TAKE THE BUS

This week we all need something that will help us crack a smile

When we moved to San Francisco, we sold one of our cars, parked the other car in our apartment building's garage, and set out to find public transportation that could give us a view of the city from many perspectives.

While living in New York City, Tokyo, and Paris, we got used to riding public transportation of various kinds, but found buses and bus schedules to be the most confusing. The stops aren't always easy to find, the routes  aren't always clear, and sometimes, the information is written in languages not your own. San Francisco does a pretty good job of making a bus ride easy. The signage is often in several languages, the stops almost always have red plastic covers protecting the seats under them, and the wait for a bus isn't too long.

One of our favorite rides is the Stockton 30, which starts near the Caltrain Depot on King St. in Mission Bay. We can climb aboard the 30 on Townsend St., which is in the historic district near Oracle Park. The area around the street was slated for development with major business offices to replace auto repair shops and tennis courts. The pandemic put a halt to those plans, leaving empty spaces amidst the old brick buildings, with some of the names of former businesses still discernible on the exteriors. Restaurants like Delancey Street and Town's End still operate as does the Local Tap, which has been around under various names since 1938. Many storefronts along the street remain empty.

Once we board the bus, we travel towards Union Square, with it busy plaza where people stop for coffee, listen to music playing, or gather around a table in the sunshine. At the entrances to the square on Stockton, we can see two of the many large HEART sculptures that dot the City. The bus goes past the Apple Store on the corner and the Ruth Asawa fountain next door. We slip through the Stockton Tunnel and arrive in Chinatown, a tourist attraction but also home to many people who crowd the street to reach numerous stalls brimming with fresh vegetables and spices. A turn onto Columbus and the bus passes through North Beach, which used to be called Little Italy. Again, the streets are packed with people and the restaurants, such as Original Joe's, Piccolo Forno and Victoria Pasteria, invite people to eat outdoors and enjoy the action on the street.

There are 44 bus lines in San Francisco. This map shows the routes of just 4 of them.

The 30 turns on to Chestnut Street, another lively neighborhood. Another Apple Store, a bookstore, casual restaurants such as Tacolicious, la Fromagerie, and the Tipsy Pig, and numerous clothing stores survived the pandemic and welcome shoppers including us. One some weekends, music fills the small park near the center of the neighborhood.

As we reach the end of the 30 bus line, we pass Ft. Mason where my favorite art store, Flax, is located in one of the refurbished military buildings and the Marina Green, where we can watch people flying kites and sailing frisbees overhead. We end our bus ride just before we reach the Presidio. One end of the town to the other.

We have just started to explore the 44 bus routes in San Francisco. We keep our eyes out for other bus lines. We've re-discovered well-known neighborhoods such as the Fillmore and Union Street by riding the 22 bus. The 31goes from Townsend near us to the other side of town north of Golden Gate Park to the Richmond District and its thriving street market.

Two other MUNI lines start near the Caltrain Depot. The N Judah, a streetcar, travels from the depot passing under Market Street all the way along the south side of Golden Gate Park to end at Ocean Beach. And the T starts in Chinatown past Moscone Center through Mission Bay past USCF and Dogpatch ending at Bay View and Visitacion Valley. We still haven't ridden these two lines all the way to their other ends, but they are on our list.

Since we started riding buses from one end of town to the other, we have realized that not only do we see much of the city, but we also see how many people of different ages, ethnicities, languages, and behavior inhabit the same 49 mile space that we do and we are richer for that.
 

Enjoy a latte at your favorite cafe. This one is from Blue Bottle in Mission Bay