The public gardens atop Moscone North and behind Moscone South are managed by the Yerba Buena Conservancy.

Yerba Buena Gardens includes three blocks between Third and Fourth streets, bounded by Market and Folsom streets.

A one-of-a-kind community and destination

The guiding vision for Yerba Buena has been that of a genuine neighborhood: a diverse mixture of different uses and constituencies co-existing in a new downtown community. The project, built in a once challenged neighborhood, was integrated into the city, both architecturally and programmatically. An inclusive process resulted in a series of diverse projects being completed that did not ignore the bottom line economics or the aesthetics of the project or neighborhood goals.

Yerba Buena Gardens invites activity for people of all ages and backgrounds. Its central garden, the Esplanade, is the public heart that ties the complex project together and connects it to the surrounding blocks. It also serves as a location for more than 120 cultural events each year. The site includes a bowling center, skating rinks, teen-oriented cultural facilities, and creative programming at the Children’s Creativity Center. An extensive ramp and fountain system, capped by an overlook, connects surrounding restaurants and cafés to the green and performance areas and to the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial below, and to Metreon and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. SFMOMA’s main entrance across Third St. aligns with the garden's attractions.