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I live in the Excelsior. I live just off Mission Street, and 10 mins on foot from BART, so it isn't all the public transit (the 44 and 52 go to Glen Park BART f

by arjie 11y ago

I live in the Excelsior. I live just off Mission Street, and 10 mins on foot from BART, so it isn't all the public transit (the 44 and 52 go to Glen Park BART from where all trains are 10 mins up to Montgomery, the 14 is a slow alternative downtown). My personal theory is that it's because most of the places to hang out here aren't the kind that's popular in the Mission. I also walk down these streets frequently late at night to buy stuff from the Safeway. I don't think it's very dangerous.

aetherson 11y ago
I currently live in the Outer Mission and previously lived in Excelsior, and I second all this. Basically, these are the last places in SF that are: 1. Relatively affordable. 2. Relatively close to BART. I live a five minute walk from Balboa Park BART and my mortgage is $3,000 a month for a 2BR1BA house with garage that I bought two years ago. Previously I lived a 10 minute walk from Glenn Park BART and my rent was $2,000 a month for a 2BR1BA house with garage (albeit now a few years old, so I'm sure the rent is higher now). The area is pretty safe. It's not like a rural small town or like what I kind of assume Pac Heights is like, but it's probably safer than Inner Mission or SOMA, and both I and my wife (a small woman) feel safe wandering around singly after dark. So why is it relatively cheap? Well, first, inertia from a point when it was less safe -- you can see some of the progression of the neighborhood by looking at the houses. Recently remodeled ones do not have metal security gates on their doors or bars on their windows, but ones that haven't been touched in 15 or 20 years definitely do. But also, it's just not a very hip neighborhood and doesn't have the density of bars/coffee shops/bicycle stores that other neighborhoods do. It's a little farther from the nightlife centers of the city. Ultimately, I think these areas are rapidly gentrifying as well, but they're behind the curve of the rest of the city.

by arjie 11y ago

aetherson 11y ago

I currently live in the Outer Mission and previously lived in Excelsior, and I second all this. Basically, these are the last places in SF that are: 1. Relatively affordable. 2. Relatively close to BART. I live a five minute walk from Balboa Park BART and my mortgage is $3,000 a month for a 2BR1BA house with garage that I bought two years ago. Previously I lived a 10 minute walk from Glenn Park BART and my rent was $2,000 a month for a 2BR1BA house with garage (albeit now a few years old, so I'm sure the rent is higher now). The area is pretty safe. It's not like a rural small town or like what I kind of assume Pac Heights is like, but it's probably safer than Inner Mission or SOMA, and both I and my wife (a small woman) feel safe wandering around singly after dark. So why is it relatively cheap? Well, first, inertia from a point when it was less safe -- you can see some of the progression of the neighborhood by looking at the houses. Recently remodeled ones do not have metal security gates on their doors or bars on their windows, but ones that haven't been touched in 15 or 20 years definitely do. But also, it's just not a very hip neighborhood and doesn't have the density of bars/coffee shops/bicycle stores that other neighborhoods do. It's a little farther from the nightlife centers of the city. Ultimately, I think these areas are rapidly gentrifying as well, but they're behind the curve of the rest of the city.