Around here, the neighborhood is sacred. The coffeehouse on the corner, the park down the block where you catch up on gossip while your dog runs wild—these are what keep many of us from decamping to the suburbs. What to do, though, if your hood consists mostly of rushing traffic and fetid alleyways? With its Sidewalk Plaza project, prizewinning S.F. design nonprofit Public Architecture is conjuring community from bare concrete.

The first target: Brainwash, a SoMa café and Laundromat that occupies a distinctly unwelcoming stretch of Folsom Street. By lopping off a few parking spaces, the campaign will give the sidewalk in front a makeover that includes some much needed green space, a new tree or two, and a long, communal table. It’s just a test run, but San Francisco is already on board with ambitious citywide plans. Imagine: green amid the grit, and community right around the corner. 1211 Folsom St., 415-861-8200, publicarchitecture.org