Bayview, San Francisco, CA

‘- Bayview is home to two large parks: Bayview Park, located on Key Ave. just west of the San Francisco 49’ers stadium, offers sweeping views of the city; and The Candlestick Point Recreation Area, located just east of the stadium, is a popular attraction for kayakers and windsurfers. Heron’s Head Park, located in the northern part of the neighborhood, is home to a recently resurgent population of clapper rails and the EPA Award-Winning Heron’s Head Eco Center.

– Speakeasy Brewery, located at 1195 Evans Street, offers tours and beer and hosts live music at their “Final Friday” events. Restaurants such as Chef Eskender Aseged’s Radio Africa Kitchen,Old Skool Cafe, Limón Rotisserie, and Brown Sugar Kitchen, slated to move into the area by late 2011/early 2012, join an existing group of established restaurants up and down the Third St. corridor, including Sam Jordan’s, Frisco Fried, and Las Isletas, to name but a few.

– The Quesada Garden, located on Quesada Avenue and 3rd Street in the heart of the neighborhood, is a landmark community open space on a public right-of-way. It is connected to a showcase community food producing garden (Bridgeview Community Teaching and Learning Garden) by two large murals produced with the community by artists Deidre DeFranceaux, Santie Huckaby, Malik Seneferu, and Heidi Hardin. Together, these projects have turned one of the most dangerous and blighted corridors in San Francisco into the safe route through the neighborhood, and have created a destination point for residents and visitors. Karl Paige and Annette Young Smith, retired residents, started planting on an urban median strip in 2002, and were quickly joined by neighbors to complete what is now a 650-foot by 20-foot focal point for flowers, food, art and community building. Thirteen mature Canary Island date palm trees on the block are on the San Francisco Registry of Historic Trees.