Sunset District, San Francisco, California
Encyclopedia
The Sunset District is a large neighborhood in the west-central part of San Francisco, California
, United States
.
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 is a general consensus that the neighborhood extends no further than Sigmund Stern Grove
and Sloat Boulevard in the south and no further east than Stanyan Street (just east of 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 further divided into two main neighborhoods, the Inner Sunset, the Outer Sunset (also known by locals just as "the Sunset"). The commercial area of the Inner Sunset is centered around Irving Street between 7th and 11th Avenues. The Outer Sunset is generally considered to begin at 19th Avenue and to extend to Ocean Beach, with commercial areas on Irving Street from 19th to 25th Avenue, Noriega Street and Taraval Street. The southern half of the Outer Sunset is sometimes recognized as a separate neighborhood known as Parkside
. The Parkside District extends south of Ortega Street (or at certain points, Noriega Street) to Sloat Boulevard and from about 15th Avenue to the Great Highway (including part of Ocean Beach).
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 are 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 prominent 19th Century American Politicians, Military Leaders, or explorers, 19th Century Mexican Land Owners
, and Spanish
Conquistadors in ascending alphabetical order in a southward direction. First Avenue was renamed Arguello Boulevard and 49th Avenue was renamed La Playa Street (Spanish for "the beach").
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 is no 13th Avenue; instead, it is known as Funston Avenue named after Frederick Funston
, a U.S. Army general famous for his exploits during the Spanish-American War
, the Philippine-American War
, and directing the U.S. Army response to 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
, Yorba
, and Sloat
. "X" was originally proposed to be Xavier, but was changed to Yorba due to a pronunciation controversy.
in 1917, the Sunset was a vast, sparsely inhabited area of large sand dunes, and coastal scrub land known as the "Outside Lands". Development was initiated around the late 19th century with the construction of Golden Gate Park, but did not reach a full scale until the years after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
, when small lots of tract homes
and row homes now characteristic of the neighborhood were built into the sand dunes. These tract homes would displace a smaller original settlement built into the dunes called Carville
which was so named for squatters that lived in abandoned streetcars that were dumped in the sand dunes. Development increased by the 1930s, as the Sunset was built and developed into a streetcar suburb
. The Post-World War II baby boom
in the 1950s, saw the last of the sand dunes leveled down and replaced with more single family and multi-family homes. In these developments, built mostly by Henry Doelger
, entire blocks consist mainly of houses of the same general character, differentiated only by variations in their stucco facades and mirrored floorplans, with most built upon 25 feet (7.6 m) lots with no free space between houses.
The western part of the Sunset borders the cold north Californian Pacific Ocean coastline, so it tends to get much of San Francisco fog
San Francisco is famous for. The Sunset (particularly the outer Sunset) can be foggy for many consecutive days during summer. Consecutive days of sunshine are quite rare at this time. The fog typically retreats toward the west in late afternoon, presenting a pleasing sunset. The Sunset's finest weather is usually from mid September through October, when regional air patterns transition from onshore to offshore weather and the area is free of fog. Sand can be found on roadways and driveways within the first 5–10 blocks east of Ocean Beach, carried by Pacific Ocean winds.
The Sunset District contains many large park and recreation areas. The San Francisco Zoo
is located in the southwestern corner of the neighborhood by Lake Merced
, the largest lake within San Francisco. Also within the Lake Merced area are two large golf course
s, the private Olympic Club
and San Francisco Golf Club, and the public TPC Harding Park. Across from Lake Merced is Fort Funston
, an old coastal battery, now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
. Fort Funston is notable in that it has some of the last remnants of the sand dune ecosystem that once covered the entire Sunset District. Stern Grove, a heavily wooded park and amphitheater located on Sloat Boulevard between 19th and 34th streets, is known for its annual summer festival
. Other large parks include Grand View Park
, also referred to as Turtle Hill by local residents, a small, elevated park
in the Inner Sunset. It is surrounded by 14th and 15th Avenues, as well as Noriega Street.
The Inner Sunset is now a popular evening destination, primarily due to the influx of young urban professionals with disposable income. It is also the location of the international headquarters of Craigslist.org.
The Outer Sunset/Parkside area is more suburban in character complete with a suburban-type mall, the Stonestown Galleria
, located just beyond the southwestern corner of the neighborhood on 19th Avenue, near Stern Grove.
About half of the Sunset's residents are Asian American
, mostly of Chinese birth and descent
, 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. Much of the original, largely Irish American
population of the Sunset moved
to other neighborhoods and outlying suburban areas, although there is still a significant Irish American and Irish
minority in the neighborhood. Informal Chinatowns have emerged on Irving Street between 19th Avenue and 24th Avenue as well as on the commercial sections of Taraval Street and Noriega Street west of 19th Avenue.
Educational institutions include the Parnassus campus and medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, located in Inner Sunset; the main campus of San Francisco State University
, located in the southwestern corner of the neighborhood across from Lake Merced; Abraham Lincoln High School, located in the center of the Sunset District; St. Ignatius College Preparatory
(a private, coeducational school operating in San Francisco since 1855) located since 1969 adjacent to Sunset Boulevard; and Lowell High School
, the oldest public high school
west of the Mississippi
and one of the top performing ones in the United States.
The strip near the Pacific Ocean
has a notable population of surfers who take advantage of the sometimes excellent surf conditions of Ocean Beach
. Because of the cold pacific current that brings ocean water down from Alaska
, it is always necessary to wear a wetsuit
when surfing at Ocean Beach.
There is only one recreation center in the Sunset district and the address is 2201 Lawton Street, San Francisco, CA 94122.
(OBMP). The OBMP is an interagency effort to develop a long-term vision for Ocean Beach that will address a multitude of issues
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Location
The Sunset District is the largest district within the city of San Francisco. Golden Gate ParkGolden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
forms the neighborhood's northern border, and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
(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 is a general consensus that the neighborhood extends no further than Sigmund Stern Grove
Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove
Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove, locally called Stern Grove, is a recreational site in the Sunset District, San Francisco, California. It is administered by the city's Recreation and Parks Department, and is the concert setting for the 74-year-old Stern Grove Festival.The site, along Sloat...
and Sloat Boulevard in the south and no further east than Stanyan Street (just east of the Parnassus campus of the University of California, San Francisco
University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco is one of the world's leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. UCSF's medical, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and graduate schools are among the top health science professional schools in the world...
) 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
Outside Lands
Outside Lands was the name used in the 19th century for the present-day Sunset District in San Francisco, California. With few roads and no public transportation, the area was covered by sand dunes and was considered inaccessible and uninhabitable...
".
The Sunset District is further divided into two main neighborhoods, the Inner Sunset, the Outer Sunset (also known by locals just as "the Sunset"). The commercial area of the Inner Sunset is centered around Irving Street between 7th and 11th Avenues. The Outer Sunset is generally considered to begin at 19th Avenue and to extend to Ocean Beach, with commercial areas on Irving Street from 19th to 25th Avenue, Noriega Street and Taraval Street. The southern half of the Outer Sunset is sometimes recognized as a separate neighborhood known as Parkside
Parkside, San Francisco, California
Parkside is a neighborhood in San Francisco. It originally began as a distinct district, but today it is generally considered to be the southern part of the Outer Sunset District.-Location:...
. The Parkside District extends south of Ortega Street (or at certain points, Noriega Street) to Sloat Boulevard and from about 15th Avenue to the Great Highway (including part of Ocean Beach).
The Sunset District and the neighboring Richmond District
Richmond District, San Francisco, California
The Richmond District is a neighborhood in the northwest corner of San Francisco, California.-Location:Lying directly north of Golden Gate Park, "the Richmond" is bounded roughly by Fulton Street to the south, Arguello Boulevard and Laurel Heights to the east, The Presidio National Park and Lincoln...
(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 are 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 prominent 19th Century American Politicians, Military Leaders, or explorers, 19th Century Mexican Land Owners
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
, and Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
Conquistadors in ascending alphabetical order in a southward direction. First Avenue was renamed Arguello Boulevard and 49th Avenue was renamed La Playa Street (Spanish for "the beach").
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 is no 13th Avenue; instead, it is known as Funston Avenue named after Frederick Funston
Frederick Funston
Frederick N. Funston also known as Fred Funston, was a General in the United States Army, best known for his role in the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War...
, a U.S. Army general famous for his exploits during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
, the Philippine-American War
Philippine-American War
The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...
, and directing the U.S. Army response to the 1906 Earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
.
The east-west streets in the Sunset are for the most part in alphabetical order. These streets are: Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, Hugo (Inner Sunset only), Irving, Judah
Theodore Judah
Theodore Dehone Judah was an American railroad engineer who dreamed of the first Transcontinental Railroad. He found investors for what became the Central Pacific Railroad...
, Kirkham, Lawton
Henry Ware Lawton
Henry Ware Lawton was a highly respected U.S. Army officer who served with distinction in the Civil War, the Apache Wars, the Spanish-American War and was the only U.S. general officer to be killed during the Philippine-American War...
, Moraga
José Joaquín Moraga
José Joaquín de la Santísima Trinidad Moraga was an early explorer to Alta California...
, Noriega, Ortega
José Francisco Ortega
José Francisco Ortega was soldier and early settler of California.-Early life:Ortega was born in 1734 at Zelaya, Guanajuanto, Mexico, where he worked as a warehouse clerk. In 1755, he enlisted and served at the Presidio at Misión Nuestra Señora de Loreto. In 1759 Ortega married María Antonia...
, Pacheco
Rancho Monte del Diablo
Rancho Monte del Diablo was a Mexican land grant in present day Contra Costa County, California given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Salvio Pacheco. The name "Monte del Diablo" means "thicket of the devil" in Spanish. The name was later incorrectly translated as Mount Diablo...
, Quintara, Rivera, Santiago, Taraval, Ulloa
Antonio de Ulloa
Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre-Girault was a Spanish general, explorer, author, astronomer, colonial administrator and the first Spanish governor of Louisiana.Rebellion of 1768]]....
, Vicente
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was a Spanish navigator, explorer, and conquistador, the youngest of the Pinzón brothers...
, Wawona
Wawona, California
Wawona is a census-designated place in Mariposa County, California. It is located east of Mariposa, at an elevation of 3999 feet...
, Yorba
José Antonio Yorba
José Antonio Yorba , also known as Don José Antonio Yorba I, was a Spanish soldier and early settler of Spanish California.-Spanish Soldier:...
, and Sloat
John D. Sloat
John Drake Sloat was a commodore in the United States Navy who, in 1846, claimed California for the United States.-Life:...
. "X" was originally proposed to be Xavier, but was changed to Yorba due to a pronunciation controversy.
History
The origin of the "Sunset" name is not entirely clear. One claim comes from Aurelius Buckingham, a developer who owned property in the area, coined the term in 1886. Another claim comes from the California Midwinter Fair, which was held in Golden Gate Park in 1894 and was also known as "The Sunset City." Before the construction of the Twin Peaks TunnelTwin Peaks Tunnel
The Twin Peaks Tunnel is a long light rail transit/streetcar tunnel in San Francisco, California, United States, running under Twin Peaks. When it was opened on February 3, 1918, it was one of the longest railway tunnels in the world . It was the longest U.S...
in 1917, the Sunset was a vast, sparsely inhabited area of large sand dunes, and coastal scrub land known as the "Outside Lands". Development was initiated around the late 19th century with the construction of Golden Gate Park, but did not reach a full scale until the years after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
, when small lots of tract homes
Tract housing
Tract housing is a style of housing development in which multiple similar homes are built on a tract of land which is subdivided into individual small lots...
and row homes now characteristic of the neighborhood were built into the sand dunes. These tract homes would displace a smaller original settlement built into the dunes called Carville
Carville (San Francisco, California)
Carville, also known Carville-by-the-Sea, was an impromptu neighborhood in what is now the Outer Sunset District of San Francisco, California...
which was so named for squatters that lived in abandoned streetcars that were dumped in the sand dunes. Development increased by the 1930s, as the Sunset was built and developed into a streetcar suburb
Streetcar suburb
A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Early suburbs were served by horsecars, but by the late 19th century cable cars and electric streetcars, or trams, were used, allowing...
. The Post-World War II baby boom
Baby boom
A baby boom is any period marked by a greatly increased birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds and when the number of annual births exceeds 2 per 100 women...
in the 1950s, saw the last of the sand dunes leveled down and replaced with more single family and multi-family homes. In these developments, built mostly by Henry Doelger
Henry Doelger
Henry Doelger was a San Francisco developer known for the creation of large low-cost housing tracts in San Francisco and Daly City.-Biography:...
, entire blocks consist mainly of houses of the same general character, differentiated only by variations in their stucco facades and mirrored floorplans, with most built upon 25 feet (7.6 m) lots with no free space between houses.
Attractions and characteristics
San Francisco Fog
San Francisco Fog Rugby Football Club , also known as "The Fog", is a rugby union football club in San Francisco, California. It is the first such team in the western United States established specifically to actively reach out to traditionally under-represented groups in rugby; such as people of...
San Francisco is famous for. The Sunset (particularly the outer Sunset) can be foggy for many consecutive days during summer. Consecutive days of sunshine are quite rare at this time. The fog typically retreats toward the west in late afternoon, presenting a pleasing sunset. The Sunset's finest weather is usually from mid September through October, when regional air patterns transition from onshore to offshore weather and the area is free of fog. Sand can be found on roadways and driveways within the first 5–10 blocks east of Ocean Beach, carried by Pacific Ocean winds.
The Sunset District contains many large park and recreation areas. The San Francisco Zoo
San Francisco Zoo
The San Francisco Zoo, housing more than 260 animal species, is a zoo located in the southwestern corner of San Francisco, California, between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway...
is located in the southwestern corner of the neighborhood by Lake Merced
Lake Merced
Lake Merced is a freshwater lake in the southwest corner of San Francisco. It is surrounded by three golf courses , as well as residential areas, Lowell High School, San Francisco State University, Fort Funston and the Pacific Ocean...
, the largest lake within San Francisco. Also within the Lake Merced area are two large golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
s, the private Olympic Club
Olympic Club
The Olympic Club is a San Francisco, California, athletic club and private social club with three golf courses located at San Francisco's border with Daly City, California. The club's main "City Clubhouse" is located in downtown San Francisco. The club's "Lakeside Clubhouse" is located just north...
and San Francisco Golf Club, and the public TPC Harding Park. Across from Lake Merced is Fort Funston
Fort Funston
Fort Funston is a protected area within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area at the southwestern corner of San Francisco. It occupies windswept headlands along the Pacific coast, steep cliffs and the beach below...
, an old coastal battery, now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area administered by the National Park Service that surrounds the San Francisco Bay area. It is one of the most visited units of the National Park system in the United States, with over 13 million visitors a year...
. Fort Funston is notable in that it has some of the last remnants of the sand dune ecosystem that once covered the entire Sunset District. Stern Grove, a heavily wooded park and amphitheater located on Sloat Boulevard between 19th and 34th streets, is known for its annual summer festival
Stern Grove Festival
Established in 1938, the Stern Grove Festival is an admission-free series of performing arts events held during the summer months at the Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove, a eucalyptus-wooded natural amphitheater on a site at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, about two miles south of Golden Gate Park...
. Other large parks include Grand View Park
Grand View Park
Grand View Park, also referred to as Turtle Hill by local residents, is a small, elevated park in the Sunset District, San Francisco, California...
, also referred to as Turtle Hill by local residents, a small, elevated park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
in the Inner Sunset. It is surrounded by 14th and 15th Avenues, as well as Noriega Street.
The Inner Sunset is now a popular evening destination, primarily due to the influx of young urban professionals with disposable income. It is also the location of the international headquarters of Craigslist.org.
The Outer Sunset/Parkside area is more suburban in character complete with a suburban-type mall, the Stonestown Galleria
Stonestown Galleria
Stonestown Galleria is a shopping mall in San Francisco, California, anchored by Nordstrom, Macy's, and Ode Books, formerly Borders Books & Music...
, located just beyond the southwestern corner of the neighborhood on 19th Avenue, near Stern Grove.
About half of the Sunset's residents are Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
, mostly of Chinese birth and descent
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
, a result of a demographic shift that began in the late 1960s and accelerated from the 1980s as Asian immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
to San Francisco increased dramatically. Much of the original, largely Irish American
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
population of the Sunset moved
White flight
White flight has been a term that originated in the United States, starting in the mid-20th century, and applied to the large-scale migration of whites of various European ancestries from racially mixed urban regions to more racially homogeneous suburban or exurban regions. It was first seen as...
to other neighborhoods and outlying suburban areas, although there is still a significant Irish American and Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
minority in the neighborhood. Informal Chinatowns have emerged on Irving Street between 19th Avenue and 24th Avenue as well as on the commercial sections of Taraval Street and Noriega Street west of 19th Avenue.
Educational institutions include the Parnassus campus and medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, located in Inner Sunset; the main campus of San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
, located in the southwestern corner of the neighborhood across from Lake Merced; Abraham Lincoln High School, located in the center of the Sunset District; St. Ignatius College Preparatory
St. Ignatius College Preparatory
St. Ignatius College Preparatory is a preparatory school in the Jesuit tradition serving the San Francisco Bay Area since 1855. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, in the Sunset District of San Francisco, St. Ignatius is one of the oldest secondary schools in the U.S. state...
(a private, coeducational school operating in San Francisco since 1855) located since 1969 adjacent to Sunset Boulevard; and Lowell High School
Lowell High School (San Francisco)
Lowell High School is a public magnet school in San Francisco, California. The school opened in 1856 as the Union Grammar School and attained its current name in 1896. Lowell moved to its current location in the Merced Manor neighborhood in 1962....
, the oldest public high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
west of the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and one of the top performing ones in the United States.
The strip near the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
has a notable population of surfers who take advantage of the sometimes excellent surf conditions of Ocean Beach
Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California
Ocean Beach is a beach that runs along the west coast of San Francisco, California, United States, at the Pacific Ocean. It is adjacent to Golden Gate Park, the Richmond District and the Sunset District. The Great Highway runs alongside the beach, and Cliff House and the site of the former Sutro...
. Because of the cold pacific current that brings ocean water down from Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, it is always necessary to wear a wetsuit
Wetsuit
A wetsuit is a garment, usually made of foamed neoprene, which is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports, providing thermal insulation, abrasion resistance and buoyancy. The insulation properties depend on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material,...
when surfing at Ocean Beach.
There is only one recreation center in the Sunset district and the address is 2201 Lawton Street, San Francisco, CA 94122.
Current Issues
The current efforts to develop a comprehensive plan for this section of San Francisco is the Ocean Beach Master PlanOcean Beach Public Policy
Ocean Beach is a beach that runs along the west coast of San Francisco, California, United States, at the Pacific Ocean. It is adjacent to Golden Gate Park, the Richmond District and the Sunset District. The Great Highway runs alongside the beach, and Cliff House and the site of the former Sutro...
(OBMP). The OBMP is an interagency effort to develop a long-term vision for Ocean Beach that will address a multitude of issues
External links
- Inner, Center and Outer Sunset guided photo tour
- Ocean Beach Bulletin, Neighborhood news organization covering the Sunset District
- Inner, Outer Sunset Neighborhood Guide (SFGate)
- Sunset Beacon, local newspaper
- Street Naming Controversy How the east-west streets in the Sunset were renamed in 1909
- Photographs of the Sunset District, 1886-1972, at San Francisco Public Library
- Western Neighborhoods Project
- Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center, youth and family community center
- Sunset Community Space, wikispace for Sunset service providers and residents
- Sunset District Events Calendar, local events calendar