By Patrick Hoge | Examiner staff writer
Jun 20, 2025
Dyah Radman, 13, left, and Alex Altman, chief operating officer at Street Soccer USA, hang out beside one of the newly remade miniature soccer field at The Crossing in the East Cut.
Downtown San Francisco, historically known primarily as a place where adults go to work and shop, has increasingly been accumulating attractions for kids and their families.
New arts and crafts activities sponsored by The City in Union Square, upgraded miniature soccer fields on a former bus-terminal lot South of Market Street and a nighttime movie show in Yerba Buena Gardens are among the offerings coming at a time when many hope The City’s business core will evolve into a more economically and socially diverse area.
“As we think about downtown and how we structurally change downtown, starting with families or thinking about families is a nice place to begin,” said Andrew Robinson, executive director of The East Cut Community Benefit District, a neighborhood-services nonprofit supported by property owners.
Much of downtown has felt relatively dead in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was followed by the increased use of remote-work technologies and persistently high office and retail vacancy rates. Public officials are currently trying to promote conversion of underutilized offices into housing in an effort to stimulate action.
The scene was lively this month, however, when Robinson’s agency and partners celebrated the opening of two completely rebuilt miniature soccer fields in a corner of The Crossing, a popular open space featuring different activities for young and old alike on the site of the former Transbay Temporary Terminal near Main and Howard streets, a location surrounded by office and residential high-rises that have sprouted in recent decades.
Developed as the first in a multicity initiative by the nonprofit Street Soccer USA with support from Visa and Bank of America, the revamped pitches replaced temporary structures with professional-grade turf, 13-foot-high netting to keep balls from bouncing away and sturdy metal perimeters. There are also two converted shipping containers between the fields for tutoring, mentorship and after-school support for players and their families, said Alex Altman, Street Soccer USA’s chief operating officer.
Street Soccer USA, which has run free soccer programs at The Crossing since it opened in 2021, is a nationwide organization dedicated to addressing social issues and helping people achieve their potential in underserved communities through soccer-based programs. It also operates in several other San Francisco neighborhoods and in Oakland.
“Our love language is soccer, and so we want to create accessible and inclusive spaces, particularly for kids and community members that don’t generally have access because of financial resources or space,” Altman said.
Downtown attractions for kids abound — and more are being added
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