District 2
Golden
Gate Heights
This 725 foot high bluff offers great views of the ocean. The homes
in its curving and steep lanes are mostly from 1950-1970 built, with
the exception of a few quainter dwellings facing Forest Hill. Mostly
single family homes, with a few duplexes and apartments.
Golden
Gate Park
In 1871 William Hammond Hall, an ex-army engineer, was appointed as
the parks first superintendent. Within 5 years, he designed the park,
figured out how to anchor the sand dunes by planting imported sand
grass and how to make the trees grow, and he had begun at the east
end to landscape the barren waste. Uncle John McLaren later took over
the work. The park that Hall designed and McLaren built is one of
the great monuments of romantic landscape design. The park is perennially
green, since most of the vegetation is not deciduous and there are
beautiful gardens throughout. Also, the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum
and the California Academy of Sciences occupy the park. The 'de Young'
is currently being re-designed by noted architects
Herzog and de Meuron.
Inner
Sunset
A middle class residential area, close to the Golden Gate Park and
the University Of California's medical center. The shopping center
on Irving Street offers a mixed array of stores and restaurants, with
an international flair.
Laurel
Heights
Developed mostly in the 1930's, this area is prosperous with neat
houses and a great little shopping area. Like Anza Vista, this area
used to be a graveyard until the 1930's when Laurel Hill, as it used
to be known, began to develop. (The caskets were removed).
Parkside
Runs along Pine Lake Park and Stern Grove. An area of single family
homes, with neat little gardens.
Stern
Grove
In the 1870's George M. Greene began what is now Stern Grove, by planting
many eucalyptus trees to ward off the invading sand dunes. Sigmund
Stern Memorial Grove, was given to the city by Mrs. Stern in 1932,
as a place of natural and cultural refreshment through the medium
of the summer music festival.
Sunset
The first homes were built in the Sunset, in the post-World War II
decades. As streets multiplied, numerous small contractors and builders
contributed by developing one lot or two at a time. A potpourri of
styles emerged. Henry Doelger was known as a good builder. He used
redwood for the frame and 'put on the architecture' last. A culturally
mixed neighborhood, with many Irish and Chinese people. The area is
mostly flat and runs all the way out from Stanyan to Ocean Beach.