Noe Valley is a neighborhood in the central part of San Francisco, California. Its borders are generally considered to be 20th or 21st Street to the north, 30th Street to the south, Dolores Street to the east, and Douglass Street and the Diamond Heights neigborhood to the west (although these borders are somewhat flexible, particularly among real estate agents). The Castro neighborhood is directly to Noe Valley's north and The Mission is to its east.
Noe Valley was primarily built up at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, especially in the years just after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. As a result, the neighborhood contains many examples of the "classic" Victorian and Edwardian residential architecture for which San Francisco is famous.
The neighborhood is primarily residential, although there is a bustling commercial strip along 24th Street, between Church Street and Castro Street.
Like many other San Francisco neighborhoods, Noe Valley started out as a working-class neighborhood for employees in San Francisco's once-thriving blue-collar economy, and their families. Also like other San Francisco neighborhoods, Noe Valley has since undegone successive waves of gentrification and is now considered a relatively upscale area. It is home to many urban professionals, particularly young couples with young children, and it is not unusual for a well-maintained house in Noe Valley to sell for a million dollars or more.
