Japantown, Fillmore & Pacific Heights

Don't let the quaint Victorians and upscale boutiques fool you: this neighborhood rocks. Japanese Americans have called this area home for over a century and today Japantown is where cosplay kids come to rock Lolitha Goth fashion at anime premieres. The Fillmore has been a nightlife hub since its 1940s jazz heyday and turned totally trippy in the psychedelic 1960s. Hilltop Pacific Heights is ringed with mansions, many owned or once-owned by powerful women - including nude model turned museum founder Alma Spreckles, African American billionaire and Underground Railroad pioneer Mary Ellen Pleasant and US Congresswoman and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.