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
As we head into the holiday season, there’s no better time to celebrate and support the small businesses that make our neighborhoods so special. Whether it’s a cup of coffee from your favorite cafe on Balboa Street, a gift from a shop on Clement Street or dinner at arestaurant on Irving Street, small businesses are the heart and soul of the Richmond and Sunset districts.
Now through Jan. 4, the Garden’s trees, plants and ponds will serve as a backdrop for more than a million lights, creative art installations and musical accompaniment. Visitors will walk a one-mile trail of lights carpeting the meadows and strung from the branches of trees, highlighting the beauty of nature in winter. Hot cocoa and other seasonal fare will be available to set the holiday mood.
With a 2-1 vote, the SF Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee dropped an amendment to the Family Housing Plan aimed at protecting rent-controlled housing in buildings of one or two units from upzoning.
Mark Simmons stands on a lawn at Mountain Lake Park, pen in hand, eyes fixed on a towering eucalyptus tree. Within minutes, the 55-year-old artist has captured not just the tree’s shape but its character – the way its crown spreads to claim sunlight, the texture of its bark, the shadows it casts. This is how Simmons, a Richmond District resident of 25 years, sees the world.
What decides a home’s value? Why do two nearly identical homes in two close-by towns have a $300,000 difference in their selling prices? Why did the house across the street linger on the market with price reductions while the one on the next block sold in three days over the asking price?
Things to do on San Francisco’s west side in November 2025.
Send up to three photos of your pet to Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com for consideration for “Pet Pix.” Please include your pet’s name.
The Outer Richmond has always had its fog-soaked icons – the Cliff House, Ocean Beach, the bones of Sutro Baths. But ask longtime neighbors where they actually ate breakfast with their parents, or dragged visiting cousins before going to the Zoo, and one name comes up with the affection of an old drinking buddy: Seal Rock Inn Restaurant.
In 2022, before “draft dodger” President Donald Trump, there were about 3.1 million federal employees and about 30,000 City and County of San Francisco employees in a then-municipality of approximately 874,000 residents. San Francisco’s population has now declined to about 827,000 and the number of its local government employees is approximately 30,000. Yet, some City Hall denizens spew propaganda that we need more housing. The mighty mayor, fresh from our recall of Supervisor Joel Engardio, demands “upzoning” of the Richmond and Sunset neighborhoods plus the Marina and North Beach, meaning high-rise apartment and condominium buildings will be vacant in large part like Park Merced and its more than 500 empty units. Stonestown Galleria still hasn’t even broke ground on the 350 units for which it secured building permits three years ago.
Comparison Geary Boulevard Between Fifth and Sixth Aves 130 years apart.
Street conditions have improved tremendously over the past couple of years, thanks to terrific work from SF Mayor Daniel Lurie, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). But there is always more to do, and the City will have an additional tool now that a new law I authored has been signed.
Richmond Review crossword puzzle and solution, November 2025.
Recent police activity in the Richmond District.
Last month, Marc Benioff, the billionaire owner of Salesforce, decided to put his own wealth above the residents of San Francisco and declare that the Trump administration should send the National Guard to San Francisco, creating chaos and jeopardizing our immigrant community. He has since walked back his comments, but at what cost to our City?
Wiener is the architect of numerous state laws that would remove the powers of local planning commissions from cities across California that don’t bow to his demands to build more housing, regardless of the consequences. He is the single most destructive politician in generations – and one who was elected three times to the State Senate, largely with support from westside residents.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 