Mission Bay, San Francisco facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mission Bay
Neighborhood
Construction of the new UCSF campus at Mission Bay began in 1999.
Mission Bay Location in San Francisco
Country	United States
State	California
City-county	San Francisco
Area
• Total	0.472 sq mi (1.22 km2)
Population
• Total	5,390
• Density	11,419/sq mi (4,409/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	94158, 94107
Area codes	415/628

Mission Bay is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It covers about 303 acres. It is located on the east side of the city. To the north is China Basin. Dogpatch is to the south. The San Francisco Bay is to the east.

Mission Bay used to be an industrial area. It has changed a lot with the building of the UCSF Mission Bay campus. Today, it is a modern area with new buildings. It is home to the Chase Center and the main offices for Uber.

Exploring Mission Bay's Location

Mission Bay has clear boundaries. Townsend Street is its northern edge. To the east, it is bordered by Third Street and the San Francisco Bay. Mariposa Street forms the southern boundary. On the west, you will find 7th Street and Interstate 280.

View of San Francisco from the east. Mission Bay is in the lower center.

The History of Mission Bay

From Marshland to Modern City

Before San Francisco grew, Mission Bay was a large salt marsh and lagoon. It was over 500 acres in size. This area had water all year round. Many water fowl lived here, like ducks, geese, herons, and egrets.

Native American tribes lived in this area. The Costanoan people spoke eight different languages. The Patwin people were common in the Bay area. They lived here for more than 5,000 years.

Building Up the Bay Area

In the mid-1800s, people started filling in Mission Bay. They used it as a place to dump waste from building projects. After the 1906 earthquake, it was used for earthquake debris. As the land became stable, it turned into an industrial area.

By 1850, Mission Bay was busy with shipbuilding and repairs. There were also places for meat production and fishing for oysters and clams. When the railroad arrived, more industries came. These included shipyards, canneries, a sugar refinery, and many warehouses.

Mission Bay's Modern Transformation

In 1998, the Board of Supervisors announced a big plan. Mission Bay would be redeveloped by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. Much of the land used to be a railyard for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. This land was later sold to other developers.

Another part of the area was a hazardous waste site. It was called the H&H Ship Service Facility. This site had to be closed. Since then, Mission Bay has changed a lot. It is now a wealthy neighborhood. It has luxury condominiums, hospitals, and biotechnology research centers. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of people living in Mission Bay grew by over 200%.

What to See and Do in Mission Bay

Mission Bay is a hub for many exciting things. It has important research centers and major company headquarters.

• The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine used to have its main office here.
• Old Navy, a clothing brand from The Gap, has its headquarters at 550 Terry Francois Blvd.
• The University of California, San Francisco has a large research campus here. It is called UCSF Mission Bay.

Key Developments and Facilities

• The Salesforce company once planned a large headquarters here. They later sold the land.
• The Golden State Warriors basketball team bought 12 acres in 2014. This site became the Chase Center.
• The Third Street Light Rail Project of the San Francisco Municipal Railway starts here.
• Caltrain commuter rail also has its northern end in Mission Bay.
• AT&T built a modern fiber optic network here.
• The Mission Bay Branch Library opened on July 8, 2006. It was the first new branch of the San Francisco Public Library in over 40 years. It is about 7,500 square feet.
• The building at 455 Mission Bay Boulevard South is important. It was once planned for Pfizer. Now, Nektar Therapeutics and Bayer's U.S. Innovation Center are located there.
• The San Francisco Public Safety Building is at Third Street and Mission Rock. It includes police headquarters and a fire station.
• Rock Health is located here. It helps new digital health companies get started.
• In 2010, about 56 biotech companies were in Mission Bay.
• The San Francisco Bay Trail and the Blue Greenway waterfront trail offer scenic paths.

Getting Around Mission Bay

Mission Bay is well-connected by public transport.

• The N Judah and T Third Street lines of San Francisco's Muni Metro serve the neighborhood.
• The N Judah connects to Downtown, BART, Hayes Valley, and the Sunset District.
• The T Third Street links to downtown, BART, and the Bayview and Visitacion Valley neighborhoods.
• Many Muni bus and trolley bus lines also serve the area.
• The Caltrain system connects Mission Bay to San Jose and Gilroy.
• The Central Subway opened in November 2022. It links Mission Bay to Downtown San Francisco and Chinatown.

Healthcare and Living in Mission Bay

While close to Oracle Park, the ballpark is actually in the South Beach neighborhood. UCSF opened a new hospital in February 2015. It has 289 beds and cares for children, women, and cancer patients. Construction for this hospital started in October 2010.

Mission Bay has many homes. About 6,404 apartments and condos were planned. Of these, 1,806 are for affordable housing.

• The Beacon is one of the largest condo complexes in San Francisco. It has 595 units. It covers a whole city block.
• Madrone is a high-end condo building. It has two towers with 329 modern homes. Many have views of the bay and city.
• Glassworks is a mixed-use building. It has about 40 modern condos. It is across from Oracle Park.
• Signature Properties built two condo buildings on Berry Street: 255 Berry Street and 235 Berry Street. They were finished in 2004 and 2007.
• Arterra is San Francisco's first LEED-certified condo building. It has 268 condos in three connected buildings.
• Park Terrace (325 Berry Street) has 110 homes.
• Radiance at Mission Bay is in the southern part of Mission Bay. It has 99 condos.
• Strata is an apartment complex near the UCSF campus.
• Arden is another residential condo building.

Other important buildings include The Gladstone Institute and Kaiser Permanente's medical offices.

Parks and Green Spaces

Mission Bay has several parks. As of fall 2010, these included:

• Mission Creek
• MissionBay Commons lots
• The 5th street plaza
• Sports courts
• Koret Quad
• China Basin Park

Future plans for parks include Bay Front Park, a little league baseball field, and a junior soccer field.

Education in Mission Bay

The University of California, San Francisco opened its Mission Bay campus in 2015. This campus is a major center for health sciences.

The Mission Bay School is the neighborhood's first public school. Its construction is scheduled to be completed in 2025.