Sunset District, San Francisco, California
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The Outer Sunset from Grand View Park
The Sunset District 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).
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[edit] 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, much of the area was covered by sand dunes and was originally referred to by 19th century San Franciscans as "the Outside Lands."
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 recognized as a separate neighborhood, known as Parkside. The Parkside District extends south of Noriega Street to Sloat Boulevard and west of 19th Avenue to the Great Highway.
[edit] Characteristics
The Sunset District is the largest district within the city of San Francisco, California. Districts in San Francisco are sections of the city larger than neighborhoods, but distinct enough (at least when they were initially identified) to be set apart by name from another district.
The Sunset District (The Sunset) comprises much of the west central section of the San Francisco. Its northern border is Golden Gate Park, western border the Pacific Ocean (Ocean Beach), southern border Sloat Blvd., and its eastern border is roughly at 7th Ave. The Sunset District is broken up into two sort of sub-districts: the Inner Sunset (east of 19th Ave.) and the Outer Sunset (from 19th Ave. to Ocean Beach). Those two areas are very different in terms of demographics and commercial development.
The western districts of (Sunset and Richmond) border the cold north Californian Pacific ocean coastline , so they tend to get much of the fog San Francisco is famous for...although not as much as some people seem to think. The Sunset is one of the more residential districts in San Francisco, so it isn't on many tourist maps. It (particularly the Outer Sunset) has several assets to the people who live there: the best performing schools in the city; a low crime rate; a more affordable housing market (by SF standards); plenty of parking (a rarity in San Francisco); and great ocean views. Another rather unique addition to the beautiful originality of the Sunset is the amount of sand that can be found on roadways and driveways within the first 5-10 blocks East of Ocean Beach, carried by the winds created from the low temperature of the Pacific Ocean meeting the slightly warmer inland temperature. This fine mist of sand covers everything from cars to doorsteps and windows, and can be observed collecting in and clogging the sewer grates leading to the bowels of the city underneath.
The commercial area along Irving Street is animated and attractive. The N Judah and L Taraval lines of the Muni Metro provide a link to downtown, with easy connections to BART. Despite the Sunset's not being a tourist or transplant destination, it is a solid old school San Francisco family district. The neighborhood's property values have risen along with those in the rest of San Francisco, most spectacularly during the late 1990s. Wood-frame and stucco homes of 1,000-1,500 square feet, originally built in the 1930s and 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 the influx of young transplants with disposable income. It has 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 starting with the sudden influx of young transplants from all over the U.S. during the late 90's. Prior to the dot com boom of the late 90's, smaller service businesses such as laundromats and grocery stores dominated the Inner Sunset's commercial character. The population of the Outer Sunset is approximately 70% Chinese, so the commercial development in that area tends to cater to Chinese interests.
[edit] 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 neighborhood and there are several Irish pubs in the Sunset. The Sunset also contains three synagogues.
The strip near the Pacific Ocean has a notable population of surfers who take advantage of the sometimes-excellent surf conditions of Ocean Beach.
The Outer Sunset is regarded by the city's political observers as being one of the more conservative communities in San Francisco[1][2]. Collectively, the area's residents are less likely to be in favor of gay marriage and rent control than voters in other parts of the city, and favor stricter policies toward the homeless
[edit] 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. When the city was originally laid out, the avenues were numbered from 1st to 49th and the east-west streets were lettered A to X. In 1909, to reduce confusion for mail carriers, the east-west streets and 1st Avenue and 49th Avenue were renamed. The east-west streets were named after Spanish explorers in ascending alphabetical order in a southward direction. First Avenue was renamed Arguello Boulevard and 49th Avenue was renamed La Playa Street. [3]
Today, the first numbered avenue is 2nd Avenue, starting one block west of Arguello Boulevard, and the last is 48th Avenue near Ocean Beach. The avenue numbers increase incrementally, with the exception 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).
The east-west streets in the Sunset are for the most part in alphabetical order. These streets are: Lincoln, Hugo (Inner Sunset only), Irving, Judah, Kirkham, Lawton, Moraga, Noriega, Ortega, Pacheco, Quintara, Rivera, Santiago, Taraval, Ulloa, Vicente, Wawona, and Yorba. "X" was originally proposed to be Xavier, but was changed to Yorba due to a pronunciation controversy [4].
[edit] Supervisors of District 4
- Ed Jew 2006 - present
- Fiona Ma 2002 - 2006
- Leland Yee 1997 -2002
[edit] Further reading
- Ungaretti, Lorri (2003). San Francisco's Sunset District. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2862-5.
[edit] External links
- 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
- Inner, Center and Outer Sunset guided photo tour
- Western Neighborhoods Project
- Inner, Outer Sunset Neighborhood Guide (SFGate)
- Sunset Beacon, local newspaper
- Street Naming Controversy How the east-west streets in the Sunset were renamed in 1909
- Photographs of the Sunset District, 1886-1972, at San Francisco Public Library
