Happy Piroshki!

On Saturday I was doing some "location scouting" for one of my clients which led me to the Outer Richmond District, just one of the more than 100 San Francisco neighborhoods.

I actually grew up not far from the Outer Richmond (to tell you the truth San Francisco is so small that where ever you are is not that far from somewhere else). Like many parts of San Francisco, the Outer Richmond or "the avenues" as it is also called, is a hodgepodge of people from many cultures.

But what is distinctly noticeable, or audible I should say, about the Outer Richmond is its significant Russian population which means of course there are a good number of Russian restaurants and bakeries. Today the Bay Area's Russian population is estimated to be around 80,000. The photo you see on the right is the Holy Virgin Cathedral an imposing Byzantine-style structure is crowned with five onion domes, each covered in 24-karat gold leaf


On the left, in front of the Moscow & Tblisi Bakery is an elderly gentleman, playing "Jingle Bells" on the accordion. Unfortunately I did not have an audio recording device with me... but if you want a different Chinese twist on Jingle Bells check out this version by 女子十二乐坊 which means "The 12 Girls Band" for those of you who can't read Chinese!

Again, happy holidays to all!

p.s. oh.. I almost forgot.. this blog is supposed to be about retail real estate... Asking rents in this part of town typically range in the $2 - $3 sf/month range.