Mission Terrace, San Francisco: Homes, Streets & Real Estate Guide
Mission Terrace is the 1920s house neighborhood on the west side of the greater Excelsior, roughly between San Jose Avenue and Interstate 280 on the west and the Mission Street area on the east, from around Silver and Santa Rosa Avenues south to Balboa Park station at Geneva Avenue. Single-family houses make up about 2,230 of the roughly 2,680 parcels the 2025 Assessor roll assigns to subdistrict 10H; their median year built is 1927.
The south end of the neighborhood is inside the Balboa Park Station Area Plan, so the blocks nearest the station carry different zoning from the rest. The north end meets the freeway near Santa Rosa Avenue.
Mission Terrace homes for sale
Mission Terrace market report
Where Mission Terrace sits
There is no single official boundary. Wikipedia’s Excelsior article describes Mission Terrace as the district’s western part, and the MLS treats it as its own subdistrict. The Assessor’s 10H parcels run along streets from Silver, Santa Rosa and Delano Avenues in the north to Geneva and Ocean Avenues in the south, with San Jose Avenue on the west side; only a couple of Mission Street houses fall inside it.
The neighbors are the Excelsior to the east, the Outer Mission south of Geneva Avenue, and Glen Park and Sunnyside across I-280.
Street names: nations and missions
Two naming patterns run through the grid. Wikipedia notes that many streets were named for American Indian nations; it gives Seneca Avenue, once Mohawk Avenue, as an example, and lists Onondaga, Navajo, Modoc, Ottawa, Oneida, Seminole and Cayuga.
A second group, by our own reading of the street list, echoes Spanish saints and California mission names: Santa Rosa, Santa Ynez, Santa Ysabel, San Gabriel, San Juan and Capistrano.
A neighborhood finished before the war
Most of Mission Terrace was built before 1940. About 40 percent of its houses have recorded build years in the 1920s, about 21 percent before 1920 and about 22 percent in the 1930s. Only about 9 percent date from after 1945, the smallest postwar share of the five District 10 subdistricts compared on these pages (10B, 10D, 10E, 10G and 10H).
The busiest years on the roll were 1925 (about 162 houses), 1926 (about 146) and 1924 (about 130). A typical house is modest: the median runs about 1,315 square feet inside, on roughly 2,500 square feet of land.
Multi-unit buildings are a small minority: roughly 67 two-unit flats, some 42 buildings with flats over shops, and 33 apartment buildings (11 with up to four units, 18 with 5 to 14 and 4 larger), plus about 69 condominium units. Two-unit flats and small apartment buildings of this age raise rent-ordinance questions for buyers who plan to live in one unit; our San Francisco multifamily guide covers them.
Balboa High School and other landmarks
Balboa High School, at 1000 Cayuga Avenue, is San Francisco Landmark No. 205. The building dates from 1930 and was designated in 1995, and its parcel is in subdistrict 10H.
Nearby on Onondaga Avenue, the Alemany Emergency Hospital and Health Center at 35–45 Onondaga, built in 1933, became Landmark No. 272 in 2016. Just across Geneva Avenue in the Outer Mission is Landmark No. 180, the 1901 railroad office building at 2301 San Jose Avenue.
Landmark status applies to the designated buildings, not the houses around them, but work on a designated property needs Planning review.
The station end: plan, zoning and 915 Cayuga
The Balboa Park Station Area Plan was adopted in May 2009 and covers about 210 acres around the station. For Mission Terrace, three parts of it matter most:
- Transit-oriented zoning. Around San Jose Avenue just north of Geneva, the zoning layer shows NCT-1 and NCT-2 transit districts; nearly everything else in the subdistrict is RH-1.
- The Geneva and San Jose corner. Policy 4.3.2 encourages mixed-use housing on the northeast corner of the intersection, which the plan describes as a one-story retail building and a Recreation and Park strip.
- The 915 Cayuga Avenue site. The Cayuga/Alemany Special Use District, Planning Code Sec. 249.63, covers one lot bounded generally by Cayuga Street, Ocean Avenue, Alemany Boulevard and Onondaga Avenue. It implements a development agreement (File No. 190249) with no residential density limit, at least 70 percent of units with two or more bedrooms, and half of the on-site units affordable at set income tiers. The 2025 roll still classes that lot, listed at 1830 Alemany Boulevard, as industrial.
Away from the station, the Assessor’s zoning field codes about 2,270 parcels RH-1 and about 50 RH-2, with about 190 parcels coded NC-1, NC-2 or NC-3 on the commercial frontages. Planning’s current map puts Mission Street in the Excelsior Outer Mission Street NCD (Sec. 720) and also shows RH-1(S) and RM-1 pockets nearby.
BART, Muni Metro and Mission Street buses
Balboa Park station opened in 1973, and the 2009 area plan described it as the busiest BART station outside downtown San Francisco. Street access to the elevator is from Geneva Avenue, and BART lists bike share at both the Ocean Avenue and Geneva Avenue plazas.
The J Church and the M Ocean View end at Balboa Park, per published route lists. The 14 Mission and 14R Mission Rapid run on Mission Street on the east side. For station parking, BART directs drivers to Glen Park. Route details date from 2022, so confirm service with SFMTA.
Hazards: the north end by I-280
Most of Mission Terrace sits outside the state’s mapped seismic hazard zones. The exceptions are at the north end. Planning’s liquefaction layer shows a small polygon near San Jose Avenue, Santa Rosa Avenue and Pilgrim Avenue by the freeway, with two more just north of the subdistrict.
The landslide layer shows only three tiny polygons, all at the northern edge along I-280. Buyers of houses near the freeway should also ask about noise and any retaining structures. Check each lot on our hazard maps page; mapped zones must be disclosed at sale, as our natural hazard disclosure guide explains.
Selling a home in Mission Terrace
A house built in 1925 has usually been remodeled at least once, and buyers in Mission Terrace look closely at what was permitted.
- Permit history: pull the permit record and the 3R report early; rear additions and lower-level rooms are the usual questions, and our unwarranted units guide covers unpermitted space.
- Foundations and systems: for 1920s houses, have the foundation, wiring and sewer lateral reports ready, since buyers will commission their own.
- Near the station: list the zoning district and point buyers to the area plan and the Cayuga/Alemany SUD where nearby.
- Flats: assemble leases and rent history for multi-unit buildings.
The 3R report, transfer tax and the other steps required for any city sale are explained on our San Francisco selling requirements page.
Questions people ask
Where is Mission Terrace?
On the west side of the greater Excelsior, roughly between San Jose Avenue and the Mission Street area, from about Silver Avenue south to Geneva Avenue and Balboa Park station. It is subdistrict 10H of SF District 10; there is no official boundary.
Why are Mission Terrace streets named after Indian nations?
Wikipedia notes that many streets in the area were named for American Indian nations, including Seneca, Onondaga, Navajo, Modoc, Ottawa, Oneida, Seminole and Cayuga, but it does not say who chose the names.
How old are Mission Terrace houses?
The median house on the 2025 roll was built in 1927, and about 83 percent were built before 1940.
Is Balboa High School a landmark?
Yes. The 1930 building at 1000 Cayuga Avenue is San Francisco Landmark No. 205, designated in 1995.
What is planned at 915 Cayuga Avenue?
The Cayuga/Alemany SUD and a development agreement allow a residential project with no density limit, mostly family-size units and half of the on-site units affordable. Check Planning’s records for the current permit status.
Is Mission Terrace in a liquefaction zone?
Most of it is not. Planning’s map shows a small liquefaction polygon near San Jose and Santa Rosa Avenues by I-280, at the north end.
Getting ready to sell, or comparing houses in Mission Terrace? Request a home valuation that weighs your house’s era, permits and lot against recent nearby sales. See also 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, street list and parcel lookups for subdistrict 10H; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning: PlanningData map service (zoning districts, special use districts, landmarks, CGS liquefaction and landslide zone layers; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning: Balboa Park Station Area Plan (archived project page)
- San Francisco Planning, General Plan: Balboa Park Station Area Plan
- San Francisco Planning Code (via GoCodebook): Sec. 249.63, Cayuga/Alemany Special Use District
- San Francisco Planning Code (via GoCodebook): Sec. 720, Excelsior Outer Mission Street Neighborhood Commercial District
- BART: Balboa Park Station (401 Geneva Avenue)
- Wikipedia: List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines (route names and termini; status as of July 2022)
- Wikipedia: Excelsior District, San Francisco (Mission Terrace and its street names; background only)
Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.
