San Francisco Recreation and Park Department

How did I overlook this GEM of a resource for so long?
A couple of moms pointed me in the direction of Parks & Rec when I lamented I couldn’t find affordable swim lessons for my little boy.
SF Parks & Rec to the rescue!
A wide selection of pools across the city and lesson times for their summer swim program allow you to select up to two, 2-​week daily swim lessons at varying times, all for
$ 72 total!
(Not $ 72 a lesson which is pretty standard in this city).
At a wildly affordable $ 3.60/lesson, my little boy received swim lessons with lots and lots of 1:1 instruction within a small class of about 12 children.
He’s continued with the program with weekly after-​school lessons and he also took a day-​long hike (9:30−6 PM) to Point Reyes with other kids for a very reasonable $ 80 cost.
Far more than just swim lessons, Parks and Rec offers everything from karate to ceramics classes, swing dancing and language courses — and so much more– for every age group and interest.
Go online and look at all their offerings or pick up a huge directory of all the activities they have for the season.
You’ll be truly amazed by the spectrum of activities you can find at prices affordable to everyone. Financial aid is also available.
World-​class organization staffed with helpful and friendly people, check it out!

Booking a venue for an event was easy. The staff was very friendly & answered all of my questions. I booked Fushcia Dell Gardens, a gorgeous portion of the GG park that is more secluded (so we thought). The cost to get a permit for that spot is quite expensive, so one may have higher expectation (as we did).
The day of the event, we had to deal w/​dog walkers who did not respect the area that was blocked off. You even had random people squatting at the private event. One gentleman even became very aggressive & we ended up having to call the police to have him removed, but luckily, he left once he knew we were serious…
That said, I’m not sure having the event there was the right call, given the amount you have to pay to rent & the lack of privacy you have.

These people do nothing but harass tax payers in Dolores park. At one point these people actually wanted to be armed!

I had an excellent experience with the SF Rec and Park in speaking with both Alan and Amanda Lee regarding obtaining permits for renting The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco for a wedding event.
They were very helpful, well informed, knowledgeable, courteous, gracious, considerate and friendly. The website itself is a good way to start off gathering information. WWW​.SFREC​PARK​.ORG
The process, walking into it blindly not knowing what to do nor what was/​is needed, only took a phone call and less than 30 minutes to figure out with their hand holding, and they also provided follow up information as well as was always accessible (also returning both emails and phone call messages) for the minor fine tuning instilling confidence and answering questions I had.
On a five star rating system they each get 5 and even deserve a Perfect 10 score!

Hi, Just wanted to mention a great conditioning class offered by SF Parks and Rec. It’s called Dance Conditioning and is held at the Harvey Milk Center. The class is actually a low impact aerobics with weights. The instructor, Sue-​Ellen Campos, offers up a solid and fun workout to a range of musical genres. I appreciate that she keeps an eye on each participant checking that they are moving correctly to avoid injury. I am new to the area, but I think the class has been running for at least a few years because the instructor has a solid fan base of committed attendees.

I would like to formally recognize the incredible staff of SF Recreation and Park Department & offer my sincerest thank you & gratitude for your honesty, integrity, and partnership… what is this all about you ask?
Our luggage was among 3 suitcases that were STOLEN from SFO-​United Baggage Claim on Monday night!
We thought our bag was merely lost, however early Tuesday morning, I received a call from Walgreens (of all places!) to let me know that a Gardner with SF Parks & Rec had found our bag (and 2 more) in a homeless encampment within 1 of their parks
Instead of just throwing all the encampment debris in a dumpster, this wonderful person actually recognized something was not right — and then did something about it… he searched for a random identifier in our bag — which happened to be my prescription bottle — then took the time & care to personally phone Walgreens & ask for their help to contact me — WOW is all I can say!
When I called the Supervisor of SF Parks to inquire about this employee, she told me he was a 30+ yr veteran w/​them & 1 of their best workers… and I can totally vouch for that!
I am so touched by his responsibility and ownership of an obviously dubious situation to ensure right was done!
Still not sure how this could have happened when we were RIGHT THERE as bags were coming out but SFPD advised me there’s a huge transient population that comes through the airport & while rare, this event was not uncommon. Makes me think twice about checking bags…
And as of right now, I cannot say what shape our bag is in or what belongings (if any) are still there as we are waiting for SFPD to collect all the stolen luggage & process the evidence…
But if this ever happens to you (& all hopes it does not!), you have SF Parks & Rec on your side & can be sure that if they find your belongings, they will do everything in their power to locate you & ensure your belongings get back to you
Huge props to Walgreens & SF Parks & Rec!!!

I’ve been trying to reserve picnic tables for the last two months for a family reunion. There’s been confusion on their part and I keep getting the wrong information. Finally, I after being transferred to 4 different people over 2 months, I get and invoice for the picnic tables and the cost is $ 600. I guess when I said I am planning on playing music on my iPod and they told me to fill out an amplified sound application, they then wanted to charge me for playing «amplified» sound. Not that big of a deal except when I called to talk to someone and try to clarify, the guy on the phone seemed immediately irritated with me before I even explained the problem. I’m feeling frustrated. I work for the government too, all I am asking is try not to sound so frustrated on the phone with your customers. Geez guy.

Monday I took my dogs to the enclosed dog park in the Castro. I was trying to find a spot for my big truck. A lady moved from what I thought was a spot because there was not a «driveway dip» in the concrete. I pulled up just as a SF Rec and Park truck was leaving what I realized was their lot.
I normally look to make sure I fit and am in a spot before I lock up and leave my car parked. The Park and Rec guys didn’t respond to my hand signals telling them I was moving but Mr. Good Old Boy decided to hop out of the passenger side and give the girlie a talkin’ to. Since, he was walking up to my window, I assumed he wanted to tell me something but I had intended on moving out of the way. I waited a second for him to come to the window and then rudely berate me for parking there.
I hadn’t parked, I was only assessing to see if it was parking when his punk a** showed up and was rude to me for simply investigating and being in his way. Driving in SF can be irritating and so can parking, so I get it. I really get that he must deal with a lot during the day but just because it is 345 pm on a Monday after the holiday weekend does not give him the right to be rude. I won’t even repeat what he said to me. I was shocked and appalled!!!
He could have told me with respect that there wasn’t parking or he could have just not said anything while I moved. Instead, he decided to come and be a condescending prick because he didn’t think I could complain to anyone. I hate that, the anonymity involved in the scenario made him even more apt to walk his happy rump over to my car and give me a talkin’ to because he thought he could get away with it. Well, now I am complaining to everyone about the entire department. If SF residents have to keep their dogs on leashes, the City Rec and Dept. should keep their dogs on leashes, too!

I love the parks in SF which are a great place to bring my 5-​year-​old and 18-​month-​old so I give one star for that. However, this review is for my facility reservation experience.
They make booking a facility somewhat easy so I give them an additional star for that, but I am extremely disappointed by the deposit return process. To book, you can find a pdf or web page on their site stating the various rental rates. I booked Midtown Terrace Playground and the clubhouse for my daughter’s birthday party. The cost for 3 hours was $ 165 ($ 55/​hour, very reasonable) plus a $ 250 deposit. I booked it way back on August 22. The party was October 13. We cleaned up PERFECTLY. I’m even more anal retentive about composting and recycling than other friends of mine whose cleanup process I’ve witnessed and I know I took care of things the best one could expect.
The contract stated to wait up to 30 days for refund of your deposit. I did so, patiently. I emailed at 30 days to check up and see if they were processing my refund. The actual email I received back was not «Sorry for the delay, we’ll get to it as soon as possible.» No, the cut-​and-​pasted reply was:
«We have received over 50 requests this week… we should be finished processing them sometime this week.»
Rude! Such attitude, like it’s my fault I didn’t know they were slammed. Now it has been THREE weeks later and *still no word* about my $ 250 deposit refund. I believe they lost my paperwork some time after the party. If I weren’t vigilant about the deposit, I might have forgotten and lost money like I’ll bet has happened to lots of other parents using the facilities for birthday parties. They did this to my friend, who checked up on them to find out they lost her paperwork. If they don’t ever give me my deposit back, it will have cost over $ 400 just for the facility rental. Why would I spend that much to reserve a park clubhouse and do all the work to get food and haul it all there when it costs the same at a place like Daly City Party Playhouse or Pump It Up or any kid play place for the rental AND food combined, with no hassle and no schlepping? I was doing this to save money so if they never get it back to me, I’ll be extremely disappointed.
I appreciate that budgets have been slashed and staff must be overworked but it is not hard to be polite in an email back to a customer who cleaned up the venue to a tee and then politely waited 30 days before kindly inquiring about the status of a refund. And it should not be that hard to send someone $ 250 back. And their forms should state a 60-​day waiting period if that’s what it really is, not a 30-​day period. Waiting to hear what they say and I’ll post an update… if they ever get back to me.

The parks are a mess. They have enough staff to trim trees «every 50 years». Supervisors smoke dope on the job and leave early. whistle blowers get fired, especially if they are very skilled workers. They fire the most skilled and keep the least skilled. The parks are really going down hill.

My son attend Tennis class for 6−9yr for 2 session (10+8weeks) and learned Nothing. I played with him two times and at least he can hit the ball. I signed up two session together so i want to cancel the 2^nd session before the class started without penalty, Reception told me to call Lu the supervisor, I talked to Lu and was instructed to write him a detailed email. Done that but never heard back. Low quality class and a supervisor just brushes people off.

Just out of curiosity, I am shocked to see a rating of two stars. Why? I read and I can totally understand and agree with what I have experienced on what has happened to others as well. I thought the parks and classes is a good idea. What I read of the classes in the catalogs seem very learning experience for my child. Here is my experiences and dislikes:
I have heard from my mom that takes my son to his classes that he is not getting hardly nothing out of the classes he attends. All the «teachers» do is pretty much the attendance and that is about it. What’s worst is when they went one day. There was no class. WHAT? No parent and or caregiver was not given a notice there wasn’t going to be a class when scheduled to on that day? Very unprofessional!
My child loves the swimming class but only wish it was more weeks than given.
When calling about my son being absent like a couple of times, the person in charge was very rude. Being on my case about it as if the class is coming from their expense when it was out of mine and blah blah blah over and over repeating about it that my phone was dying and lost connection. Should of been short with me but no. Giving me a long ass explanation about it as if I am not getting it. Especially when I said in exact quote, «If it’s like that, it’s just the way it is so be it.» That line means let it be and shut up. I am not going to call my child absent anymore and not going to put my child so much classes due to the unprofessional ism.
Hopefully participate in a future after school program involving with his school or spend my money on something else that is more useful. Will stick to his swimming in the future hopefully and that’s it!

We were so excited to take the SF Parks & Recreation Department Geo-​caching class! The day before the class I called to ensure that the details on my receipt were still current, I googled the directions to get there on MUNI, (it took us one hour to get there on MUNI).
Saturday morning we arrived on time for the class and stood outside in the chill* for 45 minutes before our many phone calls revealed that the Geo-​caching instructor was ill and had had to cancel.
How did it happen that we were not notified by phone before making the trip all the way out there? The other family of four were not contacted either.
Illness happens, but most folks can tell they are becoming too ill to work the night before work. How is it that SF Parks & Recreation Department had no back up plan nor notification system in place to prevent us wasting our time?
*A frustration of the morning was seeing two SF Parks & Recreation Department employees doing some kind of athletic practice behind the building. They did not allow us to enter the building, in fact, they refused to speak to us nor answer our questions about the class. We tried to communicate with them as we tried to enter the building by the doors in back and on the side. For years I’ve read of the excess and abuses of the SF Parks & Recreation Department employees and I’m sorry to say that we had a real question mark in our minds about how employees, on the clock, could so openly ignore park patrons asking questions. It looks bad you guys! Their license plates were 1 268 344 (vehicle 651 Y 5039) and 1 313 201 (vehicle 65 100 022).

San Francisco has some of the finest parks in the world. Park & Rec, however, is a horrible organization that is trying to turn public assets paid for by our taxes into a public-​private partnership. I have so many problems with Park & Rec, but I’ll spare you my ranting and give you two good examples.
1. After San Francisco voters approved bond measures to renovate and build Park & Rec-​administered parks and buildings, the department turned around and cut hours at newly constructed or renovated facilities. It then rented out the same spaces to companies and nonprofits.
I have no problem with using public assets to make money for the public, but this should never come at the expense of public access. Never. They’re public facilities. Public means open to everyone. Rent them out after hours if you have to, but don’t limit my access; I already paid for services the last time I made a purchase in the city (it’s called sales tax).
And there shouldn’t be any ID-​checking going on. Fees for services can be appropriate, but our parks and public buildings should not be for sale to the highest bidder. I’m so sick and tired of the deterioration of the commons in this society. San Francisco of all places should understand that government can and should work for the common good. That’s kind of its job, and there’s no cost-​benefit analysis that will tell you what serious societal damage limiting access to public parks will do.
2. Park & Rec destroyed the Alamo Square shoe garden, a neighborhood favorite for many years. In case you didn’t know, there used to be dozens of plants «potted» in various shoes in the middle of Alamo Square. I don’t know how it started, but the gardeners were very good about using new old shoes to pot new new plants, and the tradition was that when you were moving out of the neighborhood you would donate a pair of your shoes to live on in the garden. That’s something I was looking forward to, as much as one can look forward to being priced out of a neighborhood.
What rationale did Park & Rec give for destroying this community treasure – without soliciting public input and after lying that the removal of the shoe garden would only be temporary? Are you ready for this? Here’s Rec & Park’s explanation: «In Alamo Square, there were hundreds of shoes piled with plants, and because many shoe materials were not biodegradable, the shoes became an environmental hazard. With the goal to provide ecological sustainability in our parks, in October 2011, RPD removed the pile of shoes.»
So let me get this straight: In order to prevent environmental damage, you dumped hundreds of non-​biodegradable shoes into the landfill? What environmental hazard did the shoes pose as plant pots? Are shoes magically dangerous when they’re filled with dirt, but they’re perfectly safe when they’re on my feet? What happened to reusing non-​recyclable materials? And finally, if shoes are so environmentally unsustainable, why are you pushing through a plan to create artificial-​turf soccer fields on the west end of Golden Gate Park? You do realize, don’t you, that artificial turf often contains. .. plastic from old shoes? So it’s all right to replace with plastic turf acres of earth that birds and other animals use, but it’s an environmental hazard to have old shoes living long lives in a tiny part of Alamo Square?

Easily the worst run organization I have ever seen. I will never ever recommend to any parent that they send their children to a facist and racist organization that belittles people and props up slanderous evil people, ie promoting them rather than hiring capable workers who are passionate about what they do. It’s sad because you would think San Francisco would represent more than the corporate realm that threatens the livelihood of what America stands for. It’s what the world has come to

As a child growing up in SF I played in the local parks, swung on the swings, and built castles in the sandboxes. As a young adult I worked for the Park and Rec. As an adult I rented and paid fees for space for BBQs and other events. I’ve always been a big fan and supporter of the Park and Rec because it is here for SF residents.
Now as a parent, I am so disappointed in the SF P&R. I decided to sign my child into one of the classes they offer. I thought, wow! what a great deal, less than $ 40?! Really? So I attempted to register on line and the system kept getting hung up. So I called and was told no one can help me, keep trying online. Ok, so I finally get a little further in the registration process and then did not get a confirmation. So I called again and this time they found me in their system and they manually got me registered.
I attended the class and whoa, there was about 25 children ranging from 18 months to 3 years old running, pushing, and (a few) fighting in one room. Granted it is a good size room but it still made me nervous. And it turned out it was for good reason. During the class, the kids played with very filthy toys. I kid you not, there was black dirt and food particles on the toys. Um, I know its a public park but come on! Can I give you another $ 40 so the toys can be cleaned? pls? Anyway, my child played and then an apparently bored little girl started screaming at all the kids and swinging her arms around. Kids were getting hurt. Where was the parent since the program said an adult was required to be in attendance? The girl apparently came with a nanny who sat with all the other nannies. No one try to calm this child and all the other parents just grabbed their children out of the way of her fit. Then another child about her age, possibly 3 but appeared older, started to push and fight with her IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM! There were 2 park and rec employees there and they did NOTHING and just sat in their little plastic chairs. Near the end of the class, one employees read to the kids and instead of reading he just looked at the pictures and explained what he was looking at. Is that how they do story time because I always thought it involved reading the story. Opps, my mistake.
So even though it was not a good experience, I thought, maybe I over reacted and proceed to bring my child again to this crazy place. Only this time it was worse. The same 2 fighting kids actually hit my child with the stick portion of a hobby horse. I grabbed him out of the way to avoid another whack from these kids. The nanny for the girl looked on and the parent of the boy looked defeated and said nothing. The 2 employees did NOTHING. They kids hit some other children, again NOTHING. Later the little boy decided to plow through the room on a trike and run over children in the process. He knocked over my child and his mother took him aside for a minute before he pulled away and went to cause more chaos elsewhere.
So the long and short of it all is that you get what you pay for. $ 40 got me problems registering online (although in the end it was not too bad), filthy, filthy toys, fighting/​out of control children who hit my child and others, nannies and parents who feel this is a venue to abandon their kids so they can act out, and the worse offenders, the Park and Rec employees who are useless and do nothing but sit in plastic chairs while children are assaulted by other children. As a former Park and Rec employee I am SO, SO disappointed :(Really, I am, and more so than my review can convey. I am just glad I got my child out of there before something awful happened.

Gather ’round, children, and I will tell
of a time long ago
when everything was free!
The tea garden, the museum,
even the Academy of Sciences.
Stow Lake was serene
with dedicated local managers,
the Arboretum was a wonderful walk.
The carousel ran every day
and had a real calliope,
we’d pet the goats and ride the corkscrew slides
and «dangerous» swings
and we’d refuel on Eskimo Pies and pink popcorn
sold in the Sharon Building.
My first diploma was from Tiny Tots at
Argonne Playground near Joe’s Ice Cream
where I learned how to fingerpaint
and play well with other kids
And my friends in their twenties and thirties
played softball and baseball on fields
in Diamond Heights, the Marina, and Big Rec
which is now called Big Wreck.
How blessed we were to have world-​class amenities
only two blocks from our home!
Our lives were enriched by culture and science
and physical activity.
Things changed after the 1976 city strike
and Prop 13 in 1978,
then we’d have to wait for «Free Days»
and shove your way through a museum!
Several weekends a year
my nearby friends and relatives
batten down their hatches
and hose vomit and urine off their sidewalk.
But it’s okay!
They’re paying huge permit fees!
San Francisco tradition
means nothing.
Willie and Gav
may have put their transplant friends
on the commission
but nothing lasts forever.
One can only hope
their post-​crony job
will be that of
washing out bedpans at Laguna Honda

If I could give them negative stars I would. I would put my review here but it is too long. You can read it at this link:
Basically, R&P is trying to destroy adult kickball in San Francisco. It’s a shame too. I have never met a parks department that so strongly didn’t want people to use it. What a joke.
The lady in charge should be put in stocks in the middle of Union Square and have kickballs thrown and kicked at her head.

As a native San Franciscan, who grew up in SF Park and Rec programs, I am sad to say that this organization just isn’t what it used to be. I was there when the City changed it’s name to SF Recreation and Parks, and I long for the days when they offered programs suited for all age groups like Sports Teen Camp at Kezar and adult oriented sports leagues. Now it appears that SF Recreation and Parks only caters to 6 year olds and their yuppie parents.
There are 5 adult kickball leagues in San Francisco — each with a different group of adults and each with it’s own personality. One of the leagues even hosts the #2 team in the US. (Yes, there are actual kickball rankings!) Being in an adult sports league often, not always, involves some sort of cheap beer consumption on the field or on the sidelines.
SF Rec and Park department has decided to take it upon themselves to penalize my fellow kickballers for being adults. In addition to fining one of the leagues for drinking on the field, SF Rec & Park has decided to threaten all 5 leagues with loss of future park permits if they don’t like our behavior. I would understand this course of action if my fellow kickballers were providing beer to little kids or leaving massive amounts of litter all of over the fields, but neither is the case. I could also understand the above threats if SF Rec & Park had the same attitude towards the other sports leagues in the City. SF Rec and Park doesn’t even have this attitude when it comes the hippies and bums who sit right next to us in GGP.
SF Recreation and Parks — you make me ashamed to say I’m from San Francisco. Don’t expect me to vote for anyone that supports this current Rec & Park commission.
For my fellow Unilocalers, I don’t recommend going through the system. If you want to host an event in the park, just do it. Don’t bother paying the $ 75/​hour — SF Rec & Park can’t kick you off of a field if you didn’t reserve it because it’s a public space.

I was planning a party and wanted to reserve a park space. Despite the short notice, they tried really hard to help me out and were very polite (unlike the rude GG park lady who yelled at me for not knowing you have to let them know 3 months in advance). Anyway, the lady who helped me out, whose name I forget, was super super nice and sweet and gave me all the information I needed. It felt like she really attended to my needs and even though she could not accommodate me with everything I wanted, she found me several options to choose from and helped me make some decisions.
Thank you!!!