Hunters Point

Mostly served as a landfill and outdated Navy shipyard, Hunters Point is not much of a place for people to spend their time. Most of the neighborhood consists of empty parking lots, abandoned yards and neglected houses. African Americans and Asian families make up most of the population. Those who do live in Hunters Point have to travel to Bayview for their shopping needs since the area lacks any sort of commercial real estate. Crime rates are expectedly above average. Public funding has deprived the area of growth in the past. However, plans of redevelopment for a new stadium and thousands of new residential homes are already in the books. It’s just a matter of time for this lower-class neighborhood to get a facelift. And it couldn’t come at a better time considering the expansion of San Francisco and its residents looking for cheap and up-and-coming neighborhoods. Hunters Point is located on the southeast tip, protruding out into the bay breaking from the normal coastline. It offers waterfront property with plenty of stunning views of the bay.

For now, the neighborhood enjoys its close proximity to Candlestick Park, home of the San Francisco 49ers football team. Its public transportation consists of three Muni bus lines that serve the area (lines 19, 23 and 54). Others take Interstate 280 or Highway 101, both a couple blocks west of the neighborhood.

Every city has a stepchild, a neighborhood where, for whatever reasons, progress and prosperity have not found a happy home. In San Francisco, Hunters Point is one such area. In decline since the district began losing some of its industrial base in the 1980s and ’90s, and having taken a much bigger hit when the Navy closed the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in 1994, the quarter has suffered the kind of downward trend that makes even longtime residents and local boosters despair.

When Hunters Point was first developed in the late 1800s, San Francisco was booming, and entrepreneurs took full advantage of the deep-water harbor here for iron works and shipbuilding activity, extending the shore of the district into the bay with successive layers of landfill. By the time the United States entered World War II, and it became clear that large naval ships would be a necessity, the Navy purchased the various private operations and undertook a transformation of the docks and surrounding port into the largest shipyard between San Diego and Bremerton, Wash. Hunters Point Naval Shipyard experienced its heyday in World War II and the decades thereafter, attracting a large population of tradespeople and semi-skilled workers who moved to the adjacent neighborhoods. Many of them were African American, but the restrictive (and racist) housing policies of the time prevented them from living in most areas of San Francisco. So they settled here, in adjoining Bayview, and, to a lesser degree, on the south-facing flank of Bernal Heights.

Today, Hunters Point is inhabited by roughly 10,000 residents (according to U.S. Census Bureau figures), predominantly African Americans (60 percent), with Asians (25 percent) and whites, Native Americans and mixed-race individuals (15 percent) composing the remaining populace. They are mainly poor (median household income is less than $30,000 annually) and more than 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty level. Only 65 percent have finished high school.

They live amid a landscape of warehouses and open lots, abandoned barracks-style military housing, and the derelict Hunters Point shipyard, so contaminated by decades of industrial waste it has been declared a Superfund cleanup site. Many single-family houses are either boarded up or the windows and doors barricaded with iron bars. The neighborhood is home to some of the city’s worst public housing, including Hunters View, much of which was deemed by the city as uninhabitable. So, beginning late in 2010, it is slated to be rebuilt. Another example, Alice Griffith housing project, shelters about 650 people living in more of the most dilapidated buildings the city oversees. The residents here call it “Double Rock” (after the two rocky outcroppings in the South Basin near Yosemite Slough). Despite a community “opportunity” center initiated in 2005 and sporadic attempts by the mayor’s office to recruit residents in rebuilding and refurbishing the streets and common spaces, the 50-year-old project is showing its age. The 254 units are stacked like barracks (they were originally built for shipyard workers) and rest on concrete slabs atop uneven and seismically unstable landfill. Landscaping mostly takes the form of scruffy trees and the occasional dry patch of grass, with weeds predominating and graffiti prevalent everywhere, in spite of the recent additions of murals to beautify the sides of utility buildings. The housing project is depressing to look at, let alone live in.

Yet there are signs of improvement: In addition to the Hunters View work, colorful new condo developments (intended for low-income artists and other residents) have gone up on Cleo Rand Lane and Jerrod Avenue, overlooking the shipyard and bay, as well as new mixed-use buildings along Innes Avenue, just down the hill from some neglected public housing. Moreover, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently approved Lennar Corp.’s redevelopment plan for the 700-acre site of the long-shuttered Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. It includes housing for some 24,000 residents, parks and open space, and a sprawling industrial/research park that promises to transform the community and bring jobs and new investment to the traditionally down-at-the-heels southeastern quadrant of San Francisco. Lennar Corp., a Miami-based home builder, inked the agreement in July 2010 stipulating that 32 percent of the 10,500 units of housing it plans be classified as affordable along with a unit-for-unit replacement of the Alice Griffith projects. The company will also offer job training for local residents, set goals for hiring local contracting firms to do the work, and will contribute $25 million to a community fund for educational opportunities, scholarships, and upgrades to the Southeast Health Center.

The area already has a number of promising features: a state recreation area (Candlestick Point), the Milton Myer Recreation Center (a playground with a baseball diamond and an indoor gym), even the historic Albion Castle (home of the Albion Ale and Porter Brewing Companies on Innes Avenue, now defunct) with a façade and tower made of hewn stone. No public schools are located within the neighborhood boundaries, however (though there are a couple in the adjacent Bayview area).

Three MUNI bus lines also serve the district: the No. 54, which traces a route from the Third Street “T” light-rail station into the housing projects near the shipyard; the No. 19, which goes back and forth along Innes Avenue; and the No. 23, which travels along Palou Avenue (and also connects with the Third Street “T”). Most residents travel to the adjoining Bayview district to shop for groceries and other goods,

Predictably, the area suffers from high crime. Vehicle theft is at the top of the list, according to San Francisco Police Department records, followed by vandalism and disturbing the peace. Robberies/burglaries are widespread, and assaults are common. There have been seven homicides in the last three years.

In addition to all of its current problems, the neighborhood is struggling to recover from the slide in home prices (up to 60 percent for some properties) since the economic downturn of the last two years. Most of what is for sale is condos in the $200,000 to $300,000 range. The owner of the aforementioned Albion Castle, with its stone façade, underground springs, and restored interiors, is asking about $1.8 million for the historic gem. Rentals (not generally readily available here) include a three-bedrooom, two-bathroom condo with a number of amenities (private garden/patio, video surveillance, solar array) for $2,500 a month.

As it awaits the Lennar Corp.’s redevelopment, Hunters Point feels like a no-man’s land, an area between two worlds—a blighted past on the one hand and a reconfigured future on the other, full of unmet potential and promise. What changes lie in store for this waterside community are a matter of debate, part of the waiting game that has defined this quadrant of the city for the last two decades.

As a little precaution, most of this review for Hunters Point will be negative. Honestly, there is little about Hunters Point that is positive. First of all, the neighborhood is known to be the most dangerous neighborhood area in San Francisco. There have been gang-related crimes, murders, and other many negative happenings. So don’t even think about going to this neighborhood if you value your life. Granted you won’t be shot or attacked right away when you first step into this neighborhood, but you will still be in a bit of danger.

Second, aside from the crime and such, Hunters Point is shipyard and warehouse central. I have no idea what goes on in these warehouses and shipyards, but there’s nothing pleasant about it. You’ll probably see workers lifting boxes, and big old rusty ships and cargo boxes.

In general, Hunters Point is a really unattractive place. Various organizations are trying to help improve the community in Hunters Point, but I doubt any major change will occur soon. A neighborhood with such a bad history cannot easily be changed in a few short years.

I would really recommend not coming alone to this neighborhood if you really have to. In fact, try to find some excuse to not go here at all.

The Bayview-Hunter’s Point neighborhood was once a thriving industrial area and home to the Hunter’s Point Dry Dock and Naval Yard and a strong African American community. After the naval yard closed, the surrounding community greatly suffered. With no jobs, poverty and crime soared to epic proportions. During the dot-com boom, Hunter’s Point started to gentrify, attracting Korean and Chinese immigrants and a small enclave of young working professionals. Today, the neighborhood still suffers from some gang violence but things are changing. MUNI’s Third Street Light Rail project has helped make the neighborhood more accessible to Downtown. The area is near to current Mayor Gavin Newsome’s heart, and redevelopment projects are in the works. One of the Hunter’s Point area’s greatest challenges is that it contains tons of toxic waste sites left over from San Francisco’s industrial heydays. Cleaning up the mess makes redevelopment in this area a slow and grueling process.

Despite its toxic past, there are several active community groups working hard to improve the neighborhood. Community gardening is growing in popularity throughout San Francisco, and there are several open spaces in Hunter’s Point where community garden projects thrive. No worries, they test the soil regularly.

Parking is generally easy to find in this area, however, car break-ins and theft are more common in Hunter’s Point that other parts of the city. Due to possible violence, I would not recommend walking around in this neighborhood alone and after dark.

I've heard stories (and it's even mentioned in a Michael Franti song when he was part of the group called "Disposable Heroes of Hypocrisy" in the 90's) that they did work over in Hunter's Point on radioactive waste coming from ships. I have no idea if this is true or not.

I was told stories by other artists when I had my art studio over in the shipyard. It never stopped me from using the space though.

The area is off the beaten path -- nice place to ride a bike out to if you enjoy riding. I also did a great photo shoot by Indian Basin Park where you can sometimes find renegade dance parties.

There isn't much over there though so I'm not sure why you'd head out that way.