Stanyan Street
Day 112
Neighborhoods Covered: a sliver of the Inner Sunset, Cole Valley, Upper Haight
Streets Completed: Carl, Grattan, Alma, Rivoli, Downey
On Thursday, after a quick trip to a client at the very beginning of Irving Street, I braved the insane wind and walked east. Carl Street I know well, but much of the rest of Cole Valley is uncharted territory. In fact, beyond Carl and Cole streets, it's sort of terra incongita. So I took myself down a few of the little slips of streets that weave between Stanyan and Belvedere to begin to remedy that.
Cole Valley sits beneath several tall things: Mount Sutro, Twin Peaks, and Buena Vista. If you cannot see Sutro Tower looming above you, chances are you're not actually in Cole Valley. And yet, and yet: from the little neighborhood park between Rivoli and Alma, I could see, to my surprise, a good deal of the city stretching out below. To the north I could pick out USF, Lone Mountain, and a swath of the Richmond; to the east, downtown. But how come? I couldn't recall having walked uphill to any significant degree, and, especially from the edge of the park, could almost feel Mt. Sutro hulking behind me. My sense of altitude was skewed, to say the least.
I suppose the city's Valleys--Cole, Hayes, Noe (am I forgetting one?)--share some similarities: a strong neighborhood-y feel, lots of babies in strollers, sweet little main drags. But somehow, perhaps by dint of being nestled between hills high enough to actually make it feel like a valley, Cole Valley seems different. Quieter, perhaps. Cozier. Greener.
Leaving Cole Street for another day, I finished off Carl and took Stanyan a few blocks to Waller in order to complete the western stretch of the street. I veered off at one point onto Downey, on which I was conscious of going uphill--and then back down again. By the time I hit Waller and Scott, I was ready to hop on the 71, so oddly tired and draggy was I. But although I actually managed to pass a bus stop at the same time a bus was arriving, I goaded myself on (because, really, it's a matter of blocks), and walked my weary self home to my own valley.
Neighborhoods Covered: a sliver of the Inner Sunset, Cole Valley, Upper Haight
Streets Completed: Carl, Grattan, Alma, Rivoli, Downey
On Thursday, after a quick trip to a client at the very beginning of Irving Street, I braved the insane wind and walked east. Carl Street I know well, but much of the rest of Cole Valley is uncharted territory. In fact, beyond Carl and Cole streets, it's sort of terra incongita. So I took myself down a few of the little slips of streets that weave between Stanyan and Belvedere to begin to remedy that.
Cole Valley sits beneath several tall things: Mount Sutro, Twin Peaks, and Buena Vista. If you cannot see Sutro Tower looming above you, chances are you're not actually in Cole Valley. And yet, and yet: from the little neighborhood park between Rivoli and Alma, I could see, to my surprise, a good deal of the city stretching out below. To the north I could pick out USF, Lone Mountain, and a swath of the Richmond; to the east, downtown. But how come? I couldn't recall having walked uphill to any significant degree, and, especially from the edge of the park, could almost feel Mt. Sutro hulking behind me. My sense of altitude was skewed, to say the least.
I suppose the city's Valleys--Cole, Hayes, Noe (am I forgetting one?)--share some similarities: a strong neighborhood-y feel, lots of babies in strollers, sweet little main drags. But somehow, perhaps by dint of being nestled between hills high enough to actually make it feel like a valley, Cole Valley seems different. Quieter, perhaps. Cozier. Greener.
Leaving Cole Street for another day, I finished off Carl and took Stanyan a few blocks to Waller in order to complete the western stretch of the street. I veered off at one point onto Downey, on which I was conscious of going uphill--and then back down again. By the time I hit Waller and Scott, I was ready to hop on the 71, so oddly tired and draggy was I. But although I actually managed to pass a bus stop at the same time a bus was arriving, I goaded myself on (because, really, it's a matter of blocks), and walked my weary self home to my own valley.
1 comment:
A couple of other valleys: Eureka Valley, Visitacion Valley. And there are the people trying to establish "Pierre Valley" as the name for outer Noe Valley.
I don't think anyone has used the name "Spring Valley" for the area along Polk for ages, but Spring Valley Elementary School is still there, at least.
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