© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 94116, 94127
Although
Forest Hill and West Portal border and are sometimes included in Twin Peaks, their
prices and architectural style are so different that it makes sense to break them
out as separate neighborhoods. www.mccormacks.com
Forest
Hill is a mix of two-story houses with gables and Tudor styling and
single-story homes built over the garages. Trees line the streets. Well-kept
lawns. Some older homes have been remodeled and converted into apartments or
condos. Most homes owner-occupied.
Click for regional or detailed map
West
Portal is one of the nicest shopping blocks in the City: a mix of restaurants,
salons, coffee, antique, flower shops.
Homes in these two neighborhoods tend to middle-class affluent, tract models but larger and better appointed than homes to the west. Following Forest Hill and El Portal, developers turned to the Sunset District and built thousands of plain homes aimed at people rising into the middle class.
St.
Francis Wood, built in the 1910s, carries the tag “ritzy” and of the three neighborhoods is the most affluent.
Fountains and
gateways. Tall pines and eucalyptuses shade the streets. Utility lines buried.
Mix of housing styles, many favoring a mixed Spanish revival (terra-cotta
roofs) but parts of the neighborhood seem to step out of New England.
Impressive
homes, large, well kept, many remodeled and expanded. Streets laid out in part
by Frederick Law Olmstead, who also designed Central Park in New York.
One of
the best neighborhoods in the City.
Active homeowner associations. Kind of
neighborhoods that pay attention to quality, planning and conditions that might
breed crime. Low in crime (but take precautions). www.mccormacks.com
Open to
ocean fog. You can smell the salt air.
Close to
Stern Grove. Short drive or bus ride to Golden Gate Park and the Pacific. Summer
concerts. Also close to zoo, three golf courses and San Francisco State
University, which through its extension program, offers many classes for the
public.
Some homes
have views of the Pacific; many don't. Starting from the Pacific, the terrain
rises slowly, then jumps when it reaches Mt. Davidson. St. Francis Wood is
built over the lower hills.
Buses and streetcars to the downtown.
West Portal refers to the western opening in the streetcar tunnel to the
downtown. These neighborhoods and several others on the west side came to life
when the tunnel was opened in 1917.
Shopping at Stonestown Galleria
(Nordstrom, Macys). Large discount stores to the south, in Daly City. www.mccormacks.com
Many jobs at the University of California (medical) campus, about a mile to the north.
• Big then, big now. In the late 1800s and in the 1900s up to about 1970, middle class meant two and three bedrooms, affluent four to six bedrooms, and rich, seven plus. These days, especially in the exurbs, middle class translates to four bedrooms, affluent to five plus, and rich, depending on the neighborhood, seven plus with the superrich going to a dozen plus. If you drive, say, St. Francis Wood, which by San Francisco standards is considered rich, you might be disappointed. Many of the homes probably run to no more than four bedrooms. You are paying for the location, which is pretty, the upscale demographics, the social stability (low crime) and the proximity to job centers. For the residents, the price is worth it. But many young families look at the price and say for much less I can buy a bigger, newer, more modern home in ... any town on the periphery of the metropolis. San Francisco wants to keep its families and boost its numbers of children. With the housing dollar buying much more in the suburbs, however, the City may never attract or retain many families.
