In which I immerse myself in the Castro and Mission districts
We were staying in a B&B high atop a hill (which is sort of a redundancy in San Francisco, which is nothing but hills). On the borderline between the city’s two coolest neighborhoods.
And it turns out that, to get to either of them, it was only necessary to follow the rainbow stairs to the end. And then look for frequent displays of street art and similar symbols of neighborhood pride.
The Mission District comes by its name honestly.
It is home to the Mission San Francisco de Asis. By some miracle, San Francisco’s oldest structure even survived the great 1906 earthquake more or less intact.
It is also known for its striking street art.
Listen, you can’t throw a paint brush around here without inadvertently touching up a mural.
The other thing I like about the Mission is the way they’ve reduced on-street parking in order to provide outdoor dining for people outside of cars. Don’t bother looking for drive-throughs.
Oh, and Mission’s Deloris Park is the most dog friendly public space I’ve ever seen. Mutts run amok everywhere. They really do love their dogs around here.
What else? Well, Santana spent his teen years here. The Mission burito was invented here. And each year the Mission hosts Carnavale, Day of the Dead and the San Francisco Food Fair.
Did I mention they have murals?
What to say about the very, um, prim and proper Castro? I mean it’s like the puritans settled it.
Except that it’s been a haven for the LGBTQ+ community since the 1960s. And they’ve been flying the Rainbow Flag here since at least 1987.
And they have a queer Walk of Fame right down the main, um, drag.
Harvey Milk, SF’s first openly gay mayor, had a shop here. And although Castro is known for its outlandish and irreverent displays, it can also be, um, sober when the occasion demands.
When I was there the Castro was honoring a guy who Trump was trashing on Social Media. Oddly, I saw no signs honoring Trump.
You might call it a neighborhood of bleeding hearts. And what’s wrong with that?
Nor do they forget to celebrate the old traditional holidays. Albeit, not necessarily in strictly traditional ways.
Like I said, just follow the rainbow steps to the end. The Mission will be to the right and the Castro to the left.
Very cool ‘hoods, both of em.
FreeGNV 