The intersection at Athens Street and Avalon Avenue was once where people threw out their garbage and old furniture. In 2017, neighbors pooled their resources to plant new shrubbery and make over the staircase with technicolor tiles donated by a local artist.
Source: SF Curbed
It has a reputation as a dumping ground for bodies. But McLaren Park has received much needed TLC in recent years, with new funding going toward its restoration.
McLaren Park occasionally makes headlines as a crime scene. In April 2016, the body of Nicole Fitts was found near a playground in the park. Her two-year-old daughter is still missing.
The community got a morale boost when "Jerry Day" — a daylong annual celebration of the late Grateful Dead guitarist — returned to McLaren Park in August.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Excelsior has some charms. At 317 acres, John McLaren Park is the second largest park in San Francisco. Its meadows, grassland, and wetland habitat offer a retreat from city life.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom cottage was listed for $899,000 on Redfin. Given the competitiveness of the housing market, it could go for as much as $100,000 over asking.
Source: Redfin
A single-family home on Athens Street was hosting an open house when we passed by it. We saw half a dozen people stream through the front doors in the first few minutes.
Because of the neighborhood's steep climb, nearly every house comes with a view of the city. Glimpse between the houses and you'll find a beautiful, if not foggy, expanse.
As you move uphill and away from Mission Street, Excelsior becomes almost entirely residential. The streets are named for countries along one axis and cities on another.
A mural on Mission Street celebrates the life of Jerry Garcia, lead guitarist of The Grateful Dead and a native of Excelsior. His former homes are marked with plaques in his honor.
The section of Mission Street where Calabria Bros. sits is marked by boarded-up windows and empty storefronts. There is little to do on the Excelsior's main drag.
I tried the Jake, a combination of hot capocollo, salami, prosciutto, sopressata, mozzarella, oil, and vinegar on a sour roll. It cost $12.75 and provided me with food for two meals.
Calabria Bros. (of which there are no brothers — Tufo just liked the name) specializes in meats and cheeses imported from Italy and sandwiches made for hearty appetites.
Mike Tufo was born and raised in Excelsior. He returned to the neighborhood six years ago to open an Italian-style deli along the main drag, as a way of giving back to the community.
Tufo remembers a few years back when Starbucks tried and failed to put a coffee shop up on Mission Street. Some locals successfully pushed back against the chain's invasion.
Tufo told Business Insider that he wished Starbucks had won that battle. Its presence would have validated Excelsior as a nice place to live and deterred homeless people (who already occupy parts of Mission Street) from further settling in Excelsior, Tufo said.
Some residents of Excelsior welcome the tech boom. While the cost of living has gone up in recent years, gentrification could bring new shops and restaurants to the area.
People can still buy an affordable home in Excelsior for under $1 million, but that could change soon. The median home sales price has reached $890,000, up 86% from 2012.
Source: Zillow
Some say there was even an Excelsior accent. "You dropped the R's, and G's. You put things in a draw, instead of a drawer," one local told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2010.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Fifty years ago, the neighborhood served as a refuge for Irish and Italian immigrants who came to the US looking for work. They could afford homes in the far reaches of the city.
But with the median home sales price topping $1.5 million in San Francisco, prospective homebuyers are giving Excelsior — an enclave for the working class — a second glance.
Source: San Francisco Business Times
The mostly residential neighborhood isn't on the way to anything. You won't find startup offices or trendy restaurants in Excelsior. It's one of the last areas without a Starbucks.
Located in the city's southern end, Excelsior has been called the "Siberia of San Francisco."
Source: San Francisco Chronicle