Guide to San Francisco: Popular Neighborhoods

Local Havens and Haunts that Define San Francisco

San Francisco's neighborhoods can provide you with an education in and among themselves. There's a district or community for every walk of life, capturing the city's ethnic and cultural diversity. From swank to bohemian, gay to gritty, the city offers the following eclectic mix of living environments.

San Francisco's Top Neighborhoods: Love and Haight

  • The Castro. San Francisco is a well-known haven for gay, lesbian and transsexual communities, and the Castro district, with its large concentration of gay-friendly bars and shops, embodies this culture.
  • Chinatown. Locals and tourists mingle in this lively neighborhood, where Saturday afternoons Stockton Street becomes a sea of shoppers negotiating produce prices or the cost of live poultry.
  • Deco Ghetto. This neighborhood, alternately called the Hub or Mid-Market, is brimming with Art Deco furniture stores, cafés, shops, and bars.
  • Fisherman's Wharf. This area rapidly became San Francisco's number one tourist spot since it was reinvented in the late 1960s to include Pier 39, the Cannery, and Ghiradelli Square. Tacky t-shirt shops and wax museums aside, the Wharf offers views of Alcatraz and the Bay, access to several museums, some of the region's best seafood, and an opportunity to watch sea lions up close and personal.
  • The Haight. Back in your parents' (or grandparents'!) day, the Haight represented the epitome of a free-loving, anti-establishment, flower-powered existence. Today, with only a few remnants to tie it to its former hippie culture, the Haight offers a place to shop for vintage clothing, browse for dance music, or rave at clubs like The Top.
  • Nob Hill. The Gold Rush infused San Francisco with wealth and Nob Hill became “The Address” for the wealthiest of the wealthy, who built mansions on this summit far above the fray of the uncivilized masses.
  • Pacific Heights. Unless your daddy's Bill Gates, you probably can't afford anything in Fillmore Street's upscale boutiques, but this Pacific Heights neighborhood offers a picture-perfect place for a Sunday stroll past rows of Victorian Painted Ladies interspersed with unrivaled views of the Bay and Golden Gate Bridge.
  • Russian Hill. A friendlier version of Nob Hill, Russian Hill contains the oft-photographed Lombard Street, a.k.a. “the world's crookedest street” and home to the 1994 Real World cast.
  • The Tenderloin. Your mamma wouldn't want you to go near here, but a tour of the Tenderloin district might convince you to stay in school! Drug dealers, addicts, panhandlers and prostitutes mingle with dirty old men seeking porno-flick thrills in this seedy neighborhood that nonetheless adds to the flavor of this vibrant city.
Source:
SFGate.com: SF Neighborhood Guide