Healthy Development Measurement Toolkit

Indicator ES.2.a Miles of accessible shoreline

Data Source

Miles of California Coastal Trail accessed from the San Francisco Planning Department on September 11, 2009.

Miles of San Francisco Bay Trail accessed from the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department on December 03, 2008.

Proportion of total shoreline map and table created by San Francisco Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Section using ArcGIS software.

A Report on Closing the Gaps in the 500-mile Regional Trail System Encircling San Francisco Bay, September 2005. Accessed online on July 18, 2006:  http://baytrail.abag.ca.gov/gap-analysis/GAP-ANALYSIS-REPORT-all.pdf

Completing the California Coastal Trail. Report by the California Coastal Commission. Accessed online on July 18, 2006: http://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/coastal-trail-report.pdf

Explanation and Limitations

San Francisco's total miles of shoreline, including both coastal and bay, is approximately 37 miles long. Although, when piers and water inlets are included, the shoreline increased to over 57 miles long. The trails along the waterfront represent many different jurisdictions including regional, city, and federal agencies.

The California Coastal Trail is a network of trails for walkers, bikers, equestrians, wheelchair riders, and others along the entire 1,200 miles of the California coast. The California Coastal Trail is a continuous public right-of-way along the California coastline; a trail designed to foster appreciation and stewardship of the scenic and natural resources of the coast through hiking and other complementary modes of non-motorized transportation.Through San Francisco,  the 24 mile trail connects 10.5 miles of coastline to many scenic and tourist attractions along the coastline, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, Ocean Beach and Fort Funston. The Coastal Trail is complete through the San Francisco County, though the San Francisco Open Space and Recreation General Plan specifies improvements that can be made to the trail

The Bay Trail is a regional trail developed by the Association of Bay Area Governments that is proposed to surround the entire San Francisco Bay. In San Francisco, this trail would extend from the Golden Gate Bridge, along the waterfront to the Central Waterfront neighborhood, where the trail is being built inland along Illinois Street.

The Bay Trail is a regional trail developed by the Association of Bay Area Governments that is proposed to surround the entire San Francisco Bay. In San Francisco, this trail would extend from the Golden Gate Bridge, along the waterfront to the Central Waterfront neighborhood, where the trail is being built inland along Illinois Street. According to the Association of Bay Area Governments, the San Francisco bay-front shoreline is approximately 28 miles long. Currently, 11 miles are completed and publicly accessible bay-front trail, while 17 miles are proposed to be completed. The above map illustrates the completed and proposed segments of the bay trail. In San Francisco, The Bay Trail will eventually continue around the Bay through Hunters Point Shipyard and down to San Mateo. Closing the Bay Trail gaps would also help in the development of the Blue Greenway, a continuous corridor that links the existing and proposed open spaces through the Bay Trail and the San Francisco Water Trail.The Bay Trail, when complete, will encircle San Francisco and San Pablo Bays with a continuous 400-mile network of bicycling and hiking trails. It will connect the shoreline of all nine Bay Area counties, link 47 cities, and cross the major toll bridges in the region. To date, approximately 240 miles of the alignment--over half the Bay Trail's ultimate length have been completed.

Incomplete shoreline trail does not necessarily mean that shoreline is inaccessible. Some sections may currently be accessible to the public (i.e., there is no fence blocking access, there are flat sections currently used for biking, walking or running), but these sections have not yet been made "accessible" or repaired to SF Bay Trail standards. In addition to the physical construction of the trail, access to the trail may be influenced by access to transportation, perceived or actual safety, lighting, gradation/accessibility for seniors and persons with disabilities, pedestrian access to the trail from neighborhoods across major streets/highways, quality of the path, and numerous other factors.

The SF Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) regulates development within the 100-foot shoreline band. Permitted uses include open space; public recreation and access; waterfront commercial recreation uses; limited residential; and off-street parking related to these uses. The BCDC requires the maximum feasible public access as a condition of permit approval for new development within the 100-foot shoreline band.

Why is this a Community Health Indicator?

Publicly accessible waterfront can be used as recreational areas to promote physical activity and social interaction. Open space and natural areas also have direct effects on physical and mental health. One review of studies showed that access to places for physical activity combined with outreach and education can produce a 48% increase in the frequency of physical activity.^a Exposure to greenery and the natural world has additional benefits to health. Research shows that living in proximity to green space is associated with reduced self-reported health symptoms, better self-rated health, and higher scores on general health questionnaires.^b Trees and green space also improve the physical environment by removing air pollution from the air and mitigating the urban heat island effect produced by concrete and glass.^c