One of the busiest streets in the western section of San Francisco is Clement Street. A multi-cultural with a substantial Asian enclave near where the blogger has lived much of his lifetime.
The blogger took a walk on recent foggy morning on a portion of Clement Street and memorialized his excursion with a number of photos.
This public street runs from Arguello Boulevard westward through the Richmond district for three miles, ending on a hill at 45th Avenue just before Lands’ End. The street was built as part of the development of the Richmond district, previously sparsely populated terrain known as the “Outside Lands,” a vast stretch of sand dunes beyond city limits.Eager for customers to reach his seaside attractions, including the Sutro Baths, Sutro Gardens, and Cliff House resort, Adolph Sutro underwrote an electric trolley line in 1896 that ran the length of Clement Street, catalyzing its development as a major commercial corridor. A new wave of development followed the 1906 earthquake and fire, as refugees flooded into the area. After World War II, Southeast Asian immigrants began moving to the district en masse, earning it the name of “New Chinatown” among locals. Clement Street’s cultural diversity has long been a defining characteristic of its identity, with demographics shifting over the past century from predominantly Irish-American to Russian, Middle Eastern Jewish, and, later, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai residents.
Clement Street was spared the widening that neighboring Geary Boulevard underwent in the late 1940s, preserving the former’s pedestrian scale. A vibrant, two-way thoroughfare, the street is densely lined by two- and three-story, mixed-use buildings housing a variety of locally owned restaurants, produce markets, shops, and community organizations. Examples of the Classical Revival, Mission Revival, and Italianate architectural styles that once dominated the neighborhood can still be seen, interspersed with twentieth-century buildings.
Gold Star Discount Store where the blogger’s wife has shopped for years.
NO on G SAVE SUNSET DUNES PARK! banner on Clement Street alerts the voters to a crucial November ballot measure
The produce assortment at the Yin Xing Food Co.
The Recology containers stacked for the Monday morning collection
The Donuts shop at 10th Avenue. Years ago it was an ice cream parlor
The Asian food selection piled high at a Clement Street grocery shop
FOR SALE. The hyper real estate market in San Francisco on Clement Street
A dangerous crossing. A mother yacks on her phone while crossing 7th Avenue with her toddler in tow
Green Apple Books was founded by Richard Savoy in 1967 in a pre-1906 building at the corner of Clement Street and Sixth Avenue.[2] In 1996, Green Apple Books acquired its long-time neighbor, Revolver Records.[3] By 2005, the store housed over 250,000 titles, as well as 60,000 available online.[4]Green Apple Books & Music – Wikipedia
An art studio on Clement Street
The now abandoned building at 9th Avenue. It was formerly the Coliseum Theater where the blogger spent many Saturday afternoons during his youth watching movies, munching on popcorn and candy. Later it was a Walgreens outlet. Now shuttered
The foggy Monday morning foot traffic on Clement Street
See’s Candies a Richmond District sweet tooth staple for decades at the corner of 9th Avenue
Hamburger Havenat the corner of 9th Avenue feeding the neighborhood for years
Waiting for the San Francisco Muni bus number 44 at nearby 6th Avenue and Geary Blvd
The brick house. The Richmond District Police Station on 6th Avenue. A block south of Clement Street
Another nearby Clement Street resident
Sign of the times. Sky high fuel prices at the pump on Geary Blvd and Park Presidio. One block south of Clement St.
Opening theme to the movie Beyond Rangoon – conducted by Hans Zimmer
I am a Green Party member, legal worker, walker, cyclist who follows politics, world events, 🌎 the literary world and 🎥 film
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