San Francisco Relocation Guide

Transcription

703 R adford Lane
Foster Cit y, C A 94404
Te l : ( 6 5 0 ) 3 7 3 - 7 7 0 0
Fa x : ( 6 5 0 ) 2 4 0 - 4 0 5 0
w w w.a ntevia.com
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San Francisco Relocation Guide
Areas Included:
A l a m o S q u a r e • A n z a Vi s t a • B a l b o a Pa r k • B e r n a l H e i g ht s • Th e Ca s t ro • C h i n a t o w n • Co l e Va l l e y •
C ro c k e r -A m a z o n • D i a m o n d H e i g h t s • D o g p a tc h • D u b o c e Tr i a n g l e • E m b a rc a d e ro • Eu re k a Va l l e y
• E xc e l s i o r • Fi l l m o r e • Fi n a n c i a l D i s t r i c t • Fi s h e r m a n’s W h a r f • Fo re s t H i l l • G l e n Pa r k • G o l d e n
G a t e Pa r k • H a i g h t- As h b u r y • H a i g h t -Fi l l m o re • H a ye s Va l l e y • H u n t e r s Po i n t • J a p a n t o w n • L i t t l e
S a i g o n • M a r i n a D i s t r ic t • M i s s i o n B ay • M i s s i o n D i s t r i c t • M o u n t D av i d s o n • N o b H i l l • N o e Va l l e y
• N o r t h B e a c h • O c e a n B e a c h • Pa c i f i c H e i g h t s • Pa r k M e rc e d • Po t re ro H i l l • Pre s i d i o o f S a n
Fra n c i s c o • R i c h m o n d D i s t r i c t • R u s s i a n H i l l • S e a C l i f f • S o u t h o f M a r k e t ( S oM a ) • S t . Fra n c i s
Wo o d • S u n s e t D i s t r i c t • Te l e g r a p h H i l l • Th e Te n d e r l o i n • Th e a t e r D i s t ri c t • Tre a s u re I s l a n d • Tw i n
Pe a k s • U n i o n S q u a r e • Vi s i t a c i o n Va l l e y • We s t e r n Ad d i t i o n • We s t Po r t a l • We s t wo o d Pa r k •
Ye r b a B u e n a I s l a n d
Alamo Square
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The famous "Painted Ladies" seen from Alamo Square.
Alamo Square is a residential neighborhood and park in San Francisco, California. Both
are located in the Western Addition, a part of the city's fifth district, and are served by
several Muni bus lines including the 5, 21, 22, and 24.
Alamo Square Park consists of four city blocks at the top of a hill overlooking much of
San Francisco. It is bordered by Hayes Street to the south, Fulton Street to the north,
Scott Street to the west, and Steiner Street to the east. The park includes a playground and
a tennis court, and is frequented by neighbors, tourists, and dog owners. A row of
Victorian houses facing the park on Steiner Street, known as the painted ladies, are often
shown in the foreground of panoramic pictures of the city's downtown area. On a clear
day, the Transamerica Pyramid building and the tops of the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay
Bridge can be seen from the park’s center. San Francisco’s City Hall can be seen directly
down Fulton Street.
The part of the Western Addition surrounding the park is often referred to as the Alamo
Square neighborhood. Its boundaries are not well-defined, but are generally considered to
be Fillmore Street on the east, Golden Gate Avenue on the north, Divisadero Street on the
west, and Oak Street on the south. It is characterized by Victorian architecture that was
left largely untouched by the urban renewal projects in other parts of the Western
Addition.
The demographics of the neighborhood are characteristic of other urban neighborhoods
that have undergone gentrification: many young people and upper-middle-class
homeowners, in addition to a diverse older population. Divisadero Street, which divides
Alamo Square from North Panhandle, is home to a number of small businesses including
a growing collection of restaurants and bars. Efforts on the part of Alamo Square and
North Panhandle residents have led to restrictions on chain stores on the corridor. Relics
of a less-prosperous recent history also remain on Divisadero, including a number of
vacant storefronts (notably the Harding Theater, closed for many years but valued by its
neighbors for its potential) and one of the city's few clusters of gas stations.
A number of movies, television shows and commercials have been filmed in the Alamo
Square neighborhood because of its views and its architecture. The opening sequence of
the American sitcom Full House (1987–1995) features a romp in Alamo Square Park
with the famous row of Victorians in the background.
Neighborhood groups include the Alamo Square Neighborhood Association and the
Haight-Divisadero Neighborhood Merchants Association.
See also
•
Parks of San Francisco
External links
•
•
•
•
•
•
"District 5" City and County of San Francisco, district map, PDF file. 29 March
2006. [1]
Street map from Google Maps
Street map from Mapquest
Aerial view from Microsoft Terraserver
Alamo Square Virtual Tour
Alamo Square Neighborhood Association
Anza Vista, San Francisco, California
Anza Vista is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is located between Geary
Boulevard to the north, Turk Street to the south, Masonic Avenue to the west and St.
Joseph's Avenue to the east, although some of the surrounding areas between The
Presidio, Golden Gate Park, the Panhandle, and the Western Addition may sometimes be
referred to as part of the Anza Vista neighborhood. It sits atop the former location of the
San Francisco Calvary Cemetery, until the expulsion of cemeteries from the city in the
1930s and 1940s forced those buried within it to be moved to Colma.
A small shopping center, called The City Center, is located on Geary Boulevard and
Masonic Avenue in the north-western corner of the neighborhood. Anza Vista is also the
location of a Kaiser Permanente hospital at Geary Boulevard and St. Joseph's Avenue and
Raoul Wallenberg High School on Nido Avenue.
Balboa Park, San Francisco, California
Balboa Park is a neighborhood and public park in San Francisco, California. The
neighborhood (sometimes referred to as Mission Terrace, Cayuga, or Ingleside) is located
between Mission Street and Interstate 280 north of Geneva Avenue and the park is
located on San Jose Avenue, north of Ocean Avenue. Inside of the park there is a public
swimming pool, a stadium, baseball diamonds, tennis courts and the Ingleside police
station.
Balboa High School is situated on Cayuga Avenue, and City College of San Francisco is
on the other side of Interstate 280. Public transportation in Balboa Park is centered
around Balboa Park Station in the southwest corner of the neighborhood, a Bay Area
Rapid Transit Station that also serves as the terminal of the J, K and M Muni Metro lines.
External links
Aerial view from Microstoft Terraserver
Bernal Heights, San Francisco, California
The Bernal Heights hill and microwave tower
The Bernal Heights neighborhood, familiarly called Bernal (rhymes with colonel), lies
to the south of San Francisco's Mission District. Its most prominent feature is the open
parkland and microwave tower on its large rocky hill. Bernal is bounded by Cesar
Chavez Street to the north, Mission Street to the west and freeways 280 and U.S. Route
101 to the south and east.
History
Bernal had its origin in an 1839 land grant to Don Jose Cornelio Bernal, who grazed his
cattle on what he called Rancho Rincon de las Salinas y Potrero Viejo. In 1860 the land
belonged to a French merchant, Francios Pioche, who subdivided it into smaller lots.
Bernal remained undeveloped, though, until its combination of bedrock with a lack of gas
or electricity spared it from the shaking and fires of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Some of the tiny earthquake cottages built to house refugees survive to this day. During
World War II the area saw another population surge thanks to its proximity to the San
Francisco Naval Shipyard at Hunters Point.
By the 1990s, Bernal's pleasant microclimate, traditional Victorian and Edwardian
architecture and freeway access to the peninsula and Silicon Valley led to a third wave of
migration. Bernal has not gentrified to the extent of its neighbor Noe Valley, but property
prices are increasing as middle-class homeowners replace working-class renters. Notable
residents include Annie Sprinkle, Tom Ammiano, Dan the Automator, and Terry
Zwigoff. Bernal is a haven for young families and is teeming with their children.
Features
The neighborhood is primarily residential, with a commercial strip along Cortland
Avenue featuring restaurants, a bookstore, a bakery, a video store, grocery stores, cafes
and bars (including a well-known lesbian hangout, Wild Side West). The local branch of
the San Francisco Public Library at 500 Cortland was built by Frederick Myers with
funding from the Works Progress Administration and dedicated in 1940. The library is
slated to be closed for renovations.
A strong tradition of neighborhood activism led to the establishment of the Bernal
Heights Neighborhood Center in 1979. It works to promote community organizing,
affordable housing services, senior services and youth services.
The grassland on the hilltop is home to a remarkable urban ecosystem, including the
California poppy, raccoons, Red-tailed Hawks and, in November 2003, a coyote. The
microwave tower is a major connection point for the metropolitan San Francisco area.
Bernal Hill Park is a designated "off-leash" park for dogs, and it is a destination for many
dogs and their owners.
External links
Bernal Heights Branch, San Francisco Public Library
Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center
Bernal Blog
Bernal-Heights.com - neighborhood resource
The Castro, San Francisco, California
Stores on Castro Street near the intersection with 18th. Rainbow flags, which are
commonly associated with gay pride, may be seen hung on streetlights along the road.
The Castro is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, which is also known as
Eureka Valley.
Description
Castro street, which runs through the neighborhood, is best known for being the heart of
San Francisco's gay community. The Castro is also a commonly used abbreviation for the
Castro Theatre, a landmark movie theater located in the Castro community.
San Francisco's gay village is most concentrated in the business district that is located on
Castro Street from Market Street to 19th Street. It extends down Market street toward
Church and on 18th Street on both sides of Castro for a block or two. The greater Castro
includes the surrounding residential areas. It is bordered by the Mission District, Noe
Valley, Twin Peaks, and Haight-Ashbury. It may be considered to include Duboce
Triangle and Dolores Heights, which have a strong gay presence.
Castro Street itself runs south through Noe Valley, crossing the 24th Street business
district, and terminating a few blocks farther in the Glen Park neighborhood. The street
was named for Joaquin Isidro de Castro, an 18th century Spanish soldier who took part in
Juan Bautista de Anza's expedition to California.
History
The Castro came of age as a gay center following the controversial Summer of Love in
the neighboring Haight Ashbury district in 1967. The gathering brought tens of thousands
of middle-class youth from all over the United States. Dreams of love, peace, drugs, and
sex were dashed as conditions quickly deteriorated and violent crime became rampant.
During the 1950s and 1960s, when families left the big cities for the suburbs, the Eureka
Valley also suffered this fate. By the early 1970s, rents were low and people who had
been pushed out of homes by the gentrification of the district nearby began to settle in the
Eureka Valley. Local real estate agents played a key role in the process of gentrification.
By 1975, Harvey Milk had opened a camera store there, and began active political
involvement as a gay activist, further contributing to the notion of the Castro as a gay
destination. Some of the culture of the late 1970s included what was termed the "Castro
Street Clone", which was a mode of dress in vogue with the gay population at the time,
and which gave rise to the nickname "Clone Canyon" for the stretch of Castro Street
between 18th Street and Market Street. There were numerous famous waterholes in the
area, contributing to the nightlife, including the Corner Grocery Bar, the Norse Cove, the
Pendulum, and the Elephant Walk. A typical street scene of the period is perhaps best
illustrated by mentioning the male belly dancers who could be found holding forth in
good weather at the corner of 18th and Castro, on "Hibernia Beach", in front of the
financial institution from which it drew its name.
The area was hit hard by the AIDS/HIV crisis of the 1980s. Beginning in the 1980s, city
officials began a crackdown on bath houses and launched initiatives that aimed to prevent
the spread of AIDS. Kiosks lining Market Street and Castro Street now have posters
promoting safe sex and testing right alongside those advertising online dating services.
Like any other part of a vibrant city, the gay community and Castro neighborhood
continue to address these and other issues of gender, race and class amongst others.
Notable locations
Castro Theatre
Corner of 18th St.-Castro
ESPN Broadcasting Relay Centre (SportsCenter is taped here)
The F Market heritage streetcar line's turnaround at Market St.-17th St.-Castro
The Castro Street Station, a Muni Metro subway station
Harvey Milk Plaza
Site of Harvey Milk's Camera Store - 575 Castro St.
Pink Triangle Park - 17th Street at Market [1]
Special events
Castro Street Fair
Halloween
Pink Saturday
Demographics
In November 2000, the Noe Valley Voice reported the following statistics for city District
8, which includes Noe Valley, Diamond Heights, Glen Park, Twin Peaks, Corona
Heights, Duboce/Reverse Triangle, and Castro/Dolores Heights. The paper cited a 1999
poll of registered voters by David Binder Research, a prominent local polling agency.
European American: 81%
Age 30-49: 54%
Male: 58%
Sexually straight: 59% (89% city-wide)
Rent housing: 55%
College graduate: 71%
Democrat: 72%
Republican: 12%
Religious affiliation: 56%
Not religious: 40%
References
Demographics: "AND NOW FOR THE RUMORS BEHIND THE NEWS" by Mazook.
Noe Valley Voice, November 2000. [2]
Demographics, see also: "District 8: Under the rainbow" by Betsey Culp. San Francisco
Call, 25 September 2000. [3]
External links
Guided photo tour of Castro
Castro Online
SF Gate: Gay & Lesbian Guide: Castro
Cruisin The Castro; description of the "official" walking tour, an excellent way to get to
know the Castro.
Uncle Donald's Castro Street
Chinatown, San Francisco, California
An intersection of Chinatown in San Francisco.
San Francisco's Chinatown is one of North America's largest Chinatowns. It is the oldest
and one of the most historic Chinatowns. Established in the 1850s, it has been featured in
popular culture, such as in film, music, photography, and literature.
Chinatown has been experiencing some decline over the years due to the cropping up of
newer Chinatown communities in the Richmond and Sunset Districts of San Francisco,
possibly from the revitalization of Oakland's Chinatown – only 10 miles away – in recent
decades, and from the development of Asian shopping centers throughout the San
Francisco Bay Area. Despite this, it remains a major tourist attraction — drawing more
visitors than the Golden Gate Bridge, and being one of the largest and most prominent
centers of Chinese activity outside of China.
The dragon gate on Grant Avenue at Bush Street was a gift of the government of the
Republic of China (Taiwan).
Location and sub-areas
A typical street.
Chinatown is located in downtown San Francisco. It is roughly bordered by Powell Street
and the Nob Hill District on the west. On the east is Kearny Street and The City's
Financial District. On the north is North Beach and Green Street and Columbus Street.
On the south is Bush Street and the Union Square area. Despite its decline, it has been
slowly expanding northward into the North Beach neighborhood north of Green and
Columbus Street.
Within Chinatown there are two major thoroughfares. One is Grant Avenue, with the
famous Dragon gate on the corner of Bush Street and Grant Avenue; St. Mary's Park that
boasts a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen; a war memorial to Chinese war veterans; and a
plethora of stores, restaurants and mini-malls that cater mainly to tourists. The other,
Stockton Street, is frequented less often by tourists, and it presents an authentic Chinese
look and feel, reminiscent of Hong Kong, with its produce and fish markets, stores, and
restaurants. Chinatown boasts smaller side streets and alleyways that also provide an
authentic character.
Another major focal point in Chinatown is Portsmouth Square. Due to its being one of the
few open spaces in Chinatown, Portsmouth Square bustles with activity such as Tai Chi
and old men playing Chinese chess. A replica of the Goddess of Democracy used in the
Tiananmen Square protest was built in 1999 by Thomas Marsh, and stands in the square.
It is made of bronze and weighs approximately 600 lb (270 kg).
In recent years, other Chinatown areas have been established within the city of San
Francisco proper, including the Richmond and Sunset districts. These areas have been
settled largely by Chinese from Southeast Asia. There are also many suburban Chinese
communities in the Bay Area, especially in Silicon Valley, such as Cupertino, Fremont,
and Milpitas, where Taiwanese Americans are dominant. Despite these developments,
many continue to commute in from these outer neighborhoods and cities to shop in
Chinatown, causing gridlock on roads and public transit, especially on weekends. To
address this problem, the local public transit agency, Muni, is proposing to extend the
city's subway network to the neighborhood via the new Central Subway.
History
The Street of Gamblers (Ross Alley) Arnold Genthe, 1898. The population was
predominantly male because U.S. policies at the time made it difficult for Chinese
women to enter the country.
San Francisco's Chinatown was the port of entry for early Taishanese and Zhongshanese
Chinese immigrants from the southern Guangdong province of China from the 1850s to
the 1900s. The majority of shopkeepers, restaurant owners, and hired workers in San
Francisco Chinatown were predominantly Taishanese and male. They had come as
laborers to build California's growing railway networks, most famously the
Transcontinental Railroad or as mine workers or independent prospectors hoping to strike
it rich during the 1849 Gold Rush. With massive national unemployment in the wake of
the Panic of 1873, racial tensions in the city boiled over into full blown race riots. In
response to this, the Chinese residents formed the Consolidated Chinese Benevolent
Association or the Chinese Six Companies, which evolved out of the labor recruiting
organizations for different areas of Guangdong. The xenophobia became law as the
United States Government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 – the first
immigration restriction law aimed at a single ethnic group. This law, along with other
immigration restriction laws such as the Geary Act, greatly reduced the numbers of
Chinese allowed into the country and the city, and in theory limited Chinese immigration
to single males only. Exceptions were in fact granted to the families of wealthy
merchants, but the law was still effective enough to reduce the population of the
neighborhood to an all time low in the 1920s. The exclusion act was repealed during
World War Two under the Magnuson Act in recognition of the important role of China as
an ally in the war, although tight quotas still applied.
The neighborhood was completely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake that leveled most of
the city. During the city's rebuilding process, racist city planners and real-estate
developers had hatched plans to move Chinatown to the Hunters Point neighborhood at
the southern edge of the city, even further south in Daly City, or even back to China; and
the neighborhood would then be absorbed into the financial district. Their plans failed as
the Chinese, particularly with the efforts of Consolidated Chinese Box companies, the
Chinese government, and American commercial interests reclaimed the neighborhood
and convinced the city government to relent. Part of their efforts in doing so was to plan
and rebuild the neighborhood as a western friendly tourist attraction. The rebuilt area that
is seen today, resembles such plans.[1]
Many early Chinese immigrants to San Francisco and beyond were processed at Angel
Island, now a state park, in the San Francisco Bay. Unlike Ellis Island in the East where
prospective European immigrants might be held for up to a week, Angel Island typically
detained Chinese immigrants for months while they were interrogated closely to
determine if they were really who their papers said they were. Several monuments and
memorials have been erected to those who made it through the questioning and those who
did not and were deported; and the entire detention facility has been renovated in 2005
and 2006 under a special federal grant.
The repeal of the Exclusion act and the other immigration restriction laws and the War
Brides Act, which allowed Chinese-American veterans to bring their families outside of
national quotas, led to a major population boom in the area during the 1950s. In the
1960s, the shifting of underutilized national immigration quotas brought in another huge
wave of immigrants mostly from Hong Kong, which changed San Francisco Chinatown
from predominantly Taishan-speaking to Cantonese-speaking. The end of the Vietnam
War brought a wave of Vietnamese refugees of Chinese descent, who put their own
stamp on San Francisco Chinatown.
There were many Chinese in Northern California living outside of San Francisco
Chinatown, but except for Oakland, they did not set up any special town with shopping
and restaurants. With the growth of the Chinese-American population and the increasing
difficulty of traveling into the congestion around downtown San Francisco, commercial
developments began in the outer neighborhoods of the Richmond District and Sunset
District and in other suburbs across the San Francisco Bay Area as well as newer
immigrants – such as Mandarin-speaking immigrants from Taiwan who have tended to
settled in suburban Milbrae, Cupertino, Milpitas, and Mountain View – avoiding San
Francisco as well as Oakland entirely. This suburbanization continues today.
In the summer of 1977, an ongoing rivalry between two Chinese American gangs erupted
in violence and bloodshed, culminating in a shooting spree at the Golden Dragon
Restaurant on Washington Street. Five persons were killed and 11 were wounded, and the
incident has become infamously known as the Golden Dragon massacre. The restaurant
still stands today and remains a popular dim sum restaurant for tourists.
While the neighborhood continues to receive newer immigrants and maintains a lively
and active character, suburban flight has left the neighborhood relatively poor, decrepit in
many parts, and largely elderly. Grant Avenue has changed completely into a tourist
street.
Today, the historic and multistory Sam Wo Restaurant is among the most popular and
notorious Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and a favorite late-night hangout for college
students throughout the Bay Area. It once had the supposedly "world's rudest waiter"
named Edsel Ford Fong, who was born and raised in Chinatown and died in the 1980s;
Eddie refused to serve customers who got on his wrong side and would take the liberty of
changing orders that he thought were stupid. The restaurant has been used as a location
for several television series and films.
Demographics
In recent decades, Cantonese-speaking immigrants from Hong Kong and Mainland China
has gradually led to the the replacement of the Taishanese dialect with the Hong Kong
Cantonese dialect as a lingua franca. Cantonese has over 70 million speakers worldwide,
and its Hong Kong form become fashionable among teenagers in other parts of China
because of the popularity of Hong Kong movies worldwide.
Taishanese is spoken less and less, even in China, and will probably be gone in a
generation from America. There is a degree of mutual intelligibility between Taishanese
and Cantonese, but the vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation have major differences.
Taishanese speakers born in China can usually understand Cantonese; American-born
Taishanese speakers can typically understand only about 10 percent of what they hear in
Cantonese and have great difficulty remembering the right tones when trying to speak it.
Many working-class Hong Kong Chinese immigrants began arriving in large numbers in
the 1960s and despite their status and professions in Hong Kong, immigrants had to find
low-pay employment in restaurants and garment factories in Chinatown because of
limited English ability.
Miscellaneous
San Francisco's Chinatown is home to the well-known and historic Chinese Consolidated
Benevolent Association (known as the Chinese Six Companies), which is the umbrella
organization for local Chinese family and regional associations in Chinatown. It has
spawned lodges in other Chinatowns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including
Chinatown, Los Angeles and Chinatown, Portland.
Author Amy Tan grew up in the neighborhood. Her book the Joy Luck Club is based on
her experiences here as well as it chronicles the neighborhood's history.
The Chinatown has served as a backdrop for several movies and television shows. It has
also been featured in several food television programs dealing with ethnic Chinese
cuisine.
New "Chinatowns" in the Bay Area
Within the city of San Francisco
Because of aforementioned conditions in Chinatown, several Chinese enclaves or "new
Chinatowns" have sprung up across the city. Most notable are a section of Clement Street
between Arguello Boulevard & Park Presidio in the Richmond District, Irving Street
between 19th Avenue and 24th Avenue, and Noriega Street between 19th Avenue and
25th Avenue, both in the Sunset District.
Unlike in most Chinatowns in North America, ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam
have not established businesses in San Francisco's Chinatown district – undisputedly the
largest of its kind in North America – due to high property values and rents. Instead,
many Chinese Vietnamese – as opposed to ethnic Vietnamese who tended to congregate
in larger numbers in San Jose – have established a separate Vietnamese enclave on
Larkin Street in the heavily working-class Tenderloin district of San Francisco, where it
is now known as the city's "Little Saigon" and not as a "Chinatown" per se. As with
historic Chinatown, Little Saigon plans to construct an arch signifying its entrance, as
well as directional street signs leading to the community.
Surrounding areas
Countless suburban strip mall alternatives to the original Chinatown in the city of San
Francisco proper have been developed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and these
are considered the most notable and provide comparative ease and conveniences to
immigrant shoppers thus reducing the incentive and necessity for immigrants to go to the
filthy and heavy traffic Chinatown. This is partly to be attributed to the aggressive growth
of the highly popular 99 Ranch Market chain of south California in recent years and
putting them in direct competition with the older established Chinatown enclaves, which
have more mom-and-pop operations. Often, unlike the traditional Cantonese-speaking
Chinatowns in San Francisco or Oakland as populated by mostly old-timers, Mandarin
Chinese is the lingua franca of these communities.
Outside the San Francisco area, suburban Cupertino in the San Jose area has emerged the
major Taiwanese cultural and retail center in the Bay Area, especially with a major
shopping center titled Cupertino Village anchored by the supermarket chain 99 Ranch
Market. A similar, but larger shopping center by the name of Milpitas Square, also
featuring 99 Ranch Market, can be found in Milpitas, adjacent to the northeast corner of
San Jose. These plazas contain variety of regional Chinese cuisine and other varied Asian
cuisine restaurants (namely Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, and so on), book stores, boba tea
shops, bakeries, and upscale boutiques.
A smaller Chinese commercial district lines Castro Street in the suburb of Mountain
View where immigrant businesses now occupy once abandoned 1950s-era downtown
storefronts. (Source: San Francisco Chronicle)
Other suburban communities in the San Francisco Bay Area with a large Chinese
presence include Foster City and Daly City (also home to a large Filipino population) in
San Mateo County and Fremont in Alameda County. All of these cities have Chinese
themed shopping centers anchored by 99 Ranch Market. In addition, the Warm Springs
district of Fremont includes a shopping center known as "Little Taipei" anchored by Lion
Supermarket. More Asian-oriented strip malls can be found in the San Francisco and
Oakland working-class suburbs of Richmond, California ('Pacific East Mall anchored by
99 Ranch Market) and San Pablo (San Pablo Marketplace anchored by Shun Fat
Supermarket).
References
Readings
Chinn, Thomas W. Bridging the Pacific: San Francisco Chinatown and its People.
Chinese Historical Society of America, 1989. ISBN 0961419830, ISBN 0961419849 PB
See also
49-Mile Scenic Drive
External links
Chinese Cultural Center
Chinatown
America's Chinese communities shifting to Mandarin - A Seattle Post-Intelligencer
newspaper article on the changing dynamic of Chinatown.
What Is the Future for San Francisco's Chinese Matriarchs? Pueng Vongs, Pacific News
Service. 2005.
San Francisco Chinatown Events
San Francisco Chinatown Visitors Guide
Crocker-Amazon, San Francisco,
California
The Crocker-Amazon is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California bordering the
Excelsior District. Crocker-Amazon covers the area south of Mission Street and Geneva
Avenue, extending towards Daly City. The neighborhood is adjacent to Crocker-Amazon
Park, named after the Charles Crocker land holdings that once made up the area, and
Amazon Street in the Excelsior.
The Crocker-Amazon neighborhood is slightly more affluent than the Excelsior, but
retains much of the same racial diversity, including a large Filipino community. Even
many San Franciscans are unaware of its existence, leading to more reasonable house
prices than in other, more well-known areas of San Francisco. There is a certain suburban
feel to this commuter neighborhood, although the houses are as tightly packed together as
those in other areas of San Francisco. The neighborhood benefits from some of the best
weather in the city; the late afternoon fog breaks over the Excelsior, meaning the
Crocker-Amazon area has more sun than most other areas of San Francisco. There are
outstanding views towards the top of the neighborhood; downtown San Francisco can be
seen in the gap between McLaren Park and Twin Peaks (San Francisco).
Diamond Heights, San Francisco,
California
Diamond Heights is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is located in the
middle part of the city, roughly bordered by Diamond Heights Boulevard and Noe Valley
on the east side and Glen Canyon Park on the west side. It was the San Francisco
Planning and Urban Research Association's first project, intended to use redevelopment
powers to use land on the hills in the center of the city to be developed with, rather than
against, the topography. Few existing residents needed to be relocated for the
redevelopment program, which included housing for a range of incomes, churches,
schools, parks, and a commercial center.
Notable features of Diamond Heights include a shopping center on Diamond Heights
Boulevard between Duncan Street and Gold Mine Way, and the San Francisco Police
Department's police academy on Turquoise Way. George Christopher Playground is
located behind the shopping center, and Walter Haas Playground is at the intersection of
Diamond Heights Boulevard and Addison Street. School of the Arts high school and the
California Youth Authority's Youth Guidance Center are both just northwest of Diamond
Heights, at the intersection of Portola and Woodside.
Public transportation in Diamond Heights is provided by Muni's 35 Eureka and 52
Excelsior lines. Both connect to the Muni Metro system; the 35 goes to Castro Street
Station and the 52 goes to Forest Hill Station. Additionally, the 52 connects to the Bay
Area Rapid Transit system at the Glen Park Station.
References
San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Website
*Diamond Heights mid-century modern housing tract developed by architect Claude
Oakland for Eichler Homes
Dogpatch, San Francisco, California
Dogpatch is a neighborhood on San Francisco's eastern side, adjacent to the waterfront
of San Francisco Bay, and to the east of, and below, Bernal Heights. Its boundaries are
roughly Mariposa Street to the north, I-280 to the west, 23rd Street to the south, and the
Pier 70 complex to the east. It contains housing, some remaining heavy industry, more
recent light industry, and a new but growing arts district.
Because it survived the 1906 earthquake and fire relatively undamaged, and until recently
had not been redeveloped, Dogpatch has some of the oldest houses in San Francisco,
dating from the 1860s. Between the 1860s and 1880s, the marshes at the edge of the Bay
were filled, and the area was connected to the main part of the city by means of bridges
across what was then Mission Bay (which itself has now been filled in). This permitted
development of industry and housing. Waterfront-oriented industry, including
shipbuilding, drydocks and ship outfitting and repairs, warehouses, steel mills, and
similar industry flourished until after World War II, when it began to decline.
Dogpatch endured several decades of decline which lasted until the 1990s, when
economic pressures led to modest gentrification of the existing housing stock, and new
construction including loft-style condominiums, many of which were designated as "livework" units for artists, graphic designers, and similar occupations. The conversion of
existing industrial space to live-work units or other housing has been controversial.
The main commercial artery of Dogpatch is Third Street, with a number of retail and
service businesses. A light rail line operated by San Francisco's transit agency, the San
Francisco Municipal Railway, is scheduled to open before the end of 2006. The Third
Street corridor connects Dogpatch to San Francisco's downtown, via new development
zones including Mission Bay and the new UCSF research campus.
Notable features of Dogpatch include Irving M. Scott School, the oldest public school
building in San Francisco, built 1895; the historic shipyards at Pier 70; Dogpatch Studios,
a film studio, design center, and event venue; and numerous historical residences.
External links
Dogpatch Home Page
Dogpatch's balancing act
Duboce Triangle, San Francisco,
California
Tree-lined sidewalk access to parking, Victorians, and more modern buildings on
Sanchez Street near 14th Street in Duboce Triangle.
The Duboce Triangle neighborhood is located near the center of San Francisco, on the
hilly slopes of Buena Vista between the neighborhoods of the Castro/Eureka Valley, the
Mission District, the Haight-Ashbury and the Western Addition.
There's some disagreement as to what streets form the boundaries of Duboce Triangle:
According to the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association, the neighborhood is
bounded by Market, Castro and Waller Street and therefore includes Duboce Park and
some blocks to its north.
According to the San Francisco Association of Realtors, it's "District 5J", a simple
triangle limited by Castro, Market and Duboce. (The SFAR considers blocks to the north
of Duboce Park to be part of Hayes Valley, although they're more popularly considered
part of the Lower Haight.)
In either case, it's well served by Muni metro, streetcars and buses. Sheltered from the
fogs by Buena Vista and Twin Peaks to the West and Alamo Square to the North, the area
is one of the sunnier districts in San Francisco.
Duboce Park and several smaller "pocket" parks provide attractive public green spaces,
but the Duboce Triangle is most notable for its lushly landscaped sidewalks and wellmaintained Victorian flats and apartment buildings. These are the direct result of San
Francisco's rejection of the wholescale demolition of Victorians and their replacement
with slablike public housing that marred the Western Addition in the 1960s. The city
used the federal government's slum clearance dollars to renovate the mostly-19th Century
housing stock instead, and also to plant street trees, bury utility wires underground, and to
widen sidewalks and narrow streets. With its now-mature trees and rejuvenated homes,
the Duboce Triangle's distinctly residential and yet urbane feel is more remarkable given
its proximity to busy Market Street, the city's main thoroughfare.
The official Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association map excludes the point of the
triangle at Market and Waller. This area is sometimes known as Mint Hill, after the
United States Mint, an imposing building on a steep rocky cliff overlooking the
intersection of Market and Duboce streets. However, most of the homes in this area are
similar in character of the rest of Duboce Triangle.
Demographics
In 2000, about 40% of likely voters in Duboce/Reverse Triangle identified as "gay,
bisexual, or other", compared to 11% city-wide.
References
Demographics: "District 8: Under the rainbow" by Betsey Culp. San Francisco Call, 25
September 2000. [1]
External links
Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association
DTNA official map
Embarcadero (San Francisco)
The Embarcadero's Ferry Building
The Embarcadero is the name given the eastern waterfront roadway of the Port of San
Francisco, San Francisco, California, along San Francisco Bay. It sits atop an engineered
seawall on filled land.
History
San Francisco's shoreline historically ran south and inland from Clarke's Point below
Telegraph Hill to present-day Montgomerey Street and eastward toward Rincon Point,
enclosing a cove named Yerba Buena Cove. As the city grew, the cove was filled. Over
fifty years a large offshore seawall was built and the mudflats filled, creating what today
is San Francisco's Financial District. The San Francisco Belt Railroad, a short line
railroad for freight, once ran along the Embarcadero.
During the early 20th century when the seaport was at its busiest and before the
construction of Bay Bridge, the plaza in front of the Ferry Building was one of the busiest
areas of foot traffic in the world; only Charing Cross Station in London and Grand
Central Station in New York City were busier. There was once a pedestrian footbridge
that connected Market Street directly with the Ferry building and a subterranean roadway
to move cars below the plaza. In the earliest days, a maze cable car tracks terminated
here, servicing the ferry commuters. These were eventually replaced by a loop for several
streetcar lines.
However, after the completion of the Bay Bridge and the rapid decline of Ferries and the
Ferry Building, the neighborhood fell into decline. The transition to container shipping,
which moved most shipping to Oakland, led to further decline. Automobile transit efforts
led to the Embarcadero Freeway being built in the 1960s. This improved automobile
access to the Bay Bridge, but detracted aesthetically from the city. For 30 years, the
highway divided the waterfront and the Ferry Building from downtown. It was torn down
in 1991, after being severely damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
After the freeway had been cleared, massive redevelopment begun as grand palm-lined
boulevard was created, squares and plazas were created and/or restored, and the Muni N
and F lines were extended to run along it; the N goes to 4th and King Streets (at AT&T
Park and the Caltrain terminal) and the F now goes to Fisherman's Wharf. The Market
Street Railway is also planning a new ‘E’ line to run up the Embarcadero, past the
wharves, to Aquatic Park. A unique sculpture resembling cupid's bow and arrow with the
arrow implanted in the ground was built there in 2003, symbolizing where Tony Bennett
"left his heart".
Rail Station
The Embarcadero Station, a BART and Muni Metro subway station, is located at the foot
of Market Street, by The Embarcadero. While not in the original station plans, the area
had become quite busy at the time of the BART construction. The late addition is the
reason for the station's distinctive design.
Embarcadero Center
Villancourt Fountain at Embarcadero Center
The Embarcadero Center consists of four buildings and the Villancourt Fountain. Until
2001, there was a viewing deck on top of the Embarcadero. At Christmas time at night,
lights covering the corners of all four buildings are lit up.
Regional note
There is also an Embarcadero (both street and waterfront area) in Oakland, California.
External links
The Chronicle's standing article about North Beach
Union Square San Francisco Blog
Nob Hill San Francisco Blog
Eureka Valley, San Francisco, California
The Eureka Valley, looking north on Castro Street from 20th. Visible is the giant rainbow
flag at Castro and Market. In the summer months, fog tends to roll in over Twin Peaks
and other hills to the west in the evenings and retreat again the next morning.
Eureka Valley is a term for the greater Castro district of the city of San Francisco,
California. The term Eureka Valley describes a larger area, including many residential
areas, while "the Castro" denotes mainly the predominantly gay-oriented commercial
district on Castro Street and 18th Street. The term Eureka Valley, though, is largely out of
use, replaced by "the Castro" as the gay community grew in the area.
As a curious note, the Castro Street Muni Metro station replaced an older Eureka Street
station only a few blocks away, symbolic of the neighborhood shift away from Eureka
Street and toward Castro in the late 1970s.
Excelsior District, San Francisco,
California
The Excelsior District in San Francisco is the area along Mission Street, south of
Interstate 280 and north of Geneva Avenue. Its central point is arguably the intersection
of Mission Street and Ocean Avenue. The area is characterized by the names of the
streets, many of which are named for European countries and cities. Excelsior is an
ethnically diverse neighborhood with Latinos, Cantonese-speaking Chinese, Filipinos,
Italians, Irish and African Americans. It holds an annual street festival every October.
Mexican, Italian, Salvadorean, Filipino and Chinese cuisines are particularly wellrepresented.
Famous Excelsiorites include surrealist poet Philip Lamantia, Grateful Dead
singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia, Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Cronin, DJ
Qbert, and San Francisco mayoral assassin Dan White.
Central to the neighborhood was the Granada Theater at the intersection of Mission and
Ocean, which opened in 1922 as the Excelsior. In 1931 when the downtown Granada
Theater changed its name to the Paramount, the name and a vertical "Granada" sign were
deployed in the Excelsior. The theater closed in 1982.
External links
http://www.jerryday.org
http://www.mamasf.com
http://www.eagsf.org
http://www.excelsiorfestival.org
http://www.excelsiordistrict.org
Fillmore District, San Francisco,
California
The Fillmore District, also called The Fillmore or The Lower Fillmore, is a
neighborhood in San Francisco, California. Though its boundaries are not well-defined, it
is usually considered to be the subset of the Western Addition neighborhood bordered by
Fillmore Street on the west, Van Ness Avenue on the east, approximately Geary
Boulevard on the north, and approximately Grove Street on the south. Sometimes the
western boundary is extended to Divisadero Street north of Golden Gate Avenue. The
neighborhood is in San Francisco's fifth district, and is served by several Muni bus lines
including the 38, 31, 5, and 22.
The Fillmore was the site of a massive and controversial Urban renewal project begun in
the 1950's, the last vestiges of which are still ongoing. It has an ethnically and
economically diverse population, and is the historical center of African-American culture
in San Francisco. Today, despite the persistence of poverty and violent crime, the
Fillmore is seeing increased residential and commercial development. In particular the
area is reviving as a center of music, with a branch of Oakland-based jazz club Yoshi's
and a jazz history museum expected to open in 2007, joining existing venues such as the
Boom Boom Room, Rassalla's, the Sheba Lounge, and the well-known Fillmore
Auditorium.
History
In the 1800's, the Fillmore was a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, with vegetable
farms surrounding the developed area around Fillmore Street. Many Japanese immigrants
also came to the Fillmore around the turn of the century. After the 1906 earthquake
Fillmore Street, which had largely avoided heavy damage, temporarily became a major
commercial center as the city's downtown rebuilt.
In 1942, during World War II, President Roosevelt signed an executive order to relocate
all people of Japanese origin to internment camps. The vacant homes in the Fillmore
attracted African-American industrial workers, musicians, and artists. Soon many
nighclubs were opened, bringing major musical icons to the neighborhood including Ella
Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday. The neighborhood struggled
economically, however, and many of its Victorian homes fell into disrepair.
As a result of this, in 1948 the Fillmore was designated a redevelopment area. The city's
Redevelopment Agency, led by Justin Herman, demolished most of the neighborhood's
existing homes and businesses over the course of the next decade. In their place
developers built large, mostly low-rise housing developments, along with some mixeduse buildings concentrated around Fillmore Street. Many of these developments included
subsidized units for low-income residents. The project took longer than expected,
however, with some plots remaining vacant until well into the 21st century. While the
residents of the original homes were in theory entitled to return to the neighborhood,
many did not do so. As a result of the project's displacement of residents and businesses,
its mixed (and arguably discriminatory) economic impact, and its architecture (now seen
as outmoded), the redevelopment of the Fillmore is considered by many to have been
unsuccessful and regrettable.
As surrounding neighborhoods have gentrified, however, some effects have been felt in
the Fillmore. While lower Fillmore Street is still dominated by chain establishments now
disfavored by most San Franciscans, restaurants and jazz clubs are beginning to reappear.
Some of the neighborhood's subsidized housing projects have been rebuilt along more
modern lines, and some market-rate housing is also being built and refurbished.
External links
[PBS documentary on redevelopment of the Fillmore]
[San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Western Addition A-1 area]
[What's Really Wrong with the Lower Fillmore]
Financial District, San Francisco,
California
The Financial District and the Transamerica Pyramid as seen from Coit Tower.
The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California that serves as its
main central business district.
Location
The area is marked by the cluster of high-rise towers that lies between Grant Street east
of the Union Square shopping district, Sacramento Street and Columbus Street, south of
Chinatown and North Beach, and the Embarcadero that rings the waterfront. The city's
tallest buildings, including the Bank of America tower and the Transamerica Pyramid, are
located here.
The District is home to the city's largest concentration of corporate headquarters, law
firms, banks, savings & loans and other financial institutions, such as the corporate
headquarters of VISA, Wells Fargo Bank, the Charles Schwab Corporation, Barclays
Global Investors, The Gap, and the Union Bank of California among others. The
headquarters of the Bank of California, the 12th district of the United States Federal
Reserve, and the Pacific Stock Exchange (although no longer located in that building) are
located in the area as well. Montgomery Street ("Wall Street of the West") is the
traditional heart of the district. There are several shopping malls in the area including the
Crocker Galleria, the Embarcadero Center, the Ferry Building, and the Rincon Center
complex.
History
A statue on Market Street in the heart of the Financial District commemorates the United
States annexing San Francisco and California from Mexico during the Mexican American
war in 1848.
The area was the center of European and American settlement during Spanish and later
Mexican rule. Following American annexation and the Gold Rush, the area boomed
rapidly and the Bay shoreline, which originally ended at Battery St, was filled in and
extended to the Embarcadero. Gold Rush wealth and business made it the financial
capital of the west coast as many banks and businesses set up in the neighborhood. The
west coast's first and only skyscrapers, were built in the area along Market Street.
The neighborhood was completey destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake & Fire (although
miraculously, the area's skyscrapers survived), and rebuilt. Because of state wide height
restrictions due to earthquake fears, the district remained realtively low-rise throughout
the 20th century until the late 1950s, when due to new building and earthquake
retrofitting technologies, the height restrictions were lifted, fueling a skyscraper building
boom. This boom accelerated under mayor Diane Feinstein during the 1980s under her
plan of "Manhattanization". This caused widespread oppostion citywide leading to the
"skyscraper revolt" similar to the "freeway revolt" in the city years earlier. The
skyscraper revolt led to the city imposing extremeley strict, European style height
restrictions on building construction citywide.
The Financial District along Market Street. The headquarters 12th District of the United
States Federal Reserve is the glass sheathed building to the left
Due to these height restrictions, (which have been relaxed and overlooked over the
years), overcrowding, and changes and demand in the local real esate market,
development in the area, as well as the district's boundaries as a whole have shifted to
SOMA as the focus has shifted from building office space, to high rise condominiums
and hotels. Notable examples include the Four Seasons Hotel, and The Paramount,
currently the tallest condominums on the west coast.
See also
External links
Coordinates: 37.7952° N -122.4029° E
Maps and aerial photos
WikiSatellite view at WikiMapia
Street map from MapQuest or Google Local
Topographic map from TopoZone
Aerial image from TerraServer-USA
Satellite image from Google Local or Windows Live Local
Tourist info about the Financial District including photos
Union Square San Francisco Blog
Skyscrapers.com's page on San Francisco
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco,
California
Fisherman's Wharf sign
Fisherman's Wharf is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, U.S. Roughly
speaking it encompasses the northern waterfront area of San Francisco from Ghirardelli
Square or Van Ness Street east to Pier 35 or Kearney Street. It is mainly a tourist
attraction, known for being the location of Pier 39, San Francisco Maritime National
Historical Park, Ghirardelli Square, Ripley's Believe it or Not, the Musée Mécanique,
ferry rides to Alcatraz and restaurants that serve seafood, most notably dungeness crab.
Transportation to Fisherman's Wharf can be an attraction of itself, the F Market runs
through the area, the Powell-Hyde cable car lines runs to Aquatic Park, at the edge of
Fisherman's Wharf, and the Powell-Mason cable car line runs a few blocks away. Other
popular areas in San Francisco, such as Chinatown, Lombard Street and North Beach are
all located in proximity to Fisherman's Wharf.
The intro video of ABC's Full House features Fisherman's Wharf, where Bob Saget,
Candace Cameron, and Jodie Sweetin are fishing around in front of Alcatraz prison.
A popular resident of Fisherman's Wharf is The World Famous Bushman, a local man
who sits behind some branches and startles people who walk by, but all in good fun. He
has gained quite a following during the 25 years he has been doing it.
See also
External links
Fisherman's Wharf Merchant Association
San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf Virtual Tour
Welcome to Fisherman's Wharf - basic information and the essential Internet resources.
See also
Fisherman's Wharfs in other places
F Market, the San Francisco Municipal Railway historic streetcar linking the Wharf to
Market Street, the MUNI Metro, and the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system.
Forest Hill, San Francisco, California
Stairway into Forest Hill from Pacheco Street and Dewey Boulevard up to Castenada
Avenue
Forest Hill is an affluent neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is located near the
middle of the city, north-east of West Portal, south of the Inner Sunset and north of
Dewey Boulevard. Construction on the neighborhood began in 1912, on land originally
owned by Adolph Sutro that was purchased from his heirs by a private firm. Streets in
Forest Hill were not built to city standards, and not maintained by the city until 1978. [1]
The area south of Dewey Boulevard is known as Laguna Honda or Forest Hill
Extension. The name Laguna Honda means "Deep Lagoon" in the Spanish language,
presumably referring to the Laguna Honda Reservoir, at the intersection of Laguna
Honda Boulevard and Clarendon Avenue.
Laguna Honda Hospital and the Muni Metro Forest Hill Station are located between
Forest Hill and Laguna Honda, near the intersection of Laguna Honda Boulevard and
Dewey Boulevard. School of the Arts high school is on Portola Drive near Woodside
Avenue, in the south-eastern corner of Laguna Honda.
External links
Coordinates: 37.748° N -122.463° E
Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
Surrounding area map from the United States Census Bureau
Glen Park, San Francisco, California
Glen Park is a small neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is located at the
southern edge of the hills in the interior of the city, to the south of Diamond Heights and
Noe Valley, west of Bernal Heights, and east of Glen Canyon Park. The intersection of
Diamond Street and Bosworth Street is generally considered the center of the
neighborhood. Because of Glen Park's small size and mom and pop stores, restaurants,
and saloons, the neighborhood is often described as having a village atmosphere. The
neighborhood is served by a small storefront branch of the San Francisco Public Library.
[1] Many residents have noticed the beginnings of a change in the atmosphere of the
neighborhood, possibly starting at a fire which burnt down the Diamond Super grocer and
market in the late 1990s. Since then many "trendy" new stores have moved in, and
recently with the construction of a large supermarket/office/apartment complex in the lot
where Diamond Super once stood many of the smaller stores which once defined the
neighborhood are closing down. It has been speculated by some residents that Glen Park
will soon shift from being a predominantly working-class family area to a more yuppie
demographic.
Transportation
Interstate 280 and the Glen Park BART station are both located at the southern edge of
the neighborhood. Glen Park is served by the Muni bus lines 23, 26, 35, 44 and 52 plus
the J Church Muni Metro line.
External links
Coordinates: 37.736° N -122.433° E
Chenery Park Restaurant
Glen-Park.com A neighborhood guide
Glen Park: The Architecture and Social History
Glen Park Community Plan San Francisco Planning Dept. page
References
September 2000. [2]
Golden Gate Park
An aerial view of the Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park is the largest urban park in San Francisco, California, USA. At 1017
acres (4.1 km²), it is in the shape of a long rectangle, similar in shape but 174 acres (0.7
km²) larger than Central Park in New York.
History
The domed Conservatory of Flowers is one of the world's largest. It is built of traditional
wood sash and glass pane construction. It has been extensively renovated several times
since its construction
In the 1860s, San Franciscans began to feel the need for a spacious public park like the
one that was taking shape in New York. Golden Gate Park was carved out of
unpromising sand and shore dunes that were known as the "outside lands." The tireless
field engineer William Hammond Hall prepared a survey and topographic map of the
park site in 1870 and became commissioner in 1871. He was later named California's first
State Engineer and developed an integrated flood control system for the Sacramento
Valley when he was not working on Golden Gate Park. The actual plan and planting were
developed by Hall and his assistant, John McLaren, who had apprenticed in Scotland, the
source of many of the 19th century's best professional gardeners. The initial plan called
for grade separations of transverse roadways through the park, as Frederick Law Olmsted
Jr. had provided for Central Park, but budget constraints and the positioning of the
Arboretum and the Concourse aborted the plan. In 1876, the plan was almost exchanged
for a racetrack favored by "the Big Four" millionaires, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins,
Collis P. Huntington, and Charles Crocker. Hall resigned and all the park commissioners
followed him. Fortunately for the city, the original plan was soon back on track. By 1886,
streetcars delivered over 47,000 people to Golden Gate Park on one weekend afternoon;
the city's population at the time was about 250,000. Hall selected McLaren as his
successor in 1887.
The North Windmill
The first stage stabilized the ocean dunes that covered three-quarters of the park area with
tree plantings. By 1875, about 60,000 trees, mostly Blue Gum Eucalyptus, Monterey pine
and Monterey cypress were planted. By 1879, that figure more than doubled to 155,000
trees over 1,000 acres (4 km²). Later McLaren scoured the world through his
correspondents for trees. Only Bolivia escaped his net. When McLaren refused to retire at
age 60, as was customary, the San Francisco city government was bombarded with
letters: when he reached 70 a charter amendment was passed to exempt him from forced
retirement. He lived in McLaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park until he died at age 90, in
1943.
In 1903 a pair of Dutch-style windmills were built at the extreme western end of the park.
These pumped water throughout the park. The north windmill has been restored to its
original appearance and is adjacent to a flower garden, a gift of Queen Wilhelmina of the
Netherlands. These are planted with tulip bulbs for Winter display and other flowers in
appropriate seasons. Murphy's Windmill in the south of the park is currently being
restored.
Most of the water used for landscape watering and for various water features is now
provided by the use of highly processed and recycled effluent from the city's sewage
treatment plant, located at the beach some miles away to the south near the San Francisco
Zoo. In the 1950s there was some consternation caused by the use of this effluent during
cold weather, with the introduction of artificial detergents but before the advent of
modern biodegradable products. These "hard" detergents would cause long lasting
billowing piles of foam to form on the creeks connecting the artificial lakes, and could
even be blown upon the roads, forming a traffic hazard.
Major features
Japanese Tea Garden
A step-stone bridge in the Japanese Tea Garden
The Japanese tea garden, an immensely popular feature, was originally built as part of a
sprawling World's Fair, the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition[1].
Notable as the oldest public Japanese garden in the U.S., this intricate complex of
many paths, ponds and a teahouse features native Japanese and Chinese plants. Also
hidden throughout its five acres (20,000 m²) are beautiful sculptures and bridges. Makato
Hagiwara, a Japanese gardener who was official caretaker of the garden from 1895 to
1942, was also the inventor of the fortune cookie. A persistent (but likely apocryphal)
legend records that the Japanese ambassador, after being shown its features and asked his
opinion, gasped, "We have nothing to equal it in Japan."
The Music Concourse Area
The Music Concourse is an open area with three water fountains surrounded with maple
trees positioned uniformally. There is also a stage on the east side. The buildings near the
conourse area include The Academy of Sciences and the De Young Museum.
In 2003 Music Concourse is also undergoing a series improvements to include an
underground 800-car parking garage, narrowing of the roadways in the Music Concourse,
the addition of bike lanes, and the elimination of existing surface parking.
De Young Museum
Main article De Young Museum
The De Young Museum was opened January 1921. Its original building had been part of
The Midwinter Fair. The California Academy of Sciences, a complex of a library, a
research lab, a planetarium, an aquarium and a natural-history museum, is also located in
Golden Gate Park. The de Young has been completely rebuilt and re-opened in 2005
Academy of Sciences
Main article Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences is a Natural History Museum which also houses the
Steinhart Aquarium and the Morrison Planetarium. The Academy of Sciences carries
exibits of reptiles and amphibians, astrology, prehistoric life, various gems and minerals,
earthquakes, and aquatic life.
In September 12, 2005, Academy of Sciences started a complete reconstruction, with
completion scheduled for 2008; until will be temporarily located downtown in the SoMa
area.
Strybing Arboretum
Main article Strybing Arboretum
The Strybing Arboretum was laid out in the 1890s, but funding was insufficient until
Helene Strybing willed funds in 1926. Planting was begun in 1937 with WPA funds
supplemented by local donations. This 70 acre (280,000 m²) arboretum contains more
than 6,000 plant species.
A trail through the redwood forest section of the arboretum.
Aids Memorial Grove
Main article AIDS Memorial Grove
The AIDS Memorial Grove has been in progress since 1988 and is still the only national
AIDS memorial in the U.S.. The Grove's executive director, Thom Weyand, has said that
"part of the beauty of the grove is that as a memorial which receives no federal money, it
is blessedly removed from the fight over the controversy of AIDS."
Stow Lake
Stow Lake surrounds the prominent Strawberry Hill, now an island with an electrically
pumped waterfall. There are rowboats and pedalboats available for rental at the
boathouse. Much of the western portion of San Francisco may be seen from the top of
this hill, which at its top contains one of the reservoirs that supply a network of high
pressure water mains that exclusively supply specialized fire hydrants throughout the
city.
Spreckels Lake
Spreckels Lake is located on the northern side of the park near 36th Avenue. One can
usually find model yachts sailing on Spreckels Lake. Many of these are of the type used
before the advent of the modern radio controlled model. The yachts are set up by their
owners and most include an auxiliary wind vane to control the rudder through a linkage.
The yachts are then released, and pole handlers will walk down each side of the lake with
a padded pole to prevent the yachts from colliding with the lake edge. The lake has been
specifically designed for this type of operation as it has a vertical edging (allowing the
yachts to closely approach the shore) and a paved walkway around the entire edge. At
one location near a grassy area "duckling ramps" allow young wildlife to safely exit the
pond.
Conservatory of Flowers
Main article Conservatory of Flowers.
The Conservatory of Flowers is one of the world's largest conservatories built of
traditional wood and glass panes. It was pre-fabricated for local entrepreneur James Lick
for his Santa Clara, California estate, but was still in its crates when he died in 1876. A
group of San Franciscans bought it, offered it to the city, and it was erected in Golden
Gate Park and opened to the public in 1879. But in 1883 the boiler exploded and the main
dome caught fire. Charles Crocker restored it. It survived the earthquake of 1906 only to
suffer another fire in 1918. In 1933 it was declared unsound and closed to the public until
1946. In 1995 a severe storm with 100 mph (160 km/h) winds damaged it, shattering 40%
of the glass, and it had to be closed again. It was cautiously dissected for repairs and
finally reopened in September 2003.
Kezar Stadium
Main article Kezar Stadium
Kezar Stadium, the one-time home of the AAFC and NFL San Francisco 49ers, was built
between 1922 and 1925 in the southeast corner of the park. The old, 59,000 seat stadium
was demolished in 1989, and replaced with a modern, 10,000 seat stadium.
John F. Kennedy Drive
John F. Kennedy Memorial Drive was the new name for North Drive, winding from the
East end of the park to the Great Highway after the Kennedy Assassination. The portion
east of the 19th ave. park crossing is closed to motor traffic on Sundays and holidays,
providing a popular oasis for pedestrians, bicyclists, and skaters. In 1983 the other major
transverse road, South Drive, was renamed as Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Minor Features
There are also a number of more naturalistically landscaped lakes throughout the park,
several linked together into chains, with pumped water creating flowing creeks.
A paddock corrals a small herd of bison, captive in the Park since 1892.
See also
Lloyd Lake in Golden Gate Park
AIDS Memorial Grove
M. H. de Young Memorial Museum
Kezar Stadium
Conservatory of Flowers
California Academy of Sciences
Strybing Arboretum
External links
Park History with maps from San Francisco Recreation and Park Department
Park Map
Google map including satellite image ca. early 2004
Friends of the Music Concourse - local preservation and advocacy group
Conservatory history.
Another capsule biography of Hall
Park history from San Francisco Historical Society
Golden Gate Park Virtual Tour
Article regarding Golden Gate Park Playground
Photos of Golden Gate Park - Terra Galleria
Golden Gate Park Concourse Authority redevelopment program
Brief vita of John McLaren, the park superintendent
Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco,
California
The corner of Haight and Ashbury in 2005
The Haight-Ashbury is a district of San Francisco, California, USA named after the
intersection of Haight Street and Ashbury Street, commonly known as The Haight or, in
recent years, The Upper Haight. The names of the streets themselves are taken from
Henry Huntly Haight, Governor of California in the 1870's, and one of the city
supervisors of the time, a Mr. Ashbury. Both of them had a hand in the planning of the
neighborhood, and, more importantly, Golden Gate Park at its inception.
The district is famous for its role as a center of the 1960s hippie movement, a post-runner
and closely associated offshoot of the Beat generation who swarmed San Francisco's "in"
North Beach neighborhood 2-8 years before the "Summer of Love" in 1967.
History
Before the completion of the Haight Street Cable Railroad in 1883, what is now the
Haight-Ashbury was a collection of isolated farms and acres of sand dunes, most of
which was not graded or developed in any way. The new cable car line, completed in
1883, connected the west end of Golden Gate Park with Market Street and downtown San
Francisco. Shortly afterward, in the 1890s and early part of the 20th century, the HaightAshbury was developed as an upper middle-class residential district. It was one of the
fortunate districts spared in the disastrous fires that followed the catastrophic San
Francisco Earthquake of 1906.
The Haight was hit hard by the Depression, as was much of the rest of the city. Residents
with enough money to spare left the declining and “crowded” neighborhood for greener
pastures such as Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood. During the housing shortage of World
War II, the large single-family Victorians were divided into apartments to house war
workers; others were converted into boarding houses. By the 1950s, the Haight was a
neighborhood in decline. Deferred maintenance took its toll, and the exodus of middleclass residents to newer suburbs to the south and west continued.
The Haight-Ashbury's elaborately detailed 19th-century multi-story wooden houses
became a haven for hippies during the 1960s, due to the availability of cheap Victorian
properties for rent in the district and the bohemian subculture that subsequently
flourished there.
It gained a reputation as a center of illegal drug culture, especially with the use of
marijuana. The area was thus sometimes known as The Hashbury, but, ca. 1967, its
fame chiefly rested on the fact that it became the neighborhood of choice for a number of
important psychedelic rock performers and groups of the mid-1960s. Acts like the
Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, who all lived a short distance
from the famous intersection, not only immortalized the scene in song, but knew many
within the community as friends and family. Its mystique was further enhanced by the
1967 Scott MacKenzie hit "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your
Hair)," written by The Mamas & the Papas member John Phillips. Some said the song
was a blatantly commercial pop song that climbed the charts much to locals' chagrin.
Finally the fallout from hard drugs and irreverence to social norms took its toll. By the
mid 70's, thirty percent of the 20 some square blocks of housing in the neighborhood
were condemned, and nearly a third of the storefront property stayed vacant into the early
eighties.
Present-day Haight-Ashbury
Haight street near the district, feb '06
Today the district has lost little of its status as a center of alternative lifestyles, though
much has changed. The area still maintains a lot of its bohemian atmosphere, it has
become a major tourist attraction and has experienced the effects of gentrification to
some degree. Perhaps the best illustration of the district's slide into the mainstream is the
presence of a Gap store, a major international retailer that (ironically) started in San
Francisco in the late 60's, now fell to mixed reviews by the city's trendy inhabitants.
Though the Gap and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream are now located at the famous HaightAshbury intersection, the neighborhood remains a thriving center of independent local
business. It is home to a number of independent restaurants and bars, as well as clothing,
smoke, and record shops, including Amoeba Music: San Francisco's largest new and used
record store, as well as shops catering to anything retro, nuevo, or strange. The
cohabitation between throw-backs to the fifties lounge scene, organic and spiritual new
age, the punk of the 70's and beyond is one of the neighborhood's most interesting and
endearing aspects. The Haight-Ashbury Street Fair is held on the second Sunday each
June. The twenty-ninth annual street fair will occur on June 11, 2006.
Current issues
Because of its past and present reputation and its location between Buena Vista Park and
Golden Gate Park, the district draws the homeless and teen runaways. To a great degree,
the main commercial area's blend of diverse street life engulfs all types in the
carnivalesque and liberal surroundings, just as it had in the sixties. Recent police and
community efforts help maintain park curfews and "no camping policies" as well. The
area suffers little in the way of crime, compared to rougher San Francisco neighborhoods.
Both commercial and residential property in the district are in high demand today, a
testament to the area's long history and many charms.
References in Popular Culture
In the game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, there is an area in fictional San Fierro,
based on the real city of San Francisco called "Hashbury", combining the name Haight
and Ashbury, also from the nickname.
See also
Summer of Love
The Diggers
Buena Vista Park
The Red Victorian
Amoeba Music
External links
Timeline of the Haight-Ashbury
Photo tour of the Haight-Ashbury
Documentary Haight-Ashbury in the Sixties commentary, video clips and images
Haight-Ashbury Street Fair
Other Sites related to the Haight-Ashbury
Haight-Fillmore, San Francisco,
California
Haight-Fillmore, or the Lower Haight, is a neighbourhood in San Francisco, California.
Geography
Haight-Fillmore is also known as Lower Haight (as opposed to Haight-Ashbury / Upper
Haight). In general terms, it lies between Oak Street and Duboce Avenue, and between
Divisadero Street and Market Street.
The area slopes down from Oak Street toward Duboce. Duboce Park, toward the corner
of Duboce and Scott, is a small park with a playground, used mainly for dog-walking. It
is not uncommon to witness drug use at night.
Description
A mixture of restaurants, independent nightclubs, drinking establishments, residences,
and hair salons characterize the Haight-Fillmore atmosphere. Highlights include
Toronado's ridiculously abundant supply of local, domestic, and foreign beers on tap,
Indian Oven's delicious curry cuisine, and native lower haight clothing store Upper
Playground.
There are also several stores that cater to the DJ and electronic music buff. For example,
Tweekin Records has carried some of the best house vinyl in the city since 1992.
Differences between Lower and Upper Haight include the housing projects in the Lower
Haight, and the greater number and variety of shops. The houses tend to be less ornately
painted than in the Upper Haight, and rent can be cheaper.
The neighborhood is also home to a large Buddhist enclave associated with San
Francisco Zen Center.
Transportation
The area is very well served by several San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI) bus
lines and it is a few blocks away from all of the MUNI Metro lines. The heart of the
neighborhood, at the corner of Fillmore and Haight, is mere blocks away from the transit
nexus of Church and Market, which is also the location of the city's largest supermarket.
Surveys show that this neighborhood has one of the highest number of daily trips by bike
per capita of any San Francisco neighborhood, and walking is also very popular.
Buses
The neighborhood is served by the east-west Haight Street lines of 6, 7, 66 and 71, which
connect downtown with various neighborhoods around and west of the Upper Haight.
The 22 line runs north-south along Fillmore Street, connecting the Marina District with
the bay side of Potrero Hill. The 24 line also runs north-south, along Divisadero,
connecting Pacific Heights with the Mission and Hunter's Point neighborhoods. The 16
follows Oak (inbound) and Fell (outbound) Streets, but is a commuter express with only
one stop inbound (A.M., at Oak and Franklin) and outbound (P.M., at Fell and Gough).
Metro
All five Muni Metro lines pass through the adjacent Duboce Triangle neighborhood. The
N and J lines stop at Duboce and Church. The K, L and M stop at Church Street Station,
at Church and Market.
Parking
There are no commercial parking lots in this neighborhood, and the on-street parking is
extremely congested. As with most central and downtown San Francisco neighborhoods,
it is advisable to find other methods of transportation, such as bicycles, public
transportation, or taxis.
Bars and Restaurants
Naan and Chuntney
Noc Noc
Toronado
Mad Dog in the Fog
Molotov's
Mythic Pizza
Love and Haight
Squat and Gobble
RNM
Indian Oven
Raja Cuisine
Thep Phenom
Axum
Kate's Kitchen
Hanabi
The Grind
Cafe International
Memphis Minnie's
Rosamunde Sausage Grill
Burger Joint
Cafe du Soleil
Metro Cafe
Hayes Valley, San Francisco, California
Looking south along Octavia Boulevard from Fell Street, where the Central Freeway
once was.
Hayes Valley is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California.Often called Bobo or
“bohemian-bourgeois”, the rapidly evolving Hayes Valley neighborhood serves as an
eatery for those going to the Opera, Ballet and Symphony. The neighborhood's numerous,
excellent restaurants are always crowded. Hip Boutiques offer upscale shoes, clothes
from young designers, and the latest in upscale decoration. In this historic neighborhood
sandwiched between the historical districts of Alamo Square and Civic Center, historical
Victorians, Queen Ann's and Edwardians abound. The boundaries are not very well
defined, but it is generally considered to be the area around Hayes Street west from
Fillmore Street (near Alamo Square) and to Franklin to the East. Northward and
southward, it extends a few blocks away from Hayes Street in either direction. At one
time the Central Freeway ran though the neighborhood, but it was closed and later
demolished after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The path of the highway can be seen
running through the neighborhood in the form of empty lots and surface parking lots,
slated for development of new senior and affordable housing. As of 2005, a section of the
freeway has been rebuilt to exit at Market Street, with a boulevard running north from the
exit at Market Street through the Hayes Valley along Octavia Street to Fell Street.
Between Fell Street and Hayes Street, Hayes Green replaces the middle lanes of this new
Octavia Boulevard. Hayes Green provides seating, green space, and a play structure for
the neighborhood. It was recently the showcase for a temple structure for the renowned
artist David Best.
Rapidly gentrifying Hayes Valley has an eclectic, very urban, mix of boutiques, high end
restaurants, hip stores, condominiums and Victorians coupled with public housing and
some mixed, and one-time rough, neighborhoods.
Hunters Point, San Francisco, California
Hunters Point or Bayview-Hunters Point is a neighborhood in the southeastern portion
of San Francisco, California, zip code 94124.
The neighborhood
This thematic map shows the population levels of African Americans in San Francisco.
Hunters Point is in the extreme southeastern part of the city with the highest
concentration of African Americans in the city.
Hunter's Point is a neighborhood strung along the main artery of Third Street from India
Basin to Candlestick Point. The neighborhood's population has changed over the years -a traditionally Black community established around blue-collar jobs and reasonable
housing prices has recently seen a declining African American population, due to
gentrification. The African American population has attempted to stay in place but some
have moved to other Bay Area cities, notably Antioch, Oakland and Richmond while
Latinos, Asians, and whites represent a growing part of the neighborhood.
Murals featuring African American pride are common in Hunters Point.
Prostitution and illicit drug sales occur on the streets and gun violence is common. Of the
130 homicides committed in San Francisco in 2003 and the first seven months of 2004,
25 -- or 19 percent -- occurred in Bayview-Hunters Point. [1]
Babies in Hunters Point are 2.5 times more likely to die in their first year than those in
other areas of San Francisco. [2]
One of the city's current projects with this neighborhood is the Third Street Light Rail
Project, expanding mass transit system into less serviced neighborhoods.
Hunters Point also has a unique microclimate - the warmest in all of foggy San Francisco,
often never experienced by most of the city's residents.
Many community groups, such as the India Basin Neighborhood Association work with
community members, other organizations and city wide agencies to strengthen and
improve this diverse part of San Francisco.
History of the Shipyard
Main article: San Francisco Naval Shipyard
Hunter's Point as a community grew up around the two graving docks purchased and
upbuilt in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by the Union Iron Works,
owned by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company, located at Potrero Point. The original
docks were built on solid rock. In 1916, the drydocks were thought to be the largest
drydocks in the world, for the time. At a length of over 1000 feet, they were said to large
enough to accommodate the largest warships and passenger steamers afloat. Soundings
showed an off shore depth of sixty-five feet. The Navy used the docks as a mid-site
between San Diego and Bremerton, Washington. Much of the shoreline was extended by
landfill extensions into the San Francisco Bay during the early 20th century. The Navy
recognized the importance of shipbuilding and repair in the San Francisco bay and began
negotiating for use and apropriation of the Hunter's Point Drydocks during World War
One. A Congressional hearing on Pacific Coast Naval Bases was held in San Francisco in
1920 at San Francisco City Hall wherein city representatives, Mayor Rolph and City
Engineer O'Shaughnessy and others testified on behalf of permanently siting the Navy in
the Hunter's Point.
The land was again appropriated by the United States Navy at the onset of World War II
and became one of the major shipyards of the west coast. Many workers, including
African Americans, moved into the area to work at this shipyard and other wartime
related industries in the area. After the war, the area remained a naval base and
commercial shipyard, as many blue collar industries moved here. The Navy closed the
shipyard and Naval base in 1994 and gave it back to the city. Right now, there is a
renaissance of the Hunters Point Shipyard.
As in most industrial zones of the era, Hunter's Point has had a succession of coal and oil
fired power generation facilities, and these have left a legacy of pollution, both from
smokestack effluvients and leftover byproducts that were dumped in the vicinity.
External links
Bay View Newspaper
Historic Hunter's Point in pictures
India Basin Neighborhood Association
Map of Hunters Point gangs circa 2004
Map of India Basin
Hunters Point infant mortality rate is comparable to Bulgaria
Hunters Point Shipyard redevelopment
1966 Hunter Point riot
Review of a documentary film about Hunters Point
Property values in 94124
Japantown, San Francisco, California
The commercial district along Geary Boulevard is bookended by the Japan Center pagoda
and the AMC Kabuki 8 movie theater complex.
Japantown (also known as "Nihonmachi", "Little Osaka," and "J Town") comprises
about six square city blocks in the Western Addition in San Francisco. 12,000 of
Japanese ancestry live within the area. The area is home to a large number of Japanese,
and some Korean and Chinese, restaurants, supermarkets, indoor shopping malls, hotels,
banks, and other shops, including one of the few US branches of the large Kinokuniya
bookstores. The main thoroughfare is Post Street. Its focal point is Japan Center, opened
in 1968, the site of three Japanese oriented shopping centers and the Peace Pagoda. The
Peace Pagoda is a five-tiered concrete stupa designed by Japanese architect Yoshiro
Taniguchi and presented to San Francisco by the people of Osaka, Japan.
History
San Francisco has the largest Japantown in California, although it is only a shadow of
what it once was before World War II. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the
U.S. government took Japanese Americans into custody and interned them in
concentration camps, as many large sections of the neighborhood remained vacant. The
void was quickly filled by thousands of African Americans who had left the South to find
wartime industrial jobs in California. Following the war, some Japanese Americans
returned, and the city made efforts to rejuvenate the neighborhood. During the massive
redevelopment initiated by Justin Herman in the Western Addition in the 1960s through
the 1980s, large numbers of African Americans were pushed west towards the Fillmore
District, east towards the Tenderloin, or south towards Hunters Point where the majority
of the city's African American population resides today, while many Japanese returned,
followed by new Japanese immigrants as well as investment from the Japanese
Government and Japanese companies.
See also
Japantown for other Japanese neighborhoods
Japanese American internment
Neighborhoods of San Francisco
External links
http://www.sfjapantown.org/
San Francisco/Japantown travel guide from Wikitravel
Google Maps Bird's eye view of the Peace Pagoda.
Japantown Task Force, Inc.
An interior plaza in the Japan Center mall.
Looking across Post Street north on Buchanan Street.
The five-tiered Peace Pagoda made of concrete
Little Saigon, San Francisco, California
San Francisco has now officially designated a Little Saigon on Larkin Street in the
Tenderloin district. Long being a major Vietnamese community (unlike San Jose with its
larger ethnic Vietnamese population, the ethnic Chinese from Vietnam are especially
represented in San Francisco as a result of self-imposed segregation from ethnic
Vietnamese), and attracting Vietnamese from San Jose, a number of community activists
have supported making this Tenderloin neighborhood into a Little Saigon. Soon, there
will be an official entrance constructed, much in the same way as the Japantown and
Chinatown in San Francisco. Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle here.
Marina District, San Francisco,
California
The Marina District is an affluent, picturesque neighborhood of San Francisco,
California. The area is bounded to the east by Van Ness Ave, on the west by Lyon Street
and the Presidio, on the south by Lombard St. The neighborhood sits on the site of the
1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, staged after the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake to celebrate the reemergence of the world-class city. The grounds for this
world's fair were created from a former lagoon on landfill. Aside from the Palace of Fine
Arts (POFA), all other buildings were demolished to make a residential neighborhood.
Many current residents are what the natives refer to as transplants.
Chestnut Street, looking eastward from Scott
Cow Hollow, Russian Hill, Pacific Heights, and the Presidio bound the Marina District to
the south, east and west.
ZIP Code: 94123
Population (2000[1]): 22,903
Housing units: 14,851
Land area: 1.0 mile² (2.6 km²)
Water area: zero
White population: 19814
Black population: 117
American Indian population: 34
Asian population: 2189
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population: 21
Some other race population: 240
Two or more races population: 488
Urban population: 22903
Rural population: 0
Median age: 35.3
Average household size: 1.61
Median household income (1999): $84,710
History
On the bay north of Cow Hollow, a sea wall was erected parallel to the shoreline, and the
marshland in between was filled with sand pumped up from the bottom of the ocean.
Dredging left enough deep water for the creation of the St Francis and Golden Gate
Yacht Clubs, which occupy prestigious spots at the foot of Baker Street. Slightly to the
east is Marina Green, a large stretch of turf frequented for the most part by runners. A
less strenuous exercise is the Golden Gate Promenade that runs parallel to Marina
Boulevard, continuing a couple of miles further before reaching the eponymous bridge. A
massive landscaping effort recreated natural marshlands and tidepools at Crissy Field, the
long swath of land and tidal marsh that reaches from Marina Green to the bridge.
The creation of the Marina District is shrouded in myth and folklore. Many people claim
that the area was created out of the rubble dumped into the Bay in the period after the
great quake of 1906. Photographs of the Marina District as recently as 1912 show most of
the area still as being in the bay, posing the question of why it would take six years for
the rubble to be dumped to form the Marina. In 1885, Filbert Street was still the old
Presidio Road. North onto Buchanan Street toward the bay, two blocks away, Lombard
Street was sand dunes, about 35 feet higher than present. The shoreline was already being
pushed northward by industrial power companies. The area now covered by Moscone
Recreation Center and Marina Middle School was Lobos Square, a flat spot where the
dunes had been leveled out to reach a hodgepodge of wharves and industrial plants
extending from Laguna Street to Steiner Street.
Most of it came down in 1906, including the San Francisco Gas Light Company
generating house. But the brick meter house stood its sand, and the date of completion is
still visible: “1893,” in the archway at Buchanan and North Point streets, behind the
Marina Safeway (aka "Dateway").
West from there on North Point is a slope in the sidewalk where shore met sea. It was
here on North Point, west of Webster Street, that speculator James Fair built a seawall in
the 1890s, in a grand plan to create 70 acres (283,000 m²) of shallow waters and build an
industrial park. The walls were completed at the moment they ran out of sand to fill it
with, so there it sat, like a full bathtub.
Until 1912, standing at the intersection North Point and Fillmore Streets, in the heart of
today’s Marina, would mean standing in the bay. The creators of the Panama-Pacific
International Exposition leased James Fair’s pond and finished the project. Two dredges
and 146 days later, the bathtub was filled with 1.3 million cubic yards (100,000 m³) of
sand and mud.
After the exposition closed in 1915, the Fair heirs got the land back and sold it to the
Marina Development Corporation. City Engineer M. M. O'Shaughnessy created a
hodgepodge of streets that connected to the original city grid. The layout is out of
character with the older portions of the city, creating the maze-like feel of much of the
Marina District. The Marina Development Corporation carved this area into 634
residential lots, plus the Marina Green. When it was built out in the 1920s, the area
previously known as Harbor View or North End became known as The Marina.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused substantial damage, but the neighborhood was
quickly rebuilt. Much of the damage was due to liquefaction of the fill upon which the
neighborhood is built.
Geography
U.S. Route 101/Lombard Street is a boulevard that bisects the southern edge of the
Marina District. The street is dotted with motels built in celebration of the opening of the
Golden Gate Bridge and a collection of retail, fast food, and residential units. On a typical
afternoon the street is a strange mix of tourists searching for Ghirardelli Square and the
Golden Gate Bridge, older gentlemen visiting motels with their arrangements, and
children walking towards Marina Middle School.
The neighborhood’s commercial center runs along Chestnut Street near Fillmore. The
street has a reputation as a haven for swinging singles, and the local watering holes are
known as “high intensity breeder bars.” Even the local Safeway has been dubbed “The
Body Shop” or "The Single Way" because of the inordinate amount of cruising that goes
on in its aisles. The Street now features such landmarks as The Grove, a trendy cafe that
the online website Friendster was based upon.
Moscone Recreation Center sports the largest children's park in the city and also has
tennis courts, basketball courts, and a volleyball area. It has served as a meeting location
for generations of San Francisco natives, and can be seen in several historic films. The
slice of land that was the site of the Tower Of Jewels during the 1915 World's Fair was
initially named Funston Park. The park was renamed after the assassination of mayor
George Moscone as a political payback to the conservative neighborhood activists in the
Marina District that opposed Moscone's progressive policies.
The Marina Green is a picturesque park adjacent to the boat marina itself, and the San
Francisco bay. The wind at the Marina Green frequently exceeds 50 MPH, which lends
itself to windsurfing at the nearby East Beach.
Schools in the Marina include the Tule Elk Child Development Center and Marina
Middle School.
Earthquakes
Much of the Marina is on landfill (http://gis.abag.ca.gov/website/liq/viewer.htm - click
Map of Location, then Search by Zip Code 94123), and is susceptible to liquefaction
during strong earthquakes.
There are areas in The Marina which are not on landfill. This area is referred to as The
Gold Box, bordered by Fort Mason, Octavia St, Lombard St, and Van Ness Avenue. The
area is called The Gold Box because of its prime location on sandstone/bedrock geology.
Those who live in this area are equidistant from the shops and restaurants of Chestnut St.
(Marina), Union St. (Cow Hollow), and Polk St. (Russian Hill). Furthermore, this
location is close to Fort Mason, Moscone Recreation Center, and The Marina Safeway.
Important structures
Marina Safeway. San Francisco's Marina Boulevard Safeway location (the first such
modern concept store in June 1959), continues to operate with only minor exterior
modifications 40 years after construction. The “Marina” Prototype: A classic piece of
architecture named for the first Safeway store so designed, on Marina Boulevard in San
Francisco. Hundreds of these remain around the country, including the original. Most
have been remodeled and expanded. The Marina Safeway is particularly notable for its
singles scene - it is frequently listed as one of the city's best pick-up spots and is
affectionately known as the "Dateway."
The Exploratorium is a popular tourist destination in the Marina District. The
Exploratorium is located at the Palace of Fine Arts and provides an opportunity for
patrons to explore the physical sciences in a hands-on fashion.
Sociology
Today the neighborhood remains as popular as ever with the post-college crowd, young
East Coast professionals, natives of Southern California, and relocated Midwesterners.
Most arrived after the 1989 earthquake, when many of the older population left and the
area transformed into a hip district for young, successful professionals.
Films Primarily or Partially Set In The Marina
10.5 (2004)
Red Diaper Baby (2004)
Twisted (2004)
What the Bleep Do We Know (2004)
Julie and Jack (2003)
MDs (2002-2003)
The Sweetest Thing (2002)
Doctor Dolittle 2 (2001)
First Years / This Life (TV pilot 2001)
Boys and Girls (2000)
Down to You (2000)
Groove (2000)
Playing Mona Lisa (2000)
Woman on Top (2000)
The Bachelor (1999)
Bicentennial Man (1999)
EDtv (1999)
The Other Sister (1999)
Stigmata (1999)
Doctor Dolittle (1998)
More Tales of the City (1998)
A Friend's Betrayal (1996, TV)
Nash Bridges (1996-2001)
Copycat (1995)
Murder in the First (1995)
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Wolf (1989, TV)
Turnover Smith (1980)
Foul Play (1978)
The Enforcer (1976)
The Conversation (1974)
Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at S.F. (1915)
Famous residents past and present
Joe Dimaggio
Alex Michel
Artbox
Anna Nicole Smith
Tatum Reed
Josh Benveniste (past)
Morgan Webb
James Sung
Gavin Newsom (past)
David Kaplan(past)
Philip J. Kaplan (past)
Links
The Chronicle's standing article about the Marina
Strangers in the night - Bars, cheap sex, and boozy anthropology. San Francisco Bay
Guardian.
Forgive Me, for I Live in the Marina. SF Weekly.
Joy of Shopping - Mission vs. Marina Drinking Contest. SF Weekly.
Mission Bay, San Francisco, California
Mission Bay is a 303 acre neighborhood on the central bayshore of San Francisco,
bounded by Townsend Street on the north, San Francisco Bay on the east, Mariposa
Street on the south, and 7th Street and Interstate 280 on the west. It was created in 1998
by the Board of Supervisors as a redevelopment project. Much of the land was long a
railyard of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and transferred to Catellus
Development Corporation when it was spun off as part of the aborted merger of Southern
Pacific and the Santa Fe Railway in to the Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad. Catellus
subsequently sold or sub-contracted several parcels to other developers. It has rapidly
evolved in to a wealthy neighborhood of luxury condominiums, high-end restaurants and
retail, and biotechnology research and development.
Notable features include:
The headquarters of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
A new research campus of the University of California, San Francisco, UCSF Mission
Bay
The northern terminus of the Third Street Light Rail Project of the San Francisco
Municipal Railway
The northern terminus of Caltrain
An AT&T Fiber to the premises greenfield project
The first new branch of the San Francisco Public Library in over 40 years, The Mission
Bay Branch Library, will be located on the ground floor of a new multi-use facility,
which includes an adult day health center, affordable senior housing, retail space and a
large community meeting room. The new library is approximately 7,500 square feet, and
is the 27th branch of the San Francisco Public Library.
Mission Bay is served by the N Judah line of San Francisco's Muni Metro.
Although near to and often associated with AT&T Park, the ballpark is in the adjacent
South Beach neighborhood. UCSF has announced plans to build a new Women and
Children's Hospital and Cancer Center on a portion of their property in the neighborhood.
External links
The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, Mission Bay
The University of California, San Francisco's clinical and research planning for their
property in Mission Bay
Mission District, San Francisco,
California
Mission Theatre on Mission Street
The Inner Mission often called "The Mission", "The Heart of the Mission" or (also:
La Misión or El Corazón de la Misión in Spanish) is the name of a neighborhood in the
Mission District, San Francisco, California in the United States. It is built roughly on
what used to be Spanish-Mexican ranchos owned by the Valencianos,Guerreros, Dolores,
Bernals, Noes and DeHaros and built near the sixth Alta California mission - Mission San
Francisco de Asis. Today the neighborhood is both ethnically and economically diverse,
with significant contingents of Chicanos/Latin-Americans, African Americans, AsianAmericans Cantonese-speaking Chinese, European-Americans and multi-racial or (also:
"Mestizos" in Spanish).
The actual Mission District used to comprise of the following neighborhoods: Bernal
heights, Castro Village, Cayuga, College Hill, Crescent, Crocker Amazon, Diamond
Heights, Dolores Heights, Eureka Valley, The Excelsior, Fairmont, Glen Park, Holly
Park, Inner Mission, and Mission Tarrace. Today the Mission District is part of San
Francisco's Districts 5, 9 and 10.
This article is mainly about the Inner Mission.
Geography
As its name suggests, the principal thoroughfare of the Inner Mission of the Mission
District of San Francisco is Mission Street. Its borders are U.S. Route 101 to the east
which forms the boundary between the Inner Mission and its eastern neighbor, Potrero
Hill, while Valencia Street separates the neigborhoods from Mission Dolores, Eureka
Valley "The Castro" and Noe Valley to the west. Cesar Chavez Street (formerly Army
Street) is the south border which lies next to Bernal Heights and roughly by Duboce
Street is the north boundary neighboring South of Market.
Also along Mission Street, further south-central is the Excelsior and Crocker-Amazon
neigbohoods often referred to as the "Outer Mission".
As of 2006, the Inner Mission is part of San Francisco's District 9.
Climate
The microclimates of San Francisco create a system by which each neighborhood has
radically different weather at any given time. The Mission's geographical location
insulates it from the fog and wind from the west. As a result, the Mission has a tendency
to be warmer and sunnier than the rest of the city, earning it the nickname "Banana Belt".
This climatic phenomenon becomes apparent to visitors who walk down 24th Street from
Noe Valley towards Mission Street.
History
The large Latino population in the Mission District can be seen highlighted in this
thematic map of San Francisco
The Ohlone Indians inhabited the region of what is now the Mission District for over
2,000 years. Spanish missionaries arrived in the area during the late 18th century. They
found the Ohlone living peacefully in a village at the edge of a lagoon, hunting and
gathering. In this location, the Spanish founded a Mission, Mission San Francisco de
Asis, in June, 1776. This period marked the beginning of the end of the Ohlone culture.
Archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians observe that the Franciscan friars used
Ohlone slave labor to complete the Mission building in 1790.
During European settlement of the City in the 19th and 20th century, large numbers of
Irish and German immigrant workers moved into the area. Development and settlement
intensified after the 1906 Earthquake, as many of city's displaced businesses and
residents moved into the area, making Mission Street a major commercial thoroughfare.
In 1926, the Polish Community of San Francisco converted a church on 22nd Street and
Shotwell Street and opened its doors as the Polish Club of San Francisco. Today its
commonly referred to as "Dom Polski", or Polish Home. During the 1940-1960s, large
numbers of Mexicans moved into the area as whites moved out, giving the Mission the
Latin character it is known for today. During the 1980s to 1990s, the Mexican population
was joined by large numbers of immigrants and refugees from Central and South
America fleeing civil war in their home countries.
Despite rising rents and housing prices, gentrification, a stubbornly high crime rate, and
gang warfare, many Mexican and Central American immigrants continue to move into
the Mission district.
Culture of the Inner Mission
The Inner Mission ("The Mission" or "La Misión") has been for several decades the
central nexus of the Chicano and Latin-American community of San Francisco Bay Area,
and though it faces stiff competition from the Outer Mission, the Fruitvale community
across the bay in Oakland as well as down south in San Jose, and by a constant influx of
new populations moving into the area, The Mission is a vibrant community of a rich
multicultural history.
Between late 1960's and 1970's the musician Carlos Santana, who grew up here, became
famous with his band The Santana Blues Band - one of the most influencial American
band in Latin America and Europe.
In 1970 the local bilingual newspaper El Tecolote was founded.
In the same year 1970, the Galería de la Raza was founded by local artists active in el
Movimiento (the Chicano civil rights moment). Today the Galery a non-profit,
community-based Latino arts organization located in the heart of San Francisco’s
Mission District is nationally recognized and is one of the Bay Area’s oldest, most wellrespected arts organizations.
By 1971, artists, musicians and performers attracted by low rents for former industrial
spaces; created one of the most well-known spaces named Project Artaud, which is home
to several theaters (Theater Artuad, Theater of Yugen, A Traveling Jewish Theater) and
dance studios as well as Southern Exposure Gallery and many genuine live-work artists'
lofts.
By 1977 the Mission Cultural Center for the Latino Arts was established by chicano
artists and activists. The center became the pilot project of a series of community art
centers that were established around the city. Today, the center is a rich art space serving
young, teens, adults and elders.
During those years also The Mission was the pioneer in the Low-rider culture as well as a
hotbed of violent gang warfare, primarily between the Norteños (commonly referred to as
the Nortes and sometimes the Bloods, due to their sharing the same gang color [red] and
alliance with that group) and the Sureños gangs that still continues off and on today.
From the 1980's and on many Central American banks and companies have set up
branches, offices, and even their regional headquarters on Mission Street.
Today the San Francisco Labor Temple (aka the Redstone Building) is the home of the
Theater Rhinocerous and a number of community and activist groups.
The Roxie Theater, the oldest continuously operating movie theater in San Francisco, is
host to repertory and independent films as well as local film festivals.
Last, every late May, the city's annual Carnival festival and parade is held here. Meant to
mimic the festival in Rio de Janeiro, it is held in late May instead of the traditional late
February to correspond with local weather.
Due to these cultural attractions, relatively less expensive housing and commercial space,
and the high density of restaurants and drinking establishments, the Mission has become
a magnet for young people, including a clearly identifiable hipster crowd on Valencia
Street and a lively independent arts community with many studios, galleries and open
spaces including organizations such as Cellspace, ArtsExplosion and Independent Arts
and Media. Consequently the neighborhood was dubbed "the New Bohemia" by the San
Francisco Chronicle in 1995 (see link below).
The headquarters of the Electronic Frontier Foundation is in the Mission District.
Nightlife
There are bars, pubs, and clubs all over the Inner Mission sometimes bordering
neighborhoods. They tend to appear in clusters.
16th St. between Valencia and Guerrero: (Inner Mission and Mission Dolores
Neigborhoods)
Dalva
Delirium
Cama
Valencia St. between 16th and 17th:
Casanova Lounge
Blondie's
Mission St. between 21st and 22nd Streets:
Doc's Clock
Lazlo (attached to the restaurant Foreign Cinema)
Sky Lounge (?) above Medjool
22nd St. between Mission and Valencia:
Makeout Room
Latin American Club
Transportation
The neighborhood is serviced by the BART rail system to the 16th Street or the 24th
Street stations, and by Muni bus numbers 26, 12, 14, 49, 48, 33, 22 and 27. To the west,
the J Church Muni Metro line runs down Church Street, and is a popular way of getting
to the Mission (16th Street) from the western districts.
Highlights of The Inner Mission
Murals innitiated by the Chicano Art Mural Movement of the 70's and insprired by the
traditional Mexican paintings made famous by Diego Rivera... 24th Street, Balmy Alley,
and Clarion Alley
Dolores Park, around the north-west corner
Nightlife centers on the 16th and Valencia Ave intersection
The Roxie and the Victoria on 16th Street are the only remaining neighborhood movie
theatres in the Mission. The Roxie has struggled for years financially and was purchased
by a local college in 2005. The college will run its film studies program out of the Roxie
during the day and show independent films in the evening.
Excellent Mexican food, especially burritos; the Mission district is the original home of
the San Francisco burrito style.
Also excellent restaurants serving food in the styles of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Thailand,
India, Pakistan, Japan, Italy and China.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Mission
WikiTravel — overview of the district
Western Half of The Mission — Guided photographic tour
Eastern Half of The Mission — Guided photographic tour
Mission Street Itself — Guided photo tour
The Mission — Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco
Women's Building Mural
oddwall.com Murals and street art of the mission and throughout San Francisco
Project Artaud
Polish Club Inc. — Polish Community center in the Mission District since 1926
San Francisco Chronicle, 26 November 1995: 'Neo-Hipsters Keep the Beat in the
Mission'
Hipster Bingo Card
Sureño and Norteño gangs in the Mission
Mount Davidson, San Francisco,
California
The cross atop Mt. Davidson
Mount Davidson is the highest natural point in San Francisco, California, with an
estimated elevation between 927 and 938 feet. It is located near the center of the city,
south of Twin Peaks and Portola Boulevard and to the west of Diamond Heights and
Glen Park. It dominates the southeastern view from most of major artery Portola Blvd.
Mt. Davidson's most notable feature, aside from its height, is the 103 foot concrete cross
situated at the peak of the hill. It is the site of a yearly prayer service, performed on
Easter, when the cross is illuminated with colored lights.
Mout Davidson Park tops the hill, located between Myra Way to the east, Dalewood Way
to the southwest and Juanita Way to the north. Public transportation to the park is
provided by the 36 Teresita Muni line, which stops at the Dalewood Way & Myra Way
entrance to the park.
The neighborhoods around Mount Davidson Park may also be called Mount Davidson,
although they are also known as Miraloma Park, to the east, and Sherwood Forest, to the
southwest. City College of San Francisco is located just south of the peak.
History
Adolph Sutro purchased the land in 1881. Under his ownership, what was then called
"Blue Mountain" was renamed "Mount Davidson," for George Davidson, a charter
member of the Sierra Club. Sutro then sold this land, along with much of the land
immediately north and south of Mt Davidson, to his appraiser, A. S. Baldwin.
The first cross was erected in 1923 for a service led by Dean J. Wilmer Gresham of Grace
Cathedral. Several more were built and destroyed until 1933 (the land was purchased by
the City in 1929), when Mayor Angelo Rossi, former Mayor "Sonny Jim" James Rolph,
the Easter Sunrise Service Committee, and the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden
West pledged to construct a permanent cross to commemorate the early California
pioneers. The cross was completed the next year with President Franklin D. Roosevelt
lighting the cross via telegraph on March 25, 1934- one week before Easter.
The cross itself has been the subject of much discussion among the residents of San
Francisco. Specifically, trying to balance the cross' obvious religious stature and its
position as a secular, historic landmark. As a result, the City auctioned 0.38 acres of land,
including the cross, to the highest bidder in 1997. The cross was sold to the Council of
Armenian-American Organizations of Northern California, and has since served as a
memorial of the 1915 Armenian genocide.
See also
Armenian Genocide
Satellite image from Google
History of Mount Davidson
Nob Hill, San Francisco, California
Nob Hill refers to a small district in San Francisco, California adjacent to the intersection
of California and Powell streets (and the respective cable car lines).
Location
The actual peak of Nob Hill lies slightly to the northwest in the area of Jones and
Sacramento, Clay, and Washington Streets. From this area of the hill, all directions are
downhill. South of Nob Hill is the shopping district of Union Square, the seedier area
called the Tenderloin, and then Market Street. To the east is San Francisco's Chinatown
and a little farther, the city's financial district. Northeast of Nob Hill is North Beach and
Telegraph Hill. North of Nob Hill is the Cable Car Museum and eventually, the touristcentered areas of the waterfront such as Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf.
History and significance
Nob Hill is perhaps one of the most affluent districts in San Francisco (the other being
Pacific Heights) and is home to many of the city's old money families.
The area was settled in the rapid urbanization happening in the city in the late 19th
century. Because of the views and its central position, it became the exclusive enclave of
the rich and famous on the west coast who built large mansions in the neighborhood. This
included prominent tycoons such as Leland Stanford and other members of the Big Four.
The neighborhood was completely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire; the Flood
mansion and the Fairmont Hotel were the only buildings that survived. While the
neighborhood was able to maintain its affluence following the quake, many of the rich
rebuilt their mansions further west in Pacific Heights and Cow Hollow. Many of the
today's exclusive hotels were built over the ruins of the former mansions.
The intersection of California and Powell streets is also the home to the fanciest hotels in
San Francisco: the Fairmont Hotel, the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel, the
Stanford Court, and the Huntington Hotel. Views from the top of the hill (and especially
from the tower of the Fairmont Hotel) extend in all directions around the San Francisco
Bay Area. At the center of the neighborhood is the former mansion of tycoon James
Flood, now the headquarters of the exclusive old guard, old money Pacific Union Club.
To be a member of the Pacific-Union Club is to say that one made it through a rigorous
vetting to filter out the "not us." Also, at the top of Nob Hill enclave stands Grace
Cathedral. As such, Nob Hill is often a San Francisco set-piece scene used in many
movies, especially if a high-speed chase is called for.
Movies featuring Nob Hill
The Rock — "I'm only borrowing your Hum-Vee!" (from the Fairmont's parking valet)
Bullitt
Vertigo
Magnum Force
The Wedding Planner
Dirty Harry
See also
Russian Hill
External links
The Chronicle's standing article about Nob Hill
The Cable Car Museum site
Music City SF Center for the Performing Arts
"Nob Hill" historical novel/thriller
Noe Valley, San Francisco, California
Noe Valley is a neighborhood in the central part of San Francisco, California. Its borders
are generally considered to be roughly 21st Street to the North, 30th Street to the South,
Dolores Street to the East, and Grandview Street and the Diamond Heights neigborhood
to the West, although these borders are somewhat flexible, particularly among real estate
agents. The Castro neighborhood is directly to Noe Valley's North and The Mission is to
its East.
Like many other San Francisco neighborhoods, Noe Valley started out as a working-class
neighborhood for employees in San Francisco's once-thriving blue-collar economy, and
their families. Also like other San Francisco neighborhoods, Noe Valley has since
undergone successive waves of gentrification and is now considered an upscale, yuppie
area. It is home to many urban professionals, particularly young couples with young
children, and it is not unusual for a well-maintained house in Noe Valley to sell for a
million dollars or more.
Public transportation to Noe Valley is provided by the Muni 24, 35, and 48 bus lines, and
by the J Church Muni Metro line.
History
The Neighborhood is named after Jose de Jesus Noe, the last Mexican alcalde (or mayor)
of Yerba Buena (present day San Francisco).
Noe Valley was primarily built up at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of
the 20th century, especially in the years just after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. As
a result, the neighborhood contains many examples of the "classic" Victorian and
Edwardian residential architecture for which San Francisco is famous. Noe Valley being
a working-class neighborhood, houses were built in rows, with some of the efficient, lowcost row houses being more ornate than others, depending on the owner's taste and
finances. Today, Noe Valley has the highest concentration of row houses in San
Francisco, with streets having three to four and sometimes as many as a dozen on the
same side of the same street. Few rows remain untouched.
Many Noe Valley streets were laid out and named by John Meirs Horner, who named
Elizabeth Street after his wife and Jersey Street after the state where he was born. Most of
Noe Valley is still called Horner's Addition for tax purposes by the city assessor's office.
Geography
The topographic layout is actually two main valleys. One flows from the
Clipper/22nd/Grandview area down 24th/Jersey to Church, and the other flows from the
27th/Diamond/30th area down Day to Church where it meets the first valley; the
conjoined valleys then both exit the Noe Valley district. This makes the hilly area
relatively dry, and the soil stable regarding earthquake liquefaction. Most houses up the
hills sit directly on bed rock as can be seen at Douglass Park (bare red rock). Traffic flow
is limited - one main North access through Castro Street to Eureka Valley, one main West
access up Clipper Street toward the former Twin Peaks toll plaza and West of the city,
several East access to Mission through 24th, Cesar Chavez and other numbered streets,
and the main North-South Church access used by the Muni Light Rail J-Church. There
are no traffic lights except along Dolores Street, at the 24th/Castro intersection, and one
at 23rd and Church.
The neighborhood is primarily residential, although there is a bustling commercial strip
along 24th Street, between Church Street and Castro Street.
Demographics
In November 2000, the Noe Valley Voice reported the following statistics for the
neighborhood, citing a 1999 poll of registered voters by David Binder Research, a
prominent local polling agency.
European American: 80%
Age 30-49: 53%
Female: 51%
Sexually straight: 71%
Rent housing (vs. own): 52%
College graduate: 78%
Democrat: 72%
Republican: 11%
Religious affiliation: 63%
Not religious: 38%
References
1999 demographics: "AND NOW FOR THE RUMORS BEHIND THE NEWS" by
Mazook. Noe Valley Voice, November 2000. [1] The same numbers were re-reported in
2003: "Rumors Behind the News" by Mazook. Noe Valley Voice, November 2003. [2]
External links
Noe Valley Neighborhood Guide
Noe Valley Voice newspaper
Noe-Valley.com - neighborhood resource
North Beach, San Francisco, California
Looking south-east Columbus Street (on the left), Stockton (on the right), and Green
Street (not visible). The Transamerica Pyramid in the Financial District is visible in the
background on Columbus Street. Part of Chinatown is visible along Stockton Street. The
array of overhead wires supply power for the electric trolley buses, such as the one on
Stockton Street
North Beach is a San Francisco, California neighborhood bounded by the former
Barbary Coast, now Jackson Square, and the Financial District south of Broadway
(except North Beach institutions extend down *Columbus to Washington and
Montgomery where the Black Cat originally was), Chinatown to the southwest of
Columbus below Green, and then Russian Hill to the west, Telegraph Hill to the east and
Fisherman's Wharf at Bay Street to the north.
Originally, the city's northeast shoreline extended only to what is today Taylor and
Francisco streets. The area, what is largely known today as North Beach, was an actual
beach. It was later filled and covered over to create the land that is present today.
Typical intersections are Union and Columbus, the southwest corner of Washington
Square, Grant Avenue and Vallejo, location of Caffe Trieste, Mason and Francisco,
where there is some shopping and dining.
The neighborhood, particularly on Broadway west of Columbus, is home of the city's redlight district and a major night club and night life spot. The Condor Club on the corner of
Columbus and Broadway was also reputedly the world's first officially recognized strip
club. It is now a night club and a municipal landmark.
There is a street fair on Grant Avenue on Father's Day and a parade along Columbus
Avenue to Aquatic Park around Columbus Day. There is a National Shrine at Vallejo and
Columbus and Saints Peter and Paul cathedral on Filbert north of Washington Square.
The Powell Mason cable car line ends in the outer portion of North Beach where there is
no beach.
The neighborhood attracted many Italians, Beats, Chinese and really all kinds of
ordinary, artistic, friendly people, and has many sights and places to gather. North Beach
has historically been an Italian neighborhood, and while the area has diversified, many
Italian restaurants, cafès, and ice cream parlors remain. An alleyway off of Columbus
between Kearny and Broadway is named after Jack Kerouac who once lived here and
frequented the renowned (as well as a municipal landmark) City Lights bookstore on the
corner of Columbus and Broadway as well as the numerous coffee shops here. Baseball
legend Joe Dimaggio grew up in the neighborhood and briefly returned to live here with
his wife Marilyn Monroe. Famed progressive trial attorney Tony Serra keeps an office
near the corner of Columbus and Broadway.
It is a somewhat compact layout of three-story buildings painted in light colors dating
from the 1920s when people rebuilt after the earthquake and fire of 1906. The weather is
excellent with gentle, sunny hours between noon, after the morning fog burns off, and
four, before the fog starts rolling back in from the Golden Gate.
The San Francisco Art Institute is located in the Northern end of North Beach, on Russian
Hill.
Restaurants
Fior d'Italia
North Beach Restaurant
Rose Pistola
Capps
Il Pollaio
Ristorante Volare
Figaro
Mara's bakery
Caffe Trieste
Residents Past and Present
Joe Dimaggio
Joseph L. Alioto
Philip Kaufman
Jack Kerouac
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Juana Briones
Wayne Wang
Richard Faillace
Francis Ford Coppola
Enrico Banducci
Josh Benveniste
See also
External links
North Beach Yahoo Maps
Guided photo tour
The Chronicle's standing article about North Beach
North Beach San Francisco Blog
JB Monaco - Turn of the Century North Beach Photographer
Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California
Cloudy Weekend at Ocean Beach
Ocean Beach is a beach that runs along the west coast of San Francisco, California at the
Pacific Ocean. It is adjacent to Golden Gate Park, the Richmond District and the Sunset
District. The Great Highway runs along side the beach and the Cliff House and the site of
the former Sutro Baths sit at the northern end. The beach is a part of the Golden Gate
National Recreation Area and operated by the National Park Service.
The beach throughout the late spring and summer is almost always enveloped in San
Francisco's characteristic foggy weather leaving average temperatures there at 50-55F (912C), thus scaring away many tourists and beach goers. Conversely, the beach is popular
with surfers, campers and bonfire parties. More beach friendly weather occurs in late fall
and early spring, when the fog dissipates.
The northern part of Ocean Beach on february, along with Seal Rock
The northern end of Ocean Beach and the Great Highway, as seen from Sutro Heights
Park
The water at Ocean Beach is noteworthy for its strong currents and fierce waves, which
makes it popular among many serious surfers. The water is also quite cold, due to a
process known as upwelling, in which frigid water from below the ocean surface rises up
to replace the surface water that moves away from the beach as a result of the Coriolis
effect. The rapid rip currents and cold water make the ocean dangerous for casual
swimmers or even for those who simply want to set foot in it, and many swimmers have
been swept away and drowned as a result. This attracts many surfers making it one of the
world's top, if not challenging, surfing spots.
Surfers and other swimmers have died at Ocean Beach; as of May 2006, the most recent
death is documented here [1] with the next-previous death taking place in January of
2006 [2]. Prior to that, it had been about four years since anyone died at Ocean Beach. In
1998, a record seven people lost their lives here[3].
Both the north and south ends of Ocean Beach are equipped with their own surf shops
(North being Mollusk Surf Shop and South being Aqua), as well as a handful of local
surfers devoted to its freezing waters and dangerous break.
Seal Rock is a prominent local feature of the area.
History
Due in part to its sometimes inhospitable weather (high winds, cold weather and fog) the
area was largely undeveloped throughout most of San Francisco's early history as it was
known as the "Outside Lands". Development finally came in the late 19th century with
the construction of the Sutro Baths below the site where the Cliff House now stands.
Following a brief stint as a refugee camp following the 1906 earthquake, the area was
touted as a resort, as a small amusement park, Playland at the Beach, was built where
Cabrillo and Balboa streets now stands. Major development occurred in the 1920s and
1930s with the construction of the Great Highway, the Sunset District and the Richmond
District that extended right up to the beach. After the destruction of the Sutro Baths in the
1960s, the neighborhood lost its resort appeal as the amusement park was also torn down
and replaced by apartment blocks and a supermarket.
See also
External links
Visit the Ocean Beach and Cliff House Virtual Tour as well as other tours of the area
around.
Turkey Beach Trot: Annual Ocean Beach run & walk, held on Thanksgiving morning.
Ocean Beach Fire Ban Advocacy Web Site: A coalition of activists working to preserve
fires on Ocean Beach
Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California
The sidewalk on Fillmore Street, looking north from Bush Street.
Northern view from Alta Plaza Park. The Marina District and San Francisco Bay can be
seen below.
Pacific Heights is an affluent neighborhood of San Francisco, California, on the north
side of the city. Pacific Heights is located in one of the most scenic and park-like settings
in Northern California, offering panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the San
Francisco Bay, Alcatraz and the Presidio. Pacific Heights’s idyllic location provides a
temperate microclimate that is clearer, but not always warmer, than the other areas in San
Francisco. The neighborhood extends from Presidio Avenue to Van Ness Avenue, and
from California Street to Broadway. It is home to young urban professionals and many
wealthy people.
Geography
Pacific Heights is located on the crest of one of San Francisco’s 42 hills, 370 feet above
sea level at its peak, and covers 130 city blocks. The Streets of Jackson, Pacific, and
Broadway extend along some of the most scenic areas along the hilltop crest. The section
of Broadway extending from Divisadero to Lyon Street is know as the "Gold Coast".
Pacific Heights features two parks, Lafayette and Alta Plaza, each with spectacular views
of the city. To the north of the neighborhood, easily visible from the top of the hill, are
the Marin Headlands, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, as well as the Marina
District.
ZIP Code: 94115
Population (2000[1]): 33,115
Male: 15,947 (48%)
Female: 17,168 (52%)
Housing units: 18,422
Single-family owner-occupied homes: 1,293
Elevation / Land area: 370 feet above sea level and covers 130 square blocks.
Water area: zero
Real Estate
Pacific Heights is home to the most breathtaking view of the Golden Gate Bridge,
Alcatraz and the San Francisco Bay. The neighborhood was first developed in 1870s with
small Victorian homes built until the turn of the century when many were replaced with
period homes. Still residential, the area is characterized by painted Victorians, historic
chateau's and architecturally superior mansions. Many international consulates are
located in San Francisco and several including the consulate generals of Russia, Greece,
Egypt, Vietnam, Italy and Indonesia are located in stately Pacific Heights buildings.
Today, there are also many consular residences in Pacific Heights including the consular
generals of Norway and France. It is home of many San Francisco's first families, as well
as successful entrepreneurs and artists. Pacific Heights is also home to the City's best
private schools and finishing schools.
The oldest building in Pacific Heights, located at 2475 Pacific Avenue, was built in 1853,
though the majority of the neighborhood was built after the 1906 earthquake. The
architecture of the neighborhood is varied; Victorian, Mission Revival, Edwardian, and
Chateau styles are common.
Shopping
Most of the neighborhood boutiques and restaurants are along Fillmore Street, south of
Pacific Avenue. Other businesses in Pacific Heights are located on California and
Divisadero Streets, along with Van Ness Avenue.
Pacific Heights is also home to California Pacific Medical Center.
Adjacent neighborhoods are:
Japantown and the Lower Pacific Heights to the south with California Street as the
border.
Polk Gulch to the east with Van Ness Avenue as the border.
Presidio Heights and Presidio Park to the west with Presidio Avenue (formerly Central
Avenue) as the border.
Cow Hollow and Marina District to the north.
Transportation
Franklin and Gough Streets are often used as alternate routes to busy Van Ness, and Pine
and Bush Streets are used as alternate routes to busy California Street. As for public
transportation, the following Muni lines service the area: 1-California, 1BX-California 'B'
Express, 3-Jackson, 12-Folsom/Pacific, 24-Divisadero and 22-Fillmore.
Trivia
The house in the movie Pacific Heights is not in this neighborhood; it is in Potrero Hill.
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) shows two Pacific Heights properties. The family house is a white
Victorian located at 2640 Steiner Street. From his apartment located at 1200 Washington
Street, Robin Williams's character has a panoramic view of the city.
Famous Movies Filmed in Pacific Heights
Allison Sidney Harrison (1980)
Around the Fire (1998)
Basic Instinct (1992)
Bullitt (1968)
The Conversation (1974)
Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
Dr. Dolittle (1998)
Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001)
Foreign Correspondents (1999)
Foul Play (1978)
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Guinevere (1999)
Heart and Souls (1993)
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
The Navigator (1924)
Pacific Heights (1990)
Pal Joey (1957)
Portrait in Black (1960)
The Princess Diaries (2001)
So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
Sudden Fear (1952)
Sweet November (2001)
The Towering Inferno (1974)
The Wedding Planner (2001)
What's Up, Doc? (1972)
Famous residents
The social elite includes many San Francisco's first families, famous authors, business
people, successful entrepreneurs, artists, musicians and even an actor or two who call
Pacific Heights their home.
Current Residents
Nicholas Cage and Patricia Arquette
Larry Ellison (Broadway)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blum (Vallejo at Lyon Street)
Donald Fisher (Vallejo at Scott)
Ann and Gordon Getty (Broadway)
Mimi Haas (relative of Walter A. Haas)
Don Johnson
Frank Jordan
Jessica McClintock
Danielle Steel
Paul Otellini
Former Residents
Francis Ford Coppola
Gavin Newsom
Sharon Stone
External links
Pacific Heights Neighborhood Guide (author)
Pacific Heights Residents Association
The Chronicle's standing article about Pacific Heights
The Perfect Pacific Heights Commute The Scene from Pacific Heights to Lucas Film in
the Presidio
Park Merced, San Francisco, California
Park Merced is a neighborhood and large apartment complex in San Francisco,
California. It is located south of San Francisco State University, west of 19th Avenue,
and east of Lake Merced and the Harding Park Golf Club. Construction on it started in
the 1940s, but was halted because of WWII. It was completed in the 1950s and was a first
home to many military families returning from the Korean War. Recently, it was owned
by Leona Helmsley until it was sold in 2000. A sister complex was built by the
Metropolitan Life Insurance group as postwar housing. The sister complex, Park La Brea
in Los Angeles, CA, features the same street layout as Park Merced in San Francisco.
Transportation
Bus service through Park Merced is primarily provided by Muni's 17 Parkmerced line,
and peak hour service to and from Balboa Park Station is provided by the 88 line.
Additionally, bus lines 28, 28L and 29 and the Muni Metro M Oceanview line all run on
19th Avenue and bus line 18 runs on Lake Merced Boulevard.
External Links
The Villas Parkmerced official website
Terraserver Photo of Park Merced
Potrero Hill, San Francisco, California
Potrero Hill is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, located on the east side of
the city, east of the Mission District and south of the South of Market area. It is roughly
bordered by 16th Street to the north, Potrero Avenue or U.S. Route 101 to the west and
Cesar Chavez Street to the south. There are many docks located on the eastern edge of
the neighborhood, which are mainly built atop landfill.
Notable features of Potrero Hill include a powder blue water tower, located near 22nd
Street and Wisconsin Street, the Anchor Steam Brewery located on Mariposa Street,
between Carolina and DeHaro Streets and owned by the washing machine heir Fritz
Maytag, and a section of Vermont Street between 20th Street and 22nd Street that has
many switchbacks, similar to Lombard Street.
Notable Residents
OJ Simpson, the star football player who played for Galileo High School, San Francisco
City College, University of Southern California, and the Buffalo Bills grew up on Potrero
Hill, Wayne Thiebaud, the famous, skillful and prolific painter lived on and painted
Potrero Hill for years, and Robert Bechtle, the photorealist painter has also used the hill
for both a home and subject matter for his art. Peter Orlovsky, poet Allen Ginsberg's
partner, lived at 5 Turner Terrace, one of several Potrero Hill public housing projects, in
the 1950s. Ginsberg probably worked on Howl, a poem that changed the world's
expectations of poetry, in that apartment. Lawrence Ferlinghetti bought a house at 706
Wisconsin St. for $9,995 in 1957. He is a poet and co-founder of City Lights, America's
first all-paperback bookstore.
Transportation
Two freeways run through Potrero Hill, U.S. Route 101 on the western side Interstate 280
on the eastern side.
Public transportation is provided by Muni along several bus lines, including lines 10, 15,
19, 22, 48, and 53. In mid-2006, the Third Street Light Rail Project will be completed and
bus service by the 15 Third line on Third Street will be replaced by a Muni Metro line.
Additionally, there is a Caltrain station located at 22nd Street, near Pennsylvania Avenue.
See also
Mission Bay, San Francisco, California
San Francisco's Potrero Hill by Peter Linenthal, Abigail Johnston,and the Potrero Hill
Archives Project,was published by Arcadia Publishing Co. in their Images of America
series in 2005. Its 128 pages are full of photos and neighborhood history. It includes early
Native American Ohlone history, Mission Dolores, early industry, both world wars, the
1960s, and recent developments. Many photos come from family collections.
External links
San Francisco Neighborhoods: Potrero Hill - neighborhood guide from the San Francisco
Chronicle
Potrero Hill SF - neighborhood guide and blog
Presidio of San Francisco
The Parade Grounds at the Presidio of San Francisco.
The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio de San Francisco) is a park on
the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in the City and County of San Francisco.
It is operated by the National Park Service of the United States as a part of the Golden
Gate National Recreation Area. The park is characterized by many wooded areas, hills,
and scenic vistas overlooking the San Francisco Bay.
The Presidio was originally a Spanish fort sited by Juan Bautista de Anza on March 28,
1776 built by a party led by José Joaquín Moraga later that year. It was seized by the U.S.
Military in 1848 and was home to the United States 6th Army. Several famous U.S.
generals from William Sherman to John Pershing made their homes here. Until its closure
in 1995, it was the longest continuously-operated military base in the United States.
After a hard-fought battle the Presidio averted an auction and came under the
management of the Presidio Trust, a US Government Corporation established by an act of
Congress in 1996. The Presidio Trust now manages the park in partnership with the
National Park Service. The Trust has jurisdiction over the interior 80 percent of the
Presidio, including nearly all of its historic structures. The National Park Service
manages coastal areas.
One of main objectives of Presidio Trust’s program is achieving financial self-sufficiency
by fiscal year 2013. Until then, the Trust continues to receive federal funds to support its
operation. Immediately after its inception, the Trust began preparing rehabilation plans
for the park. Many areas had to be decontaminated before they could be prepared for
public use.
Crissy Field, a former airfield, has undergone extensive restoration and now serves as
very popular recreational area. It borders on the San Francisco Marina in the East and on
the Golden Gate bridge in the West.
The park has a large network of buildings (~ 800), many of them historical. By 2004
about 50% of the buildings on park grounds have been restored and (partially) remodeled.
The Trust has contracted commercial real estate management companies to help attract
and retain residential and commercial tenants. The total capacity is estimated at 5,000
residents when all buildings have been rehabilitated. The Presidio of San Francisco is the
only U.S. national park with a residential program.
A major financial win for the Trust was a controversial deal signed with Lucasfilm. The
company has built its new headquarters of Industrial Light and Magic and LucasArts on
the site of the former Letterman hospital. George Lucas won the development rights for
15 acres (61,000 m²) of the Presidio in June 1999 after beating out a number of rival
plans [1] including a leading proposal by the Shorenstein Company. A massive $300
million development with nearly 900,000 square feet (84,000 m²) of office space and a
150,000 square foot (14,000 m²) underground parking garage with planned capacity of
2,500 employees has replaced the former ILM and LucasArts headquarters in San Rafael.
Lucas Learning Ltd., Lucas Online, and the George Lucas Educational Foundation will
also move to the site. Lucas' proposal included plans for a high-tech Presidio museum
and a seven acre (28,000 m²) "Great Lawn" that is now open to the public.
The Trust plans to create a promenade that will link the Lombard gate, the new Lucasfilm
campus to the Main Post and ultimately to the Golden Gate Bridge. The promenade is
part of a trails expansion plan that will add 24 miles (39 km) of new pathways and eight
scenic overlooks throughout the park.
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, the Presidio is the location of Starfleet
Headquarters.
See also
The Presidio (film)
External links
An account by the builder of the Presidio
The National Park Service's official site of the Presidio
WebCam showing Seacliff, Lands End and Pacific Ocean from the Presidio's Baker
Beach
Letterman Digital Arts Center website
S. F Chronicle article regarding self-sufficiency
2002 article about Real Estate in the Presidio and its development
Presido Mutiny
Presidio RX: San Francisco running group that meets for recreational runs on the Presidio
trails.
Photos
Photos of the Presidio
Aerial photo of the Presidio
Richmond District, San Francisco,
California
Geary Boulevard, looking eastward from 36th Avenue
The Richmond District (election district 1) is a neighborhood in the northwest corner of
San Francisco, California. Lying directly north of Golden Gate Park, "the Richmond" is
bounded roughly by Fulton Street to the south, Arguello Street and Laurel Heights to the
east, The Presidio and Lincoln Park to the north, and Ocean Beach and the Pacific Ocean
to the west. Park Presidio Boulevard, a major thoroughfare, divides the Richmond into
the western "Outer Richmond" and the eastern portion, called the "Inner Richmond."
Geary Boulevard is a major east-west thoroughfare that runs through the Richmond and
to downtown.
Originally an expanse of rolling sand dunes, the Richmond District was developed
initially in the late 19th century. After the 1906 earthquake, development increased with
the need to provide replacement housing.
In the 1950s and most especially after the re-structuring of US immigration law in 1965,
Chinese Americans began to replace the ethnic Jewish and Irish Americans who had
dominated the district before World War II. The area became known as the "New
Chinatown," particularly along Clement Street between Arguello and Park Presidio,
which is a bustling commercial strip of restaurants and shops. The Richmond District also
features a prominent Russian community with many stores catering to the Russian
community along Geary Boulevard and a high concentration of Eastern European
immigrants.
Adolph Sutro was one of the first large-scale developers of the neighborhood. He is
responsible for building the Sutro Baths, along with his mansion on the western end of
the district, near Ocean Beach.
The Richmond district was home to Anton Szandor LaVey, founder and leader of the
Church of Satan from 1966 until his death in 1997. His home on California Street, an
imposing Victorian known as the "Black House," was demolished in 2001.
The Avenues
The Richmond District and the neighboring Sunset District (on the south side of Golden
Gate Park) are often collectively known as The Avenues, because the majority of both
neighborhoods are spanned by numbered north-south avenues. The first numbered
Avenue is 2nd, starting one block west of Arguello Boulevard (which takes the place of
1st Avenue), and increasing incrementally to as high as 48th Avenue near Ocean Beach
(the last road before the beach being named Great Highway instead of 49th Avenue). The
only exception is that there is no 13th Avenue; instead, it is known as Funston Avenue
(named for Frederick Funston, a Spanish-American War general who was sent to the city
to direct its recovery from the 1906 earthquake). Most of the east-west streets in the
Richmond and Sunset Districts are named after Spanish explorers in ascending
alphabetical order in a southward direction. In the Richmond District, these streets are:
Anza, Balboa and Cabrillo. In the Sunset District, these streets are: Hugo, Irving, Judah,
Kirkham, Lawton, Moraga, Noriega, Ortega, Pacheco, Quintara, Rivera, Santiago,
Taraval, Ulloa, Vicente, Wawona, and Yorba (Fulton Street, on the north side of Golden
Gate Park, and Lincoln Way on the south, taking the place of the streets which would
otherwise have begun with "D" and "G" respectively, with "E" and "F"" being preempted by Golden Gate Park and "X" and "Z" being omitted).
Supervisors of District 1
Jake McGoldrick 2001 - Present
Michael Yaki 1996 - 2001
External links
Park Presidio Neighbors Association
Richmond district guided photo tour
Coordinates: 37.778° N -122.483° E
•
San Francisco's street naming controversy of 1909 - the story of how Anza through
Yorba streets -- and the numbered Avenues -- got their names
Russian Hill, San Francisco, California
A view of Lombard Street and Russian Hill from Telegraph Hill. Centered in the picture
is the famous "World's crookedest street" portion of Lombard Street.
Russian Hill is an affluent, largely residential neighborhood of San Francisco, California,
in the United States. Views from the top of the hill extend in several directions around the
Bay Area, including the Bay Bridge, Marin County, the Golden Gate Bridge, and
Alcatraz. Russian Hill is also home to the prestigious San Francisco Art Institute, located
on Chestnut Street between Jones and Leavenworth Streets.
Location
Russian Hill is directly to the north (and slightly downhill) from the highly affluent Nob
Hill, to the south (uphill) from Fisherman's Wharf, and to the west of the North Beach
neighborhood. The Hill is bordered on its west side by parts of the neighborhoods of
Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, and the Marina District.
The boundaries of Russian Hill are generally considered to be Van Ness Avenue on the
west, Pacific Avenue on the south, Columbus Avenue on the east (northeast), and San
Francisco Bay on the North. The portion of Lombard Street (between Hyde and
Leavenworth streets), that is sometimes referred to as "the crookedest (winding) street in
the world" is on Russian Hill, and the Powell-Hyde Cable Car line passes directly over
Russian Hill onits way to Fisherman's Wharf.
Downhill to the north is Ghirardelli Square, which sits on the waterfront of the San
Francisco Bay, Aquatic Park, and Fisherman's Wharf, an extremely popular tourist area.
Down the turns of Lombard Street and along Columbus Avenue to the east is the
neighborhood of North Beach. Down the hill to the west, past Van Ness Avenue, are Cow
Hollow and the Marina districts.
History
The neighborhood's name goes back to the Gold Rush-era when settlers discovered a
small Russian cemetery at the top of the hill. Athough the bodies were never officially
identified, it is assumed that the bodies probably belonged to Russian fur-traders and
sailors from nearby Fort Ross. The cemetery was removed, but the name remains to this
day. There is no significant Russian presence here as the city's Russian community is
located primarily in the Richmond District.
See also
Nob Hill
Telegraph Hill
Russian colonization of the Americas
External links
The Chronicle's standing article about Russian Hill
Russian Hill Neighbors association
Sea Cliff, San Francisco, California
Sea Cliff (sometimes spelled Seacliff) is a very affluent neighborhood located in
northwestern San Francisco, California. It is adjacent to the Pacific Ocean and Baker
Beach, southwest of the Presidio of San Francisco and east of Lincoln Park. The Sea Cliff
neighborhood is renowned for the large size of its homes (which can resemble large
suburban estates) as well as for the impressive views from many of the homes of the
Pacific Ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands.
A small public beach named China Beach is located in the neighborhood.
Some of the neighborhood's more famous current and past residents have included actor
Robin Williams, actress Sharon Stone, theatrical producer Carole Shorenstein Hays, and
musician Chris Isaak.
WebCam showing Seacliff, Lands End and Pacific Ocean from the Presidio
South of Market, San Francisco,
California
South of Market or SoMa (South of Market) is a neighborhood in San Francisco,
California. Its borders are Market Street to the north-northwest, the San Francisco Bay to
the east, Townsend Street to the south-southeast, and U.S. Route 101 to the westsouthwest. It is the part of the city in which the street grid runs parallel to and
perpendicular to Market Street. The eastern edge along the Embarcadero and south-
eastern corner of this area (where Mission Creek meets the bay) is known as South
Beach, a separate neighborhood, and the border below Townsend Street begins Mission
Bay. The north-eastern corner (where Market Street meets the bay) is often considered
part of the Financial District.
South of Market was originally a warehouse district, with longer blocks than other parts
of the city. Today, in addition to warehouses, there are a great many bars and nightclubs,
restaurants, and residential lofts in the area. Since the 1950s, South of Market has been a
center for the leather subculture of the gay community. At the end of each September the
Folsom Street Fair is held on Folsom Street between 7th and 12th Streets. The smaller
and less commercialized but also leather subculture-oriented Up Your Alley Fair
(commonly referred to as the Dore Alley Fair) is also held in the neighborhood, in late
July on Folsom between 9th and 10th Streets and in Dore Alley between Folsom and
Howard. During the late 1990s, South of Market was known for being a local center of
the dot-com boom, due to its central location and relatively cheap housing and office
space.
Especially near the waterfront, Yerba Buena Gardens and Financial District, South of
Market is rapidly gentrifying, with a large number of new residential high-rises and
hotels.
Because of its historic blue-collar nature, South of Market is also an area of settlement for
new immigrants. Entire communities made their homes in the district--from Irish
Americans and Italian Americans to Greek Americans. Presently the largest migrant
group living in South of Market are Filipino Americans.
The conference center, Moscone Center, occupies 3 blocks and hosts many major trade
shows. Moscone South opened its doors in December 1981. Moscone North opened in
May 1992, and most recently Moscone West in June 2003.
With the opening of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1995, the Yerba Buena
Center region of the South of Market has become a hub for museums. Other museums in
the area include the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Museum of the African
Diaspora, the Cartoon Art Museum, the children's Zeum, and the temporary home of the
California Academy of Sciences. The planned sites for the Contemporary Jewish
Museum and the Mexican Museum are also in the Yerba Buena area. The Center for the
Arts, along with Yerba Buena Gardens and the Sony Metreon, is built on top of Moscone
North. Across Howard Street, built on top of Moscone South, is a children's park
featuring a large play area, an ice skating rink, a bowling alley, a restaurant, the Zeum,
and the restored merry-go-round from Playland At the Beach. The children's park and
Zeum are joined to Yerba Buena Gardens by a foot bridge over Howard Street.
A major transformation of the neighborhood is planned with the Transbay Terminal
Replacement Project, which if funded, is planned to be open by 2013. In addition, many
residential projects are set to transform the overall San Francisco skyline, with highrises
up to 55 stories like One Rincon Hill(see sfcityscape.com). According to an article on
May 25, 2006 (see [1]), the Transbay Joint Powers Authority proposed to raise the height
limits around the new transbay terminal. That will mean instead of having one 70 story,
925 ft. tower, a trio of towers, with two at about the same height as the 853
ft.Transamerica Pyramid and a third one of at least 1,000 ft. will be built. The third tower
could be the tallest on the West Coast, beating out the US Bank Tower in Los Angeles
and it will probably have the most floors on the West Coast, overtaking Seattle's
Columbia Center. This proposal is said to give San Francisco a internationally recognized
skyline by having a central peak and in addition, balance the off-centered existing skyline
due to the Transamerica Pyramid and the Bank of America Building.
Most San Franciscans prefer to refer to the neighborhood by its full name, South of
Market, though there is a trend to shorten the name to SOMA or SoMa, probably in
reference to SoHo (South of Houston) in New York City, and, in turn, Soho in London.
Before being called South of Market this area was called "South of the Slot". The reason
being that cable cars used to run on Market Street and the cable car tracks have a center
slot where the cable car attaches to the cable. While the cable cars have long since
disappeared some "old timers" still refer to this area as "South of the Slot".
See also
San Francisco
Union Square
External links
Transbay Joint Powers Authority Official Site
One Rincon Hill
sfcityscape.com
St. Francis Wood, San Francisco,
California
St. Francis Wood is an affluent residential neighborhood located in southwestern San
Francisco, California, south of the West Portal neighborhood and west of Mount
Davidson. Although characterized by impressive single family homes on spacious lots
(by urban San Francisco standards), St. Francis Wood is lesser known than other, more
centrally-located wealthy San Francisco neighbrhoods such as the Marina District and
Pacific Heights, or even the Pacific Ocean-adjacent Seacliff neighborhood in
northwestern San Francisco.
There are two large water fountains in St. Francis Wood along St. Francis Boulevard, a
circular one in the intersection with Santa Ana Avenue and one built onto the hill at the
eastern end of the street.
External link
A short history of St. Francis Wood
Sunset District, San Francisco, California
The Outer Sunset from Grand View Park
The Sunset District (election district 4) is a neighborhood in the west-central part of San
Francisco, California, USA that is primarily residential and is built along a grid pattern. It
was one of the last areas of San Francisco to be developed, and most of its homes and
buildings date from the 1920s through the 1950s, with the fastest rate of construction
occurring during the 1930s and 1940s (although parts of the Inner Sunset were developed
beginning in the 1890s).
Geography
Golden Gate Park forms the neighborhood's northern border and the Pacific Ocean (or,
more specifically, the long, flat strand of beach known as Ocean Beach) forms its western
border. The Sunset District's southern and eastern borders are not as clearly defined, but
there is a general consensus that the neighborhood extends no further than Sigmund Stern
Grove and Sloat Boulevard in the south and no further east than the Parnassus campus of
the University of California, San Francisco and Laguna Honda Hospital. Prior to the
residential and commercial development of the Sunset District, the area was covered by
sand dunes and was originally referred to by 19th-century San Franciscans as "the
Outside Lands."
This thematic maps shows the Sunset District's large Asian population in southwest San
Francisco
The Sunset District is in fact often considered to be two separate neighborhoods: the
Inner Sunset and the Outer Sunset. The commercial area of the Inner Sunset is centered
around Irving Street between 7th and 11th Avenues, and the Outer Sunset is generally
considered to begin at 19th Avenue and to extend for approximately 30 blocks to Ocean
Beach. When "Sunset" is used alone, it is generally taken to mean the Outer Sunset. The
southern half of the Outer Sunset is sometimes reckoned as a separate neighborhood,
known as Parkside.
Characteristics
Though relatively prosperous economically, the area is considered by many observers to
be one of the less fashionable neighborhoods in San Francisco, due to its reputation for
frequently foggy weather and the prevalence of its mid-20th century single-family
housing stock. However, the neighborhood has several assets that belie this reputation,
including a low crime rate and the proximity to Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park. The
Church of St. Anne of the Sunset on Judah Street is a striking landmark, and the
commercial area along Irving Street is animated and attractive. The San Francisco
Conservatory of Music at 19th Avenue and Ortega Street provides almost daily free
classical music concerts. The steeply hilly area that rises to the south of Irving Street,
around Grand View Park and the Golden Gate View Park, contains attractively winding
streets sometimes linked by staircases, and many striking and desirable properties with
stupendous views over the city and out to the ocean and the Marin headlands. The N
Judah and L Taraval lines of the Muni Metro provide a fast and convenient link to
downtown, with easy connections to BART. Despite the Sunset's less-than-glamorous
reputation, the neighborhood's property values have risen along with those in the rest of
San Francisco, most spectacularly during the late 1990s. Wood-frame & stucco homes of
1,000-1,500 square feet, originally built in the 1930s & 1940s for $6,000-$10,000, now
sell for prices that often reach $800,000 and beyond.
The Inner Sunset is now a popular evening destination, primarily due to a diverse mix of
restaurants along 9th Avenue and Irving Street (the intersection of which is the focal
point of the area). The fortunes of the Inner Sunset have only risen in the last decade,
however. Prior to the late 1990s, smaller service businesses such as laundromats and
grocery stores dominated the Sunset's commercial character; while this still remains true
to a point in the Outer Sunset, a more gentrified and popular neighborhood character has
risen in parts of the Inner Sunset.
Demographics and subcultures
At least half of the Sunset's residents are Asian American (mostly Chinese American), a
result of a demographic shift that began in the late 1960s and accelerated from the 1980s
as Asian immigration to San Francisco increased dramatically and much of the original,
nearly exclusively white, heavily Irish American population of the Sunset moved to
outlying suburban areas. A major commercial area of the Sunset District, Irving Street
between 19th Avenue and 24th Avenue, is today lined with businesses catering to Asian
Americans, with additional commercial areas filled with Asian grocery stores and
restaurants in other parts of the Sunset District as well, such as on Taraval Street west of
19th Avenue. In addition, there is still a significant Irish American and Irish minority in
the neigborhood and there are several Irish pubs in the Sunset.
The strip near the Pacific Ocean has a notable population of surfers who take advantage
of the strong waves and currents of Ocean Beach.
The Outer Sunset — and especially Parkside — is regarded by the city's political
observers as being one of the most conservative communities in San Francisco. Often, the
area's residents have been more opposed to gay rights ordinances and rent control than
voters in other parts of the city, and more strongly in favor of stricter policies toward the
homeless.
The Avenues
The Sunset District and the neighboring Richmond District (on the north side of Golden
Gate Park) are often collectively known as The Avenues, because the majority of both
neighborhoods are spanned by numbered north-south avenues. The first numbered
Avenue is 2nd, starting one block west of Arguello Boulevard (which takes the place of
1st Avenue), and increasing incrementally to as high as 48th Avenue near Ocean Beach
(the last road before the beach being named Great Highway instead of 49th Avenue). The
only exception is that there is no 13th Avenue; instead, it is known as Funston Avenue
(named for Frederick Funston, a Spanish-American War general who was sent to the city
to direct its recovery from the 1906 earthquake). Most of the east-west streets in the
Richmond and Sunset Districts are named after Spanish explorers in ascending
alphabetical order in a southward direction. In the Richmond District, these streets are:
Anza, Balboa and Cabrillo. In the Sunset District, these streets are: Irving, Judah,
Kirkham, Lawton, Moraga, Noriega, Ortega, Pacheco, Quintara, Rivera, Santiago,
Taraval, Ulloa, Vicente, Wawona, and Yorba (Fulton Street, on the north side of Golden
Gate Park, and Lincoln Way on the south, taking the place of the streets which would
otherwise have begun with "D" and "G" respectively, with "E" and "F" being pre-empted
by Golden Gate Park and "X" and "Z" being omitted).
Supervisors of District 4
Fiona Ma 2002 - Present
Leland Yee 1997 -2002
External links
Inner Sunset guided photo tour
Center and Outer Sunset guided photo tour
Western Neighborhoods Project
Inner Sunset Neighborhood Guide
Outer Sunset Neighborhood Guide
Sunset Beacon, local newspaper
Aerial photo
Aerial photo of the Sunset District from Microsoft's TerraServer site
Telegraph Hill, San Francisco
Telegraph Hill refers to a small district in San Francisco, California. Its main feature is
Coit Tower, which stands atop the hill.
Location
A much quieter neighborhood than adjoining North Beach and its bustling cafés and
nightlife, Telegraph Hill is a mostly residential area. Aside from Coit Tower, it is wellknown for its gardens flowing down Filbert Street down to Levi's Plaza. The
neighborhood is bounded by Vallejo to the south, Sansome Street to the east, Francisco
Street to the north and Powell Street and Columbus Avenue to the west, where the
southwestern corner of Telegraph Hill overlaps with the North Beach neighborhood.
History
Originally named Loma Alta by the Spaniards, the hill was then familarly known as Goat
Hill by the early San Franciscans, and became the neighborhood of choice for many Irish
immigrants. From 1825 through 1847, the area between Sansome & Battery, Broadway
and Vallejo streets was used as a burial ground for foreign non-Catholic seamen.
The hill owes its current name to a semaphore, a windmill-like structure erected in
September 1849, for the purpose of signaling to the rest of the city the nature of the ships
entering the Golden Gate. Atop the newly built house, the marine telegraph consisted of a
pole with two raisable arms that could form various configurations, each corresponding a
specific meaning: steamer, sailing boat, etc. The information was used by observers
operating for financiers, merchants, wholesalers and speculators. As some of these
information consumers would know the nature of the cargo carried by the ship they could
quickly predict the upcoming (generally lower) local prices for those goods and
commodities carried. Those who did not have advance information on the cargo might
pay a too-high price from a merchant unloading his stock of a commodity - a price that
was about to drop.
On October 18, 1850, the ship Oregon signaled to the hill as it was entering the Golden
Gate the news of California's recently acquired statehood. A redundant station was built
at Point Lobos in 1853. However, with the advent of the electrical telegraph in 1862, the
system quickly became obsolete and was eventually dismantled, but the hill and its
surrounding neighborhood have retained the name of Telegraph Hill.
In the 1920s, Telegraph Hill became with North Beach a destination for poets and
bohemian intellectuals, dreaming of turning it into a West Coast West Village.
Movies featuring Telegraph Hill
After the Thin Man
Dark Passage
The House on Telegraph Hill
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
The Enforcer, the third film in Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry series
Trivia
The 1360 Montgomery building, featured in the 1947 film noir Dark Passage and where
Lauren Bacall's character resides, is a typical example of modern architecture.
The local wild parrots (depicted in the 2003 documentary The Wild Parrots of Telegraph
Hill) are Cherry-headed conures, also known as red-masked parakeets, an indigenous
species from Peru. They are also often spotted farther east on Embarcadero Plaza, and
seem to have spawned a colony in the Cupertino area, in the South Bay.
See also
Coit Tower
Filbert Steps
Tenderloin, San Francisco, California
The Tenderloin is a neighborhood in San Francisco. It is known for its drug trade,
prostitution, ethnic restaurant and bar scene, and close proximity to the Financial District,
Downtown and Civic Center.
The squalid conditions, homelessness, crime, drug sales, prostitution, liquor stores (over
60), and strip clubs give the area a seedy reputation. Many tourist publications suggest
avoiding the Tenderloin all together and its notoriously exaggerated mythology of danger
keeps many San Franciscans away from the area after dark. However, these conditions
have also served to make rents more affordable in a city known as among the priciest in
the country. Though the area is commonly thought of as being uninhabited by families, it
is one of the few areas of the city affordable to poor and working-class families and has
one of the city's highest concentrations of children.
With some of San Francisco's most prestigious real estate only a few blocks to the north,
and the Financial District's high towers and hotels just to the east (along Geary Street),
the Tenderloin is often striking to tourists as a definitive example of microculture within
the city. As with other lower-income neighborhoods like the Mission and SOMA
districts, many artists and writers make the Tenderloin their home.
While the streets close to Market Street are among San Francisco's most undesirable
neighborhoods, a gradual but distinct rise in income levels occurs as one travels north,
ascending to the Nob Hill sector. Relative to other areas, the Tenderloin is the only
largely working-class neighborhood within the downtown area. The uphill area of the
neighborhood is known as the "Upper Tenderloin".
The Dot Com boom in the late 1990s brought a great deal of redevelopment and resident
inhabitation to the SOMA district in particular, but some revitalization funds put into the
Tenderloin made a prominent impact —evident today by a much broader section of new
ethnic restaurants and bars, as well as a more long-term young working class.
Area
The Tenderloin is not quite as easy to define as other San Francisco neighborhoods. A
conservative description is for it to be bounded on the North by Post Street, on the East
by Taylor and 6th Streets, on the South by Mission Street and on the West by Van Ness
and 9th Streets. The northern boundary with Nob Hill is especially hard to define and can
range as far north as Pine Street in western sections of the Tenderloin, such as the Polk
Gulch neighborhood.
The Tenderloin roughly lies west of Union Square, south of Nob Hill, east of Western
Addition and Van Ness corridor and north of SOMA ("South of Market").
It includes neighborhoods referred to as Mid-Market, Civic Center, Theater District,
Lower Nob Hill, Polk Gulch, and Little Saigon. 'The Tenderloin' is almost never actually
used in any real-estate listing; instead it is usually one of the above neighborhood names.
The extension of the Tenderloin south of Market Street in the vicinity of Sixth, Seventh,
and Mission Streets is known locally as Mid-Market and is "Skid Row", or sarcastically,
as "the Wine Country", an allusion to "winos" (street- dwelling alcoholics). The northern
part of it beginning at Post Street is called a variety of nicknames including the Upper
Tenderloin, "Lower Nob Hill" (widely used in real estate listings), or facetiously "The
Tendernob", "Tenderloin Heights", or the "Trenderloin" (a reference to the area's
increasing gentrification.) The eastern extent where it meets Union Square is known as
the Theater District. Part of the western extent of the Tenderloin, Larkin and Hyde Streets
between Turk and O'Farrell, was officially named "Little Saigon" by Mayor Gavin
Newsom shortly after his election in 2004.
Nestled between successful commercial areas and high priced residential areas, parts of
the Tenderloin have historically resisted gentrification, maintaining a seedy character and
reputation for crime. The region includes City Hall, San Francisco Public Library, and the
Asian Art Museum. Abandoned architectual landmarks are also located here, such as the
old Hibernia Bank located on the dilapidated corner of Jones and McAllister Street, near
a methadone clinic and Saint Anthony's soup kitchen.
History
The Tenderloin was born in the aftermath of the devastating 1906 Earthquake, when a
large number of hotels were erected to accommodate the displaced victims of the disaster.
By the 20s, the city's wealthier refugees had moved on, and the abandoned hotels were
converted into low-income housing. The Tenderloin became notorious for its
concentration of illegal bars, or "speakeasies" during Prohibition, and has since remained
the core of San Francisco's underworld.
There are a number of stories about how the Tenderloin got its name. One is that it is a
reference to an older neighborhood in New York with the same name and similar
characteristics. Another is a reference to the neighborhood as the "soft underbelly"
(analogous to the cut of meat) of the city, with allusions to vice, graft, and corruption.
There are also some legends about the name, probably folklore, including that the
neighborhood earned its name from the words of a local police captain, who was
overheard saying that when he was assigned to another part of town, he could only afford
to eat chuck steak on the salary he was earning, but after he was transferred to this
neighborhood he was making so much money on the side soliciting bribes that now he
could eat tenderloin instead. Another version of that story says that the officers that
worked in the Tenderloin received a "hazard pay" bonus for working in such a violent
area, and that is how they were able to afford the good cut of meat. Yet another story,
also likely apocryphal, is that the name is a reference to the sexual parts of prostitutes
(i.e., "loins").
Prior to the emergence of the Castro as a major gay village, the Polk Gulch at the western
side of the Tenderloin was one of the city's first gay neighborhoods. Few of the gay bars
and clubs still exist on Polk Street. Parts of Polk Street now cater to the recent
gentrification of the neighborhood - such bars as Vertigo, Hemlock, and Lush Lounge.
However, many failed businesses in the area (such as a women's gym) attest to a
continuing resistance to gentrification.
Both the movie and book The Maltese Falcon were based in San Francisco's Tenderloin.
There is also an alley, in what is now Nob Hill, named for the book's author (Dashiell
Hammett). It lies outside the Tenderloin because the boundary was defined differently
than it is today. Some locations, such as Sam Spade's apartment and John's Grill, also no
longer lie in the Tenderloin because local economics and real estate have changed the
character and labeling of areas over time.
Community
The Tenderloin is an ethnically diverse community, consisting of middle class families,
hip young people living in cheap apartments, and recent immigrants from Southeast Asia
and Latin America. It is also home to a large population of homeless and those living in
extreme poverty. The neighborhood is home to numerous non-profit social service
agencies and to numerous Single Room Occupancy hotels. All of this comes together to
make this one of the most interesting and diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco.
With few exceptions, housing is rented in dense 4-6 story Edwardian apartment
buildings. The Hamilton, on O'Farrell Street, is a 20 story former hotel which has
condominiumized and is owner occupied.
White middle-upper income inhabitation ("gentrification") accelerated somewhat during
and after the Dot-com boom of 1999-2001 in the northern blocks ranging from O'Farrell
Street to Sutter Street.
One of the centers of community in the Tenderloin is Glide Memorial Church on Ellis &
Taylor Streets. Glide provides social service programs to the area's residents and
homeless and has been doing so for over 40 years. They serve over 1,000,000 meals a
year to homeless and poor residents of San Francisco - most of whom reside in the
Tenderloin.
Cecil Williams has been leading Glide since 1963 and the Sunday Morning
"Celebrations" are famous for their world-renowned gospel-jazz choir and band. Here the
famous sit next to the homeless for Sunday worship in one of the most diverse
congregations in the world. They have two services every Sunday, 9am and 11am. Both
services fill up, with about 1,000 people in attendance at each.
Parks
A park at the corner of Ellis and Jones Streets is unused by children and is commonly
occupied by drug addicts or intoxicated people during the daytime.
Sgt. John Macaulay Park, a gated playground at the corner of O'Farrell and Larkin
Streets, is commonly occupied by parents and their young children. The playground is
well maintained and lies next to a public restroom. It is across the street from a strip club.
Restaurants
"Original Joe's" at Taylor and Turk Streets is a neighborhood Italian American style steak
house.
A variety of Vietnamese restaurants and coffee shops line Larkin Street in Little Saigon.
One well-known restaurant is "VietNam II" at the corner of Larkin and Ellis Streets. The
neighborhood is also known for Vietnamese sandwiches, with several good sandwich
shops scattered up and down Larkin Street. Saigon Sandwiches at the corner of Larkin
and Eddy is particularly well-regarded.
There are numerous Indian and Pakistani restaurants throughout the Tenderloin, causing
some San Francisco residents, who only visit the neighborhood for the Indian food, to
call it "The Tandoori-loin". At Jones & O'Farrell Streets there are three Indian/Pakistani
restaurants. Around the corner, at 398 Eddy Street (at Leavenworth), is Naan N Curry,
considered by the San Francisco Chronicle and many locals (including cab drivers and
cops) to be the best of the bunch (thanks to the affable gray-haired manager named "Arif"
and several of his family members) as well as extremely affordable (one person can often
have quite a decent meal for less than $10, and the sweetened "Chai" tea is free with
meals). Fans of these small places all have a favorite, and Shalimar at Jones & O'Farrell
is another good choice. Chutney, which is across the street from Shalimar is the newest
of the group and is quite popular since Naan n Curry moved around the corner. Naan n
Curry has become so popular, it has spawned at least two other locations in San Francisco
(on Irving near 7th close to UCSF Med Center and on Jackson at Columbus near the
Transamerica Pyramid) and one across the bay in Berkeley.
Many Thai restaurants can be found in the neighborhood, including Thai House Express
at Geary & Larkin and OSHA Thai Noodle at Geary & Leavenworth.
An Asian vegetarian restaurant Golden Era can be found on O'Farrell Street near Jones
Street.
On weekend mornings you will find a large line winding outside of Dottie's True Blue
Cafe, a popular breakfast place. They make their own bread and have huge egg
scrambles. A local, hipster crowd mixes with tourists.
Night life
Bars & Lounges
Many Tenderloin bars have withstood the test of time with their 1920s character and
there is a mix of new bars and lounges.
Bambudda Lounge at 601 Eddy St. & Larkin is a very popular lounge at the Phoenix
Hotel. There is a 20 foot reclining Buddha on the roof. Asian food and DJ Music. They
have poolside bar and indoor / outdoor fireplace.
Olive Bar is at 743 Larkin and O'Farrell, an upscale bar for the neighborhood, known for
their martinis and great food. They serve complimentary olives.
The Nite Cap at Hyde and O'Farrell is a dive bar with lively character and a young
clientele in the evening.
The Owl Tree at Post and Taylor is an ancient dark English style tavern with an owl
theme and a resident terrier.
Edinburgh Castle on Geary at Polk is a Scottish-themed pub with a variety of beers. It is
well known for literary events. They serve authentic fish & chips wrapped in newspaper
from the stand down the block.
Ha Ra is a small, quiet bar with a boxing theme. There are posters of Rocky Marciano
and other old time boxers on the walls. This bar is noted in the book "Dive Bars of San
Francisco".
Whiskey Thieves at Geary & Hyde is one of the few bars in San Francisco that can
legally permit smoking. They have a pool table, big screen tv on game nights and young
crowd.
There are also numerous Korean bars in the neighborhood, notorious for attractive female
bartenders who aggressively work customers for drinks and tips.
Music
The Great American Music Hall, located on O'Farrell Street near Larkin Street, is a
medium capacity venue that offers music from folk to rock to pop.
The San Francisco Rock and Roll Hall of Fame located in the Music City SF recording
studio complex is currently under construction.
The Warfield on Market Street is a large capacity theater that serves popular music
concerts.
The Hemlock Tavern on Polk and Hemlock has revived the local punk/indie scene with
legendary, almost nightly shows by talented unknown bands.
Stage
Many of San Francisco's theaters are either within the boundaries of the Tenderloin or
adjacent.
The Orpheum Theater on Hyde and Market Streets. Broadway shows in San Francisco,
such as The Lion King, Evita, RENT.
The Golden Gate Theater is found at Taylor and Market Streets. Another theater showing
Browadway productions.
The Curran Theater is on Geary & Mason. Another Broadway house.
The Music City SF Center for the Performing Arts is currently in construction and will
contain a large capacity performance space for shows.
The ACT Theater is next to the Curran at Geary & Mason. A local professional theater
company.
Crime
Prostitution is commonly seen on the streets in the area. Transgendered streetwalkers
center on the area around Post and Polk Streets near one of the most famous transgender
bars of the Tenderloin, Divas.
Dealing and use of illicit drugs occurs on the streets. Property crimes are common,
especially theft from parked vehicles. Gun violence is rare but has been known to occur.
External links
The First Annual Anti-War Dive Crawl (photos of various Tenderloin dives and
buildings)
Tenderloin Photo Tour Complete with narration, part of a massive guide to San
Francisco.
San Francisco Neighborhood Guide Tenderloin entry on sfgate.com.
The Tenderloin: San Francisco's Fountainhead - article arguing for the importance of
working class neighborhoods to a city's vitality.
The Tendernob - 21st Century San Francisco Enclave for the Nouveau Poor
Music City San Francisco: Center for the Performing Arts
Glide Memorial in the Tenderloin
Once Upon a Time in the Tenderloin: a personal treatise about one year spent living and
working at a Tenderloin residential hotel
Tenderloin Timeline
Treasure Island, California
An aerial view of Treasure Island in the foreground, with its link to Yerba Buena Island
in the background. Note the San Francisco Bay Bridge's tunnel.
Aerial photo of Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island.
Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco
and Oakland. It is connected by a small isthmus to Yerba Buena Island, a naturally
formed island. It was created in 1939 for the "Golden Gate International Exposition" by
dredging up dirt from the bay.
Treasure Island is wholly within the City and County of San Francisco, which territory
extends far into San Francisco Bay and to the tip of the island of Alameda, California.
The Administration Building, a Streamline Moderne-styled remnant of that World's Fair,
is one of the few buildings remaining from the exposition. Today it serves largely as
offices for The Villages, a private apartment-rental agency. The former housing for
officers and their families is rented out to the general public, pending redevelopment and
reconstruction of buildings on the island slated for 2008.
After the World's Fair 1939–40 exhibition, the island was scheduled to be used as an
airport when the navy stepped in and offered to exchange Mills Field on the San
Francisco Peninsula near the city of Burlingame for the island. The City and County of
San Francisco accepted the swap and the airport was built at Mills Field.
During World War II Treasure Island became part of the Treasure Island Naval Base,
where it served largely as an electronics and radio communications training school, and
as the major navy departure point for sailors active in the Pacific theatre of the war.
In 1996 Treasure Island and the Presidio Army Base were decommissioned and opened
to public control, under stipulations.
Treasure Island is now part of District 6 of the City and County of San Francisco, though
it continues to be owned by the navy.
A substantial part of the island is undergoing environmental cleanup by the federal
government.
The island has no gas station, and is served by a single bus, the San Francisco Municipal
Railway 108. It has a job training center and is home to many low-income San
Franciscans.
The island has a raised walkway which circumnavigates almost its entire bulk, which is
popular for recreation. Sea lions can be observed in the water from the shoreline, and
construction of the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge can be
observed from the eastern part of the island.
Treasure Island's old aircraft hangars also served for three years as the site of Comedy
Central's Battlebots television show, and later as the set where the movie version of Rent
was filmed. The Nash Bridges offices were also located on the island during the
production of that show (1996–2001).
In 2005, one of the largest developers of the United Sates, Lennar Corporation, proposed
to build a self-sustaining city on Treasure Island. According to the San Francisco
Chronicle, the proposal has 5,500 units of housing in several lowrise buildings, a few
highrise buildings with solar panels and restaurants, including a 60 story tower. It also
has an organic farm, a wind farm, and a ferry terminal facing San Francisco, parkland,
and tidal marshes. The proposal is designed to be as car-independent as possible, with the
ferry terminal and basic goods within a 10 minute walk of the residences. This is a
change from the original plan which was more car-dependent and it had only one highrise
tower. See www.sfgov.org for more information.
See also
Islands of San Francisco Bay
External links
Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 37.82334° -122.36827°
Satellite image from Google Maps or Windows Live Local
Sky photo of Treasure Island from Microsoft Terraserver
Weather satellite image from NASA
Treasure Island message board
1942 Naval Seizure controversy
SF filming locations for Nash Bridges
Twin Peaks, San Francisco, California
The Twin Peaks.
The view of downtown San Francisco from Twin Peaks.
The Twin Peaks are two hills with an elevation of about 904 feet that are located in San
Francisco, California. They are the second highest hills in San Francisco, after Mount
Davidson. Twin Peaks Boulevard is the only road that goes to the summit of the peaks,
and on the north side of the hills it connects to Christmas Tree Point, where there is a
parking lot and an observation area which offers unobstructed views of most San
Francisco and the San Francisco Bay.
One of the city's many reservoirs is located to the north of the hills, at the east end of Palo
Alto Avenue.
The Muni Metro Twin Peaks Tunnel runs beneath the Twin Peaks, linking Downtown
with West Portal and the southwestern part of the city. There is no public transportation
service directly to the summit of the peaks, but the 37 Corbett Muni line stops near a path
that goes up the hills on Crestline Drive.
The name Twin Peaks can also be applied to the neighborhood surrounding the hills.
Demographics
In 2000, about 40% of likely voters in Twin Peak/Corona Heights identified as "gay,
bisexual, or other", compared to 11% city-wide. Many local residents proudly refer to
their neighborhood as the "Swish" Alps.
References
September 2000. [1]
See also
External links
Coordinates: 37.752° N -122.448° E
Union Square, San Francisco, California
Looking down into Union Square from Macy's
Union Square is the central shopping, hotel and theater district in San Francisco,
California. Its name is derived from the one-block park situated between Post, Geary,
Powell and Stockton Streets, but its importance as the largest collection of large
department stores, swank boutiques, tourist trinket shops and salons in the West
continues to make Union Square a major visitor draw and downtown San Francisco a
vital, cosmopolitan place. Grand hotels and small inns, and repertory, off-broadway and
single-act theaters contribute to the area's dynamic, 24-hour character.
While Union Square proper dates from the United States Civil War era, the park has
undergone many notable changes: the 1906 San Francisco earthquake leveled most of the
buildings that surrounded it, a large underground parking garage was installed in the early
1940s and relocated the park's lawns, shrubs and landmark statuary to the garage "roof,"
and in the 1990s, the square was remodeled again to create more paved surfaces (for
easier maintenance) with outdoor cafes. Union Square today retains its role as the
ceremonial "heart" of San Francisco, serving as the site of many public concerts,
impromptu protests, speeches by visiting dignitaries, and the annual Christmas tree and
Menorah. Two cable car lines pass the Square on Powell Street, and public views of the
park can be had from such high places as the St. Francis Hotel tower, the Sir Francis
Drake Hotel, Macy's top floor, and the Grand Hyatt hotel.
Union Square from The Cheesecake Factory.
Union Square has also come to describe not only the immediate vicinity of the park but
the general shopping, dining and theater sub-districts within the surrounding blocks. The
Geary and Curran theaters one block west on Geary anchor the "theater district" and
border the Tenderloin. At the end of Powell Street two blocks south, where the cable cars
turn around beside Hallidie Plaza at Market Street, is a growing retail corridor that leads
to the Yerba Buena Gardens, with its own arts and entertainment centers, more large
hotels, the Moscone Convention Center and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Also south of Market and near Yerba Buena Gardens is the historic United States Mint
Building, built in 1874 of granite: a rare survivor of the 1906 quake. Nob Hill, with its
grand mansions, apartment buildings and hotels, stands to the northwest of Union Square.
This area is also home to some of the most upscale luxury hotels in San Francisco.
To the north is Chinatown, with its gate at Grant Avenue and Bush Street, one of the
largest Chinese communities outside Asia. The city's historic "French Quarter" runs east
along Bush Street and tucks into the alleys of Belden Place and Claude near the French
Consulate and the landmark Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church.
Union Square is the central shopping, hotel and theater district in San Francisco.
This area was the home to the city's first French settlers, who, according to historian
Gladys Hansen, were most sympathetic of the housing and employment needs of the
Chinese settlers in the nascent days of Chinatown and shared Dupont street as a business
address -- a tolerance that was only tested, according to Alexandre Dumas in A Gil Blas
in California (1852), when Chinese cooks began to tamper with French cuisine. The
cafes, hotels and restaurants of the French Quarter today maintain a distinct joie de vivre
befitting the Quarter's heritage. Every year, the area is the site of the boisterous Bastille
Day celebration, the nation's largest, and Bush Street is temporarily re-named Buisson.
Directly east of the Square is Maiden Lane, a narrow alley of exclusive shops and cafes
that leads to the Financial District and boasts San Francisco's only building designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright — most notable for being the predecessor for New York City's
Guggenheim Museum.
Besides the cable cars, Union Square is served by numerous trolley and bus lines and the
F Market streetcar. The Muni Metro and BART subway sytems both serve the area at
nearby Powell Street Station.
See also
List of upscale shopping districts
External links
Photographs of Union Square
Union Square Weblog
Visitacion Valley, San Francisco,
California
Visitacion Valley is a neighbourhood located in the south eastern quadrant of San
Francisco, California.
The Visitacion Valley is roughly defined by McLaren Park to the West, Mansell Blvd to
the North, Bayview Hill and Candlestick Cove to the East, and the San Francisco / San
Mateo County line to the South.
The area has long had a large proportion of immigrants and is now home to many people
who were originally from Asia, particularly Vietnam.
External Links
Visitacion Valley Community Development Centre
Western Addition, San Francisco,
California
A southern view from Alta Plaza Park, which is in the Pacific Heights neighborhood.
Most of the valley in the central part of this image is in the Western Addition
neighborhood. In the background on the right can be seen Sutro Tower, which is west of
Twin Peaks. The darker hill to the left and slightly more in the foreground is Buena Vista
Heights, which is directly south of Haight Street (between the Haight-Fillmore and
Haight-Ashbury neighborhoods). Cathedral Hill is visible to the left, just west of Van
Ness Avenue and north of Hayes Valley.
The Western Addition is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. Historically, it
was an addition to the city west of Van Ness Avenue sandwiched between the Haight
district and Pacific Heights. The area was first developed around the turn of the 20th
century as a middle-class suburb served by cable cars. Aside from Hayes Valley, it
survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake with its Victorian-style buildings largely
intact. Today, the term Western Addition is generally used in two ways: to denote the
development's original geographic area, and to denote the eastern portion of the
neighborhood (also called the Fillmore District) that was redeveloped in the 1950's.
Those who use the term in the former sense generally consider its (relatively ill-defined)
boundaries to be Van Ness Avenue on the east, Masonic Avenue on the west, Post Street
on the north, and Oak Street on the south. From there, it is often divided into smaller
neighborhoods such as Japantown, The Fillmore, Hayes Valley, Lower Pacific Heights,
North Panhandle, Cathedral Hill, Alamo Square, and Anza Vista.
After the Second World War, the Western Addition---particularly the Fillmore District--became a population base and a cultural center for San Francisco's African American
community. Since then, urban renewal schemes and San Francisco's changing
demographics have led to major changes in the economic and ethnic makeup of the
neighborhood, as the Fillmore District suffered from crime and poverty while many other
districts underwent significant gentrification. Today, many areas of the neighborhood are
again solidly middle-class.
The Central Freeway used to run through the neighborhood to Turk Street, but that
section of the freeway was closed immediately after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
and later demolished.
External links
San Francisco Muni Map showing the location of the Western Addition and smaller subneighborhoods (when zoomed in).
West Portal, San Francisco, California
West Portal is a principal shopping street for much of southwestern San Francisco,
California, and is also considered a neighborhood itself. Named for the western terminus
of the Muni tunnel beneath Twin Peaks that opened in 1918, the street (West Portal
Avenue) and adjacent district is still dominated by the frequent trundlings of the three
Muni Metro lines (K, L and M) that emerge from the subway to run in the street median.
The ride in the subway from West Portal to downtown/Union Square is about fifteen
minutes.
West Portal lies directly adjacent to several larger San Francisco neighborhoods: the
affluent and lushly verdant Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood neighborhoods on the east
and south, Parkside (a southern sub-district of the Sunset District) on the north, and at the
western end of the Avenue, Lakeshore Village and Merced Manor. The residential areas
of the West Portal neighborhood, like several of the adjacent districts, are unusual for San
Francisco in that the homes are often detached, albeit with small yards. The frequent fog
helps keep the area green in the usually rainless summer months, and on a clear day, a
view from the park above the tunnel can be had of the Marin Headlands and the Farallon
Islands in the Pacific.
In addition to the streetcar tunnel, West Portal's landmarks include a large movie theater,
a library, a school, churches (including the prominent West Portal Lutheran Church and
School), restaurants, bars (Portal's Tavern[1]), bookstores (Waldenbooks and West Portal
Books [2]), drugstores (Walgreens and Rite Aid), markets, and coffeeshops. These along
with many other unique neighborhood shops give the area a distinctly smaller-city,
"retro" charm. The West Portal Muni Metro Station is located at the entrance to the Muni
tunnel at the northern end of West Portal Avenue.
Westwood Park, San Francisco,
California
Westwood Park is an affluent residential neighborhood located in southwestern San
Francisco, California, near St. Francis Wood and City College of San Francisco.
Westwood Park was built as an upperclass neighborhood for downtown merchants. Most
streets in this neighborhood have a suffix of "wood," such as Eastwood, Northwood,
Rollingwood, and so forth.
External links
Westwood Park Association
A short history of Westwood Park
Pictures of Westwood Park Houses
San Francisco Chronicle article on Westwood Park
Yerba Buena Island
An aerial view of Yerba Buena Island in the background, with its link to Treasure Island
in the foreground. Note the San Francisco Bay Bridge's tunnel.
Aerial photo of Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island.
Yerba Buena Island sits in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland,
California. The Yerba Buena Tunnel runs through its center and connects the western and
eastern spans of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. It has had several other names
over the decades: Sea Bird Island, Wood Island, and Goat Island.
Located west of the island is Blossom Rock, a treacherous submerged stone which caused
a number of shipwrecks, until ships learned to use some nearby redwood trees as
navigation helpers to avoid it. The site of these trees (now located in Redwood Regional
Park) is a California Historical Landmark.
As the natural base for the artificial Treasure Island, Yerba Buena and Treasure Islands
formed the Treasure Island Naval Base, beginning during World War II until 1996, when
it and the Presidio of San Francisco were decommissioned, and opened to public control,
under stipulations.
In his book Two Years Before the Mast, published in 1840, Richard Henry Dana
mentioned the island and called it "Wood Island."
The first California legislature on February 18, 1850, passed an act establishing the
boundaries of San Francisco County and named the island Yerba Buena, after the former
name for the city of San Francisco.
Officially, the island was Yerba Buena until 1895, when on a decision by the U.S.
Geographic Board, it was changed to "Goat Island." It was changed back to "Yerba
Buena" on June 3, 1931. "Yerba Buena" literally means "Good Herb" in Spanish.
The island is currently part of District 6 of the City and County of San Francisco.
See also
Islands of San Francisco Bay
External links
Treasure Island message board
Naval Training Station: San Francisco Bay, Calif., Yerba Buena Island. Retrieved on July
12, 2005.
WikiSatellite view at WikiMapia
Street map from MapQuest or Google Local
Satellite image from Google Local or Microsoft Virtual Earth

San Francisco Relocation Guide

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