Thursday's Parenting on a Budget

If you don't know by now San Francisco is an expensive city to live in.

It's hard to believe but there are many working-class San Franciscans, who have children, and somehow manage to get by in the most expensive city in the United States. These are not tech executives' kids going to private academies.

There are workers who wear nametags and shower after their shift ends, send their kids to public school, and somehow manage to raise a family in the land of the $3800-a-month one bedroom apartment.

There are more pet owners than parents in San Francisco, and the city has one of the smallest K through 12 populations in the country. The city of Garland, Texas has a population of 250,000 and has about 58,000 K through 12 students. Ironically it is the same number of students as in San Francisco, a city with a population three times greater. Suffice it to say, it’s not easy being a working parent in San Francisco.

But this is a dynamic city, and if you dig around and scratch the surface a little, you will find many options for families on a budget which are mostly free.

The Randall Museum is operated by the city. It is a free hands-on science and nature complex, complete with a petting zoo and an impressive model train exhibit. Josephine D. Randall was San Francisco’s first Superintendent of Recreation. She made it her mission to establish a safe place for kids to get exposed to art, science, and nature.

Originally established in an old city jail in 1937, since 1951 it has been in a 16-acre park, just below Twin Peaks. Today it houses a science and learning center, a petting zoo, and the most impressive model trains I’ve ever seen. The miniature towns and mountains the model trains circumnavigate could probably fill an ice rink. It’s that big, and free!

Fisherman's Wharf is the most popular destination for visitors to San Francisco, and it is anchored by two museums which are both FREE!  The nautical-themed Maritime Museum (in both form and function) honors the seafaring past of San Francisco and is managed by the National Park Service.  This boat-shaped building offers many exhibits and displays which are fun for the whole family and cost nothing.

For 50 years, Playland-at-the-Beach was the only amusement park for almost a hundred miles in any direction from San Francisco.  By the 1970s it ceased to be a wholesome family destination and slowly morphed into one of those creepy amusement parks featured in old Scooby-Doo cartoons.  

Zoinks!  

When it was demolished in 1972, there were still dozens of old arcade attractions that would have otherwise been destined for the trash heap and lost forever.  

The Musée Mécanique created a literal arcade museum, rescued many of the old games, and lovingly restored them to their original design.  Some of them date back over 130 years.  All you need is a fist full of quarters and you could enjoy them as generations of flapper girls and Bobby-Soxers did decades before.

For the next 40 years the Musée Mécanique found a home next to the world-famous Cliff House on the western shores of the city. When the Cliff House expanded, they had to move yet again. Fortunately, they found the best possible home for their wonders to delight young and old.

The Musée Mécanique

The Musée Mécanique is now located at Pier 45 in the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf and is the perfect place for a family on a budget.  Kids born in the 21st century often only see two-dimensional games on TV or computer screens, but their jaws tend to drop when they see it in three dimensions.  

Next to a real fire station is the little and mighty Guardians of the City Museum.  Operated by the San Francisco Fire Department, this little gem is dedicated to the history of the SFFD, and displays firefighting equipment and memorabilia showcasing the integral relationship it had in the development of the city.   So important, in fact, because the city suffered massive fires in its early days. Most notably the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, which destroyed almost a third of San Francisco.

If you stop and look at any official city vehicle, you will notice the seal of the city prominently features a symbol of the Phoenix rising from the ashes.  

But never mind the history, kids love fire trucks!  

And the Guardians of the City Museum will make for a pleasant family excursion.  It’s not very big, but it is filled with all kinds of wonders honoring San Francisco’s firefighting heroes.  The best part for a family on a budget is that it’s also free!

Kids love animals and the San Francisco Zoo is free on the first Wednesday of the month.

The Walt Disney Family Museum is free for one day only, usually on December 5th. Walt's birthday. Naturally it is always best to doublecheck before going.

The Exploratorium is a hands-on museum where kids (both the young kind, and the grown-up kinds as well) can physically interact with the exhibits.   Few people know that this first-of-its-kind interactive science museum was the brainchild of Frank Oppenheimer, the brother of J. Robert Oppenheimer.   Yes that J. Robert Oppenheimer, recently made famous by the 2023 Academy Award winning film by director Christopher Nolan.

Blacklisted, Frank was forced to leave academia.  He taught high school science for many years and preferred engaging his students with tactile experiments.  He later developed that concept and created the Exploratorium. 

Not only can you physically interact with the displays, but there are also easy-to-follow explanations of the physics behind each one.  Located at Pier 15 along the city’s waterfront, it is just a hop skip and a jump from Fisherman’s Wharf. It is also free on Pay-What-You-Wish Day every Mother's Day.

The California Academy of Sciences typically has Pay-What-You-Can program on Academy Day, April 4th.  However, there are discounts and admission deals throughout the year.

Both the Cable Car Museum and the San Francisco Railway Museum are free every day.

There are many other museums and gardens run by the city which offer free admission on specific days as well.  But fine art or plant species probably resonate less with kids than trains and games.  If you want to expose your child to a fine art museum like my mom did there are dozens of them all over the bay area

The other outstanding, yet truly underutilized resources for families on a budget in San Francisco, is our world class library system.   The San Francisco Public Library manages dozens of branches all over the city, and each one offers some kind of free program; with many of those for kids.  It's not just exhibits, there are also live performances.  From just looking at their website for ten minutes, I found the following:

Living Tattoo Traditions: American Irezumi and Beyond

Celebrating Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Fashioning Bay Area Punk

A Film on Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea

These are from the SFPL calendar for just this week, and from just one branch.  The SFPL offers dozens of exhibits, workshops, events, and live performances every day at all of their branches.

The Mather Family Camp, in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, is run by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department.  Since 1924 the Camp Mather gives San Francisco children the opportunity to leave the second most densely populated city in the United States, and commune with nature.  Almost 10,000 campers utilize this unique experience each year, one week at a time.

Did I mention it is free for the children of San Francisco?