Silver Terrace, San Francisco: Homes, Zoning & Real Estate Guide
Silver Terrace is a small hillside neighborhood in southeast San Francisco, roughly between Bayshore Boulevard and US 101 on the west, Third Street on the east, Silver and Palou Avenues on the north and Williams Avenue on the south. Its Assessor subdistrict, 10G, holds about 2,250 parcels on the 2025 roll, about 1,940 of them single-family houses with a median build year of 1942.
It sits between the Portola across the freeway and Bayview along Third Street. Industrial land lines its western edge, and the T Third light rail runs along its eastern one.
Silver Terrace homes for sale
Silver Terrace market report
Between Bayshore Boulevard and Third Street
The boundaries above are Wikipedia’s, which puts the neighborhood at about 0.39 square miles. The two long edges are very different. On the west, Bayshore Boulevard and the freeway are bordered by industrial and repair zoning; on the east, Third Street is the Bayview commercial corridor.
Wikipedia also notes that a Caltrain tunnel runs beneath the neighborhood. For an owner that is mostly a curiosity, but it is worth knowing when a survey, soils report or title exception mentions a railroad easement.
A neighborhood built in the early 1940s
Roughly two in five Silver Terrace houses (about 39 percent) went up between 1940 and 1945 according to the roll, and 1941 alone accounts for about 291 houses, the busiest single year in any of the five subdistricts we compared (10B, 10D, 10E, 10G and 10H).
- Before 1940: about 25 percent of houses.
- 1940–1945: about 39 percent.
- 1946–1959: about 19 percent.
- 1960–1979: about 6 percent.
- 1980 and later: about 12 percent, nearly half of them from 1986, described below.
The median house has about 1,300 square feet on a lot of about 2,500 square feet. The roll also lists about 50 two-unit flats, a handful of small apartment buildings, about 44 condominium units and 18 industrial parcels.
The house blocks carry names such as Palou, Quesada, Quint, Topeka, Thornton, Elmira and Bridgeview Drive. A cluster of short streets takes its names from classical mythology: Apollo, Venus, Mercury, Neptune, Vesta and Diana Streets.
The 1986 hillside streets
About 108 houses on the roll share a single build year, 1986. In a sample of 40 of them, every one was a single-family house on Bayview Circle, Silverview Drive, Vista View Court, Whitecliff Way or Clearview Court. Their lots varied more than in the older grid, from about 1,300 to about 5,300 square feet, with a median near 2,000.
For a buyer, these houses raise a different set of questions from the 1940s stock: the original subdivision map and any recorded covenants, the condition of retaining walls and drainage on sloped lots, and whether the street and slope maintenance is public or private. The title report answers most of them.
Zoning: one-family blocks and an industrial edge
The Assessor’s zoning field codes about 1,980 parcels RH-1 and about 110 RH-2. Along the edges it shows 13 M-1 parcels, 5 PDR-2 and a few CM and NC-S parcels, and about 70 public (P) parcels.
Planning’s current zoning layer shows the same split, with M-1, PDR-1-B and PDR-2 districts toward Bayshore Boulevard and the freeway. Those districts are meant for production, distribution and repair businesses, so a house near the western edge may have them as neighbors.
What our point checks showed
We queried Planning’s zoning, special use district and hazard layers at three points in October 2026:
| Point | Zoning district | Special use district | Hazard layers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bayview Circle (1986 streets) | RH-1, Planning Code Sec. 209.1 | Only the quarter-mile buffer of the Fringe Financial Services RUD | No liquefaction, landslide or FEMA flood feature |
| Middle of the older grid | Not returned (point fell on a street) | Priority Equity Geographies SUD | No liquefaction, landslide or FEMA flood feature |
| North side of the neighborhood | Not returned (point fell on a street) | Priority Equity Geographies SUD | No liquefaction, landslide or FEMA flood feature |
The Priority Equity Geographies SUD (Sec. 249.97) took effect January 14, 2024, under an ordinance carrying out the 2022 Housing Element. It sets no height or density of its own; its controls live in Sections 311 and 317, the Planning Code’s permit-review and dwelling-unit-loss rules. The Bayview Circle point sits outside it, so check each lot on the Property Information Map.
Across US 101 is the Portola’s San Bruno Avenue NCD (Planning Code Sec. 741). On the east, Third Street carries the Bayview NCD (Sec. 737) together with the Third Street Alcohol and Third Street Formula Retail restricted use districts, which add alcohol and chain-store controls along the corridor.
T Third stations along the east edge
Light rail reached this stretch of Third Street in 2007, with full service from April, and since January 2023 its trains have run on through the Central Subway. Three of its stations sit on Third Street at Silver Terrace’s east side: Oakdale/Palou, Revere/Shafter and Williams. Southbound, the line ends at Sunnydale.
Published route lists also end the 23 Monterey and the 24 Divisadero at Palou Avenue and Third Street, on the neighborhood’s northeast corner, and Wikipedia’s station list shows both as connections at Oakdale/Palou. By car, US 101 and Bayshore Boulevard form the west side. Route lists date from 2022; confirm current service with SFMTA.
Hazard maps for Silver Terrace
Planning’s landslide layer shows seven small polygons in the subdistrict’s envelope, all in its northern part. None covers a large area.
The large liquefaction polygon that follows the old Islais Creek lowland reaches the north edge of the subdistrict’s envelope, but the points we checked inside the neighborhood, including one on its north side and one on Bayview Circle, were outside it (see the table above). Parcels at the north edge still deserve a lot-by-lot check on our San Francisco hazard maps page. A mapped zone must be disclosed at sale, normally in the natural hazard disclosure report.
Selling a home in Silver Terrace
Most sales here are 1940s houses compared against other 1940s houses. The details that separate them are usually below the main floor and behind the house.
- Lower levels: where a house sits over a garage and rooms were added there, compare them with the 3R report and see our unwarranted units guide.
- Slope work: on sloped lots, including the 1986 streets, collect retaining-wall, drainage and foundation records.
- Next-door uses: near Bayshore Boulevard, disclose known industrial neighbors and point buyers to the zoning map.
- Buyers with a project in mind: if a buyer may demolish, merge units or expand substantially, confirm whether the lot is in the Priority Equity Geographies SUD and how Sections 311 and 317 apply before anyone prices that plan in.
- Second units: if you have studied adding an accessory dwelling unit, share that work; our ADU investment guide explains how buyers value one.
Every San Francisco sale also involves the 3R report, energy rules and transfer tax, all on our selling requirements page.
Questions people ask
Where is Silver Terrace in San Francisco?
In the southeast, between Bayshore Boulevard and US 101 on the west and Third Street on the east, from Silver and Palou Avenues south to Williams Avenue. It is subdistrict 10G of SF District 10.
When were most Silver Terrace houses built?
The median house dates from 1942, and about 39 percent of houses have recorded build years from 1940 to 1945. A group of about 108 houses on Bayview Circle and nearby streets dates from 1986.
What zoning covers Silver Terrace?
Mostly RH-1 one-family zoning, with some RH-2. Industrial and PDR districts line the Bayshore Boulevard side, and Third Street on the east is in the Bayview NCD.
Which T Third stations serve Silver Terrace?
Oakdale/Palou, Revere/Shafter and Williams, all on Third Street along the neighborhood’s east side.
Is Silver Terrace in a landslide or liquefaction zone?
Small landslide polygons appear in the northern part of the neighborhood. The Islais Creek liquefaction zone reaches the subdistrict’s northern edge, but the three points we checked inside the neighborhood in October 2026 were outside it and outside FEMA’s flood zones. Check the specific lot.
What is the Priority Equity Geographies SUD?
A special use district in effect since January 2024 that Planning maps over parts of Silver Terrace. It adds no height or density limits; its rules sit in Planning Code Sections 311 and 317 on permit review and the loss of dwelling units.
Selling or buying in Silver Terrace? Ask for a home valuation; we price wartime houses against other wartime houses, and the 1986 streets against each other. For the surrounding area, see Bayview Heights, SF District 10 and our San Francisco guide.
Sources & notes
- DataSF / SF Assessor-Recorder: Assessor Historical Secured Property Tax Rolls, 2025 closed roll (parcel counts by class, build years, zoning field and street samples for subdistrict 10G; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning: PlanningData map service (zoning districts, special use districts, CGS liquefaction and landslide zone layers; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning Code (via GoCodebook): Article 7, Neighborhood Commercial Districts (Sec. 737, 741, 782 and 786)
- Wikipedia: T Third Street (opening dates and station list)
- Wikipedia: List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines (route names and termini; status as of July 2022)
- Wikipedia: Silver Terrace, San Francisco (boundaries, area, Caltrain tunnel; background only)
- San Francisco Planning Code (via GoCodebook): Sec. 249.97, Priority Equity Geographies Special Use District
Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.
