My Favorite Corner of SF
This article is part of My Favorite Corner of SF, a feature series that pays homage to a special place in San Francisco.
When my husband and I moved to a sun-drenched two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco’s Central Richmond neighborhood three years ago, I started virtually exploring things around us on Google Maps — and that’s where I first saw “The Lincoln Park Steps,” marked “tourist attraction.”
Assuming it would be one of those spots I avoided for fear of being overrun by selfie-snapping crowds, I didn’t actually make it there until nine months after living in the apartment.
At that point, I had become a mother and was home on maternity leave with our newborn daughter. My daughter’s birth had been difficult. She had gone into distress while I was in labor, wedged into my pelvis, causing the doctors to perform a two-and-a-half hour C-section that required a lengthier incision. After two blood transfusions and five days in the hospital, I came home weak and weary, but with a beautiful child.
My doctors advised me to take walks to help my body heal and to prevent the incisions from becoming stiff and (more) painful. I thought fresh air would do my daughter and our family dog well, too. So each day, while my husband was at work, I would pack up the stroller and diaper bag, and we three would walk. At first, I could only walk a block or two before I was too tired to go on. But slowly, over time, the walks grew longer.
Sign up for The Bold Italic newsletter to get the best of the Bay Area in your inbox every week.
I chose California Street as our main drag for strolling, full of locally owned shops, like Angelina’s Deli, and beautiful architecture, including some houses that date back to when the Richmond neighborhood was nothing more than sand dunes.
One day, finally, we reached the street’s summit. My daughter, then about two months old, slept peacefully in her stroller, and our dog, normally feisty on walks, became very calm. I looked up and saw that we had reached the end of the road: 32nd and California, and the Lincoln Park Steps, a giant, extra-wide staircase covered in mosaic tiles.
Little did I know then, I had just stumbled upon my favorite corner of San Francisco.
The Lincoln Park Steps, which sit at the edge of Lincoln Park, date back to the early 1900s and were revamped by Friends of Lincoln Park in 2007.
I stepped back to admire the steps’ mosaic tiles — designed and made by local artist Aileen Barr — glimmering in the sun. Small children and their parents climbed to the top terraces, while runners bolted up and down the stairs at rapid speed. And, yes, some tourists stopped to take selfies, but they faded away to the sweet hum of the neighborhood.
Although I was not yet fully healed, I couldn’t help but feel that everything was going to be alright.
We continued to do the one-mile walk to the steps from our home almost every day of my maternity leave, and continue to still, on weekends and holidays. Every time I see the mosaic cascade, I experience a renewed sense of hope, and appreciation for the neighborhood that our small family calls home.