Everything about Sunset District totally explained
The Sunset District is a neighborhood in the west-central part of
San Francisco, California,
USA that's primarily residential and is built along a grid pattern. It was one of the last areas of San Francisco to be developed, and most of its homes and buildings date from the
1920s through the
1950s, with the fastest rate of construction occurring during the
1930s and
1940s (although parts of the Inner Sunset were developed beginning in the
1890s).
Geography
Golden Gate Park forms the neighborhood's northern border and the
Pacific Ocean (or, more specifically, the long, flat strand of beach known as
Ocean Beach) forms its western border. The Sunset District's southern and eastern borders are not as clearly defined, but there's a general consensus that the neighborhood extends no further than
Sigmund Stern Grove and Sloat Boulevard in the south and no further east than the Parnassus campus of the
University of California, San Francisco and
Laguna Honda Hospital. Prior to the residential and commercial development of the Sunset District, much of the area was covered by
sand dunes and was originally referred to by
19th century San Franciscans as "the Outside Lands."
The Sunset District is in fact often considered to be two separate neighborhoods: the Inner Sunset and the Outer Sunset. The commercial area of the Inner Sunset is centered around Irving Street between 7th and 11th Avenues, and the Outer Sunset is generally considered to begin at 19th Avenue and to extend for approximately 30 blocks to Ocean Beach. The southern half of the Outer Sunset is recognized as a separate neighborhood, known as
Parkside. The Parkside District extends south of Ortega Street (sometime Noriega Street) to Sloat Boulevard and west of 19th Avenue to the Great Highway (included part of the Ocean Beach).
Characteristics
The Sunset District is the largest district within the city of San Francisco, California. Districts in San Francisco are sections of the city larger than neighborhoods, but distinct enough (at least when they were initially identified) to be set apart by name from another district.
The Sunset District (The Sunset) comprises much of the west central section of the San Francisco. Its northern border is Golden Gate Park, western border the Pacific Ocean (Ocean Beach), southern border Sloat Boulevard, and its eastern border is roughly at 7th Ave. All six lanes of
State Route 1 run directly through the middle of the Sunset District along
19th Avenue, neatly bisecting the district into two sort of sub-districts: the Inner Sunset (east of 19th Ave.) and the Outer Sunset (from 19th Ave. to Ocean Beach). Those two areas are very different in terms of demographics and commercial development.
The western part of the Sunset borders the cold north Californian Pacific Ocean coastline, so it tends to get much of the fog San Francisco is famous for. The Sunset is one of the more residential districts in San Francisco, so it isn't on many tourist maps. The area, particularly the Outer Sunset, has several assets to the people who live there: the best performing schools in the city; a low crime rate; a more affordable housing market (by SF standards); plenty of parking (a rarity in San Francisco); and great ocean views. Another rather remarkable addition to the beautiful originality of the Sunset is the amount of sand that can be found on roadways and driveways within the first 5-10 blocks East of Ocean Beach, carried by the winds created from the low temperature of the Pacific Ocean meeting the slightly warmer inland temperature. This fine mist of sand covers everything from cars to doorsteps and windows, and can be observed collecting in and clogging the sewer grates leading to the bowels of the city underneath.
The commercial area along Irving Street is animated and attractive. The
N Judah and
L Taraval lines of the
Muni Metro provide a link to downtown, with easy connections to
BART. Despite the Sunset's not being a tourist or transplant destination, it's a solid old school San Francisco family district. The neighborhood's property values have risen along with those in the rest of San Francisco, most spectacularly during the late
1990s. Wood-frame and stucco homes of 1,000-1,500 square feet, originally built in the
1930s and
1940s for $6,000-$10,000, now sell for prices that often reach $800,000 and beyond.
The Inner Sunset is now a popular evening destination, primarily due to the influx of young transplants with disposable income. It has a diverse mix of restaurants along 9th Avenue and Irving Street (the intersection of which is the focal point of the area). The fortunes of the Inner Sunset have only risen in the last decade starting with the sudden influx of young transplants from all over the U.S. during the late 90's. Prior to the dot com boom of the late 90's, smaller service businesses such as laundromats and grocery stores dominated the Inner Sunset's commercial character. The population of the Outer Sunset is approximately 50% Asian so the commercial development in that area tends to cater to Asian, and especially Chinese, interests.
Demographics and subcultures
At least half of the Sunset's residents are
Asian American (mostly
Chinese American), a result of a demographic shift that began in the late
1960s and accelerated from the
1980s as Asian
immigration to San Francisco increased dramatically and much of the original, nearly exclusively white, heavily
Irish American population of the Sunset moved to other neighborhoods and outlying suburban areas such as West Portal and Twin Peaks. A major commercial area of the Sunset District, Irving Street between 19th Avenue and 24th Avenue, is today lined with businesses catering to Asian Americans, with additional commercial areas filled with Asian grocery stores and restaurants in other parts of the Sunset District as well, such as on Taraval Street and Noriega Street west of 19th Avenue. In addition, there's still a significant Irish American and
Irish minority in the neighborhood and there are several Irish pubs in the Sunset. The Sunset also contains three
synagogues.
The strip near the
Pacific Ocean has a notable population of surfers who take advantage of the sometimes excellent surf conditions of Ocean Beach.
The Outer Sunset is regarded by the city's political observers as being one of the more conservative communities in San Francisco
(External Link
)(External Link) Collectively, the area's residents are less likely to be in favor of gay marriage and rent control than voters in other parts of the city, and favor stricter policies toward the homeless.
The Avenues
The Sunset District and the neighboring
Richmond District (on the north side of Golden Gate Park) are often collectively known as
The Avenues, because the majority of both neighborhoods are spanned by numbered north-south avenues. When the city was originally laid out, the avenues were numbered from 1st to 49th and the east-west streets were lettered A to X. In 1909, to reduce confusion for mail carriers, the east-west streets and 1st Avenue and 49th Avenue were renamed. The east-west streets were named after Spanish explorers in ascending alphabetical order in a southward direction. First Avenue was renamed Arguello Boulevard and 49th Avenue was renamed La Playa Street.
(External Link)
Today, the first numbered avenue is 2nd Avenue, starting one block west of Arguello Boulevard, and the last is 48th Avenue near Ocean Beach. The avenue numbers increase incrementally, with the exception that there's no 13th Avenue; instead, it's known as Funston Avenue (named for
Frederick Funston, a
Spanish-American War general who was sent to the city to direct its recovery from the 1906 earthquake).
The east-west streets in the Sunset are for the most part in alphabetical order. These streets are:
Lincoln, Hugo (Inner Sunset only)
, Irving, Judah, Kirkham, Lawton, Moraga, Noriega, Ortega, Pacheco, Quintara, Rivera, Santiago, Taraval, Ulloa, Vicente, Wawona, and
Yorba. "X" was originally proposed to be
Xavier, but was changed to
Yorba due to a pronunciation controversy
(External Link).
City Districts
San Francisco's eleven districts each elect a single member to the city's
Board of Supervisors. Most of the central and outer sunset constitutes District 4, which has traditionally elected Chinese supervisors from the business community. The inner sunset overlaps the southern edge of the more liberal-leaning District 5, encompassing the
Haight-Ashbury and
Western Addition.
District 4 supervisors
District 5 supervisors
Ross Mirkarimi 2005 - present
Matt Gonzalez 2000 - 2005Further Information
Get more info on 'Sunset District'.
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