Green St, Pacific Heights

Green Street is a residential street that crosses Cow Hollow east to west--basically from Van Ness to the Presidio. My favorite part of Green is probably the section farthest to the west, near the Presidio. There are lots of really beautifully maintained older buildings here on this end. That and the combination of the tree-lined street gives this a very cozy sort of residential feel that makes it feel less like a harsh city than a tightly knit community. You can imagine that it looked much like this nearly a century ago.

The houses here are an interesting mix. There are, of course, the three-story Victorians that are a mainstay of northern SF. But there are also homes in what I think is the classic Italianate style--at least as far as I can tell with my very basic architectural knowledge. These are really attractive homes with cute European style balconies and top floor terraces that offer views and fresh air opportunities.

It is right around this location, just as Green starts descending down towards the North Beach area that you get the most expensive home to have sold in this area, a 3-story 1922 home that sold for $4.2 million. Most homes along Green do not sell for that much but a $1-million dollar home or even studio is not at all uncommon around here. This is not surprising since Green is the border between Cow Hollow and Pacific Heights.

And then you will also find large 6-story brick buildings like the one near the western end that is the home of the Russian Consulate (only slightly northeast of the Little Russia area of the Richmond District). There are a few buildings like this that look more like old fashioned office buildings or maybe slightly more unusual apartments.

Green flattens out to the east of Pierce. This is where you will find the Catholic St. Vincent de Paul Church and Gym. This is also where you start to find a lot more 3-story Victorians very much in the style of North Beach and where you get a lot of older pre-World War II apartment buildings (kind of like the San Francisco of Hitchcock). By the time you reach Van Ness it pretty much feels indistinguishable from North Beach.

There aren’t a lot of stores or restaurants on this section of Green, but with Union just to the south and Van Ness on the eastern end you should be well within walking distance of a number of restaurants and stores, no matter where on Green you find yourself.

Green Street and the Cow Hollow/Pacific Heights is a relatively safe point in northern SF, which does have some rough spots. Though there is a ring of violence that surrounds the area, roughly overlapping with high traffic areas, Green Street itself has only had one assault in six months. Unfortunately the neighborhood is not immune to crime altogether. Burglaries are commonplace all along Green and throughout the entirety of both Cow Hollow and Pacific Heights. This is basically the price of living in the city.

One of the big benefits of living in this section is that you have a number of very good schools, so if you happen to have kids and don’t want to raise them in the boredom of the suburbs, this area is one of the better options the city has to offer--especially if you are willing to shell out the big bucks for a private school.

Overall, I would say this is great spot to live in the city. A little oasis of charm and relative safety.