Neighborhood profile: Russian Hill

One of San Francisco’s original “Seven Hills”, the Russian Hill neighborhood is surrounded by Nob Hill to the South, by North Waterfront, Fisherman’s Wharf, and North Beach – on its north-east wing – and Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, and Marina District on its south-west one.

Its name goes as far back as the mid-1800s, during the Gold Rush era, when a small cemetery with a few graves of sailors from the Russian – American Company was discovered on top of the hill. The cemetery was removed, only a plaque at Vallejo Street between Jones and Taylor tells the story to those who wish to learn about it, while most of the Russians can be found a bit more to the West, in the Richmond District. The Holy Trinity Cathedral, the oldest Russian Orthodox Church in San Francisco, stands superb a few blocks away on Van Ness and Green Street.

Nowadays, the residential neighborhood displays some of San Francisco’s most majestic architecture, in an unarranged combination of Italianate and Spanish Colonial Mission Revival styles. No wonder the Russian Hill offers some of the most expensive buildings in the city, its history, elegance, and breath-taking views are worth every dollar.

Image courtesy of David Yu via Wikimedia Commons

The very famous Lombard Street, known as “the world’s crookedest street”, ribbons between flowering bushes and curious tourists in an attempt to reduce the hill’s 27% grade, too steep in 1922 for most of vehicles to climb. Many staircases tame this steepness to this day and once up on the hill, the views over the city extend in different directions – the Bay Bridge, Marin County, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz. Hyde and Union Streets participate in giving the neighborhood a leafy look, so welcoming during the hot summer days.

Islands of exquisite restaurants, practical shops, and coquette boutiques splurge on Polk Street, giving to locals and tourists everything they need to never want to leave the area. The nightlife is well represented through Club Rouge, Tonic and Royal Oak, while excellent restaurants like La Folie, Frascati, Allegro Romano keep their visitors well fed in a select manner.

What do you love about this neighborhood, have you ever lived here?