NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION
The Richmond District is located in the northwest corner of San Francisco, nestled in between Presidio National Park and the city’s Golden Gate Park. The neighborhood, which includes Sea Cliff and Laurel and Presidio Heights, is home to about 80,000 people. About half of Richmond residents are of Asian ancestry, primarily of Chinese and Korean descent. There is also a large Irish population and many recently arrived Russian immigrants.
Several vibrant commercial areas, including California Street, Clement Street and Geary Boulevard, serve the neighborhood. The 1,400 merchants and small offices in the Richmond District offer a wide range of goods and services.
Local landmarks include the Cliff House and the Beach Chalet at Ocean Beach, the V.A. Hospital at Fort Miley, University of San Francisco and numerous holy houses, including Temple Emanuel, St. John’s Orthodox Church and St. John’s Presbyterian Church. There are numerous attractions in Golden Gate Park, including an American Bison pen, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, California Academy of Sciences, Strybing Arboretum, the oldest children’s playground west of the Mississippi River and a 9-hole golf course.
NEWSPAPER INFORMATION
Distribution by Neighborhood: Presidio and Masonic Avenues to the Pacific Ocean, Golden Gate Park to the Presidio, Sea Cliff
Distribution by Zip Code: 94118 and 94121
Circulation: 25,000
Learning to swim at Sutro Baths. Working amusement park carnival booths next to Ocean Beach. Joining fellow hippies in a Haight-Ashbury commune. Smoking a joint with the Grateful Dead. Talking to Frank Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio and Liberace while busboying in Fisherman’s Wharf. It feels like a San Francisco fever dream – but for Richmond-district resident painter and musician Joe Mirante, now 76, this was simply his reality.
One of the top concerns I’ve heard from San Franciscans in recent years is the skyrocketing cost of energy. And for good reason – PG&E has jacked up our electricity rates by 40% in the last four years, placing working people in an impossible position.
At the end of June, as Chair of the Board’s Budget and Appropriations Committee, we led the unanimous passage of the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 San Francisco budget, restoring more than $28 million in cuts to vital services, restoration of jobs and safeguarding more than $1.3 billion in reserve funds to protect against anticipated further cuts from President Donald Trump’s Administration.
District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan and State Sen. Scott Wiener will advance to November’s election for Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Golden Gate Park Band hosted a Juneteenth celebration last month at the Spreckels Temple of Music (the “Bandshell”), featuring “The Sistas,” a gospel/R&B trio from the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre’s Soulful Christmas Choir made up of vocalists Mary Williams, Robin Hodge-Williams and Dr. Yvonne Cobbs.
On June 15, more than 50 seniors – with four dressed as iconic characters Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion – protested the mayor’s proposed $8.9 million in budget cuts to senior and disability programs. While singing a parody of “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz, Hene Kelly, dressed as Dorothy, led protesters to each supervisor’s office and asked them to “have a heart,” “use your brain” and “show some courage” to say no to senior cuts.
A new Vietnamese sandwich shop, also offering coffee drinks and iced teas, has begun its soft-opening on Balboa Street near Fifth Avenue. Ghien Banh Mi & Cafe was started by Tuan Luu and Uyen Vu, who also own Luxury Spa.
A resolution to extend APE’s contract with the Recreation & Parks Department for three more years, with an option of extending it out further to 2035, was approved by the Budget and Appropriations Committee in June and will go before the full Board on July 14.
Cyclical behavior is a recurring feature of economic and social systems. Expansion and contraction can be observed in business activity, financial markets and asset prices, as well as in more familiar seasonal patterns. These fluctuations are typically shaped by a combination of macroeconomic forces, including interest rates, inflation, credit conditions and shifts in business confidence.
Send up to three photos of your pet to Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com for consideration for “Pet Pix.” Please include your pet’s name.
Things to do on San Francisco’s west side in June 2026.
Cartoon by Paul Kilduff.
Would you believe that a TV parody of James Bond movies from the 1960s would inspire the name of a bar on Geary Boulevard two decades later?
Alamo Elementary School celebrated its centennial on May 16 with a block party on 23rd Avenue, closing the block between Clement and California streets to welcome students, families, alumni, teachers and neighbors for an afternoon of food, music and community.
As we enter Pride Month, I’ve been reflecting on the challenges and triumphs facing San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community, and the lessons about resilience, resistance and joy that being a member of this community has taught me.
