Where to visit in the Mission? (San Francisco, Folsom: apartments, condos, crime)

[nikonfotog]

Hello - We'll be vising SF in a few weeks. I've been there twice, but haven't been anywhere in the Mission neighborhoods yet.

I know that parts of the Mission area are to be avoided. From reading these forums, it seems that a general rule of thumb is to avoid anything east of Mission Street. Can that be narrowed down any further, or is that whole chunk of the city really that bad?

We'd be visiting during the daytime. I see that SF Guides have 3 different walking tours in the Mission, but I'm not sure if the timing will work out for us. From looking at Google maps, it looks like there are 3 different areas with "Mission" in the name: Mission Delores, Mission District, and Mission. Not really sure what the differences are, but I'd be interested to know if anyone wants to explain?

What we mainly want to see are old mission-style architecture, murals, and maybe some Victorian homes (without being mugged of course ).

Thanks in advance for any helpful advice!

[mayorhaggar]

Well in general anywhere on or east of Mission is grubby and has way more crime than anywhere west of Mission, and that's what I tell people, and there isn't really much worth seeing or doing east of Mission in general if you're a tourist. But there are some ok pockets, and some parts are worse than others, and if you're comfortable with big cities and want to see some cool architecture, by all means take the plunge.

Mission Street itself is hands down the worst part of the area, especially between 16th and 18th. Lots of junkies and dealers and weird people just sort of hanging around. It's better than it used to be but still pretty bad. South of 18th Mission is just kind of grubby but sharply drops in sketchiness, there's a lot of dingy dollar stores, liquor stores, grubby little tacquerias, but mixed in with some nice bars and restaurants that are either old and established or have opened up recently.

East of Mission Street is way less grubby and quiet than Mission Street itself but a lot of crime happens there, mainly at night--you're always reading about shootings on Folsom or South Van Ness. There's just not that much to do there though, it's a pretty poor area though there are some white people who have been gentrifying the area very gradually over the last 20 years. Some exceptions: Balompie on Capp, great Salvadorean restaurant. The Rite-Spot: great bar in the middle of nowhere. 24th Street east of Mission is also a big exception, there are a lot of new trendy restaurants there that weren't there just a few years ago. Generally just try and be there during the day and use general street smarts.

West of Mission is a LOT nicer. Definitely take a walk down Valencia to check out all the bars and restaurants and great used bookstores if you want. Dolores Park is great on a sunny day. I've never been to the Mission Dolores church but it could be cool.

For architecture just kinda wander around, the Mission has a lot of nice old buildings mixed with ugly new ones. The area east of Mission I think has some of the oldest houses in SF. West of Mission I would recommend Prosper Street and Pond Street (each are just a block long and are next to one another), also I always liked the block of Linda between 18th and 19th because it's really narrow and has a weird curve in it. Otherwise just walk along Church Street, maybe Noe for some classic Mission architecture. The Haight has a lot of Victorians too. North Beach has a ton of old houses too.

[nikonfotog]

Excellent - thanks for the detailed response!

[capoeira]

The area of 24th St. east of Mission is one of the most interesting areas of the Mission district. It feels like it retains the Hispanic culture of the Mission district. This is also the place to go to see murals. You can get a mural map at Precita Eyes or join one of their tours of Balmy Alley. Take the Bart to 24th St. and walk east on 24th St. to check out the various markets and restaurants. Try Taqueria Guadalajara for authentic tacos or Tortas Los Picudos for incredible tortas.

In complete contrast there is the foodie/hipster area west of Mission. Check out 18th St. between Guerrero and Dolores. There you can find such epicurean delights like a $12 sheep cheese sandwich at Tartine Bakery or 29.95/lb. beef tenderloin at the birite market.

Scarlet Sage on Valencia is one of my favorite stores in the Mission area.

[Nineties Flava]

To add to what Mayorhaggar said, Guerrero St is another great street to see some nice architecture in the West of Mission area. Folsom Street between 24th and 25th is IMO one of the most beautiful blocks in SF and has some of the best Victorian architecture, but if you go too far (26th & Folsom) you're in the Army Street housing projects. 24th Street east of Mission is indeed a nice strip, though the section between Capp and Shotwell is somewhat dodgy (particularly Shotwell).

[Isebiel]

Originally Posted by nikonfotog

From looking at Google maps, it looks like there are 3 different areas with "Mission" in the name: Mission Delores, Mission District, and Mission. Not really sure what the differences are, but I'd be interested to know if anyone wants to explain?

Misson and Mission District are the same. (There's also Mission Bay which is east, on the other side of the highway.) Mission Delores is the part of the Mission near where the church is. The whole area is named after the original Catholic mission at that church.

Definitely walk up and down Valencia Street. Visit The Pirate Store | San Francisco's Only Independent Pirate Supply Store It's actually a front for a charity, but the zoning required retail, so they put together some retail! It's super cute.

I'd also suggest getting some burritos while you're here. I like El Toro at Valencia and 17th, but you can look around Yelp to find endless options.

Clarion Alley (between Valencia and Mission streets), just south of 17th for some murals.

One thing to note -- the blocks between numbered streets in the Mission are super long. Looking at a map and thinking those are normal sized blocks can lead to some unexpectedly lengthy walks!

[nikonfotog]

Thanks a lot for the replies, they're all very helpful!

[SunDevil1212]

I second the Clarion Alley suggestion, in addition the Women's Building on 18th between Valencia and Guerrero has an expansive, colorful mural worth checking out.

The Mission Dolores church is worth a visit just because its so old - its the oldest surviving building in San Francisco. There is a cemetery with some noteworthy San Franciscans of centuries past buried there - its fun to explore and won't take you too much time. Just an FYI - outside of the Church, to my knowledge you're not going to find much other Mission-style architecture in the Mission. It's mostly Victorian style houses or apartments with some modern condos mixed in.

[Nineties Flava]

Clarion Alley is dope but there aren't too many Mission artists featured on it. An alley that's more representative of Mission artists is Lilac Street between 24th and 26th... it's equally beautiful and has some amazing aztec-inspired art along with some great tributes. Here's some shots of it I took:













There's incredible art throughout the entirety of the Mission though.

[mayorhaggar]

Check out the mural on the side of The Apartment store at Lexington and 18th, maybe on your way to Bi-Rite to get some picnic food to go eat in Dolores Park.