Monsieur Squat and Gobble, West Portal
Day 87
Co-Walker: Katherine
Neighborhoods Covered: West Portal, St. Francis Wood
Streets Completed: West Portal, Ardenwood, Avon Way, Santa Ana, San Benito
So I've decided: San Francisco should have boroughs.
I have no political or logistical reasoning behind this, and I fully admit having no idea quite how boroughs in other metropolitan areas function, exactly. (Does a New York City Borough President = a San Francisco Supervisor, for example? Hell if I know.) But think about it: though everyone might acknowledge that, sure, technically Staten Island and Manhattan are part of the same city, it would be really hard to mistake one for the other, would it not? I think the same holds here.
Take West Portal/St. Francis Wood, for example. Though you can get there from, say, the Castro or the Inner Sunset in a matter of minutes, there's no question on your arrival that you're somewhere else entirely. Katherine and I experienced this anew on Sunday: though we'd both been out in those parts many times before, we were reminded as we traipsed around just how different the neighborhoods feel from so many other parts of the city. So different, in fact, that they may as well be in another city entirely--or at least another borough.
In St. Francis Wood, for example, there are actually roundabouts (one of which is called The Circle, capital T capital C) with fountains at their centers. Fountains! There are also pillars marking the start of the neighborhood, tree-lined streets (yes, there are trees on other streets in the city, but these are...different, somehow), houses with indoor pools, and approximately 45,000 different architectural styles. (No stuffy and overly restrictive enclave, this! You want to do Spanish Colonial crossed with Tudor, you go right ahead.) It all feels totally distinct even from other wealthy neighborhoods; I don't think even Pacific Heights can claim to sport fountains.
Of course, if St. Francis Wood isn't to your liking, you need only go a half-mile in pretty much any direction to find yourself in another neighborhood entirely, and one with a completely different feel. Because here in San Francisco, we're like the World Showcase at Epcot Center: dozens of different lands cheek-by-jowl, yet somehow all one.
Co-Walker: Katherine
Neighborhoods Covered: West Portal, St. Francis Wood
Streets Completed: West Portal, Ardenwood, Avon Way, Santa Ana, San Benito
So I've decided: San Francisco should have boroughs.
I have no political or logistical reasoning behind this, and I fully admit having no idea quite how boroughs in other metropolitan areas function, exactly. (Does a New York City Borough President = a San Francisco Supervisor, for example? Hell if I know.) But think about it: though everyone might acknowledge that, sure, technically Staten Island and Manhattan are part of the same city, it would be really hard to mistake one for the other, would it not? I think the same holds here.
Take West Portal/St. Francis Wood, for example. Though you can get there from, say, the Castro or the Inner Sunset in a matter of minutes, there's no question on your arrival that you're somewhere else entirely. Katherine and I experienced this anew on Sunday: though we'd both been out in those parts many times before, we were reminded as we traipsed around just how different the neighborhoods feel from so many other parts of the city. So different, in fact, that they may as well be in another city entirely--or at least another borough.
In St. Francis Wood, for example, there are actually roundabouts (one of which is called The Circle, capital T capital C) with fountains at their centers. Fountains! There are also pillars marking the start of the neighborhood, tree-lined streets (yes, there are trees on other streets in the city, but these are...different, somehow), houses with indoor pools, and approximately 45,000 different architectural styles. (No stuffy and overly restrictive enclave, this! You want to do Spanish Colonial crossed with Tudor, you go right ahead.) It all feels totally distinct even from other wealthy neighborhoods; I don't think even Pacific Heights can claim to sport fountains.
Of course, if St. Francis Wood isn't to your liking, you need only go a half-mile in pretty much any direction to find yourself in another neighborhood entirely, and one with a completely different feel. Because here in San Francisco, we're like the World Showcase at Epcot Center: dozens of different lands cheek-by-jowl, yet somehow all one.
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