Another working class neighborhood down the tubes.
1
My wife.and I love to visit SF. It is a great, walkable city with plenty to see.and do. But my God, a million bucks for a bungalo?? I understand the market, supply and demand, etc. But no wonder we are seeing more and more California license plates here in Arizona. California now seems to represent the US economy as a whole, with wage discrepancies between the haves and have not at levels not seen since the 1930s. Affordable housing in SF and Silicon Valley? Good luck with that.
5
In 2015, I walked through Glen Canyon Park and then walked from there, through the Excelsior neighborhood, to McLaren Park. From reading about it, I had the impression that as Golden Gate Park is to Central Park, McLaren Park is to Prospect Park, so I was excited to see it. I didn’t dislike it — and the people living in the neighborhoods that surround it are lucky to have such a large park nearby — but I have to say that I was underwhelmed.
A nearby place that I found to be interesting and charming was the Visitacion Valley Greenway, a series of five or six parks running through blocks in that neighborhood, creating a green corridor. A wonderful concept.
2
I’m a homeowner in a similar neighborhood in SF. I’m a gay married man with a kid. And even I think this article is over representing gay, male, childless couples in this article.
Does this really reflect the demographics of the newcomers to Portola? Or is this author trying to push a narrative?
I’d like to think these emerging SF neighborhoods are welcoming to all, including heterosexual families.
23
I will take Lower Pac Heights. I can walk to downtown, the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Clement Street, the Castro and Nancy Pelosi's house (which does not have a wall around it....Trump a liar????). Surrounded by beautiful Victorians, in Lower Pac I feel like I am IN SF. Portola is too far. Where I am, everything is either walkable or an easy bus ride.
4
@Vickie, on my many trips to San Francisco I’ve walked around most neighborhoods in the city (one of my “bibles” being the wonderful Stairway Walks in San Francisco.)
I love your neighborhood — and it’s certainly very centrally located — but if I had the money to live in SF, I think I’d choose Bernal Heights, especially the western part. I’d never heard of it before walking through it and I thought it was wonderful.
1
@Vickie and Jim, what both of you seem to misunderstand about SF (for most people at least) is that where you live has little to do with choice but rather the limited choices of what’s affordable to you.
Vickie’s comparison of the Portola to Pac Heights is comically disconnected and typically elitist San Francisco by comparing one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the city and country to the amenities of one of the last “affordable” and historically underserved areas.
Even Bernal Heights, which was once “too far” for most and a dumpy and dingy neighborhood as well, is now home to $2-$4 million dollar shacks and cute shops, making it unattainable for most and not a choice up for discussion.
The new wave of movement into Portola, Excelsior. Bayview, Vis Valley is being met with the same snobbery and cynicism as Bernal 20-30 years ago but it’s really all we can afford if we want to stay in SF. I take comfort in seeing how active the communities down here are in helping to create positive change for themselves and I assume the rising prices reflecting these changes are what caught the eye of the NYT.
17
@Alex, if one wants to buy a house — and isn’t wealthy — then, yes, one’s choice of neighborhood would be very limited in San Francisco (and it’s become that way in Seattle too...although not as bad as in your city.) But Vickie, for example, may choose to live in a studio condo or apt in more centrally-located Lower Pacific Heights rather live in a home in Portola (and she did saw Lower Pacific Heights — part of the Western Addition — not Pacific Heights.)
It’s the same for me in Seattle. I could live in a neighborhood closer to downtown if I was willing to live in a small condo or apt. But I prefer my house, so I remain in my south Seattle neighborhood, far from downtown.
What I meant by my comment about Bernal Heights is that if I had the money to live anywhere in SF (I omitted the “anywhere”), I would choose Bernal Heights. Just a fantasy. I couldn’t afford to buy a garden shed in that neighborhood.
I’ve walked through Excelsior and Visitacion Valley on previous trips. I’ll have to check out Portola on my next visit.
3
Those basketball hoops seem mighty high. Or are the fellows playing there very short? I'm not being nasty -- I can't get over the height of those things.
1
@B. We make our kids play on double-height hoops. That’s how we develop so many 3-point shooters :)
4
Maybe it's just me, but I find the homes pictured in this article plain or downright ugly. All that money for that? What a sad state of affairs.
14
@Janot, I agree but, as the saying goes, it’s all about location, location, location (the location in this case being anything in San Francisco.) I’m sure it’s the same in New York and it’s become that way in Seattle. Seattle has many houses that are hideous but people are willing to pay very high prices because...they’re in Seattle! And, in many cases, they’re just buying the property for the land anyway, tearing down the existing house and erecting a yuppie palace in its place.
Whether it’s SF, NY, Seattle, LA or other cities, what leaves me shaking my head is that there are so many people who have the means to buy such high-priced real estate.
15
@Janot As someone who lives in this part of the city, I’m not sure why they selected these houses to feature, probably among the ugliest. While this neighborhood is not full of classic SF Victorians, it has a lot more architectural charm that what is shown here.
8
@Janot - It's easy to pretti-fy a house. If someone is shelling out $1.5M for a home (most of the value being in the land), they can shell out $10K for a paint job and some more for ornamentation and doodads. People bemoan being priced out of a city, but it could be because they failed to see past surface imperfections, in a specific property or in a neighborhood, and failed to buy in when they had a chance.
1
No one calls it "The Portola". No one.
5
@Mary I live here! And that's what we call it. :) Or sometimes "The Portola District."
17
Actually, most people who live there do call it The Portola.
1
Shhhh! The Portola is the best kept secret in San Francisco. San Bruno Avenue still retains its old-school charm, funky Asian vibe and Latin American garnishes even as new, hip arrivals such as Ferment, Drink, Repeat and Churn! enliven the mile long strip. I love the neighborhood. It is quiet yet lively, cheap by SF standards and I can do lunch for under six bucks. It's been a joy discovering this forgotten corner of SF and kudos to Supervisor Hillary Ronen for bringing a SFPD outpost to San Bruno Avenue.
19
There are very, very few real rowhouses in San Francisco.
5
Growing up in the Portola District, the neighborhood felt forgotten. I sometimes had to explain that it was "near Glen Park" to other San Franciscans.
That low-profile had a plus side: we felt like the only users of the huge McClaren park, the Alemany farmers market was an easy Saturday tradition, and my little neighborhood friends were of Japanese, Irish, Mexican, Italian, and African-American ancestry.
As the tide of changes in the City reaches even these little corners, I hope the Portola maintains its mellow vibe and the diversity which makes it rich.
46