6.8 out of 10

Mission Terrace

Ranked 67th best neighborhood in San Francisco
37.7258230809105 -122.437388369059
Great for
  • Public Transport
  • Internet Access
  • Pest Free
  • Parking
  • Parks & Recreation
Not great for
  • Nightlife
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
Who lives here?
  • Families with kids
  • Professionals
  • Retirees
  • Singles
  • LGBT+

Reviews

4/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 4/5
  • Clean & Green 4/5
  • Pest Free 4/5
  • Peace & Quiet 3/5
  • Eating Out 3/5
  • Nightlife 2/5
  • Parks & Recreation 4/5
  • Shopping Options 3/5
  • Gym & Fitness 4/5
  • Internet Access 4/5
  • Lack of Traffic 3/5
  • Parking 4/5
  • Cost of Living 3/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 5/5
  • Public Transport 5/5
  • Medical Facilities 3/5
  • Schools 4/5
  • Childcare 3/5
2yrs+

"Excellent Location"

This is a lovely neighborhood. The houses are well kept and diverse. Most houses have character and have both front and back yards and sidewalks are clean. Residents maintain their properties. This is a great area for walking, there are long, safe flat walks or you can go hiking from your home to Glen Park Canyon (an Urban wilderness). Access to transit is excellent. There is easy access to Muni J-Church, BART (Glen Park, or Balboa stations) and many Muni bus lines. If you drive there is easy access to the 280 freeway, as well as major cross-town routes (Ocean, Alemany, Bosworth, San Jose, Geneva). Neighborhood shopping and Restaurants require some walking, Mission street, Glen Park and Ocean Ave are all within 10 min. There are 2 Safeway stores and a Whole Foods store within 2 miles. Stonestown Mall / Farmer's Market is only a 10 min drive. Schools in the area include Glen Park, & Monroe elementary, and Balboa High School, and Lick Wilmerding private high school. Recreation is available, aside from walking, Balboa park is close and includes an indoor swimming pool, basketball courts, tennis courts, skate park, baseball fields, Boxer Stadium, and several new playgrounds.
Pros
  • Great for Commuting
  • Good Value
  • Close to City College
Recommended for
  • Families with kids
  • LGBT+
  • Country Lovers
3/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 3/5
  • Safe & Sound 4/5
  • Clean & Green 2/5
  • Pest Free 3/5
  • Peace & Quiet 3/5
  • Eating Out 2/5
  • Nightlife 3/5
  • Parks & Recreation 3/5
  • Shopping Options 2/5
  • Gym & Fitness 2/5
  • Internet Access 5/5
  • Lack of Traffic 3/5
  • Parking 4/5
  • Cost of Living 4/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 4/5
  • Public Transport 4/5
  • Medical Facilities 4/5
  • Schools 3/5
  • Childcare 3/5
2yrs+

"Okay City College Adjacent Hood"

Alright, you shouldn’t really think of Mission Terrace as anything like the Mission. In fact, I think that it doesn’t actually even border the Mission District, being separated by part of Bernal Heights. This neighborhood is not exactly beautiful, but it does have a certain quality to it that some might find attractive. It is made up of Spanish Revival style bungalows. They are fairly nicely kept and judging by the luxury cars parked outside, this neighborhood must have some high end sections.

So what should we make of this neighborhood?

Rents—The rents are fairly varied in this neighborhood—which is a little strange because from the outside the small lots and Mission style can look fairly homogenous. Most homes however go for about $850/mo. You can definitely find some for twice that amount.

Crime—Crime is only moderate here and there were no murders here last year.
Parks and Recreation—One of the nice things about this neighborhood is the presence of Balboa Park.

Education—The neighborhood is also to the east of City College of San Francisco, perhaps the best community college in the Bay Area. The local school, Balboa High is actually considered a fairly strong school although when you look at their scores on standardized tests they are strangely all over the board with some areas coming in the bottom quarter while others reach up into the top (and a fair number in between as well).

Restaurants—Like with its neighbor, the Excelsior District, restaurants are mostly along Mission and are mostly un-impressive. These are the kind of places you go to when you are too lazy or tired to go anywhere else.

Bars—The bars are a lot better. There are about a half dozen dives worth dropping in on—all on Mission. (Mission Street here, like in many parts of the actual Mission, has sort of slightly run down look to it, but definitely feels authentic.)

Some of the lower rent prices in this neighborhood can be explained by the nearby college, though I don’t think it is very common for students to move near community colleges in the same way they do for UCs or private universities like Stanford.

Overall, a little boring but definitely worth a look if you want to keep rents low or are a student in the area.
Pros
  • Affordable
  • Close to City College
  • Good Dive Bars
Cons
  • Bland
  • Mediocre Restaurants
  • Old Home Problems
Recommended for
  • Retirees
  • Students
3/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 4/5
  • Clean & Green 5/5
  • Pest Free 5/5
  • Peace & Quiet 3/5
  • Eating Out 1/5
  • Nightlife 1/5
  • Parks & Recreation 5/5
  • Shopping Options 2/5
  • Gym & Fitness 2/5
  • Internet Access 5/5
  • Lack of Traffic 3/5
  • Cost of Living 2/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 2/5
  • Public Transport 5/5
  • Medical Facilities 3/5
  • Schools 5/5
  • Childcare 5/5
2yrs+

"Neighborhood surrounded by schools!"

Mission Terrace lies close to the San Francisco-Daly City border line. There isn’t anything really special about Mission Terrace, there are only homes and more homes in this neighborhood. For one, transportation may be relatively simple because there are several entrances and exits to the 280 freeway. But living right next to that brings disadvantages to living here. The noise is one, living here you will never be able to escape the buzz that comes from the 280 freeway, it’s like what you see in movies when people live right next to train tracks, there will always be the expectation of loud annoying noises. I’m also quite sure that living next to the 280 freeway will also bring traffic jams every now and then. Many freeways and highways in San Francisco tend to jam up during rush hours in the morning and at night. MUNI transportation isn’t that bad, there are several stops within Mission Terrace. There is also the Balboa Park BART station nearby. Mission Terrace is also surrounded by a plethora of schools, you have three high schools near the Balboa Park BART station; they are Lick Wilmerding High School, Leadership High School, and Balboa High School. There is also the City College of San Francisco on the other side of the 280 freeway. Residents of this neighborhood should expect a plethora of students and cars going through during the mornings and during after school times.
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
lynnet2
lynnet2 There isn't any freeway buzz in Mission Terrace proper (streets within the pillars), this would be South of Cotter and North of Onondaga. I was concerned about noise before I bought my house so I walked the neighborhood (San Jose Avenue and looping back up Cayuga). The freeway is dips BELOW the neighborhood for about a mile. As I was walking North along San Jose I could start to hear noise past Cotter Street. As I turned into (East) the hood the noise would vanish.

Big tip - it gets windy here about 4 pm BUT my friend has a house on the East side of the street (Otsego) and her deck overlooking her backyard is fantastic! Her house is a wind block. We sit out there and sip wine till the sun goes down. My house is on the South side, and although I have a nice deck off my rear living room, sometimes it is too windy to sit and enjoy in the evening. Mornings are fine - I go out to drink my tea and read the paper.
2yrs+
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3/5
2yrs+

"Easy Access to Highway"

Mission Terrace is a great place to be if you want to both get into the heart of the city quickly and also have somewhat of a suburban feel in your world. On the west side, there's also easy access to BART at the Balboa Park Station.

Mission Terrace is also situations close to the ALC Lifecycle kick off route along Geneva coming up from the Cow Palace. It certainly is a cultural wonder to experience the energy of the ALC ride kickoff, and I highly recommend it -- you'll have to look up the date and time for this year at AidsLifecycle.org. As a rider, I can only say the traffic jam we bicyclists created was a thrill, but the cheers from the side of the road was and even more impressive as an expression of supportive.
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
3/5
2yrs+

"Times are changing in Mission Terrace"

Much of the Mission district survived the 1906 earthquake and fire, and refugees, primarily Italians and Irish, flooded in from across the city. They were joined by Mexican immigrants from the 1910 Mexican Revolution and Central Americans fleeing political oppression. Wave after wave of primarily Latino immigrants arrived in the ensuing years, melding the area into a rich and vibrant cultural community. It is with this history that we have Mission Terrace.

There are rich neighborhood murals in Balmy Alley, the Cesar Chavez School, the 24th Street Bart Station and numerous other locations. Working class social causes, art and music thrive in the Mission area today.

The latest wave of immigrants to Mission Terrace are the young, affluent, high-tech set, and easily lured by burritos and bungalows with potential. This new scene is creating quite a stir in the community and the gentrification debate roars on.
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Singles
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
lynnet2
lynnet2 If you grew up on SF in the '50s and '60s you know that everything East of 280 got a bit slummy from the '60s on. The Sunset was the last holdout middle class (80% white) neighborhoods in SF (till around '75)

But everything old is new again. Ironically the least desirable neighborhoods in the '50s and '60s (Noe Valley, Glen Park and especially Bernal) are now the most desirable. Mission Terrace is finally getting the Glen Park spillover (Glen Park having gotten the Noe Valley spillover around 2000) Did you know Noe Valley is now 80% white?

It's hard to know the make up of Mission Terrace as the census data is only broken down to zip codes and Mission Terrace is just a small piece of the 94112. I do know that since 2004 five houses on my block have sold to thirty-something white families and one to a thirty-something Asian family. Of the selling families one was Mexican (foreclosed), one was from El Salvador (died) one was black (retired to Washington), one moved to Mill Valley (you guessed it - white), one family was Filipino and the last family was white. Yup better buy shades cause we're definitely gettin whiter here.
2yrs+
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Best Streets in Mission Terrace

1

Ocean Ave

3.5/5
"a busy street with access to many stores and services"
37.723355781478 -122.44113332538
2

Delano Ave

3/5
"A very nice residential street"
37.7237432891233 -122.442859142397
3

San Jose Ave

3/5
"A great street by a park and businesses"
37.7289330419469 -122.440043893127
4

Theresa St

3/5
"a small residential street off of San Jose Ave."
37.7295833582707 -122.435525155573
5

Santa Ynez Ave

2.5/5
"A quiet pleasant street by Balboa Park"
37.7244634270373 -122.439907326068
6

Alemany Blvd

2.5/5
"Busy street in Mission terrace"
37.7259673350778 -122.436321011386
7

Badger St

2.5/5
"Short but busy."
37.7311012229198 -122.434138033429

Unranked Streets in Mission Terrace

Admiral Ave

2.5/5
"A small street that is close to many places"
37.7302114763678 -122.430741527427

Baden Ave

3.5/5
"Pretty much has everything"
37.7299297999483 -122.439308200446

Bannock St

2.5/5
"Small residential street by Geneva"
37.7186840010727 -122.4423820027

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