San Francisco famously boasts some of the steepest streets in the country. Whether you’re walking or driving, the varying gradient of the road is sure to catch your attention and give your heart rate a healthy boost. Lombard Street is one of the most unique of the vertically endowed roads and is a great stop to add to any itinerary.
Lombard Street in San Francisco is one of America’s crookedest streets and found on many tours. The steep, hilly street was created with sharp curves to switchback down the one-way hill past beautiful Victorian mansions. If not for the byzantine curves, easing out this treacherous slope, people could be killed rolling down. For an idea of how steep this street really is, go two blocks up, to Filbert Street and peer down over the ridge. Lombard is even steeper.
Some of San Francisco’s most expensive real estate sits on Lombard Street. This Russian Hill neighborhood possesses stately mansions even with the endless array of tourists pouring down the street every day. In the spring and through the entire summer, Lombard Street is alive with color, as the many beautiful flowers are in bloom.
Although it is known as the “Crookedest Street in the World,” Lombard St. is not even the “crookedest” street in San Francisco. That title technically belongs to Vermont Street between 20th and 22nd streets on Potrero Hill. The Bring Your Own Bigwheel Race, held every Easter Sunday, that features people racing on big-wheeled plastic bikes started on Lombard St. before moving to Vermont St.
It may look treacherous, but Lombard Street’s switchbacks were actually built to increase the safety of the street. The natural steep grade was thought to be too dangerous. In the 1920s, a property owner suggested creating a series of switchbacks which not only added to the street's scenic appeal but made it safer for pedestrians.
The name Lombard actually has no link to San Francisco history. It is named after a street in Philadelphia.
According to sftodo
