NEIGHBORHOOD | DOGPATCH | SAN FRANCISCO

DOGPATCH | SAN FRANCISCO Dog Life in Frisco

San Francisco has undergone many changes over the years, and all the different neighborhoods have their own character. To ensure the quality of one of them, we put a leash on Fredrik Lundgren and took him for a walk in Dogpatch. Who let the dogs out?

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY FREDRIK LUNDGREN

San Francisco, the city that changes form time and time again. During the California Gold Rush in the middle of the 1800’s, the city exploded in growth, a real life “boomtown”. From the gold rush to the cultural movements encapsulating the Summer of Love 1967, all the way to the 1990’s tech-boom in Silicon Valley, San Francisco has had an ever-changing meaning to those who get to experience it.

DIGGING ON DOGPATCH Catching an Uber from Union Square to Third Street, I step out into a neighborhood called Dogpatch. It’s a chilly day and industrial buildings stand tightly packed along the streets, a familiar scent of weed lingers in the air. It’s calm here, totally different from the other parts of the city I have visited. I like it here.

I walk aimlessly down Third Street and find the San Francisco I have been longing for—cool, calm, collected and with a fun name. Just that name, Dogpatch, chew on that for awhile and you will most definitely have your curiosity perking up. There are of course several theories as to why this area has gotten its name, but I would like to believe that packs of dogs used to get loose here and would live it up good eating discarded scraps of meat from the local butcheries, and just kind of stuck around. But today I see just see dogs on leashes.

Dogs like Pierre, are of course, welcomed at most places. Alex Englund is the beertender at Harmonic Brewing.

IT’S THAT HOMETOWN FEEL, A NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU KNOW EVERYONE. I KNOW MY GUESTS, AND MOST ARE REGULARS LIVING NEARBY. DOGPATCH FEELS LIKE A BIG COLLECTIVE, AND IF YOU LIKE ART AND DESIGN THEN YOU HAVE ENDED UP IN THE RIGHT PLACE.

The old industrial area has revitalized and become a home to designers, musicians, artists and the likes who harness creative powers. For being in a major US city, Dogpatch is relatively affordable when it comes to living, or so I’ve heard.

BEER WITH THE LOCALS I stop in at Harmonic Brewing and behind the bar stands a guy with a suspiciously Swedish name, Alex Englund. He has been a bartender here since 2016. I ask him what the best thing about Dogpatch is while he pours up his favorite brew for me, their own IPA: Out on the Tiles – It’s that hometown feel, a neighborhood where you feel like you know everyone. I know my guests, and most are regulars living nearby. Dogpatch feels like a big collective, and if you like art and design then you have ended up in the right place.

A portable pizza oven has rolled out and two guys are at it turning out fresh pies. The smell of freshly baked pizza wafts over the bar, and outside they are getting ready for the evening. With a beer in me, I venture out onto the street to see where the night takes me. I wind up at the Minnesota Street Project, an old warehouse building filled to the brim with modern art made by local artists.

A stone’s throw away is the Museum of Craft & Design which hosts pop-up style exhibitions that rotate every few months. Pride flags wave over the streets, and outside one of Dogpatch’s popular cafes stands a man with a megaphone preaching for equality. Amen brother, Amen.

Despite the strong tech-culture which has taken over a large swathe of the city, this oasis for artists has remained steadfast in its history and relaxed atmosphere, all with a strong feeling of cooperation and togetherness. This is my San Francisco.

Dogpatch Saloon is a classic cozy neighborhood bar.