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North America : United States of America : California : Bay Area : Peninsula : San Mateo County : South San Francisco

South San Francisco

South San Francisco is a hidden oasis of the Bay Area in California, located just south of Daly City on the Peninsula. When you say "South San Francisco" to out-of-towners, they think that you live in San Francisco proper, just the southern part of it. But South San Francisco is very much its own distinct city.

Understand

Truth be told, the 'rough' reputation that South San Francisco has is nowadays mostly undeserved. The first thing you'll notice is a gigantic sign on the hill between South SF (or "South City") and Brisbane which reads in block capitals: "SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO THE INDUSTRIAL CITY". Yes, it is industrial, but not so much anymore. Mostly what that means is there are a bunch of warehouses and train tracks and whoops now you're at the airport.

The people of South City seem to be broken down ethnically into thirds, with a third being Pan-Asian (Chinese, Japanese, and a sizable Filipino population - see Daly City for more), a third being Mexican/South American, and a third being white folk with a concentration of Italians.

Weatherwise, South City is about as good as you could ever hope for. Most of the fog is carved off by the mountain between South City and Pacifica, and mid-70's temperatures are common throughout much of the year. It can get windy, though.

Get in

South San Francisco is home to the San Francisco International Airport (SFO). More local transportation includes BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), CalTrain and SamTrans (San Mateo County Transit Authority). By car via highway 101 or 280 from San Francisco and San Jose.

See

Culturally, South City is pretty barren. It is after all a suburb, but you are fifteen minutes away by BART or car from San Francisco, fifteen minutes away from the glorious beaches of Pacifica, and fifteen minutes away from Burlingame, a mouse among giants. Strip malls and lots of single family homes and apartments dominate the city. You can park your car when you go shopping (no mean feat if you lived in San Francisco itself) and can get around pretty much anywhere.

Buy

  • Grand Ave. from Airport Blvd. to Spruce Ave. is South City's downtown strip. This is where you can find some authentic Mexican bakeries, pastries and burritos.
  • The Serramonte shopping center is a mall located just south of where the coastal Hwy 1 and mid-Peninsula Hwy 280 meet.
  • A commercial strip runs south from Serramonte along Gellert Avenue for a few blocks, and
  • El Camino Real and Westborough Road centers on a commercial cluster for everything you might wish to find.
  • Tanforan Shopping Center is a mall that is officially in San Bruno, but is considered home to many South City people. Through the good times and the bad, this mall has held its own.

Eat

Food-wise, South City offers up some of the best Mexican and Italian food you could ever hope for. Indian and Thai food is not much spoken for.

Drink

There are plenty of bars to get soused with the locals.

Sleep

  • Best Western Grosvenor Airport Hotel, 380 S Airport Boulevard, (650) 873-3200, Toll-free: (800) 722-7141, Fax: (650) 589-3495, [1].
  • Comfort Suites San Francisco Airport, 121 E. Grand Ave., (650) 589-7100 , [2].
  • Courtyard San Francisco Airport/Oyster Point Waterfront, 1300 Veterans Blvd., (650) 871-4100, Fax: (650) 871-4700, [3].
  • Days Inn South San Francisco-North, 1113 Airport Blvd., +1 650-873-9300, [4].
  • Embassy Suites - Airport South, 250 Gateway Blvd, +1 650 589-3400, [5].
  • Holiday Inn Express San Francisco Airport North, 373 South Airport Boulevard, 650.589.0600, Fax: 650.589.0682, [6].
  • Holiday Inn San Francisco Airport North, 275 South Airport Boulevard, [7]. checkin: 3:00 PM; checkout: 12:00 PM.  
  • Motel 6 San Francisco Airport, 111 Mitchell Avenue, (650) 877-0770, Fax: (650) 871-8377, [8].
  • Residence Inn San Francisco Airport/Oyster Point Waterfront, 1350 Veterans Blvd, (650) 837-9000, Fax: (650) 837-9088, [9].

Get out

This page was last edited at 06:44, on 25 March 2009 by Peter Fitzgerald. Based on work by Colin Jensen, San Francisco Girl, David, Ann, Noah Udlis, Ryan Holliday, Evan Prodromou and Michele Ann Jenkins, Wikitravel user(s) PerryPlanet, Chipuni, RuTemple and Huttite and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel.