Alamo Square Neighborhood, San Francisco CA

About Alamo Square Neighborhood

Alamo Square is a residential neighborhood and park in San Francisco, California, in the Western Addition. Its boundaries are Buchanan Street on the east,Turk Street on the north, Baker Street on the west, and Page Street Street on the south.

Alamo Square Park, the neighborhood's focal point and namesake, consists of four city blocks at the top of a hill overlooking much of downtown San Francisco, with a number of large and architecturally distinctive mansions along the perimeter, including the "Painted Ladies", a well-known postcard motif.

History of Alamo Square Neighborhood

Its checkered history is far from square. Alamo means poplar tree in Spanish and in the early 1800s, the lone cottonwood on Alamo Hill marked a watering hole along the horseback trail from Mission Dolores to the Presidio. Mayor James Van Ness set aside 12.7 acres of the hole in 1856, naming it Alamo Square. Confirmed by the state legislature the following year as a public park, Alamo Square and its Victorian residences started down the potholed road to Historic District, over 100 years later.

In 1860, county clerk Thomas Hayes stretched his Market Street Railway up to the Square’s southern border and gave the street his name. But the land itself was dangerously inaccessible, inhabited by “Dutch Charlie Duane,” a known killer and tenacious squatter. The city finally ousted him in 1868, and in 1892, began grading and landscaping the rocky hill, laying out the curving pathways, and constructing stairways and a masonry wall. Merchant businessmen, lawyers, doctors and teachers flocked in, hired architects and built homes. Among them was Matthew Kavanagh’s endlessly-reproduced “Postcard Row” of Queen Anne houses, the “Painted Ladies.” By the early 1920s, apartment buildings began to appear and families moved into the elite community. Violinist Yehudi Menuhin (who lived nearby as a child) remembers “the large beautiful park on a hill whose lawns and thickets were familiar to my sister and myself.”

In the ‘50s the beautiful park slid into two decades of deterioration. Homeowners moved away and sold their Victorians to entrepreneurs who divided them into multiple-bedroom rooming houses, many illegal and substandard. Some became halfway houses, drug rehab centers, or boarding houses for hippies. Displaced residents seeking housing flooded in when the Redevelopment Agency demolished large sections of Western Addition. Safety in the park became a serious issue.

Demographics of Alamo Square Neighborhood

Alamo Square is a neighborhood in San Francisco. The population of Alamo Square is 5,163 with 53% males and 47% females, and a median age of 35.

13% of this neighborhood is occupied by families with children, 30% single-female families, 28% single-male families, and 43% couples. The average household size in Alamo Square is 2.15, and the average family size is 2.76.

The median household income for residents of Alamo Square, San Francisco is $152,356, while the median individual income is $83,956. About 96% residents have finished high-school, 13% have completed some form of college, but have no degree, 2% have an associate degree, 44% hold a bachelor’s degree, and 28% have completed graduate school.

Transportation in Alamo Square Neighborhood

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency operates a bus from North Point St & Jones St to Van Ness Ave & Oak St every 15 minutes, and the journey takes 23 min. Alternatively, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency operates a vehicle from Jones St & Beach St to Market St & Van Ness Ave every 20 minutes. Tickets cost $3 and the journey takes 36 min.

Lifestyle in Alamo Square Neighborhood

Alamo Square is a residential neighborhood and park in San Francisco, California, in the Western Addition. Its boundaries are Buchanan Street on the east,Turk Street on the north, Baker Street on the west, and Page Street Street on the south.

Alamo Square Park, the neighborhood's focal point and namesake, consists of four city blocks at the top of a hill overlooking much of downtown San Francisco, with a number of large and architecturally distinctive mansions along the perimeter, including the "Painted Ladies", a well-known postcard motif. The park is bordered by Hayes Street to the south, Steiner Street to the east, Fulton Street to the north, and Scott Street to the west. Named after the lone cottonwood tree ("alamo" in Spanish), Alamo Hill, was a watering hole on the horseback trail from Mission Dolores to the Presidio in the 1800s. In 1856, Mayor James Van Ness created a 12.7 acres (5.1 ha) park surrounding the watering hole, creating "Alamo Square"

Schools in Alamo Square Neighborhood

Alamo Elementary School is located at 250 23rd Avenue, San Francisco CA 94121. Alamo Elementary School is in the San Francisco Unified School District. Alamo Elementary School is a Public school that serves grade levels K-5.

AltSchool Alamo Square is located at 735 Fell St, San Francisco CA 94117. AltSchool Alamo Square is a Private school that serves grade levels PK-5.

Real estate in Alamo Square Neighborhood

The Alamo Square neighborhood is characterized by Victorian architecture that was left largely untouched by the urban renewal projects in other parts of the Western Addition. The Alamo Square area contains the second largest concentration of homes over 10,000 square feet (930 m2) in San Francisco, after the Pacific Heights neighborhood.

There are several types of homes for sale in Alamo Square, San Francisco such as Single Family Homes, and Condominiums. The median home price is $2,400,060.