5.9 Miles in Alamo Square/Western Addition

 

I'm back! My sis-in-law Sam had a convention in town so I tagged along for a few days to get some walking in. The first two neighborhoods I hit in a combo walk were Alamo Square and Western Addition.  The theme of the walk was MURALS! Enjoy.

First of all, we rode the new Bart cars and they are so nice! The non-porous seats feel exponentially more sanitary than the old fuzzy seats.  And the digital displays are very fancy.  But now, onto my first walk...

 

I started out at Alamo Square with the famous Painted Ladies and worked my way north to Geary between Divisidero and Webster. 

Here's the thing about the Painted Ladies - they look awesome from the top of Alamo Square park when you see the row of rooftops in front of the downtown skyline.  That is cool.  However, they are clumsy to look at from the ground level because there is a row of trees blocking their view from the street.

  

So... this is what you see of them while standing on the sidewalk.  It's ... um ... okay? 

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I think there are other rows of Victorians around the City that are, dare I say, more attractive than the Painted Ladies, at least when viewed at ground level.

 

Take for instance this row of houses directly across the park from the Painted Ladies on Scott Street between Fulton and Grove. Let me know if they already have a name, otherwise, I'm going to call these the Painted Gentlemen. 

 

I've walked past Alamo Park many times but this time I wanted to really enjoy the park so I took my time meandering along the little pathways to view the dog park and gorgeous foliage. I came at the right time of year - lots of fragrant plants are blooming in April. This is the entrance on the north side of the park on Fulton. 

Alright, moving along.  Throughout the Alamo Square and lower Western Addition neighborhoods, I enjoyed several charming murals like this one. 

Say what you will about fnnch's honey bear murals, I still get a kick out of spotting them when I visit.  Come on, this one is just so cute.

This is a cool mural memorializing Curtis Bryant, a long-time resident of this neighborhood.  You can read his short bio here.

And speaking of murals, I was delighted to happen upon Jas Charanjiva actively working on her Pink Lady mural on Hayes and Divisidero. This was the first time I have seen a muralist using Meta Quest in VR goggles.  I was so fascinated so I watched some youtube videos back at the hotel to see how they work.  Here's a good one.

 

 

Overall, this walk was nice. The sidewalks were wide and clear, the intersections were safe, and the homes and landscaping were just lovely. I also notice a lot more families with small children out and about.  I don't remember that from previous visits.  

 

The southern half of the walk is primarily Victorian houses.  The northern half is more mid-century apartment buildings.  My stopping point was on the corner of Geary and Webster in the now abandoned Safeway parking lot.  That's pretty sad to see.  Makes me wonder where everyone in this neighborhood does their grocery shopping now.

 

 

So, let's end on a lighter note.  Have you ever heard of cheesewood berries?  I noticed these trees throughout this neighborhood and wondered if they are edible.  When I saw their name, I wanted to know if they taste like cheese.  They apparently do not and are in fact toxic.  Bummer.  But they are pretty and they have a fantastic name.