The Mission District of San Francisco has long been a well-known name of the City, but that doesn’t mean it’s in the top three places tourists are interested in visiting. Despite its not being the most attractive part of San Francisco, the Mission District is home to thousands of people as well as a number of mom & pop businesses and companies as well. It is famous for being the heart of San Francisco’s Hispanic community as well, which may be a bit overstated in modern time with how diversified the City has become due to changing rent levels. This working-class neighborhood has a smorgasbord of everything from hipster hangouts to family restaurants to Greek knick-knack import stores to some of the oldest churches standing in San Francisco. Because the blend between everything is so obvious, the Mission also tends to attract a blended crowd as well. Senior shuffle along to their favorite diners on the same street corners that twenty and thirty-something singles are moving to the next meet café or getting reading for the evening hangout at a local bar. Tattoo parlors share the same street space with Mexican food restaurants that make their tortillas by hand right on the premises.
The area's population is one of the highest in the City with 43,750 residents in the Mission. More than half of the residents are of Hispanic background, with Asian and Caucasian making up about 40 percent and African Americans with everyone else making up the remainder. As of 2013 the median income in the Mission was $73,700, slightly under that of the City as a whole. A high number of residents are renters, and men slightly outnumber women, 23,350 to 20,400. The average household is 2.4 persons, and families make up 34 percent of residents. Less than 9 percent of residents are in high tech or math-related careers, and the large majority are in service jobs or office support. With regards to education, only 6.5 percent have some kind of college and less 4 percent are in or have completed graduate school.
In recent years, like the rest of San Francisco, the Mission District has been touched by gentrification in some of its areas, bringing in new companies closer to the Market Street area and financial district, as well as more spending from local workers. The artists' lofts, quarters and studios have moved southward more where the cost of living is less and things are still pretty much Mission District normal. Murals can be found just about every other block, as well as less than professional graffiti artwork as well.
Despite have a well-established reputation of not being the safest part of town, the Mission District is a major magnet for the young and party types. The area stretches from the financial district down to Army and 26th Street, and includes multiple bars, dance clubs, dive bars, cafes, stores, and meeting places. All of these elements get crowded and heavily trafficked in the evening. Even better, unlike some other parts of town, there tends to be more parking available on the street as well in the Mission.
One thing that people really like about the Mission District is that it always seems like an adventure trip hanging and going from block to block. Clearly, there are some areas to stay away from, like the 16th Street Bart Station entrance and street corner, but there are plenty more places to go to such as Valencia Street. Everything from collectible book stores to really amazing furniture stores can be found in the Mission, as well as more than enough antique stores. And since San Francisco has so many residents from so many different locations, the antique stores tend to be chock full of items from halfway around the world. There’s even a bona fide pirate shop on Valencia, complete with outfits and hats.
Most residents don’t bother with moving their cars when the weather is decent and not raining. It’s common to see dozens of bicycle riders moving up and down the District at any time of the day, and lots of folks use their sidewalk cruiser to get to a favorite watering hole in the evening to meet up with friends. No surprise then, the Mission has a handful of a really good bike shops to keep the two-wheeled variety functioning and in motion.
