It seemed the North Beach Fair was larger this year, but then I realized this was because Washington Square wasn’t included this year. The park used to be totally encircled by booths with a live band at one end – and security checks of bags when you entered the area. This year it was just a park, albeit with more people in it than usual, with the festival’s booths along some of Columbus as well as Grant and the usual side streets.
Nothing really of interest to me – not that I could remotely afford anyway – so turned this into a stairway walk. Upon reaching Filbert and Grant started up the sidewalk steps on Filbert’s south side (see the first pic above).
The last part of the steps, now enclosed and railed, with the park on one side (see above), climbs past the vacant lot where three small residences were demolished in 1999, including the tiny “Bill Bailey House.” The lot’s still for sale, and includes a “cottage.” The top of the stairs is at Telegraph Hill Blvd. for a total of 142 steps.
Cross the street for more steps up into Pioneer Park/Coit Tower. If you want to check out the stairways and gardens on the east side of the hill, just continue a few yards to the east and start downhill on the Filbert steps.
After sitting for a few moments in the park, started back down the west side, counting 104 Filbert north sidewalk steps from the edge of the park to Grant.
The utilitarian stairways on each side of the Stockton tunnel’s north end will take you from Chinatown shops up to Nob Hill near California Street. Nob Hill’s Joice stairway’s 68 steps descend to Pine St.