"People talk about Mission Bay like it's not a real neighborhood. Just a sterile expanse of glassy biotech buildings and aggressively modern condos - and sure, there's a lot of that. The cranes are still swinging, many sidewalks are wide and empty, and sometimes you get the sense that the whole thing was generated by an AI trained on phrases like "urban renewal" and "mixed-use development." But then I remember that Mission Bay isn't actually soulless - it's just playing hard to get."
"It's Cirque du Soleil defying gravity while I struggle to climb the stairs at Chase Center. It's Bayfront Park, where I lie on the grass and stare at the sky like I'm in an indie movie. And it's Cavaña, where I sit under mood lights, drink something with an orange peel, and pretend I'm in Miami."
"Not all San Francisco residents have been to Mission Bay, but all sports fans have. They know the pain of paying $40 for parking, the joy of sneaking in a burrito before tip-off, and the heartbreak of realizing the nacho cheese at Oracle Park is still the same after all these years. Mission Rock is proof that if you build it, they will come - as long as "it" includes expensive coffee and at least one Michelin-adjacent restaurant."
Mission Bay often appears as a sterile collection of glassy biotech buildings, new condos, and ongoing construction with wide, underused sidewalks. The area also hosts active public life centered on sports venues like Chase Center and Oracle Park, waterfront parks such as Bayfront Park, and social hubs like Spark Social and Mission Rock. The neighborhood offers diverse dining options from high-end croissants at Arsicault Bakery to rotating food trucks and specialty cafés. Mission Bay combines expensive new development with pockets of warmth, leisure, and communal activity that attract both residents and visitors.
Read at Medium
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]