Where health meets wealth
Along the eastern edge of the Presidio, below the ridge that is the backbone of the Pacific Heights District, at the intersection of Lyon Street and Broadway, you come to what was originally a stairway street connecting the Heights with the Marina District below. These are known as the Lyon Street Steps—244 of them in all, which drop down a steep hill through manicured hedges and flower gardens.
On your left as you descend is the Presidio, with its eucalyptus and redwood groves; on your right are some of San Francisco’s most opulent mansions. Indeed, this is part of the city’s “Gold Coast,” (see p. 40). Lords of the manors include former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, philanthropist and composer Gordon Getty, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison—one of the new tech tycoons who are gradually changing not only the city’s social strata but its charitable patterns, as well.
Info
Address Lyon Street between Broadway Street & Green Street, San Francisco, CA, 94123 | Public Transport Bus: 3 (Jackson St & Baker St stop); 41, 45 (Union St & Lyon St stop) | Tip You can walk straight down to the Palace of Fine Arts, the only structure from the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition left on the original site.
You come to the Lyon Street Steps for a feel of the city’s Belle Époque, as well as a fabulous view of the bay, and perhaps for some good old-fashioned exercise. At any time of day, you will notice men and women in workout gear running and walking up and down the stairs with bags on their shoulders and buds in their ears. In that sense, the steps provide a selfie of the Northern California mindset when it comes to health and physicality.
Halfway down the stairs is an elegant garden dominated by a large gold heart sculpture, painted with a great red crane in flight. The installation is called Migrant Heart and was created by Hung Liu, a professor at Mills College in Oakland. It was unveiled in 2004 as part of a benefit program for the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation. About her creation, Liu wrote, “The crane is coming out of its shell to face a new world, like immigrants who come to the United States for a new start, while the gold backdrop is symbolic of hope.”
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