annetti

We have been offered a home exchange for this summer in San Francisco. The couple live in the Mission District. What can you tell me about the neighborhood, regarding safety, convenience, tourist sights, etc.? Thanks very much.

Dayenu

Mission district is large. Do you know the street/cross street? Some areas are safer than others.

MmePerdu

Presumably you know the address of the property. If so, use the Streetview feature of Google maps and have a "walk" around the neighborhood. It should tell you a great deal about the area. If you don't have the address it should be provided before you make a decision.

DebitNM

Part of it are very trendy as in up and coming. It really makes a difference, as Dayenu says. Lots of great trendy places to eat. Could be great. Need to pinpoint it more.

DebitNM

There is a BART station, so that is convenient to get to and from airport. I would fly into SFO as its a bit closer to that station than OAK, but certainly if OAK has better fares (it usually does for us and is also non-stop) go to OAK.

The historic F street car is close by, again ,depending on exact location.

Safety, again ,depends.

StuDudley

There are two BART stations in the Mission - 24th & Mission and 16th & Mission. The Mission area is quite spotty - provide an address, like previously requested.

Stu Dudley

annetti

I looked up the street on a map. I know this takes in a large area, but it was as close as I can narrow it down since the other streets were not labeled. They live between South Van Ness and Guerrero and between 16th and 24th streets. Does this help? Thanks, everyone for your help. Meanwhile, I am waiting to hear from them.

StuDudley

>> They live between South Van Ness and Guerrero and between 16th and 24th streets. Does this help?

annetti

Thanks, Stu. Lol They're right in the middle of this area. If this dicussion with them gets more serious, I will ask for their cross streets.

annetti

I now have the cross streets - near 17th and Mission. They tell me they are near the Bart at 16th and Mission. Thanks.

Debit, if this works out, we would probably drive, but thanks for the airport info.

DebitNM

Parking, if not provided /included, could be a problem.

I'll let the locals chime in ,but the area right at the BART station/ exit seems sketchy to me. This is just a block away. Y ou can google " 17th st and mission st " and get a street view.

StuDudley

Deb is correct, 17th & Mission is on the edge of "sketchy" - but everywhere in the Mission is improving. We are taking BART into SF tonight to meet some friends for dinner. We take it to the Mission/16st station - so I'll do a look/see tonight before & after dinner.

Stu Dudley

newtome

A few things

It really depends where you are coming from. The Mission between 14th and 22nd or so (it gets better the higher numbered streets you go) is a funky, noisy area populated by Latino residents; and to restaurants ranging from hole in the wall taqerias to high end dining places frequented by young internet millionaires. . But it's funky no matter how far up you go, and if you're coming from a city there likely wouldn't be any serious culture shock. If you're coming from a small town,. probably gonna hit you like a ton of bricks.
I go there all the time to go to small local theater events and I am VERY careful late in the evenings. It's not horrbile-smartphone thefts, petty crime, and such if you're not aware - and drunks folks out on the weekends yelling at each other - but it's not for everyone.
Whatever you decide:
MAKE SURE THERE IS PARKING ATTACHED if you are driving! Parking is generally metered and otherwise hard to find

StuDudley

To add to newton's description, the farther west you go, the better it gets. Dolores & Guerrero are fine. Mark Zuckerberg lives near 21st, between Dolores & Guerrero. Valencia OK - it has lots of unusual shops & restaurants, but things get slightly "funkier" as you get closer to Mission St.

We lived "next door" to the Mission in the Noe Valley for 7 years, and we loved living there. We're fans of large cities, and we still spend all our dining, shopping, & wandering time in San Francisco. But the Mission is certainly different from the Noe Valley, Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, and other more "upscale" neighborhoods. My wife has urges to move back to SF - but she would not want to live in the Mission.

Newton gave you a good description of the situation. It's probably more how you feel about "funky" than anything else.

Tomorrow I'll try to describe how funky/scary 17th & Mission is, compared to the Noe Valley and other sections of the Mission. We've dined in the Mission 4 times in the last 2 months, and we're still alive & have not been accosted yet. But we did have to walk around a small homeless camp set up near the theater area that newtons frequents.

Stu Dudley

annetti

Newtone and Deb. Thank you. We'll have parking in their garage and will probably leave our car there most of the time. We did a home exchange in SF three years ago, bought a transit pass and only used the car for food shopping. If this works out, we'll do the same again.

Newtone - your description is pretty similar to the comments we received last night from our prospective home exchangers.

annetti

Stu - we were posting at the same time! Thank you for your comments.

aprillilacs

Mission and 16th is not someplace I personally would want to stay--too many people hanging about around the BART station, and pretty dirty. (I do use the BART station there for airport transit.) Mission and 17th is somewhat better. It is a fairly noisy area, though--especially on weekends. Newtome gives a good description.

I love Mission Street itself--I've lived in the city a couple of blocks from Mission since July, and it has really grown on me. I love the shops and restaurants there--most with a Latino bent, from all parts of Latin America--and the murals on the side streets intersecting Mission are pretty darn amazing. The street is very different from most of the rest of San Francisco. When I take the #49 bus, which runs on Mission (and then Van Ness almost to the Bay), I'm often one of the only non-Latinos on the bus as it runs along Mission. The #22 bus goes along 16th and then up Church and Fillmore, which gives you good access to other parts of the city; the J Muni metro line is also just a few blocks away, on Church, and you can connect from there to the N, which parallels Golden Gate Park. And you can get downtown easily on BART. So you would have good access to the city on public transit.

Some fine restaurants are in the area--it's easy walking distance to too many to count. And you will be walking distance from Dolores Park, which is great for people watching, especially on a warm afternoon (it's PACKED, mostly with folks in the 20-35 age range).

I just wouldn't want a place at the actual intersection of Mission and 16th.

DebitNM

"near 17th and Mission. They tell me they are near the Bart at 16th and Mission"

I would be concerned that they are closer to 16th and Mission than 17th and Mission and are trying to avoid pinning it down.

I would ask them outright for the exact address. If they balk, I would walk. Are there reviews from others who have exchanged with them??

annetti

Deb, I have the exact address, but I can't provide it here, have had it from the beginning of the discussion. I did not know the cross streets until yesterday's email. They are on a side street, 1.5 blocks from the Bart in one direction and one block from Valencia in the other direction.

Unfortunately, they are first time exchangers so that presents some thought, too. Of course, in home exchanging, this is not unique, but it is so much pleasantner exchanging with an experienced exchanger, though that is no guarantee.

MmePerdu

Just what I was thinking. You should be able to take a look at the exact address and the surrounding neighborhood on Streetview. If they won't give you the information I'd find something else.