Episode 1 · Neighborhood Overview & Local Vibe
Saint Francis Wood, San Francisco Real Estate: Parks, Weather, Transit
Saint Francis Wood is a planned neighborhood of detached houses on curving, landscaped streets in San Francisco, set beside the West Portal shopping street. This guide covers what the streets and parks are like, how the weather behaves, how the trains and buses connect, and how the school district assigns seats. It also says plainly where the data stops.
💡 Key Insights & Takeaways
- The St. Francis Homes Association keeps Terrace Green Park, Santa Monica Park, St. Francis Park and St. Francis Plaza for the people who live there and their guests, so they are not public parks.
- The K and M trains stop at St. Francis Circle on the western edge, and the 23 Monterey bus runs inside the neighborhood along Saint Francis Boulevard.
- West Portal Avenue, the shopping street next to the neighborhood, holds Noe Valley Bakery, Easy Breezy and Bookshop West Portal.
- NOAA's downtown San Francisco station, which is not in Saint Francis Wood, puts the average temperature over a year at 57.7°F.
- San Francisco Unified uses citywide choice for the 2026-27 school year, so a Saint Francis Wood address does not promise a seat at a nearby school.
In a normal year, downtown San Francisco, the weather station this guide uses here, gets 22.89 inches of rain and 3.3 days with a high of 90°F or more, as of 15 October 2026. The neighborhood itself is detached houses on landscaped streets, and its parks are for the people who live there and their guests.
At a glance
Caption: Key facts for Saint Francis Wood as of 15 October 2026. The weather figures are 1991–2020 normals for a downtown station, not readings taken on these streets.
| Measure | Value | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Rain in a normal year, downtown San Francisco station | 22.89 inches | 1991–2020 normals |
| Days a year with a high of 90°F or more, same station | 3.3 days | 1991–2020 normals |
| Who can use the four association parks | People who live there and their guests | 15 October 2026 |
| School seats for 2026-27 | Citywide choice; no seat is assured | 15 October 2026 |
| National Register of Historic Places listing | 30 June 2022 | 30 June 2022 |
What is Saint Francis Wood actually like?
Saint Francis Wood is a neighborhood of detached houses on curving streets with landscaped setbacks, and Saint Francis Boulevard is its main axis. An entry gateway is associated with John Galen Howard, and an upper fountain on the boulevard is associated with Henry Gutterson. The St. Francis Homes Association looks after the landscape and the common spaces.
The houses follow period-revival styles: Italian Renaissance, English cottage, Dutch Colonial, Spanish Colonial and French Norman, as the association describes them. This guide has no count of how many houses fall into each style.
The National Park Service listed the area on the National Register of Historic Places on 30 June 2022. Portola Drive, Monterey Boulevard and Junipero Serra Boulevard are named boundary streets in that listing, and the listing names others, so a rectangle drawn from those three roads is not the district line. San Francisco Planning's application packet for SB 9, the state law that lets some lots be split or given a second home, excludes development inside a historic district. If you plan either on a lot here, check that lot with Planning first, because this guide is not a ruling on any lot.
Four green spaces inside Saint Francis Wood belong to the association: Terrace Green Park, Santa Monica Park, St. Francis Park and St. Francis Plaza. They are for the people who live there and their guests, not for the public. Terrace Green Park sits along Terrace Drive and has a lawn, basketball, a play area and tennis courts. The public places named below sit outside the neighborhood, and this guide did not confirm their hours or program calendars, so check before you go.
Caption: Who can use the named parks, pools and public buildings near Saint Francis Wood, as of 15 October 2026.
| Place | Who can use it | Inside or outside |
|---|---|---|
| Terrace Green Park | People who live there and their guests | Inside |
| Santa Monica Park | People who live there and their guests | Inside |
| St. Francis Park | People who live there and their guests | Inside |
| St. Francis Plaza | People who live there and their guests | Inside |
| West Portal Playground | The public | Outside |
| West Portal Clubhouse, at the playground | The public; the city lists it as a clubhouse, not a recreation center | Outside |
| Mount Davidson Park | The public | Outside |
| Sigmund Stern Grove | The public | Outside |
| Sava Pool | The public | Outside |
| Sunnyside Conservatory | The public | Outside |
| West Portal Branch Library | The public | Outside |
West Portal Avenue is the shopping street next to the neighborhood, and the K and M trains reach it from the western edge. West Portal has its own guide. Noe Valley Bakery, Easy Breezy, a frozen yogurt and soft-serve shop, and Bookshop West Portal are all on that street. Business listings show them as of 15 October 2026, and the bookstore's listing comes from a publisher's retailer list, so confirm each shop is open before you go.
What is the weather like in Saint Francis Wood?
No weather station sits in Saint Francis Wood, so this guide uses NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals from the San Francisco Downtown station, which is outside the neighborhood. That station was not compared with others for distance. No source here measures how fog or heat differs on these streets from downtown, so the figures are context and not a reading from a yard.
Caption: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the San Francisco Downtown station, as of 15 October 2026. Station context, not a neighborhood reading.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Average temperature over a year | 57.7°F |
| Rain in a normal year | 22.89 inches |
| Days a year with a high of 90°F or more | 3.3 days |
NOAA counts days with a high of at least 90°F, not days strictly above 90°F, so the 3.3 is a count of days at or above that mark. With no local reading, look at how much sun and wind a yard gets before you choose plants or a watering plan.
How long does it take to get anywhere from Saint Francis Wood?
This guide has no trip time to give. No trip was measured from a fixed starting point in the neighborhood, so any minute count would be a guess, and a train timetable from stop to stop is not a door-to-door trip. What the guide does have is which lines connect and where you board them.
Caption: Muni lines that reach Saint Francis Wood, as of 15 October 2026. Intervals and trip times are not shown.
| Line | Where it runs | Where you board |
|---|---|---|
| K Ingleside train | Inbound through West Portal Station and the Market Street subway; outbound toward Balboa Park | St. Francis Circle, western edge |
| M Ocean View train | The same inbound route; outbound toward Stonestown and SF State | St. Francis Circle, western edge |
| 23 Monterey bus | Along Saint Francis Boulevard and Santa Clara Avenue, toward the Glen Park BART area; the other way toward Sloat and the Zoo | Stops inside, including San Fernando Way and Santa Ana Avenue |
No BART or Caltrain station is inside the neighborhood. The Glen Park and Balboa Park BART stations and the San Francisco Caltrain station are all outside it. This guide did not measure the route to any of them, so it does not say which is closest. Bike lanes, rush-hour driving times and parking rules were not found for these streets, so check the SFMTA parking map and the posted signs.
Which schools serve Saint Francis Wood, and how are they assigned?
San Francisco Unified uses citywide choice for the 2026-27 school year, so a home here does not come with an assigned elementary seat. An attendance area gives an applicant a priority, and a priority is not a seat. The district kept its earlier policy for 2026-27 and did not switch to zone-based assignment for elementary school. Middle school placement starts from the elementary school a student attended, wherever the home is.
Three campuses sit near the neighborhood and all three are outside it: West Portal Elementary School, Miraloma Elementary School and Aptos Middle School. They are named here as places on the map and not as assignments, and this guide does not say that any of them will have a seat for an address here. It found no answer on whether a street splits between attendance areas and no high school placement, so check the exact address, not the ZIP code or the nearest campus.
Where can I check schools and crime information for Saint Francis Wood?
Big Data Realty does not rate schools or neighborhoods. Ratings and reviews are on GreatSchools. San Francisco Unified's school locator confirms which school an address is assigned to, and the state publishes official school reports on the California School Dashboard. Check them for the most recent information, because boundaries and reports change every school year.
For crime information, check the most recent reports directly with the San Francisco Police Department's crime dashboard.
Who does Saint Francis Wood suit?
If you want a detached house with a garden and a setback from the street, the streets here are laid out that way. If you would rather ride a train than drive, the K and M stop on the western edge and the 23 Monterey bus runs inside, though this guide did not measure the walk from any one house to either.
If you want a lawn and a tennis court close by, the association parks have them for the people who live there and their guests. If you want a public park, Mount Davidson Park and Sigmund Stern Grove are named in this guide, and both sit outside. If you want shops on your own block, West Portal Avenue is next door and not inside the neighborhood.
Common questions
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