My San Francisco: The Excelsior

With this post, I am beginning a new series called “My San Francisco” where I will periodically share pictures from events and districts around San Francisco.  There is a little more info here, but suffice it to say that I am not trying to provide a comprehensive look into any gathering or neighborhood, but rather to provide a small glimpse into the complex San Francisco landscape.

This week, I decided on spending about an hour walking around the Excelsior District of San Francisco. I know this area pretty well since I used to work here. I have spent many hours eating, walking and generally hanging out in this gem of neighborhood. That said, I do know that the Excelsior district is much more than the Mission Street corridor, but I decided to just walk up and down Mission to find some good pics. Below are my top choices with a little commentary, but please take a moment to look at the FULL ALBUM to get a better sense of my walk.

You may also want to check out a few of my local favorites: Mama Art Cafe, Filipino Community Center, Zaab Thai, Goldilocks, The Chick-n-Coop, Mexico Tipico, The Excelsior Action Group, Jerry Day and the church where I used to serve as the pastor, Mission Bay Community Church organizes a great Food Pantry every Saturday.

“EXCELSIOR” I love that each of the streets are pressed into the concrete. Not just in the excelsior, but it looks cool.  One of the neat things about the Excelsior is that the streets are names after major global cities.

“PRODUCE” Dotting the neighborhood are these great local markets with fresh produce, meats and other groceries.

“MURALS” There are wonderful murals through the neighborhood.  This is one of my favorites: the “Last Supper” with Jesus really breaking bread with the disciples.

“LOCKS” Like many urban areas there are still some empty lots, most entryways are gated and one still needs to be aware of one’s surroundings. City life for sure.

“LANGUAGES” The Excelsior is one of the most diverse communities in San Francisco illustrated by this shot of three stores right next to one another: Tagalog, Chinese and Spanish!

“RESOURCEFUL”Not sure what about this caught my eye, but the makeshift barricade of old doors to cover a new remodel seemed very urban McGyver-esque.

“JERRY” One of the big claims to fame of the Excelsior District is that Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead spent his childhood here.  This is him as depicted on, yes, a mural. If you want more info be sure to check out Jerry Day held every Summer.

Again these are just a few of the pics I snapped.  If you want to see the rest and can help better identify some of the sights, please visit the FULL ALBUM.  Also, if you can think of some great – and maybe unknown – areas or events that I might want to shoot, please feel free to let me know.