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Steiner Street runs parallel to the louder, busier, flashier Fillmore Street from Dubose Avenue to Chestnut Street. Along the way you'll experience less traffic, fewer buses, and fewer traffic lights. You'll also pass by several parks and some of the finest Victorian architecture in San Francisco.

Of the architectureal highlights, the "painted ladies" bordering Alamo Square are among San Francisco's iconic sights. (Remember the beautiful townhouses in the opening credits of Full House?) But don't overlook some really lovely Victorians around the intersection of Golden Gate and Steiner. They are among my favorite in the city. It is worth noting that one of the large houses at that intersection is actually a quirky, charming, and affordable bed and breakfast.

Steiner is largely residential along most of it's length, but there are a few scattered businesses. At its northernmost end, in the block between Lombard Street and Chestnut in the Marina, it's wall to wall restaurants along both sides of the street. In that one block, there's something to satisfy every taste and every budget. It's a frequent destination for me.

I've worked on Front Street for nearly five years now. It's interrupted several times along its brief length between Market Street and the Embarcadero. At the Market Street end, it's your typical Financial District street. Lots of traffic. High rise buildings filled with office workers. Deserted at night.

Heading north from there, the first interruption is Building #1 of the Embarcadero Center mall/office complex. It's not the best shopping in San Francisco, but it's awfully convenient to hit the shops at lunch time--not to mention the restaurants. After hours and on weekends, Landmark's Embarcadero theater is the place in San Francisco for art house films.

Front Street continues interrupted for three blocks, Maritime Plaza and the Golden Gateway Center are next, however you can continue straight ahead if you ascend a flight of stairs or an escalator and utilize walkways above street level. It's worth doing this at least once to see the hidden fountains and sculptures along the way. The Golden Gateway Center, incidentally is a commercial and residential building. Stores like Safeway and a jewelry store are on the ground floor of a major multi-building apartment complex.

When Front Street resumes, it forms the western border of the utterly charming one-block-square Sidney Walton Park. Filled with gentle hills, grass, and trees that bloom in springtime, the small park also features a surprising number of lovely scuptures and a fountain. It's a boon to residents and office workers alike.

Continuing past Broadway, Front Street runs past several media outlets and other mixed-use commercial spaces, eventually dead-ending into the lovely and relaxing Levi Strauss Plaza. Front Street has a lot to appreciate along it's short, not well-traveled length!

Predictably, perhaps, Missions Street runs through the heart of San Francisco's Mission neighborhood. Both the street and the neighborhood are likely named after the historic Mission Dolores nearby. Missions Street is the flip side of Valencia Street, which it parallels. It's far less gentrified and yuppy-ish, and offers a more authentic side of life in this largely Hispanic neighborhood.

A busy and colorful street, it's populated by taquerias, groceries, inexpensive shops, Mexican bakeries, and other neighborhood staples. It's a good neighborhood for bargains!

The less attractive flip side of Mission Street life are the occasionally less savory types loitering around, but if you're not too delicate it's an interesting part of San Francisco to visit. And convenient, too, with plent of bus lines and BART stops at 16th and 24th Street.

Grant Avenue is one of San Francisco's most colorful street, but it's also something of a chameleon. A mere 24 blocks long, Grant runs from Market Street north to the Embarcadero. It's immenently walkable, as it passes through some of San Francisco's most famous neighborhoods.

Starting at the Southern end, you're in the Union Square shopping disctrict. In addition to any number of upscale shops, Grant has a notable number of high end art galleries that are well worth a look-see, it that's your cup of tea.

At the intersection of Bush and Grant you'll pass through the famous Chinatown Gate. San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest in North America, and Grant Avenue is the main drag. For blocks the street is lined with a riot of tourist shops selling trinkets, or silks, or tea sets, and so forth. Additionally, there's the predictable glut of Chinese restaurants. Take your pick, but I think the best ones are on the less flashy Kearny Street. As you continue walking further north, you'll see some more practical/less touristy stores mixed in, including several produce stands and groceries. Little pink plastic shopping bags are ubiquitous here!

Eventually, you will transition from Chinatown to North Beach. Here again, Grant Avenue is a charming walk, past shops, Italian restaurants, coffee houses, and residences. Walking the entire length of Grant is a perfect way to entertain out of town visitors.

Maiden Lane is a short, two-block pedestrian thoroughfare, closed off to traffic. Found in the heart of the Union Square shopping district, Maiden Lane runs parallel to Geary and Post, between Stockton and Kearny. Filled with upscale shops and sidewalk cafes (with tables right out in the middle of the street), it's the perfect location to play tourist or actually be a tourist. It's just minutes away from dozens of Union Square hotels.

Another treat unique to Maiden Lane is catching the opera singers that frequently perform at the end of the lane. These long-time street performers have become minor celebrities and add to the local color.

Valencia Street is one of my very favorite streets in San Francisco. It's where I would choose to live if I ever had to leave The Fillmore. For one thing, Valencia is one of the main streets in The Mission, one of San Francisco's most affordable neighborhoods. Even more importantly (to me) is that it's one of San Francisco's warmest and sunniest neighborhoods. When the rest of the city is fogged in, Valencia Street is one of your best bets for sunshine.

It's easy to get there, too. Several bus lines will take you there, and the #26 runs up and down Valencia. Additionally, the BART stops at Mission and 16th and Mission and 24th Streets are just a block off from Valencia.

Valencia is one of those streets that has seen a lot of gentrification in recent years. Lauded restaurants like The Slanted Door helped bring about this transformation in the primarily Hispanic neighborhood, and then became so trendy themselves that they left the neighborhood altogether. However, there are more than enough dining establishments to satisfy whatever you're craving--especially if you're craving Mexican food!

Shopping on Valencia is a joy. Off the top of my head, I can think of four excellent independent bookstores on Valencia, but there are about 20 in the immediate visicinty. It's book shopper heaven! Borderlands Books between 19th and 20th is one of my favorite browsing spots in the city. I can't wait until they open their new cafe. Aside from bookstores, there are any number of clothing, furniture, music, and other shops. What they have in common is that they're all fairly funky. Window displays are more like art, and aren't to be missed.

And speaking of art, there are galleries on Valencia as well. City Arts is my favorite. You can actually afford some of the art there, and the snootiness factor is zero. A few of the storefronts on Valencia defy easy description. For instance, there's the "pirate supply store" at 826 Valencia. This is actually the home of an educational organization founded by novelist Dave Eggers. It's a great boon to the Mission neighborhood and the rest of San Francisco. Nearby is Paxton Gate. It's sort of a cross beween a taxidermy shop, an art gallery, a museum, and a boutique. They've recently added a new store for kids. Strange kids.

To know Valencia Street, in all its quirky charm, is to fall in love with it!

Van Ness Avenue is one of San Francisco's major commercial thoroughfares, but it's not a beauty spot. The first time I was ever there, I was still a visitor to San Francisco. A friend was taking me to a movie at the big AMC multiplex at Van Ness and O'Farrell. We had some time to kill, and were looking for a place to hang out. Eventually, we found a Starbucks several blocks away, but the walk from the movie theater was just about the ugliest place I'd seen in San Francisco.

Now, I've lived here for many years, and I think of Van Ness Ave. as a place to go for practical reasons. There are major north/south bus lines, for example, that run along Van Ness and down into the Mission or SOMA. And there is a wide variety of shopping found on Van Ness. Most of it isn't high-end--unless you count luxury automobiles. If you're in the market for a $100,000 sports car, that is definitely the place to go. For the rest of us, there are stores like Staples for office supplies, several furniture stores, and other miscellaneous retailers. Unfortunately, the very useful Circuit City is no longer there.

There are several dining options on Van Ness, but they're not clustered in one area. There are a few old-fashioned, but good, neighborhood dives like Tommy's Joynt at Geary and other disperate establishments scattered along the length.

Towards the southern end of Van Ness, you'll hit San Francisco's Civic Center. There, you can disregard everything I said about the ugliness of the street. San Francisco's City Hall is magnificent. It's a Faberge egg of a building! Past City Hall, you'll find The Herbst Theater, the Opera House, and Symphony Hall. Each building is more beautiful and impressive than the last. The architecture is truly stunning.

All in all, Van Ness is a useful destination to put on your map.

Chestnut Street runs from the Presidio to the Embarcadero. It passes through several neighborhoods, but the most bustling and frequently visited section is in the Marina. Primarily the four blocks between Fillmore and Divisidero. It doesn't sound like a very long stretch of street, but a whole lot is crammed into those blocks, and in the streets that cross Chestnut.

The Marina isn't the most integrated neighborhood in San Francisco. To but it bluntly, it's very yuppy-ish. There are a lot of well-to-do young people in that part of town, so the Marina is a happening 'hood on weekend nights. There are several popular nightspots in the immediate Chestnut Street visicinity, though not so much on the street itself.

Chestnut Street does, however, have excellent dining options on and around it. In fact, my favorite "cheap eats" restaurant in all of San Francisco can be found on Chestnut between Fillmore and Steiner. That would be Pacific Catch, the wonderful, if tiny, seafood grill. The food is fantastic and immenently affordable. If you're looking for a more upscale dining experience, Circa, right next-door, is a treat. From taquerias to sushi bars and Jamba Juice to Starbucks, you can find all manner of sustenance.

There's plent of shopping as well, but by and large, not quite as upscale as what you'll see in Pacific Heights or Cow Hollow. Mixed in with a handful of clothing boutiques, you'll see chain stores like The Gap. Nearby the fancy paperie is the decidedly downscale Walmart. The shops on Chestnut aren't as fabulous as some you can find nearby, but they're often more practical. Book stores, pet stores, bakeries, and so on.

With its proximity to Chrissy Field, the Marina, Fort Mason, and other gathering places, plus the availability of good dining, shopping, and night spots, it's a great part of town to while away some time.

Union Street is one of those streets in San Francisco that travels through several neighborhoods, but that features delights along its entire length. It stretches from the Presidio to the Embarcadero. Starting from the Embarcadero end, you'll quickly come across Levi Strauss Plaza, a semi-hidden treasure. It's the ideal lunch spot for any workers within walking distance. Happily, I am one.

Slightly further on, you'll find yourself in the heart of North Beach. This neighborhood is equally touristy and charming. Union Street here is a blend of residential and commercial spaces, with a few blocks filled with cute shops, restaurants, coffee houses, and other examples of the local color that people come to North Beach for. Union Street also marks the southern border of Washington Square Park, another green oasis.

The intrepid urban explorer will next find themselves hiking up through the residential Russian Hill neighborhood. It's quieter here, with less through traffic. Who's got the stamina? On Russian Hill, Union street runs parallel to one of San Francisco's most famous literary locations, Macondray Lane. Macondray Lane was Armisted Maupin's inspiration for Barbary Lane in his wonderful Tales of the City series. The neighborhood is worth a visit for that reason alone.

Continuing on past Van Ness Avenue, you'll eventually hit the Cow Hollow portion of Union Street. This is the part that I visit most often, as it's a quick walk from my Fillmore Street home. It's where I head to dine al fresco on a sunny Friday off, or just to go window shopping. There are plenty of venues for both activities. Some of my favorite sidewalk cafes include Left at Albequerque, Rose's, and Betelnut. It's a wonderful vantage point for watching the world go by. Likewise, for shopping there are antiques collectives, interior decor, and clothing and jewelry stores galore.

The Cow Hollow shopping district holds many community events during the year, including an Easter parade, a holiday festival of lights, and a summer street fair.

I've lived on Fillmore Street in the Fillmore Jazz Preservation district for nearly eight years now. I've seen a lot of changes in that time, but my love for my neighborhood has only grown.

Fillmore Street is one of the major commecial streets in San Francisco. It flourished as a commercial center after the 1906 quake, as it was one of the few major shopping streets to survive the quake and fire. Today, it stretches from Chrissy Field in the Marina, down through the trendy shops and restaurants of Pacific Heights, past Japantown and the jazz and music clubs in my neighborhood, past some slightly dodgey areas on the edge of the Western Addition, to the Lower Haight's counter-culture vibe. Along this street, you'll find monied yuppies, large Asian and African American communities, and a few left-over hippies. That's diversity!

Fillmore Street offers a wide variety of diversions as well. As I mentioned, my neighborhood is well-know for the music clubs found there, such as The Fillmore, Yoshi's, Rasela's, The Sheba Lounge, and John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom Room. The Sundance Kabuki movie theater has been a great addition to the neighborhood, and several excellent restaurants have sprouted up in the immediate viscinity. For a different type of movie-going experience, there's also the wonderful Clay Theater up the hill. Don't miss the midnight movies there. Or, if spa treatments are more your thing, you could hit the baths or grab a massage before your film, because there are day-spas virtually next-door to both theaters.

If you're loooking for food, you're in good luck. Again, Fillmore street offers diversity of cuisine, ambiance, and price range. You'll find sushi, Indian, steaks, African, Mexican, creperies, Greek, fast food, seafood, French, Italian, Korean, and more. We even have a "chocolate cafe."

Shopping is excellent, if pricy, along Fillmore Street through Pacific Heights. Independent boutiques selling a wide variety of wares can be found next to exclusive stores for high end designers. One thing is obvious, there is a lot of disposable income in San Francisco! Continuing up and then down the Fillmore hill, you'll find some more moderately priced shops in the Marina. Shopping on Fillmore can be very neighborhoody. Shop owners of stores I frequent greet me warmly, which is nice when you live in a big city. On the other end of the shopping spectrum, you can find some well-stocked head shops in the Lower Haight if that's your thing, or visit the new organic ice cream shop or whole foods market there.

Oh, and how can I forget to mention the Fillmore Farmers' Market held every Saturday morning? With live jazz and all sorts of vendors, it's the ultimate neighborhood gathering place. Truly, Fillmore Street is one of San Francisco's gems!