of the corners has a big pile of these pieces built up to the point where you almost can’t take a corner kick there.
Also, the water fountains don’t work, which is a big disappointment for both the soccer players and the playground players.
Still, overall, I’m a fan. If they would resurface the field and fix the water fountains, this place would be amazing. I’d imagine that both of those will happen at some point, just a question of when…

This review is for the playground.
First of all, THERE’S PARKING! The playground is fantastic, it is split into sections for children of every age. I bring my 1.5yr old twins during the week and I never feel it is too crowded with kids. I like that it is frequented by moms/​dads, grandmas/​pas more often than nannies (nothing against nannies).

This is an amazing success story of how to turn around a park! A couple of years ago this park was really — how shall I say — sketchy. My dog was even scared to go there and would put his tail between his legs just walking by it. Now, after adding a new playground, it has a completely different feel. It is clean and peaceful. There are still some homeless people sleeping there, but nothing like the scene there a few years ago when drug dealing and using in broad daylight was the norm. A huge congratulations to the City for its foresight in installing the playground, and thereby, revitalizing the park! Hooray for small successes in a time when it is easy to be cynical.

This review pertains to the playground within Franklin Square Park.
The new playground is spectacular! We go out of our way to come here in spite of there being three other playgrounds closer to where we live. It is well-​frequented, but does not get overrun with large groups of kids from afterschool or summer programs (nothing against this, but as a parent of a very young child, active groups like that can pose a danger to toddlers).
It is wonderful for older babies and toddlers. There is plenty of space for crawling and walking practice in addition to a small area with two small creatures to climb on. There is a sand pit, a play area for smaller children (including two baby swings and a locomotive) separate from the equipment for bigger kids. When my son was learning to walk, the lily pad-​type setup of the area for bigger kids was actually quite useful in helping him to «cruise» around.
I only wish that there was more shade, but there are young trees that will come into their own some day.
FYI, there are no bathroom facilities nearby (other than at Safeway at 16^th and Bryant or at Starbucks at Bryant and Mariposa). There is a drinking fountain outside the gates of the playground. This place could also really use some garbage and recycling cans as there isn’t a single one in the playground itself.

ONE THE COOLEST PLAYGROUND I’VE SEEN/​PLAYED ON!!!
I wish I had one in my ‘hood.
Look so new.
Swings that squeak and sound like an elephant when I swing on it.
Spinning thing… that they use to have at the playground next to A.P.
Giannini like this
They also have a cool obstacle course, a train, see-​saw for 3… a cool slide that took a few seconds to figure out. The slide instructs you to put each leg on each side of the slide then slide down, like so
MANNN I need to advocate for a park like this in my neighborhood.

They did a great job on the new playground! It’s clean! It’s fun! And it’s not full of junkies!
My friend and I took her 3 year old to check out Franklin Square Playground and we all had a blast — lots of different structures and areas and kids and parents from all over (escaping the fog and coming to holiday in the sun in the Mission).
There’s a little kid slide and climbing structure, a big kid one, a play train, a sandbox, merry go round, big kid swings and baby swings and rubber matting throughout.
Check it out — it’s the opposite of gross now!

I play soccer here on Monday mornings. It’s great, and I don’t understand the low rating.
The field is that new artificial field turf, and the black rubber bits can get in your shoes, but heck, it’s a fast surface and people use it almost every day.
Gringos with the 9 – 5 jobs use the field evenings and weekends, so unless you want to pony up some serious bucks to join a league and play on a perfectly night-​lit field, get there on a weekday morning or afternoon.
I happen to play there Monday mornings with a bunch of restaurant industry guys who work afternoons/​evenings or have flexible schedules like myself.
IT’s friggen great. Matches start at 8AM Monday morning, and although I rarely make it there that early, there’s still some players around after the matches and you can get some practice in during the afternoon before the Gringos take over.
The park has a reputation for being filled with druggies and alcoholics and I think the soccer field has changed a lot of that. Certain high school girls teams either play or practice there. The industry folks who work nights are there in the mornings, and yes, even the 9 – 5 Monday-​Friday Gringos improve the park by taking over during the evenings and weekends.
«GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLL!!!»

Looks like major renovations are being done to this park, (gee wonders if my review had anything to do with it?) I can’t wait for the final outcome, it’s one of those great outdoor spaces…“if only”.

heroin? no i don’t want any thanks anyway though. i’m going to go over this way now.
i’ve only been in this park once. i walked up the stairs and saw what looked like a nice soccer field. right behind the guys with separate needles and tourniquets shooting up (laying on the ground) and the crazy looking dealer (the only one standing up) staring me down. that’s right, he gave me the nod. so i guess i’m either cool or he wanted to sell me some smack. either way it was a little bit of an odd vibe so i turned around and walked back down the stairs.
yea. maybe we could play some soccer sometime.

I play my league games here and the field leaves a lot to be desired. The fences are low so any errant shot on goal goes over the fence and thus into the street or oblivion. I’ve had a bunch of friends lose balls here.
Its a turf field but it may as well be concrete with a felt covering. I wear cleats but you’re probably better off with turfs or flats.
The field is on a hill so its primed for cold blustering winds to roar through.
Basically, avoid this field if you can. The location is convenient (close to BART and several bus lines) but that’s all it has going for it.

I really enjoy playing soccer at this park due to its convenient location near MUNI (I take the 27, but can also do 16^th and Mission Bart and bus a couple of blocks to Bryant).
Aside from it’s location it is a public artificial turf field, which is pretty rare. I haven’t had much luck catching pick up games here, but there’s always league games going on if you want to be a spectator.
This field also has a great view of SF’s skyline.
Definitely one of my favorite places to play soccer.