San Francisco

A GUIDE TO THE CITY’S FIVE MOST VIBRANT NEIGHBOURHOODS BY THE LOCALS WHO KNOW THEM BEST

- JULIA BUCKLEY

FEW CITIES HAVE SETTINGS AS SPECTACULAR AS SAN FRANCISCO’S: CANDY-COLOURED HOUSES RACKED UP AND DOWN ABSURDLY STEEP HILLS, GOLDEN GATE PARK UNFURLING INTO THE PACIFIC, AND THE TAWNY GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE MELTING INTO THE EMERALD MARIN HEADLANDS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BAY.

Just beyond the city limits are ocean pounded beaches, ancient redwood groves and rugged mountains. Viewed from the water, it’s hard to believe that within that ethereal landscape is a concrete jungle.

Perhaps it’s that same diverse landscape that makes San Francisco a city of villages — because this is a place where each area has its own personality, and residents are passionate about retaining the vibe they chose it for. Maybe it’s the rippling hills, with streets neatly cut around them, that have made islands of each neighbourhood; possibly it’s because this city of immigrants — created by people who crossed either an ocean or the continent to get here — historically preferred tight-knit communities to an urban sprawl. Indeed, San Francisco’s neighbourhoods seem to have a stronger personality than their equivalents in other US cities. As do the residents — this wild west idyll has attracted spirited, ambitious people since the days of the Gold Rush, when it first made the map.