Visitacion Valley (; Spanish: Valle de la Visitación),SF Católico - Bayview: Catequistas enfrentan nuevos retos con clases virtuales colloquially referred to as Viz Valley, is a neighborhood located in the southeastern quadrant of San Francisco, California.
Visitacion Valley is roughly defined by McLaren Park and Gleneagles Golf Course to the West, Mansell Blvd and Portola to the north, Bayview Hill and Candlestick Cove to the east, and the San Francisco / San Mateo County line to the south. The streets of this neighborhood straddle the border between San Francisco and Daly City, hence partially blending with the adjacent Daly City neighborhood of Bayshore. The grounds of the Cow Palace, straddling the San Francisco/Daly City border, parking areas are partially within Visitacion Valley.
The Sunnydale Housing Community, a predominately African-American and Pacific Islander American community, is located in Visitacion Valley.
Name In 1777, Spanish friars and soldiers on their way to the Presidio stopped at a valley between the present day San Bruno Mountain and John McLaren Park to celebrate the Catholic feast day of the Visitacion of the Blessed Virgin. They baptized the valley and named it Rancho Cañada de Guadalupe la Visitación y Rodeo Viejo - this tract of land also included the Bayshore district of Daly City, the city of Brisbane, and San Bruno Mountain.Woody LaBounty, Visitacion Valley, SF Heritage. October 1, 2021 The neighborhood came to be known as Visitacion Valley.
The term "Visitacion" is Spanish and a reference to the Visitation in Luke 1:39 of the Bible. It is a visit by Mary, bearing the child Jesus, to her cousin Elizabeth, who despite her advanced years is pregnant with John the Baptist. John leapt in the womb as Mary entered, knowing that he is in the presence of the Savior.
Characteristics
Visitacion Valley is a residential, family-oriented, working-class neighborhood. Average incomes and housing price for the area is lower than the citywide average.Sean Bryant, 5 Most Affordable Neighborhoods in San Francisco, Yahoo Finance. March 10, 2024
Visitacion Valley is sometimes dubbed "Forgotten Valley" due to policy makers' tendency to neglect the neighborhood.Han Li, In this “Forgotten Valley”, Asian immigrant community rises up, Medium. May 21, 2020 In the 1990s, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) called Visitacion Valley “a neglected urban backwater of 18,000 with rampant crime, awful schools, and a deplorable housing project called Geneva Towers.” It has also been labeled by news media as San Francisco's least known neighborhood.Carl Notle, San Francisco's least-known neighborhood seeks landmark status for one building San Francisco Chronicle. Feb 22, 2022 Despite the sentiment, Schlage Lock Factory Redevelopment, one of the city's largest developments has been approved and waiting to break ground in Visitacion Valley.
The neighborhood was designated a "food desert" by the U.S. Department of Agriculture - with limited to no fresh food retail option.Coburn Palmer Visitacion Valley ‘food desert’ gets an oasis, Sfbay.ca. May 1, 2014 Eli Zigas Improving Access to Fresh Food Across San Francisco, SPUR, October 18, 2012 It did not have a grocery store for decades until a Grocery Outlet opened in 2014.San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley to get first grocery store in decades, KALW. January 8, 2014 Local businesses and community leaders said the neighborhood restaurants generally do not draw outsiders to the area. They cited the Schlage Lock Factory Redevelopment as the key in the revitalization of Visitacion Valley.Robert Selna Redevelopment key to Visitacion Valley revival, SF Gate. Jan 30, 2011
The neighborhood is very diverse with Asians and immigrants making up more than half of the population.Visitacion Valley, Profiles of Community Planning Areas: San Francisco's Eastern Neighborhoods As more Asians and Latinos moved into the neighborhood, Whites and Blacks population have dwindled. Crime and safety have also improved with the migration of the newcomers.Maitland Zane, Neighborhood Shifts / Crime is down, pride is up in transformed Visitacion Valley, SF Gate. Sep 15, 2000
History
The bayside valley was home to two Yelamu settlements (Amuctac and Tubsinte) when the Spanish claimed the valley as grazing land for cattle.Perfect Day in Visitacion Valley, SF.gov. After Mexico gained independence from Spain. The Mexican imperial court granted Rancho Cañada de Guadalupe la Visitación y Rodeo Viejo, which included Visitacion Valley, to American trader Jacob Leese in 1830.
The area was settled by German, French, Italian, Jewish, and Maltese immigrants during the Gold Rush to establish farms, dairies, and nurseries in the mid-1800s. This neighborhood featured many windmills for agricultural irrigation and was known as "Valley of the Windmills."Vis Valley & Portola Community Based Transportation Plan, SFMTA. 2020
The neighborhood once had the largest Maltese population outside of Malta.S.F. no stranger to demographic shifts, The San Francisco Examiner. 2014-05-04
In 1907, Southern Pacific Railway constructed the Bayshore Cutoff - a sprawling 200 acres railyard that cut off Visitacion streets from the bay. It was the central maintenance center for the rail company and employed many Visitacion Valley locals.Woody LaBounty, Valley of Windmills…and Trains and Locks, SF Heritage. October 11, 2021 The yard was demolished in 2009 (along with adjacent Schlage Lock factory), more information at Schlage Lock Factory and Southern Pacific Railyard Redevelopment.
Schlage Lock Company factory was constructed in 1926 and dominated the area's economy for decades. It was shut down in 1999. The land (along with adjacent Southern Pacific Railyard) was demolished and a large scale mixed-use development (Bayland North) that will add over 2,000 housing units has been approved by the city.
The construction of the nearby Hunters Point Naval Shipyard during World War II, led to a massive influx of African Americans who worked in the shipyards. Many settled in the Sunnydale Projects which were originally constructed as barracks to house workers. After the war ended, more African Americans relocated from the Fillmore District and the Western Addition when the Urban Renewal (operated by San Francisco Redevelopment Agency) program uprooted them and their businesses.Rachel Brahinsky, Fillmore Revisited — How Redevelopment Tore Through the Western Addition, San Francisco Public Press. Sept 23, 2019
A former army barracks built in 1941 that was turned into low-income housing projects after the war, the Sunnydale Projects is the largest public housing community in San Francisco and is one of the most violent places in the city. Plans are in progress to redevelop the housing project, more information at Sunnydale Housing Project.
In the 1960s, famed real estate developer Joseph Eichler build two towers called Geneva Towers using federal aid designed to fund affordable rental housing for middle-incomers. Vice President Hubert Humphrey was present for the dedication of the towers in 1965. In 1967, Eichler ran into financial trouble and the Geneva Towers went into receivership. The Housing Authority of San Francisco eventually took over the management and turned the towers into rentals for Section 8 tenants.Woody LaBounty, Remembering Geneva Towers, SF Heritage. October 18, 2021 The towers suffered through dilapidation and poor maintenance throughout the 1980s and were plagued by gangs and drug activity.Jason B. Johnson, Geneva Towers To Tumble / Troubled S.F. public housing project to be demolished today, SF Gate. May 16, 1998 The City ordered the destruction of the buildings in 1998 and replaced them with lower-density units.
During the 1970s, with the closing of the Bayshore Cutoff and the Schlage Lock Factory winding down its business, the neighborhood experienced economic decline.
Beginning around the late 1980s, Chinese American (mostly immigrants) began to move into the neighborhood. Today, more than half of the neighborhood's population is Chinese Annie Nakao, Vis Valley transformed, SF Gate. Aug 10, 1998 Locals cite the demolishment of the Geneva Towers and the influx of Asians and Latinos as a huge boost in the turnaround for the neighborhood.
Demographics
According to the 2020 census data gathered by the San Francisco Planning Dept.San Francisco Neighborhoods Data Hub, San Francisco Planning. 2020
+ Population Total Population 19,875 2010 to 2020 Population Growth 10.1%
+ Income Median Household Income $74,376 2010-20 Income Growth 72%
+ Housing Median Home Value $834,000 Median Rent Value $1,381 + Households Family Households 77% Households with 60 years and older 48% Households with Children 38% Non-Family Households 23% Single Person Households 15% Single Senior (65+) Households 6% Avg. Household Size 3.7 Avg. Family Household Size 4.4 + Race/Ethnicity Asian 52% Latino (of any race) 25% Not listed/Multi-racial 21% White 15% African American 9% American Indian 0% + Educational Attainment Less than high school degree 24% High school degree or equivalent 28% Some College/Associate Degree 26% Bachelor degree or higher 23%
Schlage Lock Factory Redevelopment
Background In 1999, the Schlage Lock Factory was permanently closed and its 12.3 acres of land was boarded up. Home Depot proposed to build a big box store in March 2000. This proposal was dropped in January 2001 after opposition by neighborhood interests and local politicians. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors subsequently approved an interim zoning change of the land to low-density commercial to prevent big-box retails from moving in while they evaluate redevelopment of the land.
In 2008, Universal Paragon Corp (UPC) took over the site from Ingersoll-Rand Co. of Montvale, N.J., who owned the land and the Schlage Lock Factory as part of a lawsuit settlement. As part of the settlement, UPC agreed to clean up the contamination on the site and redevelop the land into a transit-friendly community with housing and commercial space.Old Schlage Lock factory in S.F. finally sold.
In 2009, after a series of reviews and delays, the Board of Supervisors approved a plan to develop the vacant land at Schlage Lock Factory and Southern Pacific Railway, naming it the Visitacion Valley Redevelopment Area. The plan also includes improvement to Leland Avenue and Bayshore Boulevard Unlocking Schlage, Transbay Blog. Feb 9, 2009 That same year, all structures on the Schlage Lock Factory and its adjoining Southern Pacific Railyard site were demolished; save for the Schlage Lock Factory Headquarter building which would be retrofitted and became a community center.Schlage Buildings Are Razed so Visitacion Valley Can Rise, Socketsite. Oct 7, 2009New New Timing for Major Visitacion Valley Redevelopment, Socketsite. Sep 16, 2019
Baylands North The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency ceased to exist in 2012 along with the funding for the project. The Planning Department and the Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development joined forces to help pass a revised development plan. In 2014, the Board of Supervisors approved the plan for UPC to redevelop the Schlage Lock Factory land.Visitacion Valley/Schlage Lock Plan, San Francisco Planning Known as Baylands North, the project would be built out over a 15-year period.Visitacion Valley/Schlage Lock Plan San Francisco Planning Baylands North is part of a larger Brisbane Baylands development that spans San Francisco and Brisbane, CA. The Baylands project originally was planned for 5,400 homes and 8.5 million square feet of commercial space.https://thebaylands.com/ The Baylands In 2018, both San Francisco and San Mateo counties finalized the Baylands project to consist of 1,674 housing units on the former Schlage Lock land and 2,200 housing units on the Brisbane side. The Brisbane side also consists of 6.5 million sq. ft. of biotech and office space.