San Francisco Neighborhoods · Anza Vista
Anza Vista
Transition zoneA quiet mid-century pocket on the hill where San Francisco once buried its dead and then built its postwar future — tidy 1940s–50s homes and apartments climbing the slope between Geary and the Western Addition, with Kaiser's big medical campus and the Divisadero corridor a short walk away.
- Calm, residential, and central
- Steps from Kaiser's main SF hospital
- Easy reach to NoPa and Divisadero dining
- 38-Geary puts downtown within one ride
On the map
Open Anza Vista on the map →The story
The neighborhood sits atop the former Calvary Cemetery, one of the large Catholic burying grounds near Lone Mountain. After San Francisco banned new burials in 1902, the graves here were disinterred and moved to Colma through the 1930s and 1940s. The cleared land was redeveloped in the late 1940s and 1950s into the mid-century homes and apartments that define Anza Vista today. The neighborhood and its central avenue are named for Juan Bautista de Anza, who led the 1775–1776 Spanish expedition that reached San Francisco Bay and chose the sites of the Presidio and Mission. Kaiser Permanente's San Francisco Medical Center anchors the neighborhood's northern edge along Geary Boulevard.
Things most people don’t know
Built on a former cemetery
Anza Vista rose on the site of Calvary Cemetery; the graves were moved to Colma in the 1930s–40s before homes went up.
A postwar neighborhood
Most of the homes and apartments date to a late-1940s and 1950s building boom on the cleared cemetery land.
Named for an explorer
Anza Vista honors Juan Bautista de Anza, who led 240-plus colonists overland to San Francisco Bay in 1775–1776.
Kaiser's SF home base
Kaiser Permanente's San Francisco Medical Center sits right along Geary Boulevard at the neighborhood's edge.
City Center retail
The Target-anchored City Center shopping center stands at Geary and Masonic in the neighborhood's northwest corner.
Eating and drinking near Anza Vista
Anza Vista is primarily residential — these sit in NoPa, Laurel Heights, Western Addition.
Restaurants
- Nopa · 560 Divisadero St
Bars
- Madrone Art Bar · 500 Divisadero St
- The Page · 298 Divisadero St
- The Mill · 736 Divisadero St
Getting around and getting care
Transit. Served by the 38-Geary and 38R-Geary Rapid along the north edge, plus the 31-Balboa, 43-Masonic, and 24-Divisadero buses.
Nearest hospital. Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center, 2425 Geary Blvd (about 0.5 mi)
Thinking about Anza Vista?
Send me an address and I will come back with its sun, wind and fog, what is under it, and what has closed on the block.