Watching The Sunset

As I stepped off Muni N-Judah, the Sunset District’s main Muni line, the cold, misty air was not the first to catch my attention. The calm street with few cars and small patches of people here and there was comforting in a city so busy and full of life on every corner. As I left the industrialized pavement for something softer, sand, I noticed locals walking Ocean Beach: surfers, dog walkers and the occasional ocean gazer.

I was impressed by the friendliness of the residents and their eagerness to share information about the district like French native and former resident of the Sunset District, Thierry Gove.

Gove, who was there on holiday, explained he just had to bring his girlfriend who was huddled next to him for warmth, to the place he fell in love with two years ago and how he loves how close it is to the ocean.

"I lived here with two roommates and loved it,” Gove said.

Walking back from Ocean Beach, I noticed the sidewalks were barren on the glum weekday afternoon until I got to Java Beach, a small café on the corner of Judah and La Playa Street, recommended to me by a local. People of different ages were crowded inside and out, and were busy typing away on their fancy laptops while sipping coffee and snacking on sandwiches, an idyllic gathering place for nearly anyone.

The café was nestled in the district's residential part of town, also known as part of the avenues (streets numbered 1st through 49th). I noticed some of the homes were bright and eccentric while others seemed desolate and in need of some work. The only thing causing a real stir in the neighborhood was the post man and some occasional laborers doing housework.

Boarding back on the N-Judah -- which picked up more elderly then most parts of the city as well as many parents who were lugging their toddlers behind -- made several stops through quiet residential areas until it arrived in a busier part of the district: Irving Street where many of the passengers dispersed and many more got on to head downtown.

The area -- full of shoppers, tourists and locals -- was lively with boutiques, small businesses and cafes like The Beanery: a hip little coffee house full of friendly locals and baristas which added to the crafty vibe of the street.

Though many locals mentioned the weather could be better and merchants complained about the lack of parking, all of them shared the same positive views on the not so sunny Sunset District and how much they love living there.

Sunset District activist Susan Suval noted that it is one of the safer areas of San Francisco by saying that there are “not a lot of violent crimes like other neighborhoods.”

Though Suval also mentioned another issue includes “filth in the merchant corridors,” many locals claimed the district was clean and are very happy to be residents.