Octavia St, Lower Pacific Heights

Octavia Street in Lower Haight stretches for 5-blocks south from Lafayette Park. Most of Octavia Street is made up of these old apartment buildings. Though there are some of those 3-story Victorians, the apartments on Octavia are more often of the 5-story variety, with bay windows and lots of attractive stone and brickwork.

What would it cost to live here?

A one-bedroom across the street from the park starts at nearly $3000 but can run as much as $4000. (There was a one bedroom house here listed for $5000/month.) A two-bedroom jumps up even further to the $6000 range and a 3-bedroom to a whopping $10K plus. The only thing “lower” about Lower Pacific Heights is the location.

You will also find businesses along Octavia. Academy of Art University, for example, has a building there (though I don’t know if it is just for administrative purposes).

There are also a couple of religious institutions here: the St. Francis Xavier Church and the Buddhist Church of San Francisco.

Schools are, of course, strong in the area and though crime is not non-existent it is mostly of the burglary and robbery variety rather than the assault and murder variety.

What brings me out here?

A restaurant, of course. Specifically, Baker and Banker which is a traditional American style restaurant owned by a pair of (married?) chefs whose names happen to be--you guessed it-- Baker and Banker. Go for the smoked trout--it really is delish!

Overall a pretty great Pacific Heights street--but only, of course, if you are filthy rich and can afford to live here. For the rest of us we can only hope we ever get the dough in the bank.

In a very mish-mash locale in San Francisco consisting of residential homes, churches and schools, there is also Baker & Banker restaurant on Octavia at Bush Streets. Formerly the home of Quince restaurant, it is nested in a neighborhood but the food is outstanding.

Also there is Lafayette Park which Octavia runs straight through and it is absolutely lovely. Whether you are going for a jog, a stroll, walking your dog, out with the kids - it's just a really nice park.

Because Octavia is so residential and has some good schools nearby it's definitely a place where you can raise a family. Not too much for the single person to do.

Octavia Street between Sutter Street and Jackson Street is a mix of homes, churches, and a high school with a park smack in the middle. La Fayette Park is nice park for a jog or walk with a small playground but I would not go in it at night. There is the Buddhist Church as well as Stuart Hall High School for boys. It is not very noisy overall though. It is on quite a hill though, but what can you expect in San Francisco. This would be a great place for families to live, especially those who want to send their children to private schools since there are many private schools within a 20 minute drive.

On our last trip to San Francisco we dined with a family who lives on Octavia Street. They mentinoed how convenient it was to USF (where they worked) and how it was relatively safe considering the location and property values. It seemed like a nice neighborhood to me.