Portola, San Francisco

Portola (pronounced PORE-toe-luh, by denizens) was named after the old Portola School, which in turn was named after the Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolà (credited by some as the discoverer of San Francisco Bay). It earned the nickname Garden District for its history of urban farming dating back to the early 1900s. The neighborhood once had over 20 functioning commercial farms and greenhouses. ==Characteristics==

According to the U.S. Census, the Asian population in the Portola has been steadily increasing since the 1990s. The Portola is marked by Census Tract 257. ==History==

Originally settled after the 1906 earthquake by Jewish and Italian immigrants, the area evolved into a community populated by nurserymen and their families who grew much of the city's flower crop there and uphill to the west in the Portola Heights extension. "The Road", as San Bruno Avenue was affectionately referred to by the locals, still hosts businesses that include bakeries, grocery stores, pharmacies, and in earlier times the Avenue Theater, now a church. The Portola was also once home to a significant population of Maltese immigrants and settlers and at one time the Maltese Consulate. ==Demographics==

According to the 2012 to 2016 census data gathered by the San Francisco Planning Dept. == Education ==

Elementary • E.R. Taylor Elementary School High school • Philip and Sala Burton Academic School == Gallery ==

File:McLaren Park IMG 9024 (3826636765).jpg|Portola viewed from John McLaren Park ==References==