Photography by Morgan Ellis
As the N Judah emerges from the Sunset Tunnel, it rolls into a scene that feels like Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood of Make-Believe come to life. Dogs play on a wedge-shaped lawn. String lights illuminate the sidewalk outside Arabic restaurant Beit Rema (opens in new tab). (opens in new tab) Kids wait at the ice cream window at Cole Valley Tavern (opens in new tab). A bell trills as the train inches toward Cole Street, pausing the stream of people heading to businesses lining the compact commercial corridor.
Cole Valley is one of San Francisco’s smallest neighborhoods, spanning roughly four square blocks. Unlike the tourist-friendly Haight-Ashbury to the north and the Inner Sunset’s Irving Street corridor to the west, this quiet, affluent pocket of the city doesn’t attract many outsiders. But residents, drawn to the village-like feel and prime location near Golden Gate Park, have kept merchants like Say Cheese, a deli and specialty food store, open for 50 years…