Noe Valley, San Francisco facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Noe Valley
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Noe Valley in 2013
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Location within San Francisco
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 Noe Valley
Location in San Francisco
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| Country |  United States |
| State |  California |
| City-county | San Francisco |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.911 sq mi (2.36 km2) |
| • Land | 0.911 sq mi (2.36 km2) |
| Population
(2019)
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| • Total | 22,548 |
| • Density | 24,750/sq mi (9,560/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| ZIP codes |
94110, 94114, 94131
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| Area codes | 415/628 |
Noe Valley (pronounced NOH-ee) is a cool neighborhood right in the middle of San Francisco, California. It got its name from Don José de Jesús Noé. He was an important person in the 1800s who owned a lot of land here. He even served as the mayor of San Francisco back then!
Contents
Where is Noe Valley Located?
Noe Valley is in the central part of San Francisco. It has clear boundaries. To the north, you'll find 21st Street. To the south, it goes to 30th Street. On the east, it's bordered by San Jose Avenue and Guerrero Street. To the west, you'll see Grand View Avenue and Diamond Heights Boulevard.
Neighboring Areas
Right to the north of Noe Valley is The Castro neighborhood. If you head east, you'll reach the Mission District.
A Look Back: Noe Valley's History
This neighborhood is named after José de Jesús Noé. He was the last alcalde (which means mayor) of Yerba Buena. That's what San Francisco was called a long time ago! Noé owned a huge piece of land called Rancho San Miguel, and Noe Valley was part of it.
In 1854, Noé sold this land to John Meirs Horner. Horner was a Mormon immigrant. For a while, the area was even known as Horner's Addition. Noé's original adobe house (a type of house made from earth) was near where 23rd Street and Douglass Street are today. Until 1914, Noe Valley and nearby Corona Heights were home to two quarries, which are places where stone is dug out of the ground.
Building the Neighborhood
Noe Valley really started to grow in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A lot of building happened right after the big 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Because of this, you can see many classic Victorian and Edwardian style homes here. San Francisco is famous for these types of houses!
Noe Valley was originally a working-class neighborhood. This means many people who worked in factories or other jobs lived here. Their houses were often built in rows, close together. Some homes were simple, while others were more fancy, depending on what the owner could afford. Today, Noe Valley has one of the highest numbers of row houses in San Francisco. You can see streets with many houses lined up side-by-side.
Street Names and Landmarks
John Meirs Horner, who bought the land from Noé, helped plan and name many of the streets. For example, he named Elizabeth Street after his wife. He named Jersey Street after New Jersey, his home state. Even today, for tax reasons, much of Noe Valley is still called Horner's Addition by the city.
The original names for some streets were different. What we call 24th Street today was once "Park Street." And 25th Street was "Temple Street." These names were chosen to honor John Meirs Horner's Mormon faith.
A famous building in the neighborhood is St. Paul's Catholic Church. It's also known as Parroquia De San Pablo. This church is located at Church and Valley Street. Fun fact: it was even used as a filming location for the movie Sister Act!
What Makes Noe Valley Special?
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Like many San Francisco neighborhoods, Noe Valley started as a place for working families. But since the 1980s, it has changed a lot. It's now considered an upper-middle-class or wealthy neighborhood. Many young professionals and families with children live here. Some people even jokingly call it "Stroller Valley" because you see so many strollers around!
In December 2019, the average price for a home in Noe Valley was about $1.83 million. One big reason people like Noe Valley is its weather. The nearby Twin Peaks hills help block the cool fog and winds from the Pacific Ocean. This means Noe Valley often has a sunnier and warmer microclimate (a small area with different weather) than other parts of the city.
Getting Around Noe Valley
Getting in and out of Noe Valley is pretty straightforward. There's one main road to the north through Castro Street, leading to Eureka Valley. To the west, you can use Clipper Street. For the Mission District to the east, you can take 24th Street, Cesar Chavez, or other numbered streets. Church Street is a main north-south road, and the J Church Muni Light Rail train runs along it.
Public transportation is easy to find. The J Church train runs down Church Street. The 24 Muni Bus also goes through Noe Valley. It comes from the north on Castro Street, then switches to Noe Street, and leaves the neighborhood on 30th Street. Plus, the 48 Muni Bus travels down 24th Street, connecting the neighborhood to the Mission District.
Noe Valley is mostly a place where people live. But it also has two busy shopping areas. The main one is along 24th Street, between Church Street and Diamond Street. There's also a smaller shopping area along Church Street, between 24th Street and 30th Street.
Famous People from Noe Valley
Several well-known people have lived in Noe Valley! The artist Ruth Asawa lived here from 1962 until she passed away in 2013. The famous musician Carlos Santana went to James Lick Middle School on Noe Street in the early 1960s. Actor Benjamin Bratt also went to the same school a decade later. Other notable residents include Evan Williams, who helped create Twitter, and Mark Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook.
