Yerba Buena Gardens is the name for two blocks of public parks located between Third and Fourth, Mission and Folsom Streets in downtown San Francisco, California. The first block bordered by Mission and Howard Streets was opened on October 11, 1993. The second block, between Howard and Folsom Streets, was opened in 1998, with a dedication to Martin Luther King Jr. by Mayor Willie Brown. A pedestrian bridge over Howard Street connects the two blocks, sitting on top of part of the Moscone Center convention center. The Yerba Buena Gardens were planned and built as the final centerpiece of the Yerba Buena Redevelopment Area which includes the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy operates, manages, programs, and elevates the property on behalf of the City and County of San Francisco. Yerba Buena was the name of the town in the Mexican territory of Alta California that became the city of San Francisco, California, after it was claimed by the United States in 1846. It was itself named after the yerba buena (Micromeria douglasii) plant which used to be abundant in the area. The plant's common name, yerba buena, is an alternate form of the Spanish hierba buena (meaning "good herb"). History The idea of building a conference center, under the name Yerba Buena Center, in downtown San Francisco was a further development of the idea stemming from the late 1950s to redevelop the city center, particularly the industrial areas that were gradually falling into disuse. At the heart of the proposal was the vision of the city transforming from an industrial to a tourist-conventioneering city. The idea of the Yerba Buena Center itself first emerged in the early 1960s. At that time there was a concern about how development could occur in the downtown area. The South of Market area offered hundreds of acres of flat land at low land prices. Various corporate committees were founded to lobby for the redevelopment, which would also include high-rise office buildings, a vast parking garage, and a sports center. At the center of operations was the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (SFRA) first headed by Joseph Alioto, who would go on to become mayor of the city in 1968. The area of the development was regarded as a blighted area of the city, even referred to by local media, local business and city officials as 'skid row'. However, the developers