At the end of June, I retired from Architectural practice. It has been 40 years since I started my first job as an intern in Colorado. I moved to San Francisco in 1989, and the time since has been split equally between San Francisco and Berkeley/Oakland. But San Francisco was why I came to the Bay Area.
Juan and I left the Bay Area last year, and after a final mostly remote year working, I made my last work trip to the Bay Area in June. And there was plenty of reflection on how much has changed in the last 35 years, both in San Francisco, the Bay Area; and myself.
There is a Japanese story telling format known as Pechakucha in which a presenter shows 20 slides, for 20 seconds each. An evening might include many of these presentations by different presenters back to back to back. So inspired by that, this is a presentation in two parts. The first 10 slides (cheating a little, as I wanted to include some before images)on changes to the San Francisco built environment during my time, the last 10 on some favorite places that have fortunately stayed the same.
New Places
1. “The East Cut”
One of the biggest catalysts for change in my time in San Francisco was seismic, literally- the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The quake badly damaged many of the city’s elevated freeways, eventually bringing about their removal. This opened up hundreds of acres to development, none more prominent than the Rincon Hill and Transbay areas. I explored this area, oddly renamed East Cut, a few years ago.
Salesforce Park sits above the Salesforce Transit Center. While the transit center is essentially an extravagant bus station in need of the future rail connection, the park offers a lovely elevated view of the many new buildings that have come about, including the skyline altering Salesforce Tower.
2. Ferry Building and Embarcadero
Perhaps the most stunning result of freeway transformation has been the removal of the freeway in front of the Ferry Building. For many years, it was little more than a deserted ferry lobby, but the freeway’s removal restored both its place as a proper anchor of the grand Market Street vista, and gave us the hugely successful Ferry Building marketplace inside. And all of this added to the impact of the ferries as THE only way to arrive in San Francisco.
3. Octavia Blvd.
Another part of town that has transformed dramatically as a result of freeway removal has been the Hayes Valley and Upper Market neighborhoods. The Central Freeway bisected the neighborhood, and now has been replaced with a parkway and multiple new building sites along its former path. This handsome condo building at Market and Octavia heralds the beginning of the at-grade parkway.
4. Mission Bay
I used to drive into San Francisco (what can I say, I was far from BART) and parked my car in a dirt field right here…for free. And just off to the left, a friend lived for a while rent-free in an old fisherman’s shack on the water. At work, he had to monitor the tides and race home to sand bag the door. This was the outback in the 90s, a place for retired sailors and raves.
The Mission Bay plan was hatched in the 80s, but did not get going until UCSF agreed to move here, and in the 00s it took off. The neighborhood today is absolutely thriving with residents, offices, restaurants, and great waterside open space.
5. Dogpatch
Dogpatch always felt to me it could be a Pennsylvania mill town on the Monongahela. And in fact this used to be home to Bethlehem Steel. Now, as Pier 70 comes to life with re-use of those great old mill buildings, the adjacent shipyard has been reborn as Crane Cove Park, which marries the Bay Trail to old shipping cranes. It is a great new part of the Bay Trail.
6. Presidio
Next to the earthquake, the second biggest “seismic” change in the built environment has been the transfer of military bases to the public domain. The transformation of the Presidio since I came to San Francisco in ’89 has been remarkable. Revitalized parade grounds, Crissy Field, and new cultural venues host throngs on the weekends. But one of my favorites has been a quieter intervention, next to the Lovers Lane Path; Andy Goldsworthy’s Woodline, particularly on a foggy day.
7. Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands
This neighborhood , part of San Francisco but a pair of islands in the bay, is very much a work in progress, and I look forward to seeing it built out in the future. Today, there is a new little vista point on top of Yerba Buena Island, one that includes the “Point of Infinity” by Japanese sculptor Hiroshi Sugimoto. It offers a brand new view of the city, and the new neighborhood that is slowly rising on the adjacent Treasure Island.
8. Financial District
In the 00’s , a program developed to open up POPOS (Privately Owned Public Open Space) in Financial District buildings. There were incentives for owners, and the public would get access to some really unique spots. This one is on the roof of the old Mutual Savings Bank at Kearny and Market, and offers the opportunity to see the remarkable detail these 100+ year old Commercial buildings were given even 13 stories up. And from here, a unique perspective on an emergent skyline.
Of course, on the ground it’s a different story. Post pandemic downtown and the adjacent Union Square shopping district have been dramatically impacted by remote work and online shopping. I toured the so called “Doom Loop” a few years ago, and wrote about it:. Doom Loop.
That said, there are signs things are picking up- The AI boom sees firms leasing up more office space, and there has been some pickup in retail leasing as well. Downtown though will never be the same.
9. Golden Gate Park Museums
Another 1989 casualty, the earthquake badly damaged the Academy of Sciences, and rendered its neighbor the de Young Museum unusable. It took the better part of two decades but the Academy of Science was completely renovated by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, and the de Young was razed and rebuilt led by Herzog de Meuron Architects. The two are splendid modern companions in Golden Gate Park.
The day after I was laid off from my job , in 2009 at the start to the “Great Recession”, I just wandered around the city. I ended up here, and took this photo, which carried resonance less as an extraordinary image, and more as a marker in my own history.
10. Pac Bell, SBC, AT%T, Oracle Park
Venturing to Candlestick for a Giants game in the 90’s was a bit of an odyssey. And god forbid it was. a night game. That required next level dedication to brave the arctic winds to watch a .500 team. But better days were ahead. Pac Bell Park opened in 2000 and it electrified the city. Stadium sold out every game. Just the view itself was worth the price of admission. And sometimes you didn’t even need admission, as there was a little alcove in right field where passersby can peak at the action. I worked nearby and was graced with smell of garlic fries all summer. Good times.
Old Places
11. Washington Square
When I lived in Russian Hill, this was a Living Room for the surrounding neighborhood. A near perfect neighborhood park, with a large green surrounded by a promenade with benches, and restaurants with outdoor seating. Tying it all together is St. Peter and Paul’s , the church towers anchoring the green , with bells that kept time. In the morning, en route to work, it was filled with elderly Chinese doing tai-chi, in the evening, a perfect place for a drink al fresco. Much missed.
12. San Francisco Art Institute
A block from home on Russian hill sat the San Francisco Art Institute, the pre-eminent art school in the city. The original building seen above was completed in 1926 , a reinforced concrete Spanish Colonial Revival campus, and a 60’s brutalist addition that added studios and a plaza with terrific 360 degree views. I took a painting workshop here one semester and tried to channel the spirit of former residents Rothko, Diebenkorn, and Rivera. It was a sublime experience, though the art I produced was anything but. Sadly, the school had closed a few years ago, but Lauren Jobs has now bought the campus and is reopening the campus as the California Academy of Studio Arts. I always thought this is the heart of Russian Hill. And all hale that Apple money.
13. Grace Cathedral
Grace Cathedral, another icon just a block away from a different home on Nob Hill. Here, reinforced concrete produced a Gothic cathedral, completed after 37 years in 1964. For us, this was part performance space, part meditation space, part community center. And, as I had to do laundry in the nearby laundromat, served as the world’s greatest laundry waiting room, particularly when accompanied by the practicing organist. I think once I was even so enchanted by the organist I brought back my unsorted laundry, and sorted socks in a pew, even asking the assistance of the lord to help locate the usual missing sock pairs.
14. Alleys
Walk down Chinatown alleys, and one marvels at the change in sound- the din of the street gives way to the sizzle of food ,the clatter of mahjong tiles, and peels of laughter echoing against the narrow walls. The many alleys , paths, and stairways throughout San Francisco were always a source of pleasure to me , and a bone of contention with my husband. I had to explore them all, and he lost his patience early on with my incessant detouring (“that’s not the quickest way”). The northeast part of town is loaded with them.
I once sought relief for an aching back from a traditional herbalist down one of these alleys. He grunted at me, and then went to work, procuring what seemed like a random assortment of twigs and leaves from a wall of bins, and then followed with cryptic instructions for how to make the tea. I was skeptical, and frankly had done it as a bit of a lark. I was back next week. It worked.
15. Civic Center
The Civic Center, a Beaux-Arts campus from 1916, has always been a bit of a tortured urban space. Wind swept, at times rife with homeless, the park forever being re-imagined out front. But inside City Hall, the lobby, (and that stair!), have never lost their star power. One of my favorite early memories of City Hall was being dispatched here as a young architect to trace parcel maps in those huge books in the Assessor’s office, a first step on any new project (oh those analog years!). Over the years, I would return, generally for a parade or protest, and City Hall’s importance as THE place for these gatherings never waned.
The most memorable visit though was our own wedding, on May Day 2015. Along with 30 or so other couples we were married at City Hall. A number of us were even featured in the Chronicle gay marriage issue: .May Day Wedding.
I would never have imagined that happening when tracing those maps in 1990.
16. Lands End
Yeah, this is a pretty nice walk. Afterwards, with faces ruddy from the ocean winds, we used to like going to the Cliff House Bar and Grill, and pretend we were tourists.. It is now closed. (I do wish that its predecessor, that monstrous haunted palace of historic photos that looked like it was about to fall in the ocean, could be reconstructed on the site).
17. Quirky Buildings
This delightful art deco “in-between building” is in an in-between neighborhood- the Tendernob- part Nob Hill, part Tenderloin. These quirky buildings dot the city, a function of parcel maps, topography, and real estate. I wrote about some of them and related “tiny shops” some time ago : Tiny Shops of the Tendernob . These micro buildings and shops give the streets so much of its unique character. And an additional shout out to the “corner store”, a staple-for-staples for all of us car-less souls back in the day.
18. The Neighborhood Bar
I could have chosen a lot of images here, but a bar image from the Castro seemed right, as they were, and are, such an important part of the neighborhood’s (and mine-
at least back then) social fabric. Many of the old haunts I frequented have long since passed, but this joint hangs on, and has added weight as the spot where I met my future husband. Visiting from LA, he later said had he known it was a gay sports bar he would have never entered. But he did, and right during the 7th inning stretch.
And here’s to the many bars and clubs in the city where I spent too many hours, among them The Stud, the Wooden Horse, Vesuvio, El Rio, Hotel Utah, Ginger’s Trois, Plough and the Stars, the Pied Piper, and the Big Four. I had varied tastes.
19. Treasured Shops
Green Apple books is the ideal bookstore and stands in for the many iconic long time one of a kind shops in the city. The store is a combination of new and used books stuffed into endless nooks, crannies, and cranky stairways on Clement Street. Felt like the soul of the literary Inner Richmond, as a good book was a welcome companion on those fog-bound days. It has remained pretty much like this for 35 years, and it was towards the top of the list during my last visit.
20. Street Celebrations
What brings a city of distinct neighborhoods together? Well, for one, a good parade. Perhaps the Pride Parade, as seen above, or the Day of the Dead celebrations in the Mission, or a Giants World Series celebration. Or how about good protest march? After the Giants first world series win in 2010 throngs descended on Market St. , hanging out of windows, standing on street poles , or using their pay-loader as impromptu bleachers. The city had stopped, and the heroes walked by. That day I noted suburban dads with boys in tow, cutting through the Tenderloin to the Civic Center rally, passing dive bars, whose denizens staggered out into blinding sunshine to mix in with the bridge and tunnel crowd and salute the team. San Francisco is a great parade and protest town.
Postcript- Fog
The final photo is not a place, but is indispensable to every one of them. The Fog. I learned this early on, chilled to the bone living in the Richmond, then lounging in a SOMA park at lunch during work, only to know was waiting that night. We had a fireplace, that we used…….in July. The fog was present in all these neighborhoods during the summer months, either smothering out the sun, lurking just to the west, or occasionally , taking a few days off, which left the local populace to complain of the sudden heat. From our place on Nob Hill, we were given a nightly “air show” (photo above) where on some nights, the fog would curl over and around buildings, swallowing some and leaving others floating in the clouds. Magical, truly Baghdad By The Bay.
What a great run its been. Now, we are off to Upstate New York , and the next chapter of our lives. I am not sure whether I will continue with this blog, seems like a natural break to find other venues of expression. But that’s to be determined. Either way, the journey continues.
urban ambles 