Sign Hill Apartments for Rent

South San Francisco is not part of San Francisco. This understandably surprises people. The two cities do not even touch. To distinguish itself, South San Francisco put up a sign, made of powdered lime letters, on a hillside. “South San Francisco — The Industrial City,” it read. By 1928, the letters were embedded concrete, and their location was called Sign Hill.

Many homes on Sign Hill have views of the city below and the Bay beyond. A mature, eclectic neighborhood for the most part, it features homes with styles like Mission Revival, Spanish Mediterranean, and Mid-Century Modern, among others. Contemporary townhouses cluster higher up the hill.

Maple Avenue on the east, Tamarack Lane on the south, and Chestnut Avenue on the west form boundaries of the Sign Hill neighborhood. Hillside Boulevard, Sign Hill Park, and contiguous Paradise Valley Park comprise the north boundary. Paradise Valley is the neighborhood behind Sign Hill, between it and San Bruno Mountain. The ZIP code for Sign Hill is 95080. Paths thread the hillside, and San Bruno Mountain State Park provides steep trails and ocean views.

For major shopping, a Costco is on Airport Boulevard, about two miles southeast of Sign Hill. Huge Serramonte Mall is about three miles west.

Commuting in a vehicle from Sign Hill involves driving a half-mile east to the Bayshore Freeway, or about three miles west to I-280. The Bay Area Rapid Transit station, which is the subway stop, is closer. It’s about a mile away on El Camino Real. A train station that serves San Francisco and points south is near the Bayshore Freeway.

South San Francisco is still an industrial city, although the main industry now is bio-tech. Genentech is the largest local employer. The hillside sign is still seen by people driving to the other San Francisco. Sign Hill remains a distinctive place to live.