Patricia's Green is the small but pivotal park at the centre of Hayes Valley, created on land freed up when the Central Freeway was torn down after the 1989 earthquake — the single move that transformed the neighbourhood from a freeway-shadowed backwater into one of the city's most desirable pockets. Named for a local community activist, it is a tidy green square with lawns, benches, a playground, and a rotating programme of large-scale public art.
Around its edges sit some of Hayes Valley's most characteristic spots, including container-style cafés and kiosks of the Proxy project on the adjacent lot. It is the neighbourhood's living room — a place to sit with a coffee, let children play, and watch the well-dressed Hayes Valley crowd go by. A natural pause between bouts of shopping on Hayes Street.