Right now it is 62° with a high of 68° – the forecast for the next ten days is here.
Today’s block is shaped like the number seven with the short end on Valencia Street. It then turns onto the end of Clinton Park, which dead ends at Stevenson, which runs south until a short walk east on 14th Street. The block turns north on Woodward to Duboce, and west on Duboce to finish the block back at Valencia.
The block has everything – a rich history, a parking lot, a former collective living space, homeless encampments and some refurbished houses. It was the home of Woodward’s Gardens (1866 to 1981) a theme park with a zoo, rides and gardens – the murals at the end of Woodward are the only reminder of that era. The parks main entrance was at 14th and Mission Streets, according to FoundSF, which has some historical photographs.
It’s also a block that used to house a collective living space on Stevenson until a fire in January 2014. Nowadays, a homeless encampment seems to own Stevenson, while Woodward has some upgraded buildings and loads of planters on the sidewalk.
You can see a map of all of the blocks here. The blocks in grey are being saved for others who have signed up. Let us save a block for you as well.
At the corner of Valencia street. Photo by Lydia Chávez
The short stretch of Valencia Street where some refurbishing has gone on. Photo by Lydia Chávez
The red or the yellow door? Photo by Lydia Chávez
Photo by Lydia Chávez
Translation? Photo by Lydia Chávez
The police were coming through on the Sunday I took these photos. The collective where there was a fire in January 2014 is the white building on the right. Photo by Lydia Chávez
Photo by Lydia Chávez
Photo by Lydia Chávez
Photo by Lydia Chávez
Important in SF. Photo by Lydia Chávez
A view of the fire-damaged building. Photo by Lydia Chávez
On Woodward, a great rocker. Photo by Lydia Chávez
Photo by Lydia Chávez
You can walk and read. Photo by Lydia Chávez
Photo by Lydia Chávez
A Sunday morning car walk on Duboce at the end of Woodward. Photo by Lydia Chávez
Founder/Executive Editor. I’ve been a Mission resident since 1998 and a professor emeritus at Berkeley’s J-school since 2019 when I retired. I got my start in newspapers at the Albuquerque Tribune in the city where I was born and raised. Like many local news outlets, The Tribune no longer exists. I left daily newspapers after working at The New York Times for the business, foreign and city desks. Lucky for all of us, it is still there.
As an old friend once pointed out, local has long been in my bones. My Master’s Project at Columbia, later published in New York Magazine, was on New York City’s experiment in community boards.
Right now I'm trying to figure out how you make that long-held interest in local news sustainable. The answer continues to elude me.
Great photo and walking tour this issue, Lydia. I walk past these streets all the time and had no idea that Woodward continued around like that. Walking past it on Valencia, I thought I was looking at a dead end street. Nice history lesson on Woodward Gardens, as well. Never heard of it before.
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Great photo and walking tour this issue, Lydia. I walk past these streets all the time and had no idea that Woodward continued around like that. Walking past it on Valencia, I thought I was looking at a dead end street. Nice history lesson on Woodward Gardens, as well. Never heard of it before.