Is Driving in San Francisco a Different Experience?

By Donovan Baldwin

Okay, short answer is, "Yep!"

Unlike many other cities, which are primarily North, South, East and West, San Francisco has an extra two dimensions: up and down!

To the visitor, it seems that there is nothing flat in San Francisco. They have some very steep hills there, and have elected to simply build up and down them at will. Getting to a particular place is your problem.

Now, you might not think this is very problematical, and, to tell the truth, it doesn't affect most people, unless they are afraid of heights or have a phobia about rolling down hills. However, there are occasionally genuine problems which might afflict the visitor to the city by the bay.

For example, in the 80's after driving my family down Lombard St....

Let's stop there for a moment.

Are you familiar with Lombard St. in San Francisco.

It is not a short street. Running generally east and west, it passes through several sections of San Francisco. However, one block of Lombard street is famous the world over and probably captures some ot the driving experience that most associate with driving in San Francisco.

This one block, in the Russian Hill area, is one way (downhill, thank God) and consists of several tight turns. The hill has a 27% grade, and was designed with several tight turns. In the old days, wagons could not even make it up the hill, and that is one reason this small piece of Lombard Street is as it is today.

However, in keeping with the San Francisco experience, that one block of Lombard street is a beautiful little drive, at 5 miles per hour, and should be a part of any visit to the town.

Anyway, as I was saying, in the 80's after driving my family down Lombard St. we drove around town a little bit in my 1983 Reliant Station wagon. It had rear wheel drive and we had two adults in the front and three small children in the back. As we turned into a street that would take us to the next sight we wanted to see, we saw rising before us what had to be one of the steepest streets in San Francisco.

Being a normal male, I assured my wife that we could "make it with no problem!"

I was wrong.

After three tries and a moment when I actually thought the car might flip over backwards, we gave up and found another street.

Forget the hippies, and the 60's, and Chinatown, and the topless clubs in North Beach, and the cable cars, and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"...driving in San Francisco IS a unique experience quite different from most other places.