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south san francisco neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Sunshine Gardens, South San Francisco Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The 1950s hillside tracts between El Camino Real, Chestnut Avenue and Hillside Boulevard, with South San Francisco BART, Kaiser's medical center, the new civic campus and El Camino High along the lower edge.
Sunshine Gardens by the numbers
sunshine gardens by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Sunshine Gardens (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in sunshine gardens · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Sunshine Gardens
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Sunshine Gardens from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
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Listings come from MLSListings and other MLSs through IDX and show their listing brokerage; confirm details with the listing agent. The map outline is the neighborhood boundary used by our listing search (Sunshine Gardens (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Sunshine Gardens came to be
Sunshine Gardens is a 1950s tract name that stuck. City subdivision records list Sunshine Gardens maps No. 1 through 10 between 1940 and 1959 and No. 11 between 1960 and 1979, alongside Westview Terrace No. 1 and 2 and the older Regli Tract from 1920-1939. The city's neighborhood story map shows the tract in a 1953 photo, a Sunshine Gardens pamphlet and a 1954 flyer for the Sunshine Gardens Improvement Club. In the Census block groups that cover the residential core, about 35 percent of homes date from the 1950s.
Big public buildings arrived along the lower edge. The story map says the city took a duck farm by eminent domain in 1958 for what became El Camino High School, completed in 1961, and that Kaiser opened its El Camino Real location in 1966. BART's South San Francisco station opened in 2003 at El Camino Real and McLellan Drive, and the Centennial Way trail along the BART line opened in 2009.
The newest layer is the city's civic campus at El Camino Real and Chestnut Avenue. The Police Operations and 911 center at Chestnut Avenue and Antoinette Lane opened in February 2022, and the Library | Parks and Recreation Center at 901 Civic Campus Way opened on October 28, 2023, with an 80,000-square-foot building and a 1.3-acre park, per the city.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The houses climb from the El Camino Real side toward Hillside Boulevard on curving streets: Holly Avenue, Ferndale Avenue, Edgewood Way, Dellbrook Avenue, Sunnyside Drive, Heather Way, Forest View Drive, Morningside Avenue, Gardenside Avenue, Birch Avenue, Oak Avenue and Susie Way. Miller Avenue and Grand Avenue climb in from downtown across Chestnut Avenue, and Mission Road and the BART line run along the bottom of the slope.
Single-family houses fill the upper streets: city parcel records list about 1,370 single-family parcels, the middle half on lots of about 4,500 to 5,200 square feet. The lower streets mix in multifamily housing from several decades: 1960s condominium and apartment maps at Willow Avenue and Grand Avenue (Willow & Grand, Willow Gardens, Villa Court), 1980s complexes such as Chestnut Estates, Aldenglen, Hillside Estates and the Mission Glen, Mission Oak and Mission Villa condominiums, and 2000s infill such as Oak Farms. In the core block groups, Census estimates put about 53 percent of homes in detached houses and about 44 percent in buildings of three or more units.
The west edge is institutional and transit-oriented. El Camino High School and the BART station sit along Mission Road, Kaiser Permanente's South San Francisco medical center fronts El Camino Real (public maps), and city zoning near the station and the civic campus includes transit-village and El Camino Real/Chestnut districts, so expect apartments and public buildings there rather than tract houses. The errand map is short: library, BART and high school all sit along the same mile of El Camino Real and Mission Road.
streets in sunshine gardens
- Hillside Boulevard
- Chestnut Avenue
- El Camino Real
- Mission Road
- Lawndale Boulevard
- McLellan Drive
- Miller Avenue
- Grand Avenue
- Holly Avenue
- Ferndale Avenue
- Edgewood Way
- Dellbrook Avenue
- Sunnyside Drive
- Heather Way
- Forest View Drive
- Morningside Avenue
- Gardenside Avenue
- Birch Avenue
- Oak Avenue
- Willow Avenue
- Susie Way
- Lucca Drive
- Dolores Way
- Farm Road
- Antoinette Lane
- Civic Campus Way
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Sunshine Gardens
- park
Library | Parks and Recreation Center
The city's center at 901 Civic Campus Way (El Camino Real and Chestnut Avenue) opened October 28, 2023: an 80,000-square-foot library and recreation building with a 1.3-acre park that has playground equipment, an open turf field and a native garden.
- landmark
South San Francisco BART
The station at 1333 Mission Road opened in 2003 (city story map), with daily and reserved parking and on-demand bike lockers (BART).
- park
Centennial Way
The linear park and trail along the BART line runs about three miles from South San Francisco BART to San Bruno BART; the city named it for its 100th birthday in 2008, and the story map dates its opening to 2009.
- park
Sign Hill Park
A few blocks east of Chestnut Avenue, with almost two miles of hiking-only trails up to the hillside sign, per the city's trails page.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
Sunshine Gardens is in the South San Francisco Unified School District (K-12) at every point we checked against Census district maps. Sunshine Gardens Elementary (1200 Miller Ave) and El Camino High School (1320 Mission Rd) are inside the area, and Parkway Heights Middle School is just east across Chestnut Avenue; all are South San Francisco Unified schools on the city's school map. Attendance boundaries change, so check the exact address with the district.
Getting around
- South San Francisco BART (1333 Mission Rd) is about 0.4 mile straight-line from the middle of the area.
- The Centennial Way trail runs from the BART station about three miles south to San Bruno BART (city trails page).
- El Camino Real (SR 82) runs along the west edge, Chestnut Avenue along the east and Hillside Boulevard along the upper edge; I-280 is reached via Hickey or Westborough boulevards and US-101 via downtown (public maps).
- SamTrans' ECR line runs on El Camino Real, and routes 122 and 130 pass through on the city's route map; check SamTrans for current stops.
- The South San Francisco Caltrain station is about 1.8 miles straight-line east.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Sunshine Gardens: what we check
Buying here
- About 414 of roughly 1,600 residential parcels (about a quarter, by our count) sit in a state-mapped liquefaction zone (2021), mainly the lower streets near El Camino Real, Mission Road and Colma Creek: El Camino Real frontage, Mission Rd, Forest View Dr, Farm Rd, Edmonson Way and parts of Holly Ave and Crestwood Dr. Check the parcel.
- Colma Creek's FEMA Zone AE touches Daly Court and parts of Mission Road and Oak Avenue; lenders require flood insurance for buildings in Zone AE, so check the FIRM panel for the address.
- The upper edge is in a Moderate fire hazard severity zone on the State Fire Marshal's 2025 local-area maps (regional public copy), about 160 residential parcels by our count: Morningside Ave, Hillside Blvd, Lucca Dr, Holly Ave, Forest View Dr, Dolores Way, James Ct and Iris Ct. The land just north of Hillside Boulevard is mapped as state responsibility area. Check defensible-space rules, disclosure and insurance.
- For condos from the 1960s to the 1980s, read the HOA budget, reserve study, insurance and minutes, and check current dues and any special assessments.
- All of South San Francisco is inside SFO's airport influence area (2012 land use compatibility plan), which requires an airport-proximity disclosure; if the house was treated under SFO's noise insulation program, ask for the records, and check eligibility with SFO's Noise Office.
Selling here
- Lead with the distances: BART about 0.4 mile straight-line from the middle, and the new library and recreation center at El Camino Real and Chestnut Avenue.
- Order the natural-hazard disclosure report early; liquefaction on the lower streets and the Moderate fire zone along Hillside Boulevard will both show up.
- For condos, have the HOA packet ready (budget, reserve study, CC&Rs, insurance, minutes).
- Document permits for additions and any hillside retaining walls or drainage work.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Sunshine Gardens questions, answered
Where is Sunshine Gardens?
On the slope below Hillside Boulevard in north-central South San Francisco, between El Camino Real and Chestnut Avenue, with the Colma line at the northwest corner.
How far is BART?
South San Francisco BART, at 1333 Mission Road, is on the area's west edge, about 0.4 mile straight-line from the middle.
Is Sunshine Gardens in a fire hazard zone?
The upper streets below Hillside Boulevard are in a Moderate fire hazard severity zone on the State Fire Marshal's 2025 maps; the lower streets are not. Check the specific parcel.
What is the civic campus on El Camino Real?
The city's Police Operations and 911 center (opened February 2022) and the Library | Parks and Recreation Center (opened October 28, 2023), at El Camino Real and Chestnut Avenue.
Which school district serves Sunshine Gardens?
South San Francisco Unified School District, with Sunshine Gardens Elementary and El Camino High School inside the area. Check the exact address with the district.
next door
More South San Francisco neighborhood guides
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