More Free Wi-Fi Coming to San Francisco

Free wireless Internet access will soon be an easier thing to come by in San Francisco thanks to a major gift from Google Inc.

The tech company is gifting $600,000 to the city for equipment set up to offer free Wi-Fi capability at 31 parks, plazas, recreation centers and open spaces around San Francisco. Installation could begin as soon as December, with a target of getting things online at all the sites by next April.

San Francisco Supervisor Mark Farrell, who spearheaded the partnership with Google, said the goal was to “reach areas of high visibility, but also high usage.” Some of the sites on the list include Mission Dolores Park, Justin Herman Plaza, Marina Green and Civic Center Plaza. According to Farrell’s office, he has been working with Google over the last two years to try to secure the partnership.

Sf.citi will work with the city’s Department of Technology to install and maintain the equipment.

In 2007, then Mayor Gavin Newsom attempted to wire the entire city, but a proposed deal with Earthlink and Google fell through. Because of the contentious nature and fallout from that proposal, Farrell said he wanted to select a few areas that would affect the most people before hopefully moving on to an ultimate goal of providing free Wi-Fi service across the city.

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  • ALAMO SQUARE
  • BALBOA PARK
  • BERNAL HEIGHTS RECREATION CENTER
  • BOEDDEKER PARK
  • CHINESE RECREATION CENTER
  • CIVIC CENTER PLAZA
  • CORONA HEIGHTS
  • CROCKER AMAZON PLAYGROUND
  • DUBOCE PARK
  • EUREKA VALLEY REC CENTER
  • GENE FRIEND REC CENTER/SOMA
  • HAMILTON REC CENTER
  • HUNTINGTON PARK
  • JOSEPH LEE RECREATION CENTER
  • JUSTIN HERMAN PLAZA
  • MARGARET HAYWARD
  • MARINA GREEN
  • MINNIE & LOVIE WARD REC CENTER
  • MISSION DOLORES PARK
  • MISSION REC CENTER
  • PALEGA RECREATION CENTER
  • PORTSMITH SQUARE
  • RICHMOND RECREATION CENTER
  • ST MARY’S REC CENTER
  • ST MARY’S SQUARE
  • SUE BIERMAN PARK
  • SUNNYSIDE PLAYGROUND
  • SUNSET PLAYGROUND
  • TENDERLOIN CHILDREN’S REC CENTER
  • UPPER NOE RECREATION CENTER
  • WASHINGTON SQUARE

[/bra_list]

Click here for more info on soon-to-be Wi-Fi friendly spots.

Photo Credit: Aristóteles Sandoval via Wikimedia Commons