Russian Hill, San Francisco

Russian Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It is named after one of San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills".

Russian Hill
Neighborhood
Russian Hill seen from the Southeast
Russian Hill
Location within Central San Francisco
Coordinates: 37.8018°N 122.4198°W / 37.8018; -122.4198
Country United States
State California
City and countySan Francisco
Government
 • SupervisorCatherine Stefani
 • AssemblymemberDavid Chiu (D)[1]
 • State SenatorScott Wiener (D)[1]
 • U. S. Rep.Nancy Pelosi (D)[2]
Area
 • Total0.397 sq mi (1.03 km2)
Population
 • Total13,146
 • Density33,000/sq mi (13,000/km2)
Time zoneUTC−8 (Pacific)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP codes
94109, 94133
Area codes415/628
A view of Lombard Street and Russian Hill from Telegraph Hill. The picture includes the famous "World's crookedest street" portion of Lombard Street.

Location

Russian Hill is directly to the north (and slightly downhill) from Nob Hill, to the south (uphill) from Fisherman's Wharf, and to the west of the North Beach neighborhood. The Hill is bordered on its west side by parts of the neighborhoods of Cow Hollow and the Marina District.

At the northern foot of the hill is Ghirardelli Square, which sits on the waterfront of the San Francisco Bay, Aquatic Park, and Fisherman's Wharf, an extremely popular tourist area. A trip down the winding turns of Lombard Street and across Columbus Avenue to the east leads to the neighborhood of North Beach. Down the hill to the west, past Van Ness Avenue, are Cow Hollow and the Marina districts.

History

The neighborhood's name goes back to the Gold Rush era, when settlers discovered a small Russian cemetery at the top of the hill. Russian naval and merchant ships frequently visited San Francisco throughout the 19th century beginning in 1806, and there are several mentions of burials of crew members in the Russian Hill cemetery in the first half of the century. The cemetery was eventually removed, but the name remained.

Noteworthy characteristics
Lombard Street
View from Russian Hill (Larkin Street) towards east

The neighborhood is most famous for Lombard Street, the one-way[4] section on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, in which the roadway has eight sharp turns (or switchbacks) that have earned the street the distinction of being "the crookedest street in the world". The switchbacks design, first suggested by property owner Carl Henry[5] and built in 1922,[6] was intended to reduce the hill's natural 27 percent grade,[7] which was too steep for most vehicles to climb. As it is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the city, this section of the neighborhood is frequently crowded with tourists. Tourists also frequent the famous cable car line along Hyde Street, which is lined with many restaurants and shops.

A small park at the top of the hill on Vallejo Street features a small plaque and memorial placed by the Russian Government that is dedicated to the original Russian cemetery that is the neighborhood's namesake.

Another park is named after Ina Coolbrith.

Views from the top of the hill extend in several directions around the Bay Area, including the Bay Bridge, Marin County, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Russian Hill is home to the San Francisco Art Institute, located on Chestnut Street between Jones and Leavenworth Streets. Academy of Art University also maintains a presence in this neighborhood with their Chestnut St. building hosting their fine art MFA studios, photo classrooms, and photo studios.[8]

Because of the steepness of the hill, many streets, portions of Vallejo and Green streets, for example, are staircases. Another famous feature of Russian Hill are the many pedestrian-only lanes such as Macondray Lane and Fallon Place, both with beautiful landscaping and arresting views.

Alice Marble tennis courts.

Alice Marble Tennis Courts are four hardcourt tennis courts located at Lombard and Hyde Streets. The courts offer a view of the bay and North Beach and can be unsuitable for tennis on windy days. A basketball court is located adjacent to the tennis courts. The San Francisco Cable Cars serving the Powell-Hyde line stops nearby.

Government and infrastructure

San Francisco Police Department Central Station, Metro Division serves Russian Hill.[9]

Education

It is in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and is within the Jean Parker Elementary School attendance area.[10][11] The school building was first built in 1911 and rebuilt in 1996.[12]

Notable residents

In fiction

Life in the neighborhood during the 1970s was used as the basis for the fictionalized series Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin.

Much of the famous car chase sequence in the 1968 thriller Bullitt, starring Steve McQueen (whose character lived in Nob Hill on Taylor and Clay streets), were filmed on Russian Hill, notably the scenes on Taylor Street. The neighborhood was also featured in the early scenes of the 1982 action-comedy feature film, 48 Hrs.

The cast of The Real World: San Francisco, which aired in 1994, lived in the house at 949 Lombard Street on Russian Hill from February 12 to June 19, 1994.[13]

In Anne Rice's book The Wolf Gift, the main character, Reuben Golding, grew up in Russian Hill.

John "Scottie" Ferguson, a character played by James Stewart lives at 900 Lombard Street in Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo (1958).

Based on the view from the window, Admiral James T. Kirk's apartment seen in the films Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was located in the Russian Hill area of San Francisco.

In the racing video game Blur, one of the courses is named after and closely resembles Russian Hill. The unique and noteworthy character of the neighborhood, along with the narrowness and steepness of the city streets within it, are reasons why it makes sense for the course to be included in the game.

gollark: How is this even a debate? Refusing to describe things doesn't make them not exist or be widely accepted or whatever. It's just very inconvenient whenever people want to discuss or mention them.
gollark: Suuuuuure.
gollark: He had to appear to die for the ritual.
gollark: Exactly. He was waiting for the opportune moment when his strength would be greatest and when it would be most dramatically appropriate.
gollark: And amassing followers.

See also

References
Notes
  1. "Statewide Database". UC Regents. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  2. "California's 12th Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC.
  3. "Russian Hill neighborhood in San Francisco, California (CA), 94109, 94133 subdivision profile - real estate, apartments, condos, homes, community, population, jobs, income, streets". Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  4. Lombard Street Archived 2008-09-05 at the Wayback Machine, AOL local.
  5. Saperstein, Susan (February 2009). "Lombard Street". San Francisco City Guides. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  6. Brown-Martin, Darcey (September–October 2001). "An Honestly Crooked Street". via Magazine.
  7. Saperstein, Susan. "Lombard Street". San Francisco City Guides. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  8. "Academy of Art University Campus Map" (PDF). academyart.edu. Academy of Art University. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
  9. Central Station, San Francisco Police Department District Stations and Map. San Francisco Police Department. Retrieved on January 2, 2015.
  10. "Jean Parker Elementary School." San Francisco Unified School District. retrieved on April 19, 2018.
  11. "Final Recommendations for Elementary Attendance Areas Prepared for September 28, 2010 Board Meeting." San Francisco Unified School District. Retrieved on April 18, 2018.
  12. "A Tour of Our School." Jean Parker Elementary School. Retrieved on April 19, 2018. Chinese version
  13. Castmate Cory Murphy notes the address when first arriving in the season premiere. The dates in which the cast lived in the house are given by Judd Winick on pages 61 and 119 in his 2000 book, Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss and What I Learned.
Bibliography
  • Kostura, William (1996). Russian Hill: The Summit, 1853–1906. Aerie Publications.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

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