San Francisco, California - Districts

Neighborhoods

Chinatown

The historic center of San Francisco is the northeast quadrant of the city bordered by Market Street to the south. It is here that the Financial District is centered, with Union Square, the principal shopping and hotel district, nearby. Cable cars carry residents and tourists alike up steep inclines to the summit of Nob Hill, once the home of the city's business tycoons, and down to Fisherman's Wharf, a tourist area featuring Dungeness crab from a still-active fishing industry. Also in this quadrant are Russian Hill, a residential neighborhood with the famously crooked Lombard Street, North Beach, the city's version of Little Italy, and Telegraph Hill, which features Coit Tower. Nearby is San Francisco's Chinatown, established in the 1860s. The Tenderloin is often seen as the crime-infested underbelly of the city.

The Mission District is predominantly working-class and populated by immigrants from Mexico and Central America, but is also gentrifying. Haight-Ashbury, famously associated with 1960s hippie culture, is now heavily gentrified, although it still retains some bohemian character. The Castro is the center of gay life in the city.

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• San Francisco/Fisherman's Wharf|Fisherman's Wharf is a great place to see amazing street entertainers, eat excellent seafood, watch sea lions, visit museums, or take a cruise to the infamous Alcatraz Prison or the pleasant Angel Island. Working fishing boats still come into the small harbor at Jones and Jefferson, the endpoint of the Muni Historic F-streetcar. There are also small day and party boats available. The fresh breeze from the bay can provide a bracing setting.
• San Francisco/Chinatown|Chinatown, centered around Grant Street from Bush to Columbus, is part tourist trap, part an exhibit of local life. Good eating places remain, and the side streets especially have stores one wouldn't find in a mall. Stockton Street, the street paralleling Grant to to west is the main street where most locals do their shopping for groceries. Be sure to sample some of the dim sum and other specialties offered in the many bustling shops. However, many local Chinese prefer to eat and shop in the new Chinatowns located in other neighborhoods such as the Inner San Francisco/Richmond|Richmond neighborhood or on Clement Street between 2nd and 12th Avenues. The Muni #1 (California) and #2 (Clement, does not run at night) buses get people from one Chinatown to the other.
• The San Francisco/Civic Center|Civic Center has impressive Beaux Arts buildings including City Hall and the War Memorial Veterans Building, the celebrated Asian Art Museum, music and theater venues (including large concert halls and a renowned Symphony and Opera), and the main public library.
• The San Francisco/Castro-Noe Valley|Castro is the center of San Francisco's Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Transgender (LGBT) community, with theaters and small shops and restaurants.
• Treasure Island. An artificial island half-way between San Francisco and Oakland connected to Yerba Buena Island which the Bay Bridge passes through. The island has excellent views of San Francisco & Oakland skylines and quirky structures from the international fairground-turned-navy base-turned neighborhood. Accessible by Muni bus #108 from the Transbay Terminal downtown.

A mural in the Mission District

The city's Japantown district suffered when its Japanese American residents were forcibly removed and interned during World War II. The nearby Western Addition became established with a large African American population at the same time. The "Painted Ladies," a row of well-restored Victorian homes, stand alongside Alamo Square, and the mansions built by the San Francisco business elite in the wake of the 1906 earthquake can be found in Pacific Heights. The Marina to the north is a lively area with many young urban professionals.

The Richmond, the vast region north of Golden Gate Park that extends to the Pacific Ocean, today has a portion called "New Chinatown," but also attracts immigrants from other parts of Asia and Russia. South of Golden Gate Park lies the Sunset with an Asian majority population. The Richmond and the Sunset are largely middle class and, together, are known as The Avenues. Bayview-Hunter's Point in the southeast section of the city is one of the poorest neighborhoods and suffers from a high rate of crime, though the area has been the focus of plans for urban renewal. The other southern neighborhoods of the city are ethnically diverse and populated primarily with students and working-class San Franciscans.

The South of Market, once filled with decaying remnants of San Francisco's industrial past, has seen significant redevelopment. The locus of the dot-com boom during the late 1990s, by 2004 South of Market began to see skyscrapers and condominiums dot the area. Following the success of nearby South Beach, another neighborhood, Mission Bay, underwent redevelopment, anchored by a second campus of the University of California, San Francisco.

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• San Francisco/Golden Gate|Golden Gate— Fashionable neighborhoods with expensive views, historical landmarks - The Presidio and Fort Mason, and the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
• San Francisco/Fisherman's Wharf|Fisherman's Wharf— A waterfront neighborhood which encompasses Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square and the ferry launch to Alcatraz Island, as well as a plethora of seafood restaurants and souvenir stores.
• San Francisco/Nob Hill-Russian Hill|Nob Hill-Russian Hill— Two ritzy neighborhoods with upscale hotels, cable cars, panoramic views and steep inclines.
• San Francisco/Chinatown-North Beach|Chinatown-North Beach— Two vibrant immigrant communities, stylish laid back 'Little Italy' next to the crowded and largest Chinatown outside of Asia.
• San Francisco/Union Square-Financial District|Union Square-Financial District— The center of shopping, theater and art in the city, next to the many skyscrapers of downtown.
• San Francisco/Civic Center-Tenderloin|Civic Center-Tenderloin— While the 'loin is somewhat grittier compared to its ritzier neighbors downtown, there's still plenty of interesting architecture and attractions to see here.
• San Francisco/SoMa|SoMa (South of Market)— A rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of downtown that is the center of a lot of new construction, including AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.
• San Francisco/Western Addition|Western Addition— A historic neighborhood with many Victorian homes, as well as Japantown, the center of San Francisco's Japanese population.
• San Francisco/Haight|Haight— Famous for being the home of the Hippie movement, this once bohemian area, although gentrified, is still an eclectic treasure.
• San Francisco/The Avenues|The Avenues— Including both the foggy Sunset and Richmond Districts, the area is also home to the Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach.
• San Francisco/Twin Peaks-Lake Merced|Twin Peaks-Lake Merced— Covering most of southwestern San Francisco, this area is home to many of the taller hills of San Francisco and the large Lake Merced park which contains the San Francisco Zoo.
• San Francisco/Castro-Noe Valley|Castro-Noe Valley— Colorful and cohesive, the Castro is historically known for being the cultural center of the city's LGBTQ community.
• San Francisco/Mission-Bernal Heights|Mission-Bernal Heights— This colorful area is home to a large Hispanic community as well as new urban artisans.
• San Francisco/Southeast|Southeast San Francisco— A mostly residential area, this district contains several bay-side neighborhoods, many nice parks, and Monster Park, home of the 49ers NFL team.