Flat, close to the water, and full of garages
The Marina sits on the northern shore of San Francisco, inside ZIP 94123. Marina Boulevard and the Marina Green run along the waterfront, Chestnut Street is the main shopping street, and Lombard Street, which carries US 101 toward the Golden Gate Bridge, marks the southern side. Fort Mason is to the east, the Presidio and Crissy Field are to the west, and Cow Hollow and Pacific Heights rise to the south.
Unlike most of the city, the Marina is flat. Much of it sits on land filled for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and the Palace of Fine Arts on its western edge is the best-known reminder of that fair. Most of the neighborhood was built up in the 1920s and 1930s, which is why so many buildings share the same stucco look.
Flat streets make carrying furniture easier than on a hillside. The harder parts are closer to the curb: garage doors every few yards, steady traffic on Lombard, and busy weekends around Chestnut Street and the Marina Green. Most of the planning goes into where the truck stops and how the crew gets from the garage or front entry to your flat.
