Finding San Francisco in My NoHo Neighborhood

From the moment I stepped off the BART Civic Center stop onto the UN Plaza, I was somehow transported to the moment I visited Europe for the first time two years ago. The gold dome of San Francisco's City Hall seemed to greet me as I made my way through hustle and bustle of the farmer's market at the plaza, where people zipped through on their bicycles and business people stopped to shop for fruit and vegetables during their lunch hour. City Hall's Beaux-Arts architecture and the big, black gates surrounding the park lying west of it reminded me of the beautiful French Classical buildings I'd seen in Paris. And when I finally arrived at our European-style hotel -- complete with shared bathrooms! -- in Hayes Valley, this Los Angeles native couldn't help but feel like she belonged in Frisco (perhaps it's because I was originally supposed to attend San Francisco State University, but instead stayed local at Cal State Northridge).

I've been to San Francisco several times before, but this time was different. Having experienced the public transit of Europe in between my last two visits to S.F., I was reminded of how much I wished our Red Line subway could be as frequent and convenient, and how I yearned for L.A. to be more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly. I remembered how I hoped to live in a community where I could walk around the corner for fresh bread and deli meats, then take a quick subway ride to a lush and green park for a picnic and be back home in less than 20 minutes without the hassle of finding a parking spot. I reminisced walking at least three to five miles a day when we were on vacation, and how it was surprisingly refreshing to get that much exercise without any effort.

The NoHo Arts District has been my home for the last three years and as much as I love its "Walker's Paradise" score on walkscore.com, I feel I'm still searching for the sense of community that I found in the small boutique-y neighborhoods of Frisco, les arrondissements of Paris or Italy's charming alleyways with their laundry-lined apartment windows up above.

I'm grateful I can walk to the Red Line subway in less than 10 minutes and along the way stop for any type of cuisine from Indian to Greek off Lankershim Boulevard, but it isn't quite the same as the rush-hour madness of being the last one in on a sardine-packed Italian Metro. I love that I can walk just half a mile with my dog to the North Hollywood park, but it's nothing in comparison to Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris or Golden Gate Park in S.F.  Though I've somehow developed an addiction to Starbucks (their ubiquity had made an enemy out of me and at some point I gave in to their frosty caramel frappuccinos), it's no competition to San Francisco's Four Barrel, Ritual or Blue Bottle Coffee Co.

Inspired by the public feel and open spaces of S.F., I ventured out with my husband and our dog to , where we could sit outside and enjoy the fresh air as ate dinner. I tried to imagine ourselves in another city’s busy sidewalk as we people-watched less than a dozen passersby in 30 minutes while countless cars zoomed up and down the street. But the thought of moving out of NoHo means leaving our favorite local eats --  for delicious meat-free meals,  for breakfast and lunch, or  for a filling Indian dinner. And though our parks may be small in comparison to those in Europe, we've still got La Cañada-Flintridge's Descanso Gardens, the Huntington Library near Pasadena or Van Nuys' Japanese Gardens in which we can enjoy our year-round picnic-appropriate weather.

NoHo will finally be getting its own farmer's market this Saturday, and I'm excited at the possibilities it brings of an even better local community.