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It makes sense that, when his workday is over, Mayor Gavin Newsom often retreats to upper Hyde Street to dine at the bar at Luella. Safely removed from the bustle of Polk Street to the west and North Beach to the east, this strip of Russian Hill feels like a throwback to another era. You can still get your poodle groomed in one of several salons, or eat an ice cream from the country’s very first Swensen’s as you watch the Powell-Hyde cable car rattle by. The pizza parlor regularly signs for UPS deliveries, holding them for locals to pick up after work. And the lack of parking? One more constant. But somewhere between the First Chinese Southern Baptist Church (at Sacramento Street) and the mini park between Vallejo and Green, modern urban life has begun to creep in: Restaurants cycle through, and we have it on good authority that the street’s first art gallery is coming to the corner of Union. The demographics have shifted too. “During the day, there’s no one around. Rents are so high that everybody works now,” says Swensen’s owner, Dick Campana. “But at night, it’s always busy. Even when it’s raining, we have people lining up for ice cream.” Luckily, some things never change.
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