The Marina

The Marina district’s three retail rows on Chestnut, Lombard and Union Streets feature a healthy mixture of shops and restaurants, old and new, for tourists and locals alike. People visit from throughout the Bay Area to shop; only Union Square is a more shopping-intensive district in San Francisco. But besides its reputation for shopping and recreation on the bay, the Marina is a neighborhood, where you can pick up a screwdriver at Fredericksen Hardware (“Since 1896”) or check out a book at the branch library.

Nowhere is this more evident than on Chestnut, which has been transformed through the decades from a locals-only “Main Street” to a hot shopping district even more bustling than better-known Union Street nearby. The transformation isn’t yet complete, attested by the juxtaposition of All Star Donuts and Naked Fish Sushi Grill on opposite corners, but it’s getting there. There’s only the one donut shop, but more sushi restaurants than you can shake a chopstick at.

Chestnut is younger, hipper, livelier and less ritzy than Union Street, with the latter shopping district more popular among the moneyed set who live up the hill in Pacific Heights. And Lombard, which is sandwiched between the two streets—is geared more to tourists. Many mid-range motels and inns are found along the six-lane extension of Highway 101, so instead of the hipster coffeehouses of Chestnut and Union, you’ll encounter family-friendly restaurants like Mel’s Drive-In and Amici’s Pizzeria. But all three streets are lined with ethnic restaurants of every kind; there’s even a Nepalese restaurant (Taste of the Himalayas) on Lombard.

While many people visit the Marina to shop or dine, many more come for the recreational opportunities on San Francisco Bay. It’s called the Marina for a reason: Yacht Harbor hugs the bay for three blocks and the Marina Green’s kite-flying lawn stretches another five blocks—all along Marina Boulevard. Fort Mason Center, with its small museums at the southernmost end of this stretch of bayfront, is another attraction. It’s no wonder the finest mansions in the neighborhood are along this boulevard, with its views of Golden Gate Bridge from their picture windows. In all, this neighborhood of about 12,000 residents is about 10 by 10 blocks, bordered by Union, Gough, Lyon and the bay.

Despite its robust beauty, there’s a fragility to the Marina that lies beneath. It’s one of the city’s few flat neighborhoods because it’s on landfill, making it vulnerable to heavy quake damage. This was shown during the 1989 quake when it was hit hard, with several buildings collapsing. But you’d never know it today, as residents just shrugged and rebuilt their homes. They know there’s a price to pay, besides the mortgage for their million-dollar homes, for living in one of the prettiest spots on the planet.

- by Bob Cooper, San Francisco Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Bob Cooper

Bob Cooper is a full-time freelance writer (www.bob-cooper.com) who writes about travel, outdoor sports and health. He is a monthly contributor to Runner's World and has written recent articles for other national magazines such as Continental, Ladies' Home Journal and Inc.