San Francisco/Southeast

Southeast San Francisco is made up of several mostly residential neighborhoods of San Francisco bounded on the north and west by I-280, the 101 highway, and 16th Street, the east by the San Francisco Bay, and on the south by the city limits.

Understand
Bayview-Hunter's Point is bounded roughly by Cesar Chavez to the north, the 101 freeway to the west, and the San Francisco Bay to the east. When the Navy closed the Naval Shipyard (the site of the first dry-dock on the West Coast and a major population draw), it also cut the jobs that the Shipyard provided. As jobs left, crime rose, and Hunters Point is now one of the worst neighborhoods of the city. It is however turning around slowly, and people who live there say it's not as bad as it was 10 years ago. New apartments are being built and the Muni Metro (public transit) has been extended.

Dogpatch is a diverse neighborhood on the eastern edge of Potrero Hill, recognized as a historic district by the city in 2003.

The Excelsior is part of the area known as the Outer Mission. The district is a mostly residential and filled with working-class neighborhoods. Mission and connecting streets have a variety of Asian and Latinx eateries, bakeries, and markets.

Portolá is a mostly residential district bounded by 101, 280, University Ave and Mansell St. San Bruno Avenue has many Asian and a few Latinx eateries, bakeries, and markets.

Potrero Hill is a district located east of the Mission District and south of SoMa. It is bordered on the north by 16th Street, on the west by Potrero Avenue (U.S. Route 101), and on the south by Cesar Chavez Street.

Visitacion Valley is a district bordered roughly by John McLaren Park to the west, Mansell Boulevard to the north, Bayview Hill and Candlestick Cove to the east, and the San Francisco/San Mateo County line to the south.

Get in
The MUNI Metro serves several neighborhoods of Southeast San Francisco. The -Third line light rail runs the length of 3rd Street from Downtown through Potrero Hill and Bayview-Hunters Point to its southern terminus at Bay Shore Blvd and Sunnydale Avenue in Visitacion Valley. On the other side of Southeast San Francisco, the, and  lines meet up at the Balboa Park BART station near Ingleside. The and  lines run west through Ingleside, while the  line runs north through Noe Valley and the Castro.

BART, the regional metro system, stops at the Balboa Park station as well as the Glen Park station (also serviced by MUNI Metro J line) just to the north, before continuing on through the Mission district to Downtown and across the bay. Caltrain, a commuter rail running south from Downtown to San Jose, has two stops in Southeast San Francisco: the 22nd Street station on Pennsylvania and 22nd Streets, and the Bayshore station on Tunnel Avenue south of Bayshore Blvd, near the end of the MUNI Metro line.

The area is also serviced by the 9-San Bruno, 14-Mission, 19-Polk, 22-Fillmore, 23-Monterey, 24-Divisadero, 29-Sunset, 43-Masonic, 44-O'Shaughnessy, 48-Quintara/24th Street, 49-Mission/Van Ness, 52-Excelsior, 54-Felton and 56-Rutland MUNI bus lines.

By car, I-280 and the 101 Highway provide easy freeway access to the area.

Sleep
There are few lodging opportunities in this area, and those that are here are often run-down motels along the main streets which unfortunately have a reputation for attracting drug dealers, crime, and general uncleanliness of the motels themselves; not to mention that they are far from the city's main attractions. There are some very affordable and generally nicer accommodations closer to the tourist neighborhoods and just south in Daly City.