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OK, so I'm not only reviewing Alamo Square but how can you talk about Alamo Square without also mentioning Hayes Valley and the NOPA area? The mile-long stretch of Hayes Street that spans east-to-west from Franklin Street all the way to Divisadero offers a chic, funky and creative mix of individually-owned boutiques, cafés and restaurants, a spectacular 12.7-acre park with panoramic views of downtown San Francisco as well as some of the most beautiful Victorian and Edwardian homes in the city. The Hayes Street neighborhood’s proximity to the airport, both bridges, Golden Gate Park, downtown as well as its ideal location, a few short blocks to the San Francisco Symphony and Opera, make it one of the most culturally rich, convenient and just plain fun places to live.

At the eastern end of Hayes Street, local merchants, residents and city planners have worked together to create an animated, pedestrian-friendly shopping and dining destination known as Hayes Valley. From the urbane to the everyday, the classic to the eclectic, there’s something to suit just about every taste. The nearby San Francisco Symphony, Opera, Music Conservatory and French American International School all contribute to this friendly, vibrant community that moves day and night. The new Jazz Conservatory being erected at the corner of Franklin and Fell Streets continues the march forward to maintaining the neighborhood’s reputation as San Francisco’s cultural hub. While I could list the many cool boutiques, cafés and restaurants that line this end of Hayes Street, the point is to go there and explore it for yourself. The merchants and residents have done an outstanding job of keeping the big chains out and keeping fun and creativity in.

About mid-way up the Hayes Street mile from the cafes, boutiques and restaurants of Hayes Valley lies picturesque Alamo Square; a four-block, tree-lined park with amazing views of downtown San Francisco, the Transamerica Building, the Bay Bridge, all framed in the foreground with the famous row of Painted Ladies. Palms and colossal cypress trees line the wide paved paths that twist their way through this famous San Francisco landmark. The Alamo Square Neighborhood Association is very active and works continuously to improve park facilities to maintain the charm and improve access to this municipal treasure. Children and parents love the kids playground located on the eastern side of the park with its great views of City Hall’s beautiful gilded dome and downtown. Since the area around Alamo Square Park was largely untouched by the Great Earthquake of 1906, many of the original Victorian homes still remain. In fact, Alamo Square was a refuge for San Franciscans after the earthquake and citizens gathered on the Hayes Street side of the park to watch the city's destruction from fire; many with only the clothes on their backs. Today, the neighborhood immediately around the park is a historical district and contains the second largest concentration of Victorian and Edwardian homes over 10,000 square feet in San Francisco. The Victorian Alliance, an organization committed to the preservation and restoration of Victorian and other historic structures, is very active in the Alamo Square area and schedules historic home visits and other related events on a regular basis. While the word bargain is clearly a relative term when referring to San Francisco real estate, the magnificent period homes in and around Alamo Square built between the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s are a bargain, selling at somewhere between 60 to 70 percent of the price of comparable homes in the Pacific Heights or Russian Hill neighborhoods.

Continuing another couple of blocks west on Hayes Street from Alamo Square to the North-of-the-Panhandle (NOPA) neighborhood at Hayes and Divisadero, a kind of renaissance has taken place; some of it a result of positive vibrations from both Hayes Valley and from gentrification in the NOPA area itself. However, ample credit should be given to the beautification projects undertaken by the city in the past four years such as adding the tree-lined median strip down the center of Divisadero, making it less of a to-and-fro and instead, more of an actual destination. These improvements have encouraged merchants to move in and create some very cool shopping and dining attractions. One recent example is the much-anticipated opening of the new Bi-Rite Market and Creamery set to open in late 2012 next to Nopa Restaurant near the corner of Divisadero and Hayes. Just a block off Hayes Street on Divisadero, the modern music venue, The Independent, attracts some of the biggest names in popular and alternative music. Its intimate theater setting makes it a great place to see your favorite artist up close while still a big enough venue to hear it played good and loud.

There’s really no other neighborhood in San Francisco that offers Hayes Street’s variety of eating, shopping, highbrow and lowbrow musical options, not to mention just plain old people-watching in Alamo Square or in one of the many cafés, and yet with such incredibly easy access to just about anywhere you may need to get to in the Bay Area. Just how easy, you ask? How about 19 minutes from Hayes and Steiner to curbside at SFO? The downside; you’ll get there so quick that you’ll probably have to circle the terminal a few times; that is, unless you’re particularly adept at finding an SUV to hide behind from the guys and gals in the reflective chartreuse vests waving their flashlights at you.