San Francisco Voice

The neighborhoods of San Francisco differ greatly from one another.  You can be in the midst of one socio-cultural experience one block and then walk for just a few minutes and find that the entire world around you has changed.  Given the small geographic boundaries which make up the city, this helps to create the wonderfully diverse, open, tolerant that makes up the beautiful attitude of San Francisco life.  There’s lots of good information out there about San Francisco neighborhoods – including where to eat, what historical sites there are and which history makes up the area.  But I’m here to tell you just the basics about what my own experience in these different neighborhoods has been in the last year that I’ve lived in San Francisco.

We’ll start with North Beach.  Because I live somewhat on the fringes of this famous home to the Beat poets, I walk through the thick of it on almost a daily basis.  It was the only place in the city that I really wanted to live in when I first moved here, and it remains a favorite spot for me today.  Sure, it’s partly because it has the cafes and the restaurants, the laidback corner bars and the famous drinking spots, but it’s also because it has a super laidback but still modern attitude.

North Beach offers diversity in more than just the obvious ways.  Known by some as Little Italy, it certainly has the influence of Old World Italy in the air, supported by the summer festivals which highlight this part of the city’s history.  My most favorite of these events was not North Beach specific at all but was rather international – The World Cup.  Cafes and bars all across the area set up televisions throughout the series, and when it came down to that final game, every inch of every free spot was taken.  People from here mingled with people from other continents on the streets to watch the game, and when Italy won, the streets were shut down by people dancing and playing and celebrating the fun.  Unlike post-game riots that I’ve seen in other places, it was all about the revelry and fun. Of course, the World Cup doesn’t happen all of the time, but that kind of revelry is a common North Beach occurrence.  Sometimes it gets temporarily out of hand – there are certainly plenty of Saturday nights when I hear drunken fights taking place outside of my window – but for the most part, there’s lots of fun happening here.  Of course, I have my own favorite spots to get away from the major crowds that flood the area.  I like the boutiques on Grant Street for daytime window shopping.  I like the inexpensive Indian food lunches at Kennedy’s Irish Pub.  I am virtually addicted to the $1 coffee and free truffle at XOX Truffles.  I think that there’s no place in the city better for buying gelato than a North Beach bakery.But I’m happy to live in the midst of touristy stuff as well.  I’ve perfected the art of giving house guests the “North Beach and More” tour in under a day.  With quick visits to Lombard Street, The Real World House, Hyde St. Pier, Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory, Fisherman’s Wharf, Musee Mechanique, Pier 39, Caffe Trieste, North Beach Pizza, Coit Tower, Chinatown, City Lights Books and Vesuvio’s, it’s possible to see a huge chunk of famous places in about half a day … enjoying amazing views of the city and remembering that there’s plenty of enjoyment in the North Beach tourist experience.

Next neighborhood: Mission  

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