A reader recently toured a few homes for sale around Holly Park and is left wondering what it’s like to actually live there and the direction in which the neighborhood is heading. She’s not interested in the perceptions of those who have never visited, nor the thoughts of an agent who has never spent the night, nor simply a CrimeMAPs cut and paste.
It’s the insight from plugged-in residents past and present she seeks. And now so do we.
I live very close to there and walk there frequently. It is not out of the fog belt although the majority of Bernal is–so that’s a real negative. Another negative is the decaying housing projects which cover a few blocks on the western side. I can’t vouch for their violence or lack of it, but they sure look miserable. That’s all I know.
We live near by. I love jogging around the park. The 360 degree views are pretty spectacular. However, the park is often not kept up well, but it does seem to be improving lately. The housing projects on the west side are in disrepair and look pretty bleak. I thought the area was generally OK until someone was murdered there last weekend.
I live in another part of Bernal, but I’ve had friends living around Holly Park, and they never had safety problems. The lots in the area are deeper than elsewhere in Bernal, and pretty flat, so there are some great gardens behind the houses, and sometimes the ability to expand back.
The recent killing is pretty disconcerting, though:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/26/BACR11FLNT.DTL
I loooove what the neighbors have done with the place, the shoes hanging from telephone poles brings a very post modern feel to the hood.
East side hot. West side not. The west feels more like Mission/Silver/Alemany, while the east feels more like Bernal/Cortland.
Bernal will continue to retain its “last SF neighborhood” feel.
However, the farther down toward Crescent you get, the louder the constant freeway noise.
I have walked my dog to the park from my place in Noe. The park is nice. Lots of friendly dog owners on the west side (facing the housing projects). If you cross the hill on a weekend to the east side, you will see why they call it “Maternal Heights”. Kids are everywhere.
I subscribe to the Ingleside police reports that cover Noe, Glen Park, and Bernal, among others. In the last year, I have heard of maybe 5-6 incidents in the area. The most disturbing is obviously the homicide cited above. I believe there was a carjacking and/or abduction that took place also, but mostly it’s petty stuff.
That said, I personally wouldn’t buy a place that’s within shouting distance of housing projects. Projects never get gentrified. They mostly just get bulldozed.
Corrections: projects get bulldozed, rebuilt and relabeled as affordable housing at twice the size.
With it comes good and the return of the bad.
All said and done: neighborbood receives net gain improvement.
I am a realtor but also a neighbor who walks through there often. Yes, there are projects on the west side. They aren’t numerous, tho. It’s maybe the smallest such development in the city. (Anybody else think so?)
Anyway, it’s an attractive park with some nice views. Very windy as you’re south of Twin Peaks’ protective buffer here. I actually like the neighborhood just to the south and southeast of there better. It’s called St. Mary’s Park, I believe. Those homes are newer, well built and very neighborhoody.
A couple other things — by the looks of it, the area is probably relatively “hot.” This is not to say that it’s gangbusters like a few years ago or anything. But I see relatively quick turnover and only two withdrawn or expired listings, both of which were very pricey (36 Bache and 352 Richland) for the area.
There isn’t a single active condo or TIC in Holly Park or St. Mary’s park areas. There are only four active SFRs. None of them are particularly large (I would like Santa Marina if it had a garage) and are asking nearly 600 a foot. Maybe another reason for the area’s appeal is that Glen Park BART is a fairly easy walk.
I live off Cortland, a few blocks from Holly Park…it’s one of my favorite spots in the city, and the park has been vastly improved over the years. The north half of the park definitely gets the most use…their are tons of dogs and kids in the neighborhood.
I wouldn’t even call the public housing “projects”, which implies a huge block. There are only a handful of units…yes, they are old and gross, but there aren’t enough of them to really dent the feel of the neighborhood overall. I wish they were on the target list to be rebuilt, but I’ve never seen them mentioned on the Hope program funding list.
As with the rest of the south slope, the further up the hill you are from the freeway, the better the neighborhood gets…block by block. Once you are over the crest of the hill just south of Cortland, the freeway noise completely diminishes.
Here is Yelp on Holly Park:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/holly-park-san-francisco
I recently moved away from the Holly Park area after several years as a renter there. I’ll miss it. In the time I was there I saw a big increase in park use, lots more dogs and kids. It’s cleaner and better maintained now than it used to be. They put in a new playground a couple of years ago. I walked my dog around the neighborhood every night and it always seemed pretty safe. Like the rest of Bernal, I would say it’s still on the upswing. It’s not the greatest part of the neighborhood, though – – towards Crescent things get a little grungy.
I live in Bernal, not near the park, but come to park often. In general, it’s a great park for kids with a relatively new playground with separate areas for young and bigger kids (unlike Precita Park) plus, it also has tennis courts and a ball field. There is always easy parking, and Cortland is only a short walk. The park is in great shape for a city park, and is in much better condition than some of those found in Noe (like Dolores Playground).
Topographically, Holly Park sits on top of a hill with 360 views. From an urban plan point of view, Holly has an interesting axial relationship down Bocana St to the north looking north toward Cortland and the top of Bernal Hill. Holly Park’s cut grass, ball field, and playground are a nice counterpoint to it’s more naturally landscaped sister Bernal Park.
The north, east, and south sides of the park are typical Bernal with a mix of older homes and recent renovations. The western side, as previously mentioned, has a couple of projects and the reservoir. I have never had any safety concerns when I have gone there with kids. The main characteristics of this neighborhood seem to be very strong. The not-so-steep streets, walking distance to shops on Cortland and public transit on Mission may help the homes around the park continue to increased in value.
I live on Richland. My block is a mix of oldtimers, renters and a gradual infill of people who buy at market rate. A single family house with no garage sold for north of 700k recently. Pretty mellow neighborhood, though Richland has long blocks and you get a certain amount of speeding. Don’t keep up with all the crime, but have the usual car break ins. The shooting is pretty shocking. Wind follows the Alemany gulch, so the summer winds are typically strong. If you are east of Holly Park it is more of a banana belt. Good transportation options, views towards south and west of city and San Bruno Mt.
Another bonus is that it’s relatively easy to park around Holly Park.
banana belt?
That’s as opposed to the Rust Belt or the Corn Belt.
I used to live on park street, just west of holly park. Loved it – feels a bit less suburban than near bernal park but still lots of families, and it’s an easy walk to courtland as well as a slightly longer one to glen park, plus you are steps from the transit options on mission (buses and the j-church). And that stretch of mission has some great mexican and salvadorian food as well.
perhaps Daniel is newish to our fair city. “banana belt” refers to any microclimate in the city that is relatively fog-free and protected from the wind…..where yes you can actually grow bananas (and sometimes tomatoes).
The housing projects on the park are a little tired looking, but take a second look and you will find some architectural interest there. Unless my memory is defective, they were designed by Arthur Brown, who designed city hall.
We withdrew our offer with contingency near this area after learning of the burglaries/muggings one-day thereafter, one block away, and consoling our colleagues who overbid (1.5) and now regret with, “one day, the crime situation will improve” but this is not the neighborhood for us and kids of 5 + 3. Yes, they are on the higher-end of the ‘economic diversity’ scale.