Western Addition is a neighborhood within San Francisco's 7-mile by 7-mile city limits. It is located in the Northcentral area of the city and is on mostly gently sloping terrain. It is approximately 10 blocks wide by 15 blocks long. The neighborhood is subdivided into several sections and its actual limits are highly debatable; I include the sections of Cathedral Hill, Japantown, Fillmore, and Lower Pacific Heights within its borders; however, others include Hayes Valley, Alamo Square, and NoPa in it as well (while many locals would scream that every subsection mentioned is a completely distinct neighborhood!). The adjoining neighborhoods are the Van Ness corridor/Tenderloin and Civic Center to the East, Pacific Heights to the North, Richmond to the West, and Hayes Valley/Alamo Square/NoPa to the South. The neighborhood is fairly dense and has an interesting and complex history; essentially, it has had high concentrations of Japanese and African-American populations that were partially displaced when most of the blocks in the Eastern half of the neighborhood were demolished and replaced by modern 'improvements' in the mid-20th century. This area is not one of the city's proudest achievements in planning and design.
This thread is not a complete representation of the neighborhood since nearly all of the pictures are from the redeveloped Eastern half and its mid-century metamorphosis!
Typical historic residential blocks in the area:
Typical historic hotel blocks in the area:
St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 1895:
First Unitarian Church, 1889:
Bush Street Temple, 1895:
This former religious building was first built as a Jewish synagogue, then it was used as a Zen Buddhist temple, then a Baptist Church during WWII, then a Zen Buddhist temple again...until it became part of Kokoro, a senior-citizen assisted-living center opened in 2003.
Japanese influence:
Several buildings from different eras scattered around Japantown show the architectural influence of that heritage.
Buchanan Street between Post and Sutter:
In the redevelopment schemes of the neighborhood, this block was closed to automobile traffic and became a pleasant pedestrian mall in the heart of Japantown; the simple Japanese-influenced structures from the 1970's that line it are mostly occupied by Japanese-American owned and focused businesses.
Japan Center:
This 3-block development opened in 1968 and is adjacent to the Buchanan Street pedestrian mall pictured above. It is composed of 3 connected indoor mall buildings (Kinokuniya Mall, Kintetsu Mall, and Miyako Mall) and the outdoor Japantown Peace Plaza. Despite the austere exterior architecture of its time, it remains a fairly busy place and is mostly occupied by Japanese-American owned and focused businesses. The most obvious exception is the 8-screen movie complex at one end operated by Sundance Cinemas.
Geary Boulevard:
The major East-West street of the neighborhood is rather massive and slices it up in an unfriendly manner, although it descends to a subterranean underpass for several blocks. The legendary Fillmore auditorium is here and still very active for concerts (pictured on far right of the first photo); to the South are the many redeveloped blocks of the Fillmore area, a largely African-American community with historic roots if not historic homes. The Japan Center forms the North side of this stretch of the street, and thankfully a pedestrian bridge helps foot traffic across it.
Hotel Kabuki:
This highrise is connected to the Japan Center.
Mid-century Residential Highrises:
Cathedral Hill, the section furthest East and closest to the downtown-adjacent neighborhoods, is dominated by a selection of 'Commie-blocks'.
St. Mary's Cathedral:
The center of Cathedral Hill is occupied by this stark modernist masterpiece set on a large podium plaza. It opened in 1971 and was designed by several local architects in collaboration with Pier Luigi Nervi and Pietro Belluschi.
Japantown Contemporary:
A short stretch of Post Street across from the Japan Center features several recent buildings.
Corner of Gough Street and Turk Street:
Another of the relatively few newer buildings in the neighborhood is this residential one.
All photographs taken in 2012 by geomorph.
Linear Mode
