The Goettingen Neighbors Group (GNG) is a group of neighbors who have been cleaning and maintaining the hillside and stairway at Goettingen Street and Dwight Street since 2006. In 2018, we added a public space on the hillside. In June of 2025, we completed an art-tiled stairway, called Steps to Wisdom. Steps to Wisdom is reflective both physically and figuratively. It contains nearly 200 quotes, in six different languages, from neighbors and donors of advice they would give their younger selves. The tile itself is reflective and lightens in color as one ascends the stairs, culminating in fully mirrored tiles. We continue to improve and maintain the site.

We are a cross-section of San Francisco, and we include transplants and native San Franciscans. We bridge a three-decade age span, are gay, straight, White, Black, Asian, Latinx, and mixtures of many cultures.

Since its inception, our group has worked to address the issues of safety and blight at the Goettingen Hill. Our group members are very involved in the community and live in the neighborhood, some for a few years and others for their entire lives.

Steps to Wisdom

By Greening Projects

Steps to Wisdom

The Goettingen Neighbors Group (GNG)