Hayes Valley
A reflection of its host city, Hayes Valley combines all things great about San Francisco – diverse communities, global perspective, and outstanding cuisine. This vibrant neighborhood full of random juxtapositions and eclectic style, mix classic Victorian architecture and the attitude of a quaint European village, with hints of modern metropolitan life. A hidden treasure for locals and tourists, Hayes Valley is a creative place just beginning to spread its wings.
Where the area’s only freeway once annoyed residents and shop owners alike, the community now embraces the vacant lots left in its wake as possibilities for development. The hopefulness and excitement of the people here only further intrigue visitors and inspired entrepreneurs to discover Hayes Valley.
At the heart of the neighborhood, residents of Oak Street add a calming sense of hospitality and small town vibes to the hustle of business and pleasure on Hayes Street - everyone still proud of the neighborhood for both its popularity and quite pleasantness. Hayes Valley is undeniably a community of progress – racial, economic, and spiritual.
Early on a weekday morning, elementary school children walk down a flower and tree lined alley to their recess, store clerks sweep their sidewalk real estate, restaurants brew fresh java, and the sounds of French, Chinese, and Spanish conversations fill the air.
Long-time Hayes Valley homeowner, Patricia Thrash, waiting for a bus along Octavia Boulevard, sums up Hayes Valley in her own words as “a true piece of America.”
Civic Center
San Francisco’s Civic Center on the other hand, represents a different kind of American truth. Set against a picturesque City Hall of majestic white marble and gold, the presence of San Francisco’s homeless population cannot be ignored to those who stroll along the lawns and sidewalks of U.N Plaza.
The Civic Center’s landscape, playground, and historic public library all provide a place to wander and rest for a homeless population plagued by the substance abuse and petty crime of the neighboring Tenderloin community. “There are always issues of drug use and abuse,” according to McAllister Avenue resident Garrett Hilliard, in regard to the homeless who frequent the area. Tourists and locals alike quickly identify a contrast between the suited lawyers and politicians of City Hall and the shopping carts and sweatshirts of the homeless. Guy Higson, a traveler from London said, “As a tourist, I was pretty stunned,” upon seeing the amount of homeless spending their day in the Civic Center.
In a sense, the area seems to introduce a need for social change and the possible solutions for change all at the same time.
Although the Civic Center does seem to carry a rather disturbing reputation by people who work and live close by, the area also provides San Francisco with a kind of pride and excitement credited to a political active community and rich history. City Hall and the surrounding federal buildings are impressively beautiful, while the daily farmers markets of U.N Plaza provide a sweet breeze of flowers and fruit for citizens walking briskly to the Bart/Muni station. The Civic Center is certainly a unique, intriguing, busy, and essential place of interest in San Francisco.
