What I love about living in one of San Francisco's worst neighborhoods
Christopher J. Beale lives in Civic Center, one of San Francisco’s most notorious and challenging neighborhoods. But he says there’s still a lot to love.
This article is part of I Love San Francisco, a feature series of essays that highlight what makes San Francisco iconic and irreplaceable.
By Christopher J. Beale
Civic Center is a beautiful, centrally located neighborhood in San Francisco that is equal parts historic and modern. It’s also windy AF!
Civic Center gets a bad rap, and since I’m about to say lots of nice things about it, let’s just get the negativity out of the way: yes, I’ve seen unhoused people, drug sales, and dirty streets in my neighborhood, in fact right at my doorstep. I even live across from Elon Musk’s short-lived experiment attempting to give us all seizures, and I walk this neighborhood every day.
My head is not in the sand, okay? I’ve lived here since 2020, and I think San Francisco’s collective groaning about this neighborhood greatly overshadows its bright spots. Civic Center is a bustling neighborhood full of young professionals, families and — in my premium Grindr-based opinion — more gay people these days than The Castro. Two words: dense housing.
Location is everything. You can get almost anywhere in San Francisco on transit in about 20 minutes from Civic Center, and it’s also a walker’s paradise. Civic Center is also home to a number of fabulous dining options and adjoining neighborhoods like Hayes Valley, SoMa, and the Tenderloin all have a foodie flair all their own. Yes, even the Tenderloin. Have you tried the legendary bánh mi from Saigon Sandwich?
Like much of the east side of San Francisco, Civic Center was forced into some incredible changes in the aftermath of the massive earthquake in 1906. Remember that almost everything from Embarcadero to Van Ness was left in fiery ruins. But from the ashes rose the neighborhood generations would still recognize today.
Surrounded by the Opera House, Civic Auditorium, several Courthouses, the Asian Art Museum and San Francisco Public Library, City Hall and Civic Center Plaza still represent the spiritual heart of Civic Center.
Before 1906, City Hall was located on the triangular lot where UN Plaza stands today. After the quake the facility was rebuilt in grand style, 42 feet taller than the United States Capitol building when it opened in 1915. In front of City Hall’s eastern steps rose the sunny park that has changed only slightly in the century since.
Whether you’re taking in a show at one of the half-dozen theaters, dining in the breezy plaza while enjoying panoramic views of City Hall, or reflecting on the history of the ground beneath our feet, a walk around Civic Center is like a stroll through San Francisco’s past, present, and future. From the Gold Rush, to the Gay Rights movement, Civic Center itself has been at the center of the city’s cultural evolution.
There’s also Brenda’s French Soul Food with great iced tea and fried chicken, or a personal favorite Sam’s American Eatery on Market Street for the Lemongrass Pork Steak, the food options are delicious. I am also a fan of the burgers at Assembly in Civic Center Plaza, they are all named after notable San Francisco personalities.
Yes, there are obvious downsides, too. I took a walk along the rough perimeter of Civic Center while writing this piece. My route took me east across Turk street to the north to Market street, up to Franklin and then back to Turk. I saw some drug use, and some unhouse residents on the sidewalks but not as much as you might think.
Along Market Street is a different story. A number of the city’s so-called open-air drug markets are on the borders of Civic Center, and as a resident it seems illogical to me that I know exactly where to find these dealers — because I walk past them every day — and yet they still operate at the same hours every day, on the same corners with impunity.
Until recently a safe consumption site operated on Market Street just a block from City Hall near a large city-sanctioned safe sleeping site for unhoused San Franciscans. Dealers lined the sidewalks by the dozens day-and-night. The safe sleeping site and the so-called Tenderloin Center are now closed, and the positive impact has been noticeable on UN Plaza, and the streets around Civic Center.
Of course I want the problems to improve, and I’d love to help change them. Many fled this neighborhood and San Francisco during the pandemic, but this is when I arrived. I’ve loved it enough to stay, and I’m committed to helping my local community strengthen, improve, and heal.
I love Civic Center because it works for me and my family. The location is ideal, there is abundant housing (imagine that?), the views are some of the best in the city and it feels like San Francisco. But a modern, forward-looking San Francisco where housing, commerce, dining, government, arts, people and pets co-exist.
Christopher J. Beale is an award-winning journalist, media host, producer and audio engineer based in San Francisco. Follow him on Threads, Instagram, X and others: @realchrisjbeale
The Bold Italic is a non-profit media organization that’s brought to you by GrowSF, and we publish first-person perspectives about San Francisco and the Bay Area. Donate to us today.
Love it. Thanks for sharing.