Marina District, San Francisco, California

The Marina District is one of the northern districts of San Francisco, California. The area is bounded to the east by Van Ness Ave, on the west by Lyon Street and the Presidio, on the south by Lombard St. The neighborhood sits on the site of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, staged after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to celebrate the reemergence of the city. The grounds for this world's fair were created from a former lagoon on landfill. Aside from the Palace of Fine Arts (POFA), all other buildings were demolished to make a residential neighborhood.

Cow Hollow, Russian Hill, and the Presidio bound the Marina District to the south, east, and west, respectively.

History

On the Bay north of Cow Hollow, a seawall was built parallel to the shoreline, and the marshland in between was filled with sand pumped up from the bottom of the ocean. Dredging left enough deep water for the creation of the St Francis and Golden Gate Yacht Clubs, which occupy prestigious spots at the foot of Baker Street. Slightly to the east is the Marina Green, a large stretch of turf frequented for the most part by runners. A less-strenuous exercise is walking along the Golden Gate Promenade that runs parallel to Marina Boulevard, continuing a couple of miles further before reaching the eponymous bridge. A massive landscaping effort recreated natural marshlands and tidepools at Crissy Field, the long swath of land and tidal marsh that reaches from Marina Green to the bridge.

The creation of the Marina District is shrouded in myth and folklore. Many people claim that the area was created out of the rubble dumped into the Bay in the period after the great quake of 1906. Photographs of the Marina District as recently as 1912 show most of the area still as being in the bay, posing the question of why it would take six years for the rubble to be dumped to form the Marina. In 1885, Filbert Street was still the old Presidio Road. North onto Buchanan Street toward the bay, two blocks away, Lombard Street was sand dunes, about convert|35|ft|m higher than present. The shoreline was already being pushed northward by industrial power companies. The area now covered by Moscone Recreation Center and Marina Middle School was Lobos Square, a flat spot where the dunes had been leveled out to reach a hodgepodge of wharves and industrial plants extending from Laguna Street to Steiner Street.

Most of it came down in 1906, including the Gas Light Company generating house. But the brick meter house stood its sand, and the date of completion is still visible: “1893,” in the archway at Buchanan and North Point streets, behind the Marina Safeway (aka "Single's Safeway").

West from there on North Point is a slope in the sidewalk where shore met sea. It was here on North Point, west of Webster Street, that speculator James Fair built a seawall in the 1890s, in a grand plan to create 70 acres (283,000 m²) of shallow waters and build an industrial park. The walls were completed at the moment they ran out of sand to fill it with, so there it sat, like a full bathtub.

Until 1912, standing at the intersection North Point and Fillmore Streets, in the heart of today’s Marina, would mean standing in the bay. The creators of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition leased James Fair’s pond and finished the project. Two dredges and 146 days later, the bathtub was filled with 1.3 million cubic yards (100,000 m³) of sand and mud.

After the exposition closed in 1915, the Fair heirs got the land back and sold it to the Marina Development Corporation. City Engineer M. M. O'Shaughnessy created a hodgepodge of streets that connected to the original city grid. The layout is out of character with the older portions of the city, creating the maze-like feel of much of the Marina District. The Marina Development Corporation carved this area into 634 residential lots, plus the Marina Green. When it was built out in the 1920s, the area previously known as Harbor View or North End became known as The Marina.

The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused substantial damage, but the neighborhood was quickly rebuilt. Much of the damage was due to liquefaction of the fill upon which the neighborhood is built.

Geography

U.S. Route 101/Lombard Street is a boulevard that bisects the southern edge of the Marina District. The street is dotted with motels built in celebration of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge and a collection of retail, fast food, and residential units. On a typical afternoon the street is a mix of tourists searching for Ghirardelli Square and the Golden Gate Bridge, residents of the Marina/Cow Hollow area, and children walking towards Marina Middle School. Lombard Street runs between Cow Hollow to the south and the Marina, sometimes referred to as NoLo [North of Lombard] , to the north. One block north of Lombard is Chestnut Street, another important street lined with retail establishments for most of its length within the Marina District.

Moscone Recreation Center sports the largest children's park in the city and also has tennis courts, basketball courts, and a volleyball area. It has served as a meeting location for generations of San Francisco natives, and can be seen in several historic films. The slice of land that was the site of the Tower of Jewels during the 1915 World's Fair was initially named Funston Park. The park was renamed after the assassination of mayor George Moscone as a political payback to the conservative neighborhood activists in the Marina District who opposed Moscone's progressive policies.

The Marina Green is a picturesque park adjacent to the boat marina itself, and the San Francisco bay. The wind at the Marina Green frequently exceeds convert|50|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on, which lends itself to windsurfing at the nearby East Beach.

Schools in the Marina include the Tule Elk Child Development Center and Marina Middle School (the student body of which is primarily bussed in from other less affluent parts of San Francisco. The few children and teenagers living in the area tend to go to expensive private schools, as with the culturally similar "Lake" district).

Demographics

ZIP Code: 94123
Population:(2000 [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=94123&_cityTown=94123&_state=&_zip=94123&_lang=en&_sse=on&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010] ): 22,903
Male: 46.67%
Female: 53.33%
Median age: 35.3
with High School degree or higher (25 years of age and up): 96.30%
with Bachelor's degree or higher (25 years of age and up): 74.45%

Housing units: 14,851
Land area: 1.0 mile² (2.6 km²)
Water area: zero

Demographic Statistics:
White: 86.51%
Asian: 9.56%
Hispanic (of any race): 3.87%
Black: 0.51%
American Indian: 0.15%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.09%
Some other race population: 1.05%
Two or more races population: 2.13%

Family and Income statistics:
Average household size: 1.61
Average family size: 2.46
Per capita income (1999): $81,044
Median household income (1999): $84,710
Median family income (1999): $133,235
Individuals below poverty line: 3.64%
Families below poverty line: 1.10%

Earthquakes

Much of the Marina is on landfill (http://gis.abag.ca.gov/website/liq/viewer.htm - click Map of Location, then Search by Zip Code 94123), and is susceptible to liquefaction during strong earthquakes. It should be noted that several people were killed during the Loma Prieta earthquake due to collapsing residential structures.

There are areas in The Marina which are not on landfill. This area is referred to as "The Gold Box", bordered by Fort Mason, Octavia St, Lombard St, and Van Ness Avenue. The area is called "The Gold Box" because of its prime location on sandstone/bedrock geology. Those who live in this area are equidistant from the shops and restaurants of Chestnut St. (Marina), Union St. (Cow Hollow), and Polk St. (Russian Hill). Furthermore, this location is close to Fort Mason, Moscone Recreation Center, and The Marina Safeway.

Important structures

Marina Safeway. The Marina Boulevard location (the first such modern concept store in June 1959), continues to operate with only minor exterior modifications 40 years after construction. The “Marina” Prototype: A classic piece of architecture named for the first Safeway store so designed, on Marina Boulevard in San Francisco. Hundreds of these remain around the country, including the original. Most have been remodeled and expanded. The Marina Safeway is particularly notable for its singles scene — it is frequently listed as one of the city's best pick-up spots and is affectionately known as the "Single's Safeway" or more recently, "Dateway." This concept was first popularized by the San Francisco author Armistead Maupin in his late 1970's novel "Tales of the City", a film version of which has been broadcast on PBS.

The Exploratorium, a science museum, is a popular tourist destination in the Marina District. Many couples take their wedding photos at this site. The Exploratorium is located at the Palace of Fine Arts and provides an opportunity for patrons to explore the physical sciences in a hands-on fashion. Schools throughout Northern California routinely bring young students on field trips to this museum, as it is well known for its exhibits and creative learning environment.

Films primarily or partially set in the Marina

* "Tales of the City" (Book 1970s. TV, early 2000s)
* "10.5" (2004)
* "Red Diaper Baby" (2004)
* "Twisted" (2004)
* "What the Bleep Do We Know" (2004)
* "Julie and Jack" (2003)
* "MDs" (2002-2003)
* "Doctor Dolittle 2" (2001)
* "First Years" / "This Life" (TV pilot 2001)
* "Boys and Girls (2000)
* "Down to You" (2000)
* "Groove" (2000)
* "Playing Mona Lisa" (2000)
* "Woman on Top" (2000)
* "The Bachelor" (1999)
* "Bicentennial Man" (1999)
* "EDtv" (1999)
* "The Other Sister" (1999)
* "Stigmata" (1999)
* "Doctor Dolittle" (1998)
* "More Tales of the City" (1998)
* "A Friend's Betrayal" (1996, TV)
* "Nash Bridges" (1996-2001)
* "Copycat" (1995)
* "Murder in the First" (1995)
* "Mrs. Doubtfire" (1993)
* "Wolf" (1989, TV)
* "Turnover Smith" (1980)
* "Foul Play" (1978)
* "The Enforcer" (1976)
* "The Conversation" (1974)
* "Mabel and Fatty Viewing the World's Fair at S.F." (1915)

Famous residents past and present

*Andrew Firestone
*Alex Michel
*Morgan Webb
*Barbara Bouchet (past)
*Joe Dimaggio (past)
*David Kaplan (past)
*Philip J. Kaplan (past)
*Gavin Newsom (past)
*Tatum Reed
*Anna Nicole Smith (past)

External links

* [http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/sf/neighborhoods/marina.shtml The Chronicle's standing article about the Marina]
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* [http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&ll=37.802867,-122.435546&spn=0.024651,0.034504 Google maps]
* [http://www.onscenicroutes.com/marinamain.html A San Francisco Saturday in the Marina]