South
San Francisco
South San Francisco occupies the basin and portions
of the sides of a broad valley formed by the San Bruno
Mountains on the north and the Coast Range on the west.
South
San Francisco
The city lies north of San Francisco International Airport
in a small valley between San Bruno Mountain and the
Coast Range. The city is served by two major highways,
U.S. Route 101 (the Bayshore Freeway) and Interstate
280. A BART station, located directly adjacent to El
Camino High School and Solaire Transit Village, opened
in 2003, supplementing Caltrain service to San Francisco
and San Jose.
The city's small downtown and several aging residential
subdivisions, such as Mayfair Village, Sunshine Gardens,
Avalon Park, Winston Manor, and Rancho Buri Buri, are
located west of Highway 101, while the area east of
Highway 101 is dominated by bland industrial complexes
interspersed with futuristic office parks, particularly
the Oyster Point Marina. The extreme western portions
of the city near Interstate 280 sit along a hillside
and offer views of San Francisco Bay. This area is known
to local residents as Westborough. The southern part
of the city, closest to the airport, is home to a large
number of car repair shops, airport parking lots, and
airport hotels.
Locals refer to the town as "South City,"
in much the same way that San Francisco is called "The
City." People unfamiliar with the area often mistake
South San Francisco as the southern part of the city
of San Francisco.
South San Francisco is part of the South San Francisco
Unified School District, which also serves portions
of the neighboring cities of Daly City and San Bruno.
The city is home to two public high schools: El Camino
High School and South San Francisco High School, which
share a cross-town rivalry. The city also has three
public middle schools: Parkway Heights, Westborough,
and Alta Loma. These public high and middle schools,
as well as a number of public elementary schools,
are part of the South San Francisco Unified School
District. Several parochial schools are also established
in the city: All Souls School, Mater Dolorosa School,
and St. Veronica's School.
