Lombard Crooked Street

San Francisco

Lombard Street is San Francisco-- and America's crookedest street.  What does this mean?  The steep, hilly street was created with sharp curves to switchback down the one-way hill past beautiful Victorian mansions.  The street is paved with bricks and is an amazing site to see as demonstrated by the photos below.

If not for the byzantine curves, easing out this treacherous slope, people would be killed rolling down. For an idea of how steep this street really is, go two blocks up, to Filbert Street and peer down over the ridge. Lombard is even steeper.

Some of the classiest and most expensive Real Estate in the city, exists on Lombard Street. This Russian Hill neighborhood, somehow possesses stately mansions, condos and townhouses, even with the endless array of tourists pouring down the street every day. In the spring and through the entire summer, Lombard Street is alive with color, as the chrysanthemums, and other well tended flowers are in full bloom.

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The best place to photograph the street, is from Leavenworth Street, at the bottom - looking up. You will see cars headed down slowly, daring souls walking up, and down the sides, while the flowers and buildings provide dazzling color. It is truly an incredible sight.

To get to Lombard Street, take the Hyde Street Cable Car line, which stops on the crest. From this beautiful vantage point, you can also see down Hyde Street to Ghirardelli Square, Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz and the rest of the Bay. Looking east, North Beach, Telegraph Hill, and the Bay Bridge present a breathtaking sight.

 

Fisherman, Golden Gate Bridge, San Fr... Buy From Art.com	Golden Gate - San Francisco Buy From Art.com
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Lombard Street is not only "The Crooked Street." It continues in both directions, going all the way east, up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower, and continuing west down through the Marina, where it becomes the major conduit to Golden Gate Bridge. A walk in either direction makes for a pleasant hike.

Yet it is the crooked part that keeps the people talking. For a treat, get a cab ride down Lombard late at night - fast! Guaranteed, you’ll remember that ride long after you’ve left San Francisco.