The Book Review I Found at Pemberton Place
Spoiler Alert: They Didn't Like It
San Francisco has many “stairway streets” in the hills, and one of my favorites is Pemberton Place, located just off Clayton St. in what “Google Maps” calls “Corbett Heights,” but I tend to just think of it as the nice part of town you pass through as you’re walking from Cole Valley towards Market, where the 33 bus does that insane turn that looks like it’s going to crash into the retaining wall.
Pemberton Place has a very nice stairway, complete with benches to sit on and handrails. It’s a steep climb, and you get to see homes of all kinds whose entrances are found all along this “street.” From the bottom of the staircase you get a nice view of this house across the street (with its own neighborhood park!) across the street, as well as the city.
On a nice day, this makes for good exercise and a view. However, the other day, I noticed that there was an unusual amount of paper littering the staircase. This is unusual-this part of town is normally very clean, and this staircase/park/etc. isn’t heavily traveled. I wouldn’t have bothered to notice, except that as I went up the stairs, there was more and more paper everywhere.
Clearly someone did not like this book (whatever it was), maybe because it had too many pages? I wouldn’t have paid attention to it if it was just a few pieces of paper, but as I walked up there was more and more and more ripped pages….
Finally I found the offending book, which seems to be some fantasy series, set in or around San Francisco, and even has Victorian houses on the cover doing scary wizarding, or whatever they’re calling it now. I guess it’s not very good, because someone really hated it on Pemberton Court, and tossing it in the recycle bin wasn’t enough to express their discontent. Ouch!
Putting aside the “book review,” I kept going up the stairs, and got a nice view as a reward. This is one of the better municipal stairways, as it is a bit more modern, and easier to climb than some of the others around town.
That said, the very last part is a bit more old fashioned, made of brick and stone, and may not be as easy for some to use. It’s still nice for the view, though and looks great:
Overall a nice way to get some exercise during the day. The amazing part is that while it felt like I was a million miles from home in this quiet area overlooking the City, it was not that far from home in the Inner Sunset.
One thing that people from Out of Town don’t understand about San Francisco is that it’s not a very big city, and nothing is really that far away from anywhere else (at least geographically), so it makes taking these escapist walks that much easier.
Eventually I headed home. When the weather has been as sunny as it has been, though, I try to get out and do some “fun” exercise (vs. doing laps at Kezar or around my neighborhood), and I always feel better afterwards.
Do you have any favorite “municipal stairways” around San Francisco? Post your suggestions in the comments and discuss!
Pemberton Place is accessible by many Muni routes, including the 37, which has a stop not far from the entrance, or you can take a short walk from Carl and Cole where the N and the 43 stop (if you don’t mind a few hills!)