When nostalgia is our enemy: Is it time for a Cliff House reinvention?
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The Cliff House sign is taken down on the last day of 2020.Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2020
When thinking about the Cliff House right now, as it permanently closes and landlords contemplate the next move, it evokes a previous crisis on the western shores of San Francisco.
There was once a roller coaster, a wooden sister to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s Giant Dipper, down the hill from Lands End on Ocean Beach. This was at Playland-at-the-Beach, a legit amusement park within San Francisco city limits, which popularized the It’s-It, hosted some of the best dancing in the city’s history, and housed Laughing Sal, the best nightmare-in-a-good-way attraction maybe in the entire world.
Frank Dunnigan, WNP member and columnist. -
Tourism has been a growing business in San Francisco ever since the Midwinter Fair of 1894 lured visitors to the temperate climate and scenic attractions in Golden Gate Park and nearby areas. Most people who visit today will end up seeing the usual tourist spots the city has to offer Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, cable cars and Lombard Street but when you want to show off the beauty and charm of San Francisco a bit closer to home, keep in mind that there’s plenty to see and do in the western half of town.