Wildly popular S.F. park is opening a major family-friendly expansion this week
Exactly three years later, that pull will be realized when Outpost Meadow opens to the public Thursday the third anniversary of the wildly successful Tunnel Tops, a 14-acre public park built atop the Presidio Parkway. The 1.5-acre annex was made a reality thanks to a $12 million grant from the California Natural Resources Agency.
'This is the last pearl on the string,' said Fraser, after passing through a locked Cyclone fence to walk the circumference of the new addition with a reporter last week. 'It's the final connection.'
Outpost Meadow is specifically a connection to the Outpost, a fantastical nature playground at Tunnel Tops that had 500,000 visits last year alone.
The concept for Outpost Meadow is that birthday parties and picnics can naturally spread out and not have to climb the steps to the picnic areas at Tunnel Tops. The paved pathway extends seamlessly from the Outpost to Outpost Meadow, which has reclaimed half of the parking lot once reserved for the Sports Basement, a Presidio tenant that occupies the former post commissary.
From the vantage of the Overlook, on the bluff above it, the Meadow looks like it has been there all along — and in one sense, it has. It is part of the original park design by landscape architect firm Field Operations and was intended to be built out with the original park.
But Fraser took it off the plans when the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown hit in the middle of construction. With the budget for Tunnel Tops itself ballooning to $118 million, most of it privately raised by the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, that was the end of Outpost Meadow — until the state provided funds through its Outdoors for All initiative to bring parks closer to the urban masses.
'We knew we wanted to do this, but the price tag made it too ambitious,' Fraser said. 'The design was ready to go when the state grant came through.'
The three-year delay allowed the Presidio Trust to talk to community groups and survey users of Tunnel Tops, which has attracted 5 million visits since it opened. At the top of their wish list: More tables, both reservable and first-come, first-served.
Currently on busy days, the reservable tables at Picnic Place at the top of the tunnel are 'perpetually sold out,' Fraser said, at a fee of $130 per day on weekdays and $170 on weekends.
Outpost Meadow will significantly expand those options, offering 19 sturdy tables of thick-cut Monterey Cypress and Douglas Fir in three large picnic areas with barbecue pits around a central green. Two of the three pods will be reservable starting in October, at a price to be determined. The third pod will be up for grabs.
Survey responders also asked for more shade. Some of the picnic areas will be outfitted with umbrellas, though they will have to withstand the perpetual fog that blows in through the Golden Gate and can turn the strongest of umbrellas inside out.
'I'm hopeful the umbrellas will last in the wind,' Fraser said.
Responders also wanted a flat space where they can kick a soccer ball around, and were obliged with a flat oval of fresh, rolled-out sod. There is also sod on Tunnel Tops, but by Fraser's measure, you can never have enough of it in an urban environment.
'I brought up my kids in the city,' she said, 'and I'll never forget the first time my daughter first put her feet on natural grass. It was like, 'What is this weird stuff?''
The grass will be irrigated by well water, thanks to Lobos Creek, the last free flowing waterway in the city, which reaches its terminus in the Presidio. The grass will also serve as flood control. On the old parking lot, rainwater pooled with no place to go. But the new lawn and surrounding tanbark, dotted with 23,000 native shrubs and trees, have drainage underneath.
'It's all permeable,' said Travis Beck, chief park officer. 'The water will go straight down.'
The parking lot that remains in front of Sports Basement has been reduced by half and is open to anyone, by public meter. Outpost Meadow is also serviced by the 30-Stockton Muni bus, which has been extended to a new terminus behind the Sports Basement. There are new Muni stops in both directions on Old Mason Street, which goes by the new park, to deposit and pick up passengers as soon as the fence comes down Thursday.
It will offer a new vantage point for people like Mikhiel and Samantha Tareen of North Beach, who were introducing their 10-day-old daughter, Simone, to their favorite park last week.
'It's where we bring people who are visiting,' said Mikhiel, originally from Portland, Ore. 'You get the closest and most unobstructed view of the city from here.'
The Tareens, and their dog Stanley, are Tunnel Tops regulars, but when standing on the Overlook they could not tell where the Outpost ended and Outpost Meadow began.
'I didn't know that was a new thing,' Mikhiel said. 'We haven't had an issue with space here, but I like having more of it.'
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Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Moody Bible Institute lays off roughly 9%, as small religious schools nationwide struggle with enrollment
Moody Bible Institute's mission made 26-year-old Jarett Hamby feel grounded in a greater purpose. Alongside a team of students, Hamby led marketing campaigns for 'Today in the Word,' the school's monthly devotional publication. It was his passion as much as his job — and a steady paycheck for nearly two years. He heard rumblings among staff over the past months that the bible college might be tightening its belt. But at employee town halls, leadership assured employees that Moody was in good financial health. Then, Hamby was laid off in May. 'I was gutted,' he said. 'I was completely caught off guard.' Between 8 to 9% of staff were quietly let go that month as part of a broader restructuring at the River North theological institution. Moody officials say the school's revenue streams remain steady. Its enrollment numbers, though, show a steep drop in matriculating students over the past decade. Just 141 freshmen attended Moody in 2023 — down from 400 eight years prior. 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Layoffs were necessary to offset rising costs of inflation and evolving ministry needs, according to a statement from a college spokesperson. Impacted staff span all of Moody's ministry divisions, including its publishing and media arms. Some experts say close-knit, faith-based institutions like Moody may become few and far between. The past decade has dealt a series of swift blows to the higher education sector — including the COVID-19 pandemic, rising costs and recent freezes to federal research funding. Perhaps even more pressing: a looming demographic cliff. As birth rates plummet, there's a projected net decrease of more than 300,000 traditional-age college students by 2030, according to higher education consulting firm Ruffalo Noel Levitz. Those numbers have already begun to shrink, and it's often tiny religious schools that are first hit. More than half of the 79 nonprofit colleges that have closed or merged since 2020 are religiously affiliated, according to an analysis from The Hechinger Report. Seventeen of those are located in the Midwest, including three in Illinois. Faith-based colleges tend to be smaller, which leaves little buffer for enrollment changes, according to higher education consultant Ricardo Azziz. 'They carry a lot of costs to support their students, to educate their students, to provide infrastructure … but they have very few students to distribute those costs across,' Azziz said. There are other factors at play, too. Church attendance has been dropping steadily since the 1950s, along with the percentage of religiously-affiliated Americans. The number of adults who identify as Christian has dipped to roughly 63%, though that decline shows signs of leveling off, according to the Pew Research Center. Some of that is tied to growing institutional distrust. High-profile scandals have rattled the Catholic, Southern Baptists and United Methodist churches, sowing widespread outrage. Though most people still hold some level of faith, they may be less inclined to engage with organized religion, said Scott Paeth, professor and chair of religious studies at DePaul University. It's also why, in part, fewer teens may choose to attend a bible college like Moody. 'There's a general decline in trust in institutions — in our political institutions, in our social and civic institutions and in our educational institutions,' Paeth said. 'It's no surprise that the institutional church is suffering from that same loss of faith.' Moody has seen its own share of controversies, too. In 2021, a sex discrimination lawsuit alleged that the school had fostered a hostile environment for LGBTQ students. In another suit in 2018, an instructor claimed that she was fired after challenging the school's doctrinal stance that women should not serve in ministerial roles. 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It came just two years after the closure of Lincoln College, a predominantly Black school just a few miles away in the town of 13,000. Stepping into office in June 2020, McCormick inherited an uphill battle. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the university lost about 170 students — nearly a quarter of its student body. The school's 80-year-old buildings were in desperate need of upgrades, but it was already $9 million in debt. 'We probably made mistakes along our whole 80-year run, but I think the margin got thinner and thinner over the last 20 years to survive,' McCormick said. LCU made the difficult decision to close with dignity, he said, prioritizing students and allowing for the transfer of its endowment to the nearby Ozark Christian College. After the school ceased its academic operations, it rebranded as Lincoln Christian Institute and continues to offer bible classes. 'There's something to be said about embracing the fact that, sometimes, a season ends,' McCormick said. 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The school's total enrollment hovers around 2,200, accounting for its other campuses, graduate students and online programming. The numbers offer a more nuanced portrait: Total undergraduate enrollment has dropped more than 60% in a decade. The school has a 98% acceptance rate, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. School officials maintain there has been growth for in-residence enrollment over the past four quarters. 'We did have a dip there, but I think we've gone back up. So yeah, it has caused some realignment … We've sought to do that as painlessly as possible,' Sisk said. Notably, the school is tuition-free for students who live on campus. A network of donors cover the cost of classes, while students pay for room and board — totaling around $8,000 per academic year, plus fees. The low price tag makes Moody accessible for a broad slate of students. Adrian Gear, a 19-year-old biblical languages major, opted to attend the school in part because of its price. 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'We don't owe a single dollar anywhere. We have healthy cash reserves, and our enrollment is looking better in places,' he said. 'We feel like it's those three factors that many of our sister schools have struggled with … We're positioned to be able to serve for decades.' For many students, that legacy is essential. Twenty-year-old Cheyenne Thomas was homeschooled throughout much of high school, and wasn't sure if she'd feel at home at a more traditional college. At Moody, the theology major found purpose leading weekly devotionals in her dorm, guiding her peers in prayer. 'All of my classes revolve around who Christ is,' said Thomas, a Des Moines native. 'Everywhere you go, Moody is just so formative.'
The Hill
2 hours ago
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How America weathers its toughest storms: resilience
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Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Newsweek
Starter Home Prices Are Rising the Most in These Cities
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The sales of starter-homes rose nearly 4 percent year-over-year in June, though the largest inventory climb since October 2019 is mired by record prices up roughly 3 percent since last summer, according to an analysis by real estate firm and brokerage Redfin. Prices vary based on city and region, as median costs are rising in the Midwest and dropping in the South. Newsweek reached out to Redfin for comment. Why It Matters Housing affordability remains an ongoing concern among countless Americans in a shaky economy as high home prices and increasing mortgage rates are affecting buyers who can't pay exorbitant costs. Meanwhile, sellers don't want to forfeit locked-in interest rates that began rising exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic. First-time homebuyers should not expect a financial reprieve anytime soon. Individuals now have to pay more as entry-level home costs are now more than twice as much per month as renting—even as overall inventory is increasing, according to a study released last month by John Burns Research and Consulting (JBREC). It's the first time since 2006 that such drastic disparities in the housing market existed, just prior to the financial collapse. What To Know Sales of starter homes rose 3.9 percent year-over-year in June, marking the 10th consecutive month in which home sales rose year-over-year. The data is derived from dividing U.S. homes into tiers based on the prices of homes sold over a rolling 12-month period, with this particular study focusing on homes whose sale price fell into the fifth to 35th percentile, defined as starter homes. Starter home data includes the 50 most populous U.S. metro areas. Redfin calls it a sign that first-time homebuyers are jumping into the housing market. A Redfin managed house sale sign is seen on a property November 1, 2019, in Santa Clara, California. A Redfin managed house sale sign is seen on a property November 1, 2019, in Santa Clara, California. Getty Images Prices, Sales and Listings by Region Redfin reports that median sale price of starter homes rose most in Milwaukee (15.3 percent, to $212,918), Detroit (13.6 percent, to $93,140) and Newark, New Jersey, (11.6 percent, to $394,487). The largest falls were in San Antonio (-5.5 percent, to $218,631), Austin (-3.8 percent, to $326,440), and Dallas (-1.2 percent, to $297,079). Starter home sales increased most in San Diego (18 percent), Providence, Rhode Island, (17.4 percent), and Sacramento (14.3 percent). They decreased most in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, (-17.5 percent), Miami (-17.4 percent) and San Antonio (-9.6 percent). The total number of starter homes for sale increased most in Las Vegas (53.6 percent), San Diego (44.1 percent) and Phoenix (43.1 percent). San Antonio was the only metro to experience a fall in active listings (-2.2 percent). New starter home listings increased most in St. Louis, Missouri, (23.6 percent), Las Vegas (19.5 percent) and Newark (16.4 percent). New listings fell most in San Antonio (-13.8 percent), San Jose, California, (-13.4 percent) and Tampa, Florida, (-10.9 percent). Starter homes sold fastest in Seattle, with a median of nine days, followed by Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, (15 days), and Indianapolis (17 days). They sold slowest in Fort Lauderdale (99 days), West Palm Beach, Florida, (91 days), and Miami (83 days). What People Are Saying Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari in a statement: "In a market where it's difficult for most Americans to afford a dream home, many are turning toward starter homes. They're typically smaller and more modest, but starter homes remain within reach for some buyers who have been priced out of higher tiers. First-time buyers are especially apt to go for starter homes, as they don't have equity from a previous home sale to help with their payments." Kathy Scott, a Redfin Premier agent in Phoenix, where active listings of starter homes are up more than 40 percent from a year ago, said in a statement: "First-time buyers definitely have more opportunities now. Not only are there more lower-priced homes available, but there's less demand. The buyers who are out there are no longer in competition with 10 other offers, or all-cash buyers. "With so many starter homes on the market, buyers have an opportunity to take their time looking for houses that fit their needs. Some are waiting for prices to go down—and they might—but if your plan is to stay in the home for five to 10 years, you will build equity in your home." What Happens Next? Efforts are being made by lawmakers to boost housing and provide more affordability in the erratic market. Bipartisan legislation known as the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025, led by Senator Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, aims to increase the nation's housing supply, encourage construction, improve affordability, and increase oversight and efficiency of federal regulators and housing programs. The bill, dubbed the most substantial housing package since the 1990s, unanimously passed the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. It was the committee's first such markup hadn't held one on housing in roughly 17 years.
