© McCormack's Guides
Zip Code: 94103
A small
neighborhood that was thought dead but crawled out of its grave. Named after
landowner. www.mccormacks.com
Located in
the downtown between Larkin Street on the east, Webster on the west, Fulton on
the north and Fell on the south. Within walking distance of downtown (to east).
But many residents take bus. Some guides will place Hayes Valley within the
Western Addition.
A
well-known neighborhood, mentioned frequently in local histories, Hayes Valley
declined when a Highway 101 spur (called the Central Freeway) was run through
it and shattered its coherence. Many of the stores went empty, crime became a
problem.
Click for regional or detailed map
Then that
great urban renewer, the 1989 earthquake, weakened and forced the dismantling
of part of the freeway and a new Hayes emerged: artsy, small shops, diverse.
In 1997,
San Francisco voters by a slim margin said that they wanted to keep and rebuild
what remained of the Central Freeway, one of the main access roads to people
living in the Richmond and Sunset districts. But in 1998, another vote was
held: tear it down.
In the
end, it was demolished. Traffic now exits on Octavia Boulevard, which was
turned into a major thoroughfare and lined with trees. www.mccormacks.com
About
5,000 housing units are in the works for what is called the Octavia-Market
corridor. Some people are warning that the additional traffic may overload the
streets and make parking scarcer.
But the
project has its supporters, who think that it will benefit the neighborhood.
Visually,
the neighborhood is improving. More trees and shrubs and restaurants. Even a
tea house. Buildings that had been neglected for years have been painted and
fixed up. More sunshine and openness. The old freeway literally kept Hayes
Valley in the shade.
Hayes
Valley is located just west of Davies Symphony Hall, the opera house, the main
library and the Asian Museum. All these cultural ornaments are working to push
this neighborhood up the scale.
UC
Berkeley used to have an extension campus in Hayes Valley. UC wants to raze the
place, now empty, and turn the land to apartments. Arguments. www.mccormacks.com
