Alta Plaza Park was a rock quarry until the city purchased it in 1877. John McLaren, designer of the Golden Gate Park, converted it into the green space you see now. In 1906 it was used as a refugee camp for people displaced by the earthquake and fire.
This is the most frequently filmed site in Pacific Heights, noted for its graphically stepped, south‑facing pyramid form.
In Peter Bogdanovich’s What’s Up, Doc? (1972) cars careened down the grand staircase toward Clay Street, leaving scars that remain and seriously annoying then-mayor Dianne Feinstein. The film commission now closely monitors all shoots to prevent any repetition.
Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) was filmed here until the neighbors objected to smoke effects during Gene Hackman's dream. Other movies that show Alta Plaza Park are Copycat (1995), Flash (1981), Thief of Hearts (1984), Little City (1997), and Nine Months (1995).
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