by Barb Hopkins

Created on: August 02, 2011   Last Updated: August 04, 2011

San Francisco, California is home to the Presidio, the Golden Gate Bridge, multiple museums, historic districts and more than 800,000 residents. Cow Hollow is a San Francisco neighborhood located on the city’s northern edge, minutes from the San Francisco Bay. It stretches from Lyon Street to Van Ness Avenue with Green Street as its southern border. Cow Hollow’s northern border is the famous Lombard Street.

Lombard Street has been considered one of the world’s most crooked streets. The winding one-way street was created to keep motorists from careening dangerously down its steep slope. Today it is one of the city’s most visited tourist areas.

The Cow Hollow neighborhood is well kept and pedestrian-friendly. Its streets are bustling, a mixture of single residences and walk-ups located over local businesses. This community teems with a variety of shops, cafes and restaurants. There are multiple grocers including the Green Street Market and the Presidio Food Mart.

The Green Street Market is within walking distance of the Golden Gate Valley Library, a branch of the San Francisco library system. The library hosts weekly programs for toddlers, tots and teens. It is located one block west of Allyne Park. The park on Gough Street is a small neighborhood park with rolling terrain, a walking path and benches.  

On the western side of the neighborhood is the Cow Hollow playground. Located on Miley Street, this small park features a children’s playground designed to keep all ages, from tot to school age children, entertained. It is an enclosed play area with a sand surface and clubhouse rentable for parties.

Cow Hollow is two blocks south of the George R. Moscone Recreation Center. The family recreation center offers ample street parking, an indoor gymnasium and classes from yoga to kids’ gymnastics. It is adjacent to a playground, lighted ball fields and tennis courts. The Marina Branch public library is on the western side of the center. It is within walking distance to the Marina Middle School.

Throughout Cow Hollow are several schools including the Presidio Knolls School. This school is designed as a Mandarin immersion learning center, offering programs for children preschool through third grade. Other nearby schools include the Cow Hollow Kindergarten, the Grant School and San Francisco University High School.

Residents living in the Cow Hollow area are within walking distance to public transportation via the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA.) The SFMTA offers multiple transportation options. These include biodiesel and hybrid buses, electric trolleys, historic streetcars and the recognizable San Francisco cable cars. The San Francisco Municipal Railway, known as Muni has been consolidated into SFMTA. Muni is one of the country’s oldest public transportation systems, founded in 1912.

Cow Hollow is a popular San Francisco neighborhood due to its location and many ammenities. Residents of this picturesque area are minutes from several city landmarks including the Golden Gate Promenade, the National Maritime Museum and Fisherman’s Wharf.

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