Marina District, San Francisco, California

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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.

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

1 History
2 Geography
3 Earthquakes
4 Important structures
5 Sociology
6 Films Primarily or Partially Set In The Marina
7 Famous residents past and present
8 External links

[edit] 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 the Marina Green, a large stretch of turf frequented for the most part by runners. A less-strenuous exercise is walking along 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.

[edit] 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. Lombard Street runs between Cow Hollow to the south and the Marina, sometimes referred to as NoLo [North of Lombard], to the north.

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,” "Dateway," 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 Web site 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.