Mission Creek

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Mission Creek has seen radical changes since the late 1970s. Catellus Corporation, the spin-off of the former real estate division of Southern Pacific Railroad, donated over 40 acres of prime (land-filled) real estate to the University of California for a new biomedical campus. This in turn led to rapid and rampant development of a suburban aesthetic in the midst of San Francisco's last undeveloped expanse of space. The bohemian houseboat community is slowly being surrounded by million dollar condominiums and biomedical research buildings. Here's a brief portrait in summer 2008:

1996 Video: Mission Creek canoe ride

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This view is much as it has looked for 30 years (except for the yellow top of an office building appearing behind the houseboats).


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Both of these are looking east towards the Bay.


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The new north-easterly view of the houseboats


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The view from the condos southward, houseboats with campus appearing behind it, Potrero Hill in distance.


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Cormorants dry their wings in the late afternoon sun, August 2008. Efforts to restore native habitat along the banks of Mission Creek have led to a remarkable resurgence of birds and fish in the waterway.


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Houseboats on Mission Creek, 2008, now surrounded by new condominium development across the creek, and the Mission Bay UCSF campus to their south.

Photos: Chris Carlsson

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