Inner Richmond

Few places in San Francisco capture the changes the city is undergoing quite as neatly and succinctly as the Inner Richmond. This is where the city’s flux is most evident: in the revitalized housing, in the new restaurants and businesses, in the makeup of its residents, and in the changing look and feel of a neighborhood in the process of renewal, if not gentrification. Here, old homes are emerging from neglect, with new paint and windows and restored porches. Major thoroughfares like Geary Boulevard have been re-engineered to enable better traffic flow, with new plants and trees to beautify the median. Old commercial streets (like Balboa, Clement, and Geary as well) are taking on renewed luster, as businesses move in and revamp shopfronts that had drifted into decay. The Inner Richmond, long classified as San Francisco’s “second Chinatown,” is moving toward its new definition: the next Noe Valley, with a mix of old-timers and newcomers, singles and families, kids and retirees. If you want a glimpse at what San Francisco’s ever-transforming landscape looks like, look no further than the Inner Richmond.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, this formerly all-white enclave has become typical of many San Francisco neighborhoods where no one ethnicity predominates: About 45 percent white (with recent Irish immigrants making up a large part of the total), 40 percent Asian, and the rest a mix of Native American, African American or people of mixed race. They are thirty-somethings (median age is 36), educated (57 percent hold a bachelor’s degree or higher), and middle class (with a median household income of about $60,000). About 35 percent live in their own homes; the remaining 65 percent rent.

This fairly flat expanse of former sand dunes the current residents inhabit was once part of the city’s vast “Outer Lands,” developed by, among others, the late-19th-century Fernando Nelson and his sons, who were credited with building a house a day for six years after the great quake and fire of 1906. Though many small cottages from the 19th century remain in the area (attesting to the initial development of the land here as vegetable and dairy farms), the primary architecture of the district is Edwardian, with many details and characteristics added to give the homes a one-of-a-kind look: a Tudor façade here, a Moorish arch over the entry there, French grillwork around the windows and false balconies—anything to give the side-by-side homes (many of which were, in fact, based on the same layout) less uniformity (see the rows on Fifth Avenue between Balboa and Cabrillo, those along Third Avenue between Cabrillo and Fulton, and those up and down Twelfth Avenue from Golden Gate Park to Anza for examples of this “individualization”).

Today, many of these homes, suffering from long-deferred maintenance or outright neglect, are being restored and refurbished by their young, eager new owners, intent on raising their families in a solid neighborhood with good housing stock. Area homeowners are also intent on planting more trees on the somewhat barren streets, particularly ones that will thrive in the area’s frequent fog and wind. And for a really great “tree fix,” the Presidio and Golden Gate Park, with all of their natural and manmade attractions, border the neighborhood on the north and south, respectively.

Perhaps the street most indicative of who lives here now is Clement. In addition to hosting Green Apple Books, a beloved used-book store, and Sixth Avenue Aquarium, a quirky aquatic-pet and flower store with an intriguing selection of fresh- and saltwater fish, the 14 blocks stretching westward from Arguello Boulevard amount to a repository of world food and drink: Le Soleil, a refined Vietnamese restaurant; Chapeau, a French bistro; an old-fashioned Schubert’s Bakery (established in 1911); the Plough and the Stars, an Irish pub (and a vortex of live Irish music); Giorgio’s Pizzeria; Burma Superstar, which specializes in spicy Burmese cuisine; Fune Ya Japanese Restaurant; Clement Street Bar and Grill; Good Luck Dim Sum; Pizza Orgasmica and Brewing; Coriya Hot Pot City; Be My Guest Thai Bistro; and Russian Bear. Numerous Asian produce and fish markets line Clement as well, led by Richmond New May Wah Supermarket.

Though Geary between Arguello and Park Presidio (the east and west boundaries of the neighborhood, respectively) remains a utilitarian strip, an automobile and bus corridor lined with gas stations and convenience and specialty stores, it has undergone some re-engineering of late for easier traffic flow as well as some new landscaping of its nondescript median. Small, walk-in restaurants also announce the area’s multi-culti population, from Star of India and Bella Trattoria to Genki Ramen, Five Happiness, and Korean Village Wooden Charcoal House. Add to this a couple of Irish pubs, Abbey Tavern and Ireland’s 32, for a snapshot of the area’s demographics. There are also a number of churches and other landmarks on the street, including Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church and Park Presidio United Methodist Church, both of which raise their handsome white bell towers high above the traffic.

Balboa Street, too, speaks of the neighborhood’s transition: new cafés and restaurants dot the intersections with the avenues: Javaholics, The Richmond Restaurant and Wine Bar, Namu (Korean), Sushi Bistro, Cinderella Bakery and Café, and Thai Noodle Jump.

For public transportation, the area is well served by frequent (if jam-packed) buses. Geary is the main event, with the Nos. 31 and 38 carrying nearly 60,000 riders back and forth on the boulevard between here and downtown, a route paralleled by the No. 1 on California, the No. 31 on Balboa, and the No. 5 along Fulton. The No. 2 takes a more meandering path, traveling along Clement Street before going through Laurel Heights and Japantown en route to Union Square. The No. 44 travels north and south on Sixth Avenue; the No. 33 does the same along Arguello Boulevard. Though much has been made of the need for a faster, more efficient means of public transit along the Geary corridor into downtown, surface streetcars have lately been dismissed as too disruptive and ultimately not fast enough, while a subway under Geary is for the time being financially infeasible. So planners are emphasizing express buses with limited stops.

Local children attend a number of schools, from private (Star of the Sea [Catholic, K-8 and preschool] and Laurel School [nondenominational, for students with “learning differences,” K-8]) to public (George Peabody Elementary and Roosevelt Middle School, both of which rated 9 out of 10 on the GreatSchools scale, as well as Sutro Elementary, which got an 8 GreatSchools rating). All schools and their students take advantage of the newly remodeled Milton Marks Branch Library, which has age-appropriate collections and special rooms for children and teens as well as kid-friendly landscaping with a play structure.

Because of its numerous restaurants and bars, disturbing the peace is the most common criminal offense here, with the occasional assault accompanying the noise. Burglaries and robberies are also not uncommon, and, following the citywide scourge, car break-ins and auto thefts are on the rise. There has been one homicide in the neighborhood in the last three years.

Real estate in the area is considered a bargain (a four-bedroom, one-bath home was listed for $825,000, and numerous two-bedroom, two-bath condos are going for around $500,000, with a one-bedroom condo listed recently at about $330,000). Rentals here are also moderately priced: studios around $1,100, one bedrooms in the $1,200 to $1,600 range, and two bedrooms from $1,700. More than any factor, these examples of “affordable” housing may underpin the resurgence the area is currently enjoying.