University Mound.
McLaren Park.
San Bruno Ave.
We could say more, but why?
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Nestled between Bernal Heights and the Bayview lies a cozy, family-oriented neighborhood affectionately known as the Garden District, a nod to its agricultural roots and plethora of verdant spaces, including parklets, greenhouses, nurseries, and spacious backyards. Its tranquil and tidy residential streets are flanked by charming single-family dwellings, while San Bruno Avenue, the vibrant hub of the district, hosts an array of small businesses, including eateries, bars, grocery stores, Asian noodle shops, and cafes. Benefiting from a sunny microclimate, the area thrives as an ideal environment for cultivating plants, fruit trees, and vegetables.
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Portola Neighborhood Vibe
A relaxed and friendly neighborhood that has done its best to stay “under the radar” — it’s a neighborhood you’re least likely to see a hipster in. Homes in Portola Heights on the southern side of the neighborhood offer stunning views and back up against McLaren Park, leaving you with a feeling of being in the woods while in the middle of San Francisco. The north side of the neighborhood is bounded by I-280 and has a much more urban and industrial feel than its southern side.
Popular Portola Home Styles
The neighborhood consists primarily of single-family homes built above a garage level and to the width of the lot on 25′ wide lots. While streets in the neighborhood were mapped out in 1869, homes didn’t really begin to appear in the neighborhood until after the great quake of 1906 when displacement from the earthquake and fire accelerated the development of many of our southern neighborhoods. The neighborhood was built out over the next several decades. There has been very little new or recent development in the neighborhood, although there are several large vacant areas that may be developed in the future.
A section of the neighborhood is known as University Mound and features streets named for schools you might aspire to: Amherst, Yale, Bowdoin, Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge to name a few of the streets.
Getting Around in Portola
Plan on driving. While the neighborhood was primarily developed before the car became the default transit mode, it is still a car-dependent neighborhood. Bus lines do serve the neighborhood, but there is no light rail nearby and the closest BART station is the Glen Park BART.
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With 20+ years in the industry and over $400M in sales, we live and breathe San Francisco real estate from Visitacion Valley to The Marina and from Victorians to modern condos. Always fascinated by the people, history, and evolution of our city.
We are counselors and advisers, not salespeople. If you want a deal done, we’ll get a deal done. If you want to push pause, we’ll pause. Your search might last five years and 36 neighborhoods, or one hour and one address. Decades of experience prove we aren’t in this for the quick deal, but the lasting relationship. How about you?
We know how to prepare and position your home for top dollar when selling and how to negotiate your best price as a buyer regardless of market dynamics. We work with the right people at the right time, tapping our powerful network of lenders, contractors, artisans, and vendors.
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We’re proud of the recognition we’ve earned for excellence in San Francisco real estate representation.
Our broker, Matt Fuller, is a recognized thought leader, white paper author, and media consultant for the real estate industry. He has served as the President of the San Francisco Association of Realtors and the Director of the California Association of Realtors.
We are members of the Top Agent Network, San Francisco’s premier community for the top ten percent of local real estate agents.
We’ve received numerous industry certifications including Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS), Graduate of REALTOR Institute (GRI), and National Association of REALTOR (NAR) Fair Housing.
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San Francisco is a city of neighborhoods, each with nuances and a distinct character that make a difference when choosing a home.
We love, live, and work here, and are experts in the details of each of the ninety neighborhoods San Francisco has to offer.
Wherever you are in the home buying or selling journey, we have insights to share. Get in touch with us today.
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Median sales price is calculated based on sold data and doesn’t account for seller concessions. Median price represents the point at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less. In smaller neighborhoods like many of those found in San Francisco, this metric is less likely to be influenced by extremely high or low sales prices that don’t represent the typical neighborhood home.
Days on Market indicates how quickly or slowly homes are selling in the neighborhood. The lower the days on market (DOM), the stronger the market is for sellers, all other things being equal.
The number of homes available for sale in active status at the end of a given month. Fewer homes available for sale may indicate a seasonal trend or market dynamics that favor a seller more than a buyer.
In strong or balanced markets, homes in San Francisco typically sell over asking. In a buyer’s market, homes will sell at list price or slightly under. If a home has had price reductions, the calculation is based on the last listed price.
Price per square foot is most useful when the homes are almost identical in size, age, layout and other factors important to buyers. Our experience suggests it is a more valuable metric in larger condo buildings and less valuable for homes in neighborhoods built with a diverse selection of styles, sizes, and ages.
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The Portola District, also known as Portola, is a one-square-mile neighborhood in the southeastern part of San Francisco. It is bordered by Interstate 280 and Bernal Heights to the north, Highway 101, Silver Terrace, and Bayview to the west, Visitacion Valley to the south, and the Excelsior and McLaren Park to the west. On an SFAR (San Francisco Association of Realtors) MLS (add internal link) map, Portola is identified as neighborhood 10f.
Originally settled after the 1906 earthquake by Jewish and Italian immigrants, the area evolved into a thriving flower district, with residents cultivating plant nurseries and capitalizing on a microclimate that still blesses the area with frequent sunshine. A 2016 resolution from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors officially recognized the neighborhood as the city’s garden district.
The local Greenhouse Project is working to restore 770 Woolsey Street, a historic 2.2 acre agricultural site in Portola, into a collaborative hub for food production, education, and environmental stewardship. The historic Avenue Theater, built in 1927, recently underwent a facade renovation, another sign of investment in this evolving community.
Today, Portola features a high percentage of owner-occupied single-family homes, many schools and churches, and a bustling nine-block business stretch along San Bruno Avenue. In that commercial corridor you can find a wide variety of eating and drinking options like Vietnamese, dim sum, microbreweries, and Hawaiian, that mirror the neighborhood’s ethnic diversity. Many neighborhood residents open their backyard gardens to the community every year during the Portola Garden Tour. Portola residents also enjoy walking and biking to the many parks in the area, including McLaren Park and the Palega Playground.
A low-key neighborhood, Portola’s southern end has a greener, more residential vibe, while the north feels more industrial and urban. Most of its largely owner-occupied homes are two-story single-family detached structures built between 1920 and 1970, with backyards and ample garage space, which can be rarities in San Francisco. Tucked between two highways, the Portola is a 20-minute drive from downtown San Francisco and a 40-minute drive from Silicon Valley. Glen Park Station, a ten-minute drive away, offers access to the BART system.
As an “already built” neighborhood, Portola is not a neighborhood where you should expect to find substantial new construction projects. Smaller developers may renovate/flip existing single family properties, or may take advantage of recent housing laws to add additional units to already existing housing. Transit corridors and major neighborhood streets are the most likely areas for new construction buildings in already built neighborhoods with existing housing stock.
You can scroll up to see our market charts showing current neighborhood prices and other real estate trends for Portola. We update these charts dynamically as new data becomes available. Reach out to us to learn more about prices, trends, and possibilities in Portola.
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