Cole Valley and Parnassus Heights sit just south of the Haight, tucked into the hills below Tank Hill and Twin Peaks, and they offer a version of San Francisco that feels noticeably calmer than their famous neighbor to the north. Cole Street itself is a short, village-like commercial strip, a handful of cafés, a hardware store, a bookstore, a couple of well-loved restaurants; that gives the neighborhood a genuine small-town feel in the middle of the city.
The housing stock is a mix of classic Victorian and Edwardian homes on the flatter blocks near Cole Street, and larger, view-oriented homes as the streets climb toward Tank Hill and Mount Sutro, which offers one of the city's best (and least crowded) viewpoints. Parnassus Heights, just to the south, is defined in large part by its proximity to UCSF's Parnassus campus, one of the city's largest employers; which brings a steady stream of faculty, medical staff, and researchers into the local housing market.
This is consistently one of the more family-oriented pockets of central San Francisco: quieter streets, good access to Golden Gate Park, and a strong sense of community around Cole Street's small businesses.
The steady demand from UCSF-affiliated renters — faculty, staff, medical residents — makes Cole Valley and Parnassus Heights a reliable, if less flashy, rental market. Multi-unit Victorian buildings on the flatter streets near Cole Street offer solid rental income potential, while the view-oriented homes higher up tend to attract owner-occupier buyers rather than investors.
6,467 people live in Cole Valley/Parnassus Heights, where the median age is 38 and the average individual income is $118,863. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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Population Density Population Density This is the number of people per square mile in a neighborhood.
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There's plenty to do around Cole Valley/Parnassus Heights, including shopping, dining, nightlife, parks, and more. Data provided by Walk Score and Yelp.
Explore popular things to do in the area, including Grattan Tennis Court.
Cole Valley/Parnassus Heights has 3,020 households, with an average household size of 2. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Here’s what the people living in Cole Valley/Parnassus Heights do for work — and how long it takes them to get there. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. 6,467 people call Cole Valley/Parnassus Heights home. The population density is 31,947 and the largest age group is Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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Population Density Population Density This is the number of people per square mile in a neighborhood.
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