Presidio Terrace is a small, extremely affluent [1] gated [2] neighborhood in San Francisco that was the first of the master-planned communities built in the western part of the city. It consists of 36 large lots laid out around a single privately owned street, also called Presidio Terrace, which takes the form of a two-way access street leading to a one-way elliptical cul-de-sac. Access is off Arguello Boulevard.
Construction started in 1905, just south of and adjacent to the Presidio, a former army base that is now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Amenities unusual for residential developments of that time included electric street lights, underground utilities and roads designed for auto traffic. [3] The neighborhood was developed by the firm of Baldwin & Howell, a leading San Francisco real estate development company. [4] It thrived following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake as prosperous families rebuilt outside the destroyed neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city.
Presidio Terrace was originally marketed to white residents only. "There is only one spot in San Francisco where only Caucasians are permitted to buy or lease real estate or where they may reside. That place is Presidio Terrace", according to a 1906 brochure distributed by the developer. [5] [6] A 1948 Supreme Court case, Shelley v. Kraemer , which banned enforcement of racial covenants in housing, invalidated restrictions of this type nationwide.
In 2015, as a result of delinquent non-payment of county property taxes by the homeowners association, a San Jose couple, Tina Lam and Michael Cheng, were able to purchase the street, sidewalks and all other “common ground", including garden islands and palm trees, for $90,000. The tax bill was being sent to 47 Kearny Street and the homeowners association blamed a defunct accountant but the owner of 47 Kearny street claimed that no such arrangement existed with the homeowner's association. "Handford Freund has never managed the Presidio Homeowners Association or whatever it may be named." [7] Worried that the new property owners would charge them for parking in the 120 parking spaces on the street, the homeowners complained to San Francisco Board of Supervisors asking that the sale be voided. [8] [9] In addition the British Consulate, which has owned a house on the street as a consular residence since 2003, raised security concerns. [10] On November 28, 2017, the Board of Supervisors voted 7–4 to reverse the sale, reverting ownership to the homeowners. [11] After the vote, Supervisor Mark Farrell referred to the couple as "bottom-feeding pirates attempting to extort and hold San Francisco residents hostage". [12]
In April 2018, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the municipal government had failed to bill the homeowner's association for water used for irrigation of landscaping for 113 years. In the preceding ten years, the cost of the water was $59,548, and the homeowner's association promptly paid that amount. [13]
Temple Emanu-El was built on an adjacent parcel on the northwest corner of Arguello Boulevard and Lake Street in 1925, and the Little Sisters of the Poor is also close by. [14]
Architectural styles in the neighborhood include Beaux-Arts, Mission Revival, and Tudor Revival. Julia Morgan designed an Italian Renaissance villa in Presidio Terrace in 1909. [15] A plan to modernize the architecture of one house in the 1990s aroused objections by neighbors. [6]
Many notable San Franciscans have lived in Presidio Terrace over the years, including San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto, the former Peruvian Ambassador to the United States Fernando Berckemeyer Pazos, United States Congresswoman and first female Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator Dianne Feinstein and her husband, financier Richard C. Blum, [16] and novelist and newspaper columnist Merla Zellerbach.
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, financial, and cultural center within Northern California. With a population of 808,988 residents as of 2023, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the U.S. state of California behind Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose, and the 17th most populous in the US. It covers a land area of 46.9 square miles at the upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second-most densely populated major U.S. city behind New York City and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county, behind four of New York City's boroughs. Among the 92 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2022. San Francisco anchors the 13th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth-largest urban region in the U.S., had a 2023 estimated population of over 9 million.
The Richmond District is a neighborhood in the northwest corner of San Francisco, California, developed initially in the late 19th century. It is sometimes confused with the city of Richmond, which is 20 miles (32 km) northeast of San Francisco; accordingly, the neighborhood usually is referred to as "the Richmond."
The Sunset District is a neighborhood located in the southwest quadrant of San Francisco, California, United States.
Bayview–Hunters Point is the San Francisco, California, neighborhood combining the Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods in the southeastern corner of the city. The decommissioned Hunters Point Naval Shipyard is located within its boundaries and Candlestick Park, which was demolished in 2015, was on the southern edge. Due to the South East location, the two neighborhoods are often merged. Bayview–Hunter's Point has been labeled as San Francisco's "Most Isolated Neighborhood".
Matthew Edward Gonzalez is an American politician, lawyer, and activist. He served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from 2001 to 2005 and was president of the Board. In 2003, Gonzalez, running as a member of the Green Party, lost a race for mayor of San Francisco to Democrat Gavin Newsom. In the 2008 presidential election, Gonzalez ran for vice president as the running mate of candidate Ralph Nader. As of February 2024, he works as the Chief Attorney at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office.
Alamo Square is a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, California with a park of the same name. Located in the Western Addition, its boundaries are Buchanan Street on the east, Turk Street on the north, Baker Street on the west, and Page Street Street on the south.
The Central Subway is a Muni Metro light rail tunnel in San Francisco, California, United States. It runs between Chinatown station in Chinatown and a portal in South of Market (SoMa), with intermediate stops at Union Square/Market Street station in Union Square and Yerba Buena/Moscone station in SoMa. A surface portion runs through SoMa to connect to the previously existing T Third Street line at 4th and King station.
Glen Park is a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, California, located south of Twin Peaks and adjacent to Glen Canyon Park.
Pacific Heights is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States. It has panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco Bay, the Palace of Fine Arts, Alcatraz, and the Presidio.
Westwood Park is a residential neighborhood located in southwestern San Francisco, California, near St. Francis Wood and City College of San Francisco. Westwood Park is bordered by Monterey Boulevard, Ocean Avenue, Faxon Avenue, and Phelan Avenue now Frida Kahlo Way. Architecturally, the neighborhood contains a mix of smaller, more modest Craftsman style and Mediterranean style bungalows on a series of concentric oval-shaped streets. The ovals are bisected by Miramar Avenue, which features a landscaped median planted with a variety of trees. Many streets in this neighborhood have a suffix of "wood," such as Eastwood, Northwood, Wildwood.
The 49-Mile Scenic Drive is a designated scenic road tour highlighting much of San Francisco, California. It was created in 1938 by the San Francisco Down Town Association to showcase the city's major attractions and natural beauty during the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.
301 Mission Street is a high-rise residential building in the South of Market district of downtown San Francisco. A mixed-use, primarily residential high rise, it is the tallest residential building and the 6th-tallest overall in San Francisco. In May 2016, residents were informed the main tower was both sinking and tilting, resulting in several lawsuits concerning repair costs and whether the existence of the tilt had been withheld from buyers.
Mountain Lake Park is a 14-acre (5.7 ha) San Francisco park in the Richmond District neighborhood, located north of the intersection of Lake and Funston. It was designed by engineer William Hammond Hall in the late 19th century, circa 1875. Hall also designed Golden Gate Park and was significantly influenced by Frederick Law Olmsted.
The Washington Square Bar & Grill was a landmark restaurant adjoining Washington Square in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. Known widely as the Washbag, so named by columnist Herb Caen as a play on words, it was a favorite gathering place for a generation of writers, politicians, musicians, and social elite.
The Salesforce Transit Center, also known as the Transbay Transit Center, is a transit center in downtown San Francisco. It serves as the primary bus terminal for the San Francisco Bay Area, and is proposed as a possible future rail terminal. The centerpiece of the San Francisco Transbay development, the construction is governed by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA). The 1,430-foot-long (440 m) building sits one block south-east of Market Street, a primary commercial and transportation artery.
Rostam Mirkarimi is an American politician and the former sheriff of San Francisco. Prior to being sheriff, he served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, where he represented District 5.
A special election was held for Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco on June 5, 2018, to fill the remainder of the term of Ed Lee, who had died in office on December 12, 2017. Upon Lee's death, London Breed, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, became Acting Mayor of San Francisco, but a vote of six supervisors replaced Breed with Supervisor Mark Farrell. The mayoral election was held concurrently with the statewide direct primary election. In San Francisco, the election for the eighth district member of the board of supervisors was also on the ballot.
The real estate firm of Archibald S. Baldwin (1858-1924) and Josiah R. Howell (1868-1916) was one of the most important residential development companies in San Francisco and the Bay Area between 1890 and 1940. Baldwin & Howell was instrumental in the development of such San Francisco neighborhoods as Westwood Park, Forest Hills, Presidio Terrace, Balboa Park, the Richmond / Sunset, Forest Hill, West Portal, and St. Francis Wood.
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