Census tract 169 was the neighborhood selected for the FACE Program in San Francisco—bounded by Market, Castro and Duboce Streets—and the Duboce Triangle was thus defined, replacing the name “Gaffney ’s Triangle” which came from a local politician.

At the time, there were two neighborhood organizations—the Noe-Henry United Community Association composed of both property owners and renters, and the Castro Property Owners composed only of owners—who were competing to represent the Triangle in negotiations with FACE and the City. Thanks largely to the efforts of John Sanger, the two groups merged and DTNA was created in 1975, with John serving as the first President. John had moved into a two-flat Victorian on Beaver Street in July 1970, which he had bought sight unseen as he graduated from Harvard Law School with an interest in urban planning and knowledge of the FACE Program.

With funding from the FACE Program, DTNA worked with neighbors and the City to remake Noe Street by undergrounding utility lines, building corner bulb-outs with  “parklets,” planting trees, implementing angled parking, and developing traffic islands at Beaver, 14th, and Duboce. 

In the 1970s and 1980s, DTNA led initiatives to create the S Residential Parking zone, advocated for the Noe-Beaver Mini-Park (now a community garden), and fought the construction of a five-story parking garage at the Noe-Market Center.

DTNA is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit association (EIN is 23-7440874) governed by our by-laws. All contributions are tax deductible.