Get to Know: Hayes Valley

Hayes Valley is a popular neighborhood in SFAR’s District 6 (Central North). It is bounded by Market and Duboce Streets on the south, Divisadero Street on the West, Fell, Webster, and McAllister Streets on the north, and Franklin Street on the East.

During the 1850s, as the Western Addition was developed in the areas west of Van Ness Boulevard, committee member Michael Hayes helped name many of the streets after local landholders and influential citizens (including his brother, Thomas Hayes). Because of the timeline of the area’s development, many Victorian houses stood here, and much of it was spared the devastation of the fires that ravaged the city after the 1906 quake.

However, in the 1950s, the Central Freeway, the spur of US 101 that juts northwest from the 101/I-80 junction, was built over the neighborhood, terminating at Golden Gate and Franklin. The overpass was severely damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, and was torn down in sections in the following years, ultimately in the mid-2000s to its current terminus at Octavia and Market.

As a garden grows when given sunlight, so too did Hayes Valley blossom with its newfound exposure. A commercial strip along Hayes Street bubbled up with art galleries, boutiques, and intimate restaurants, turning a once dowdy corner of the city into a vibrant neighborhood. Its proximity to the city’s major arts venues, such as the Opera, Ballet, and SFJAZZ, as well as ample transit and, yes, access to freeways, has made Hayes Valley a desirable place to live.

While many of the area’s original Victorians still stand, many modern mid-rises have cropped up along the major corridors, offering a variety of housing stock.