by MaryO

Created on: October 21, 2008   Last Updated: December 04, 2008

San Francisco is approximately 7 square miles of dense and diverse neighborhoods. Among the most well known are Chinatown, North Beach, The Mission , The Castro, The Haight, Japantown, and the Marina. There are the 'hills' of course, that include the neighborhoods of Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill, and the lesser known Frenchmans Hill area. The Sunset district consists of the inner and outer Sunset which lies beyond Japantown at the end of Geary towards Ocean beach. This area is the foggier part of the city as is the Richmond District. The Inner Sunset has become home to many Asian residents and is also known now as 'little' or 'new' Chinatown. The Sunset district is home to many of the City's UCSF students as well as a community of long time residents of families.

The downtown areas of San Francisco consist of the Financial district, which is primarily a business district that borders between Market Street and Kearny and over towards the Embarcadero (East) and Stockton (West). The SOMA district, (which stands for South of Market), was largely industrial, warehouses, ports, shipping areas, train depots and the like, until developers in the late 80's began turning this into a residential area. Warehouse spaces were transformed into luxury loft work and living spaces. The area now has a multitude of various types of housing and shopping venues as well as a number of businesses. It stretches from the South of Market Street area down to the waterfront between about 4th and 12th streets. Parts of the SOMA district include SRO and residental hotels which are closer to Market Street near Mission. These areas are not new developments and have more of a Tenderloin feel to them. Public transporation throughout the SOMA district is good, you can access the Muni buses, cal train, and the T-train/bart.

The Tenderloin, also known as the 'Theater District', Civic Center/Van Ness, or Lower Nob Hill, (depending on where you are). The Tenderloin is the area North of Market to Geary and from About Taylor Street to Larkin. In San Francisco's downtown neighborhoods the tenderloin is the poorest, is home to the homeless and to drugs and what goes with that. The majority of housing here is that of SRO's (single room occupancy), Residental hotels, and affordable housing properties. The tenderloin area is also home to one of the largest populations of families with children. It is a diverse community that apart from its most obvious exterior has some of the best food at the best

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