Exploring the western Mission

First Impressions

Posted on September 3, 2013 Updated on December 11, 2013

When someone is talking about the Mission district of San Francisco, it’s typically about either their love or hate relationship with the area. Before this week, I wasn’t sure where I stood myself.

I had been to the eastern portion (Mission Street towards Potrero Avenue) many times but only for very short amounts of time and the time I had spent in the western district could have probably been summed up to about an hour combined, tops. I had never really spent any quality time in the area. To be honest, I hadn’t even realized that Valencia Street and west of that was even considered a part of the Mission (and, of course, I come to find out that it is not only bit portion of the Mission, but it is the oldest part).

Getting off of the BART train at 16^th and Mission Street, a mix of smells, including urine, marijuana and even some Hispanic cooking fill the air. It’s an interesting combination for your nose to process as you ride up the escalator to the sunny area above. No one really hangs in the space above the underground station unless they look like they’ve been there for a while, preaching with a microphone or waiting at a nearby bus stop. Everyone is bustling about and seems to have somewhere important they have to go with something incredibly important that they have to do. If you don’t know where you’re going, it can be extremely disorienting.

Mission Street itself is filled with many interesting shops, thrift stores, restaurants, art, people and much more, but this semester, I am not focusing on that. This semester, I’m going to be exploring, researching and writing about the area from Valencia Street to the western border of the Mission, reaching out all the way to Dolores Park.

Once you get away from the busy Mission Street scene and start heading west, the atmosphere, scenery and even the type of people you see start to change. Little cafes and restaurants with catchy, one-word only, “hip” names start to pop up everywhere.

It is well-known that this part of the district has been constantly changing for years. “It’s nice to go somewhere around here that’s been here more than a year,” said Dan Weiss, a bookseller at Dog Eared Books.

Everyone you see looks calmer and less rushed, as if all those people from the BART station are getting closer to reaching that destination they were so desperately trying to get to.

“My favorite place in the neighborhood is here, actually,” said Justin Lawrence, a sales associate and barista at Faye’s Video & Espresso Bar. “This is actually my second job because I love it so much.”

Your surroundings seem cleaner – even the ground sparkles a bit. Walking around the western portion, you start to see families with young children, a lot of twenty-something year olds and even more thrift/consignment stores than on previous streets. It’s very relaxed and comfortable. There’s still beautiful street art everywhere and the area is still diverse, but any amount of sketchiness you had felt before is gone.

This is a beautiful, unique area with a rich history and what seems like a bright future. I can’t wait to learn more as I explore the neighborhood in the months to come.