Noe Valley

Though by no means a must on any first-time visitor's itinerary, for locals Noe Valley is one of the city's most desirable places to live. Church Street and 24th Street, the neighborhood's main thoroughfares, teem with laid-back cafés, kid-friendly restaurants, and comfortable, old-time shops. Zippy the Pinhead cartoonist Bill Griffith, a resident, describes 24th Street as "primarily an urban mall for caffeine addicts and people who have jobs that don't require them to go to an office." There's admittedly little of official interest here, and the true gems lie between the so-called sights, but for a low-key, pleasant stroll and a taste of everyday San Francisco, Noe Valley—also known as Stroller Valley for its relatively high concentration of little ones—is hard to beat.