San Francisco Planning Department

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Andrew Garcia Michelle Gotera Erin Massey Aijaz Patel

Study Area

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Map 1. San Francisco Planning Department

Study Area

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Study Area

Map 1. San Francisco Planning Department

Study Area

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Outline

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Project Description History Early Land Uses Commercial Corridor Residential Demography Housing Types

Image 2. www.sfu.ca

Methodology

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Project Description

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

• Document Twin Peaks Tunnel opening of streetcar lines

• Analyze changes in land uses and demographic shifts related to tunnel opening

• Inform the San Francisco Planning Department’s Context Statement (Preservation Dept)

History

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

• Twin Peaks Tunnel opens in 1918

• Linked lands west of Twin Peaks to central San Francisco

• New neighborhoods designed as residential parks with segregated uses

• Development occurred on cusp of mass automobility

Image 2.

Early Land Uses

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Insert Map Here

Early Land Uses

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

•Portola Drive of Saint Francis Wood in 1915

•Not many homes sold before the construction of the tunnel

•Most homes built in 1923-1928

Image 3.

Early Land Uses

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

•49 acres at the mouth of the Twin Peaks tunnel

•This was reserved for a streetcar right of way

Image 4.

Study Area

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Land Use Data

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

•Dwellings continued to increase

•Lots combined into one

•Garages increased

•Less vacant lots

Saint Francis Wood Development

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

SAINT FRANCIS WOOD DEVELOPMENT

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

TOTAL LOTS DWELLINGS DETACHEDGARAGES

ATTACHEDGARAGES

BASEMENTS** 2 STORY* VACANT LOTS

BY 1928

AFTER 1928

St. Francis Wood

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Commercial Development

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

• Street plan laid out by developers Fernando & Sons

• Neighborhood retail and services

• Older Apartment buildings

• Earliest buildings from late 1910s• Majority of buildings between 1935 – 1938

Image 5.

Commercial Development

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

• Residential areas mainly built out by 1930s, but West Portal Avenue still largely undeveloped

• Initially suspected large landowner holding properties along West Portal

• Sales records confirm no single large landowner

• Many transfers of lots between

Commercial Building Survey

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Data Analysis

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

• Insert Charts here!

Residential Demographics

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

3 Study Areas

1930 Census Data

SF City Directories

Analysis of Data

Study Areas

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Map outlining the 3 Census Tracts

1930 Census Data

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

SF City Directory

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

1923 City DirectorySurnames, spouse, occupation

Demographic Data

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Breakdown of servants in Households (by tracts)

Total % of Servants

Demographic Data

Streetcar Suburbs Development: The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

The Impact of the Twin Peaks Tunnel

Streetcar Suburbs Development:

Thank You!