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Noe Valley is a neighborhood in the central part of San Francisco, California. Its borders are generally considered to be 21st Street to the north, 30th Street to the south, Dolores Street to the east, and Grand View Avenue to the west. These borders are understood to be somewhat flexible, particularly by real estate agents. The Castro (Eureka Valley) is directly to Noe Valley's north, although the border is not well defined and can stretch into Noe Valley, and The Mission is to its east. Like many other San Francisco neighborhoods, Noe Valley started out as a working-class neighborhood for employees and their families in the area's once-thriving blue-collar economy, but has since undergone successive waves of gentrification and is now considered an upscale, yuppie area. It is home to many urban professionals, particularly young couples with children, and it is not unusual for a well-maintained house in Noe Valley to sell for two million dollars or more. Public transportation to Noe Valley is provided by the Muni 24, 26, 35, and 48 bus lines, and by the J Church Muni Metro line. The neighborhood is named after Jose de Jesus Noe, the last Mexican alcalde (mayor) of Yerba Buena (present day San Francisco). Noe Valley was primarily built up at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, especially in the years just after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. As a result, the neighborhood contains many examples of the "classic" Victorian and Edwardian residential architecture for which San Francisco is famous. As a working-class neighborhood, Noe Valley houses were built in rows, with some of the efficient, low-cost homes being more ornate than others, depending on the owner's taste and finances. Today, Noe Valley has the highest concentration of row houses in San Francisco, with streets having three to four and sometimes as many as a dozen on the same side. However, few facades in such rows of houses remain unchanged since their creation in the late 19th and early 20th Century. Many Noe Valley streets were laid out and named by John Meirs Horner, who named Elizabeth Street after his wife and Jersey Street after the state where he was born. Most of Noe Valley is still called Horner's Addition for tax purposes by the city assessor's office. One notable Noe Valley landmark is St. Paul's Catholic Church, featured in the movie Sister Act. Another notable landmark is the Noe Valley Library which is a Carnegie Library. In the 1970s, many small businesses contributed to the image and perception of Noe Valley. A combination of old, traditional businesses and enlightened new entrepreneurs helped to build the reputation of Noe Valley as a hip and enlightened neighborhood. As rents increased, many of these small entrepreneurial businesses were casualties of gentrification and development. The topographic layout is actually two main valleys. One flows from the Clipper/22nd/Grandview area down 24th/Jersey to Church, and the other flows from the 27th/Diamond/30th area down Day to Church where it meets the first valley; the conjoined valleys then both exit the Noe Valley district. This makes the hilly area relatively dry, and the soil stable regarding earthquake liquefaction. Most houses up the hills sit directly on bed rock as can be seen at Douglass Park (bare red rock - radiolarian chert). Traffic flow is limited - one main North access through Castro Street to Eureka Valley, one main West access up Clipper Street toward the former Twin Peaks toll plaza and West of the city, several East access to Mission through 24th, Cesar Chavez and other numbered streets, and the main North-South Church Street access used by the J Church Muni Light Rail. The neighborhood is primarily residential, although there are two bustling commercial strips. The first along Church Street, between 24th Street and 30th Street and the other along 24th Street, between Church Street and Castro Street. Source: Wikipedia |