A Stroll Down 3rd Street

Third Street is the main street in Bayview. Now, don't get me wrong, strolling down 3rd Street is no stroll down the beach. It's pretty intense even though it was relatively mellow on this Super Bowl Sunday afternoon.

I hadn't been to Bayview very many times before it was assigned my beat, but now each time I step into it I feel like I'm not in typical "San Francisco" anymore.

The neighborhoods aren't quite aesthetically pleasing or ideally picturesque like the Sunset, or the Marina, or even the Mission. It's not the neighborhood anyone would think of when San Francisco comes to mind. But it's still pretty interesting and worth seeing, just to know it's there.

Everyone I saw walking around looked like they had a story to tell or a tough life to live. It's slightly intimidating, but the people are actually approachable, and there's this underlying sense of communal pride in a lot of them.

The first thing I noticed walking down the street was the Muni T line running straight through it. The second thing I noticed were the variety of different shops that lined the street. I smelled fried foods in the air, possibly chicken or fish, and happened to count at least three to four corner liquor stores within a four-block radius.

There's only one commercial grocery store in the area and that was Walgreens, there were more little markets that supplied the groceries. Besides looking at the shops I also looked at the people, who in return looked back at me. I saw more men walking down the street than women, and the majority consisted of minorities.

Bayview reminded me of Richmond in the east bay, but like Richmond, I think Bayview has a lot to say and has more of a communal outreach for it's residents than some of the other districts in the city. Although Bayview has a touch reputation, I look forward to becoming familiar with the area and it's people.