Once we get into District 12, our real estate maps don’t differentiate the neighborhoods as shown previously; distinct areas are mostly the names of the subdivisions they were originally. Locals continue that tradition and you’ll hear names such as: Buri Buri and Old Rocca in SSF; Linda Mar and Pedro Point in Pacifica; or Crestmoor and Huntington in San Bruno; each of these has their own local flavor, housing style and price range.
This district is considered Suburban.
South San Francisco of old was seen as the forgotten stepchild of San Francisco; I can tell you nothing could be further from the truth. The downtown is bustling with interesting restaurants and is the biotech hub of the Bay Area.
Pacifica is thought of as being shrouded in fog all the time; again, complete fallacy. There are areas that are foggier than others, but there are also areas that are seldom foggy. On a nice day, don’t even try driving through here; the freeway is a parking lot with people on their way to the beach.
San Bruno is an interesting area as well; home to YouTube and Wallmart headquarters, with some really quaint neighborhoods.
A mixed bag from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. The older areas of each city were built by early adopters and are mostly closer to the commercial cores. In Pacifica’s case, the coastal community was a weekend retreat for San Franciscans, so much of the older housing were beach cottages, closer to the coastline. The remaining portions were largely built by developers in the 1940’s to today.
Housing is largely single-family detached homes built from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. The condominium developments tend to be larger; Shelter Creek in San Bruno, is probably the largest, which is nearly 1300 units. There are some smaller, randomly placed multi-unit buildings.
The main commercial strips are Grand Ave. in SSF, Palmetto in Pacifica and San Mateo Ave. in San Bruno. Both downtown SSF and San Bruno are bustling and changing, Pacifica has it’s own coastal vibe with five distinct shopping hearts. That said, most of the shopping will be in shopping centers and strip malls on the main streets running through each city.
San Bruno City Park, Junipero Serra County Park, Milagra Ridge, Mori Point, Devil’s slide, you’ll generally find larger parks in this area for hiking. Sharp Park Beach, Linda Mar Beach, Sharp Park Golf Course, San Pedro Valley County Park
Public transit, freeway, drive in drive out
Highways 1, 101 and Interstate 280 are the main connectors in this district.
Public transit available:
BART in SSF, but this outside the downtown area, more in the newer neighborhoods
CalTrain in SSF, this is just outside the downtown area. SamTrans buses throughout
Personal vehicles are main mode of transport and it wouldn’t be unusual for families to have more than one vehicle for convenience sake.
Is mostly easy accept around commercial areas. The exception would be areas with tight streets, or limited street parking. The interesting thing about the ‘burbs’, is a lot of people don’t use their garages!
