Mission St, SOMA

I recently reviewed the section of Mission Street that is to the east of this section in the Financial District. It reminded me though, of this section of the Mission, which is just as packed with restaurants and cool places to eat, etc.

To begin with, on the far eastern end of this section of Mission is where you will find the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The gallery has a decidedly international flavor. Right now for example they are showing the films of Thai filmmaker Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, an esoteric exhibition called “Without Reality There is No Utopia” which is all about the falseness of the narratives we live by (like “Capitalism” or “Communism”) and the David Dorfman Dance troupe performing a show called “Prophets of Funk.”

The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is also a favorite spot for people to head to at lunch time--you will often see Financial District types sitting down at noon to grab a bite to eat and take a breather from stealing everybody’s hard earned money. (Just a joke.)

One of the residents of this location is City College of San Francisco, a huge, well-known community college that claims over 90,000 students. It actually has a pretty great reputation.

But what I like most about Mission Street is the restaurants, of course. Especially restaurants like Moya (an Ethiopian joint), Heaven’s Dog (a cool Chinese place), Zaoh (a sushi bar) and one of my all time favorites, AQ. AQ is seasonal Cal Med type restaurant that alters with the seasons and uses local fresh foods. It is a great experience and I would highly recommend it to everyone. And the chef is pretty dreamy too.

Now on the southern end of Mission St. it does look very run down and urban, but there are still some pretty good spots.

As far as living around here, the main problems are crime and high rents. A one bedroom on Mission will run you between $2300 and $4000, while a two can easily go for as much as $4500.

Crime is also a big problem around here. In the last six months there have been 3 murders just a couple of streets up on Market and literally hundreds of assaults. So it is about as bad as it gets--which is not all that surprising given this section of Mission is sandwiched between the Tenderloin and the Mission District, two of the three most crime ridden neighborhoods in SF.

Overall, I would say this is a nice place to visit, but I definitely wouldn’t want to live here.

In a city practically defined by its abundance of parks, Yerba Buena Gardens can appear to be the size of a pin on a map showing the Presidio, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its place. In the bustling SOMA district, this park is a great break for city dwellers looking for a simple patch of green in a sea of buildings.

The park is well laid out and very pretty; the stone benches make it appear more like a botanical garden and less like a regular park, but the green lawn certainly provides some lounge space as well. Skaters and jugglers may be showing off their skills, but will not be overbearing.

My only problem with this park is the strict "no ball sports of any kind" rule. I was there with a group last week and got some trouble for having them hit a birdie with a badminton racket for all of a minute. Given the fact that people will just as likely offer you drugs in this park, it seems a bit extreme to berate people for using miniature tennis rackets in a public park, but at the same time I got a warning and wasn't even issued a slap on the wrist, so I don't think they generally enforce their rules too heavily.