Hallidie Plaza was designed jointly by Lawrence Halprin, John Carl Warnecke, and Mario Ciampi and opened in 1973.

In addition to the eastern and western escalators, the plaza can be accessed from street level via stairs in both portions, parallel to Cyril Magnin/5th.

[19] John King noted that making the plazas more unwelcoming did not discourage the homeless from gathering and recommended instead "the city should strive for places that are vibrant and attract all walks of life.

[10] In 2009, it was proposed to close the western part of the plaza; the area west of 5th/Cyril Magnin would be covered and a 480,000 US gal (1,800,000 L) cistern would be installed in the below-grade space, while the new deck would be used for cafe seating and public performances.

[24] A sign with the names and distances to the nineteen sister cities of San Francisco was installed at Hallidie Plaza in late June 2018.

[25] USBID has studied the possibility of adding flags of the sister cities to Hallidie Plaza and installing the large sculpture R-Evolution by Marco Cochrane to attract more activity.

"[28] Clare Cooper Marcus faulted the lack of interesting features and the dramatic difference in elevation for its paucity of users: "At Hallidie Plaza in San Francisco, there is little to look at beyond a large expanse of brick paving, glaring granite walls (on a hot day it is like an oven), small trees that offer no shade, and colorless planters.

It is little wonder that the seats at the intermediate and upper levels, where passersby and traffic on Market Street create some interest, are always more heavily used than are those in the sunken plaza areas.

"[29] Hank Donat called the metal-screened elevator added in 1997 "San Francisco's Poop Chute", describing it as "a hideous and cold addition to the open plaza.