New Mission Bay food truck park provides local gathering spot

An old double-decker bus that’s been stripped down and re-purposed into a hangout space marks the entrance to a unique new 16,000-square-foot outdoor food truck park in San Francisco’s growing Mission Bay neighborhood. Strings of lights 10 feet above the ground run across the sky, floating above bean bag toss boards, picnic tables and planters. A fire pit sits tucked away in a corner, surrounded by swings and other seating. Neighborhood residents and visitors from other parts of the city filled SPARK Social SF food truck park, 601 Mission Bay Boulevard North, for its grand opening Saturday morning. Eleven food trucks encircled the crowd, with workers selling everything from kebabs and clam chowder to beer and sangria. The Mission Bay neighborhood has been a hub for new development over the past several years and has been filling up with large residential and business buildings, but Muela said that hasn’t left many spaces where people in the community can gather for food, drink or recreation. Matt Beck and Mary O’Leary have lived in the neighborhood for five years and said the lack of gathering spaces has posed challenges in developing a sense of community. Besides serving as a gathering point for local residents, the space also serves as an outlet for many local businesses. All the development in that neighborhood created spaces for people to live and work, Muela said, “But what about a place for people to gather?”