Potrero Hill, San Francisco, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 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, and the public housing projects on the southern and eastern sides of the hill, which contribute to a moderately higher crime rate than other areas of the city.[citation needed] The powder blue water tower, located near 22nd Street and Wisconsin Street, was torn down in mid-2006 (as part of a seismic upgrade and due to the fact that it was no longer needed).
"Potrero" is Spanish for "pasture": the name derives from a 1835 land grant to Don Francisco de Haro to graze cattle in the "potrero nuevo" ("new pasture").
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[edit] Notable residents
- O.J. Simpson - Former star football player who played for Galileo High School, San Francisco City College, University of Southern California, and the Buffalo Bills. Simpson grew up on Potrero Hill.
- Wayne Thiebaud - Famous, skillful and prolific painter lived on and painted Potrero Hill for years
- Robert Bechtle - Photorealist painter 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 - Poet and co-founder of City Lights, America's first all-paperback bookstore. Ferlinghetti bought the house at 706 Wisconsin St. for $9,995 in 1957.
- The offices of social news site Digg are located above the SF Bay Guardian newspaper on Mississippi St.
[edit] Notable streets
- De Haro Street is named after Francisco De Haro. Along with Potrero Avenue, it is one of the main streets of the neighborhood. Most of this street is served by the Muni 19 Polk route.
- Vermont Street is famed for the block between 20th and 22nd which, like the better-known Lombard Street, has several sharp switchbacks.
[edit] Transportation
Two freeways run through Potrero Hill, U.S. Route 101 on the western side, Interstate 280 on the eastern side. Muni provides bus service on the hill and light rail service on 3rd Street. Caltrain commuter rail has an express stop at 22nd street beneath Interstate 280.
[edit] Detailed stops of Muni lines in Potrero Hill
The general directions are north to south and west to east; bolded stops indicate transfer points.
- T Third Street: 3rd & Mariposa; 3rd & 20th; 3rd & 23rd; 3rd & Marin
- 19 Polk: Rhode Island & 16th; Rhode Island & 17th; Rhode Island & Mariposa; Rhode Island & 18th; Rhode Island & 19th; Rhode Island & 20th; Rhode Island & Southern Heights; Rhode Island & 22nd; 1076 Rhode Island; Rhode Island & 23rd; Rhode Island & 24th; Rhode Island & 25th; Rhode Island & 26th; 26th & De Haro; Wisconsin & 26th; 25th & Wisconsin; 25th & Connecticut; Connecticut & 26th; Connecticut & Cesar Chavez
- 22 Fillmore: 16th & Potrero; 16th & San Bruno; 16th & Kansas; 17th & Rhode Island; 17th & De Haro; 17th & Wisconsin; Connecticut & 17th; Connecticut & 18th; 18th & Texas; 18th & Pennsylvania; 18th & Minnesota; 18th & 3rd; 20th & 3rd
- 48 Quintara/24th: Potrero & 24th; 23rd & Utah (SF General Hospital); 23rd & Vermont; 23rd & Kansas (Some weekend buses end here); 23rd & Rhode Island; Rhode Island & 24th; Rhode Island & 25th; Rhode Island & 26th; 26th & De Haro; Wisconsin & 26th; Wisconsin & 25th; Wisconsin & Connecticut; Wisconsin & 23rd; Wisconsin & Madera; Wisconsin & 22nd; Wisconsin & 20th; 20th & Arkansas; 20th & Missouri; 20th & Texas; Texas & Sierra; 22nd & Pennsylvania (Caltrain 22nd Street Stop); 22nd & Minnesota; 22nd & 3rd; 20th & 3rd
- 53 Southern Heights: Connecticut & 18th; Missouri & 19th; Missouri & 20th; Missouri & Sierra; Missouri & Turner; Missouri & Watchman; Dakota & Potrero Hill; 25th & Dakota; 25th & Connecticut; 25th & Wisconsin; Wisconsin & Connecticut; Wisconsin & 23rd; Wisconsin & Madera; Wisconsin & 22nd; 22nd & Carolina; Southern Heights & De Haro; Southern Heights & Averhode; Rhode Island & 20th; 20th & Kansas; 20th & Vermont; Vermont & 19th; Vermont & 18th; Vermont & Mariposa; Vermont & 17th; 16th & Vermont; 16th & Potrero
Other lines: 9, 10, 33, 15 (before April 7, 2007).
[edit] In Film
Potrero Hill has been a location in the movies, featured prominently in Pacific Heights (the actual house is at Texas and 19th Street, not in Pacific Heights)[1] and Sweet November[2], and in chase scenes in Bullitt and The Dead Pool.
[edit] Further reading
- 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.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- San Francisco Neighborhoods: Potrero Hill - Neighborhood guide from the San Francisco Chronicle
- Potrero Hill SF - Neighborhood guide and blog
- Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or MapQuest
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, or WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
