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North District

San Francisco's most affluent neighborhoods are in the North District; there are no "fixer-uppers" here. From upscale Cow Hollow to exclusive Presidio Heights, the homes are elegant and the views are stunning, but living here is expensive. The neighborhoods in the North District include:

• Cow Hollow
• The Marina
• Pacific Heights
• Presidio Heights

View healthcare facilities in this district

Cow Hollow
Named in the 1800s when the area was dotted with dairy farms, Cow Hollow now is a residential area that primarily attracts middle- to upper-income young professionals. Bordered by Lombard Street, Van Ness Avenue, Green Street, and Lyon Street, the neighborhood is mainly Edwardian and Victorian homes and apartments, although there has been some new construction.

The southern edge of Cow Hollow is just a block away from Union Street, the area's main shopping district and a popular tourist attraction. Old Victorian homes have been transformed into shopping galleries that offer antiques, art, books, home furnishings, and a variety of other specialty items. Union Street also has coffeehouses, trendy bars, cafés, and upscale restaurants.

Cow Hollow is home to one of the city's landmark buildings—the Octagon House on Gough and Union, one of only two remaining examples in the city of the mid-19th-century eight-sided home. (Octagonal houses originally were built because they were considered good luck.) The Octagon House now is a museum and center for the National Society of Colonial Dames of America.

The Marina
Until the early years of the 20th century, the location of the present-day Marina was primarily marshland. Then, when San Francisco was rocked by the devastating 1906 earthquake, the marshy area was filled in with the brick and rock rubble from the destroyed downtown buildings, forming the initial foundation for future development. Today the Marina is one of San Francisco's most desirable (and expensive) places to live.

Located between the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf, the Marina's boundaries are Marina Boulevard, Van Ness Avenue, Lombard Street, and Doyle Drive. The area's Mediterranean-style houses, elegant mansions, and chic apartment buildings are home to a hip, young, professional crowd. This neighborhood is mostly residential, but it does have several trendy clothing shops, small cafés, and upscale bars, most of which are located on Union, Lombard, and Chestnut Streets.

One of the Marina's well-known landmarks is the Palace of Fine Arts, located at 3601 Lyons Street. Constructed in 1915 as part of the Panama Pacific Exposition, the Palace is now home to the Exploratorium, one of the finest interactive science museums in the country. Marina Green—a grassy, mile-long promenade along the edge of the Bay—is a popular spot with joggers, volleyball players, sunbathers, and kite fliers, and it offers a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Pacific Heights
When the construction of a new cable-car line in the late-1800s made the then-remote area of Pacific Heights more accessible, San Francisco's affluent families claimed it as their own. Today, Pacific Heights remains one of the city's most prestigious and exclusive neighborhoods. Its boundaries are Union Street, Van Ness Avenue, Bush Street, and Lyon Street.

Foreign consulates and private schools share space in the neighborhood with the lavish Victorian mansions, and there also are a number of luxury apartment buildings and condominiums. Nearby Alta Plaza Park and Lafayette Park offer spectacular views of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as providing children's playgrounds, picnic areas, tennis courts, and walking paths. Both parks are dog-friendly, and Alta Plaza even has a water fountain with a drinking bowl just for dogs.

Pacific Heights is adjacent to the Union Street shopping area, a popular tourist stop because of its many specialty shops, art galleries, bookshops, and trendy restaurants and bars.

Presidio Heights
Located just west of Pacific Heights and adjacent to the Presidio—a former Spanish military stockade transformed into the 1,491-acre Presidio National Park—Presidio Heights is an exclusive enclave of elegant mansions. It's home to some of San Francisco's most elite families and dignitaries, but the area is not entirely residential. Antique stores, expensive jewelry and clothing shops, and chic restaurants can be found on nearby Sacramento Street.

Living in this neighborhood, with its manicured lawns and grand homes, means your backyard is the Presidio and its glorious view of the Bay, but living here is extremely expensive.

Healthcare facilities in the North District::

• California Pacific Medical Center, California Campus
• California Pacific Medical Center, Pacific Campus
• California Pacific Medical Center, East Campus