Get to Know: OMI (Oceanview, Merced Heights, and Ingleside)

Oceanview, Merced Heights, and Ingleside/Ingleside Terraces—often clustered together as OMI—are predominantly residential neighborhoods in SFAR’s District 3 (Southwest) designation. The area was mostly small farms punctuated with roadhouses and racetracks. The Ingleside Terraces neighborhood is conspicuously oval-shaped, following the contours of the horse racetrack that was there. At the northwest end now sits a massive sundial, the biggest of its kind when it was build in 1912. Like many of the western neighborhoods, interest in the area increased sharply with the opening of Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1917. Today, the area features quaint homes climbing the hills sprawling to the city’s southern border.

Ocean Avenue remains the main business arterial. The 2012 opening of a large Whole Foods in a new construction complex breathed new life into the easter end of the stretch. Another complex is planned for 1601-1633 Ocean Avenue, which will create even more housing and commercial activity.

One of my favorite spots is Beep’s Burgers, a midcentury drive-in that’s been in operation since 1962. A drive-in it remains: There’s no indoor seating, just a few stools and a picnic table, so make sure to visit on a nice day. The burgers and fries are delicious, and affordable to boot.

Nearby Balboa Pool (in Balboa Park) recently reopened, complete with a splashy and colorful new mural. The area has plenty of parks, playgrounds, and other ways to enjoy being out and about.

Due to its sleepy reputation, it also remains an area where homes can be gotten relatively less expensively, as demonstrated from the chart below:

Want to check out homes in Ocean View, Merced Heights, and Ingleside? Contact me, and we’ll go check it out.