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Turning Golden Gate Heights stairways into works of art.
Streetwise - Stairways to the Stars
by Frank Dunnigan Frank Dunnigan, WNP member and columnist. -
Many of us grew up believing that the rectangular blocks of the Sunset District had always been there, or at least that they were laid out somewhere around the dawn of time. However, it wasn’t until the 1920s that the city began to undertake several massive public works projects to complete the geometric street grid across the entire western half of San Francisco.
With streetcar service through the Twin Peaks Tunnel commencing operation in February of 1918 and the Duboce (Sunset) Tunnel set to open in October of 1928, it was important to ensure that builders would have easy access to the lots and homes that they were trying to sell. In particular, the Golden Gate Heights area bounded roughly by Kirkham Street on the north, Rivera Street on the south, 8th Avenue on the east, and 17th Avenue on the west requi
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Life advice gathered over the decades Frank Dunnigan, WNP member and columnist. -
Streetwise - Western Words of Wisdom
by Frank Dunnigan
May 2010
Growing up in the Outside Lands in the 1950s, with most of grammar school and high school taking place there in the 1960s, and then college and the working world in the 1970s and beyond (and hopefully headed for retirement sometime by the end of this new decade), I ve picked up many words of wisdom in my lifetime. Our neighborhood was ethnically, if not racially, diverse and most of us learned some important lessons from among our friends, neighbors, and co-workers. It s almost as though there is a continuous thread playing through my brain, with some of the choice remarks from the past resounding in my ears at certain key moments. No doubt, many of these one-liners will be familiar to anyone visiting this site. Here are some of the better ones that are always on instant replay with me, the approximate age at whic
Frank Dunnigan, WNP member and columnist. -
Streetwise - Some Cast Changes
May 2009
My parents were married in August of 1947 and bought their one and only house on 18th Avenue near Vicente just a year later, on their one-year anniversary. The newlyweds, still childless at that point, were especially impressed with the fact that St. Cecilia s School was just half a block away, a proximity that proved fortuitous in the years to come. Houses on the east side of 18th Avenue, between Vicente and Wawona, June 2009. - WNP photo
The house had been built in January of 1936 (according to the electrical permit posted in the garage) for a Mr. & Mrs. Galleazi, whose family manufactured accordions. According one of the neighbors, all of these original homes sold for about the same price, $6,500 in 1936. By the time my parents became the second owners in 1948, the price had exactly doubled to $13,000.
Frank Dunnigan, WNP member and columnist. -
Last New Year s Eve-December 31, 2020-was a sad day in San Francisco, marking the permanent closure of the historic Cliff House. As the sign s individual letters were removed and lowered to the ground one-by-one, a crowd gathered to witness the momentous occasion. Sad as that scene was, though, prior generations of San Franciscans have witnessed similar events at the very same location many times before.
From its first incarnation in 1863 (not 1858 as some assert-that date refers to a restaurant of another name in a different location), the Cliff House has attracted San Franciscans seeking food, drink, and entertainment. In spite of many news reports, however, there has NOT been 158 years of continuous fine dining at the westernmost point of San Francisco s continental shore.