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The glassy waters of Mission Creek make for some fun exploring

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The iconic swan paddle boat is moored to one of the many homes

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You can launch a boat from the Mission Creek park on the north side of the creek

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As night falls, Highway 280 looms overhead

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Downstream, you can see AT&T park

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The China Basin Building, a former banana processing plant

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Here you can see a houseboat, Highway 280 and the Mission Creek park and condos

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A heron takes flight

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You don't have to travel to Sausalito to be privy to a houseboat community. Most people don't realize that one exists within San Francisco.

The small community of Mission Creek houseboats has been moored on the edge of the city since 1960, when it was relocated from Islais Creek further south to make way for merchant ship trading. Its inhabitants live just under Highway 280 with the sprawling UCSF Mission Bay campus to the south, and the Mission Creek condo developments to the north. 

The China Basin area has experienced loads of construction in the past decade, but few know that the China Basin Building was originally constructed as a banana processing plant in the 1920s. Now, the main attraction of Mission Creek is AT&T Park, a view of which can be seen from the houseboats. Paddling the creek is an excellent way to get a first-hand glimpse of this local houseboat community.