20 Ross Alley, Chinatown · Ross Alley
On screen
Post this entry to read what the scene says.
On the street
Post this entry to read what the street holds.
Sony · 2006 · filmed in San Francisco and Oakland, 2005
The Pursuit of Happyness
The film’s title copies a misspelled daycare mural. The daycare was rebuilt in an alley, the head office is a 1969 tower and the interview was shot across the bay. This ledger posts each place and sets the scene against the street.
Sources
The ledger
Post the entries
Seven places, in the order of a working day. Post an entry to read the film column against the street column.
Sources
0 of 7 posted · 0 played as themselves · 0 stand-ins · 0 across the bay
Seven entries to post. Pick one, then post it.
GLIDE
Glide, Tenderloin
Ellis Street, San Francisco
The church and community centre on Ellis Street. Its homepage lists a Sunday Celebration; check the site for times. Pictured: Glide, 2022.
See Glide
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Chinatown walking tours
Chinatown, San Francisco
Live marketplace results for walks through Chinatown, where Ross Alley runs. Check each route.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
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Across the bay
The interview is in Oakland
The guide places the Dean Witter Reynolds broker-trainee interview at the Guarantee Building and Loan Association Building, 1759 Broadway, Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco.
OpenStreetMap has a building named Old Guaranty Building and Loan Association where Nominatim places 1759 Broadway.
The guide spells the name Guarantee and OpenStreetMap spells it Guaranty. Neither source says Chris Gardner himself went inside.
View it from Broadway. The photograph shows the street a few blocks north.
Sources
Close the book
Go and check the figures
Ross Alley, Duboce Park and the streets round Pine and California are public. The daycare and the park station were sets and are gone. The Pacific Exchange is now a fitness club.
Sources
Where it is now
7 places you can visit in San Francisco and Oakland.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public alley in Chinatown, open to walk. The daycare was a set and is not there.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The old exchange is now a fitness club. Look at it from Pine Street.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An office tower; the plaza and street are public. Look up from California Street.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working church and community centre. Check service and meal times before going; the doors are not a film set.
Site reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public park with a lawn and play areas. The station entrance was a set and is gone.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A pizza restaurant on Grant Avenue. Check opening hours. The photograph shows Grant Avenue nearby, not the shopfront.
Ross Alley in Chinatown, San Francisco, March 2008. www.bluewaikiki.com · CC BY-SA 2.0 San Francisco · 20 Ross Alley, Chinatown
Ross Alley
The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations says the daycare, with its misspelled mural, was recreated in Ross Alley.
A public alley in Chinatown, open to walk. The daycare was a set and is not there.
Sources
The entrance of the former Pacific Coast Stock Exchange at Pine and Sansome Streets, San Francisco, August 2008. BrokenSphere · CC BY-SA 4.0 San Francisco · 301 Pine Street at Sansome Street, Financial District
Pacific Exchange
The guide places the scene where Chris asks a broker in a red Ferrari what he does for a living at the Pacific Exchange, 301 Pine Street at Sansome Street.
The old exchange is now a fitness club. Look at it from Pine Street.
Sources
555 California Street, San Francisco, July 2015. Supercarwaar · CC BY-SA 4.0 San Francisco · 555 California Street, Financial District
555 California Street
The guide says 555 California Street stands in for the Dean Witter Reynolds head office, where Chris gets a position.
An office tower; the plaza and street are public. Look up from California Street.
Sources
Glide Memorial Church on Ellis Street, San Francisco, June 2022. HaeB · CC BY-SA 4.0 San Francisco · 330 Ellis Street at Jones Street, Tenderloin
Glide Memorial Church
The guide says Glide is the shelter where Chris and his son find a room in the film, and calls it the real shelter Chris Gardner used.
A working church and community centre. Check service and meal times before going; the doors are not a film set.
Sources
Duboce Park, San Francisco, February 2007. Seth Golub · CC BY-SA 2.5 San Francisco · Hermann and Steiner Streets, north-east corner of Duboce Park
Duboce Park
The guide says Chris jumps out of a cab without paying at Hermann and Steiner Streets, on the north-east corner of Duboce Park.
A public park with a lawn and play areas. The station entrance was a set and is gone.
Sources
Grant Avenue in North Beach, San Francisco, July 2014. North Beach Pizza stands on this street; this is a nearby view, not the shopfront. Derek Petersen · CC BY 3.0 San Francisco · 1462 Grant Avenue at Union Street, North Beach
North Beach Pizza
The guide names North Beach Pizza, 1462 Grant Avenue at Union Street, as the diner where Chris takes his son to eat.
A pizza restaurant on Grant Avenue. Check opening hours. The photograph shows Grant Avenue nearby, not the shopfront.
Sources
Stay
A room near Union Square.
A hotel a short ride from Glide and the Financial District.
Hotel Nikko San Francisco
Hotel Nikko San Francisco
Union Square, San Francisco
A Union Square hotel, a short ride from Glide and the Financial District. Pictured: 555 California Street, 2015.
Check roomsGo there
Walk it.
Glide, Chinatown walks and San Francisco film-location tours.
GLIDE
Glide, Tenderloin
Ellis Street, San Francisco
The church and community centre on Ellis Street. Its homepage lists a Sunday Celebration; check the site for times. Pictured: Glide, 2022.
See GlideViator · Ad / affiliate
Chinatown walking tours
Chinatown, San Francisco
Live marketplace results for walks through Chinatown, where Ross Alley runs. Check each route.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare tours
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North Beach and film location tours
North Beach, San Francisco
Live marketplace results for San Francisco movie location and North Beach tours. Check which pass the places in this World.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
No dates yet.
Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The archive
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
7 of 7 places · 7 of 7 stories
Ross Alley
20 Ross Alley, Chinatown
The mural
The daycare with the misspelled mural is rebuilt in Ross Alley.
Pacific Exchange
301 Pine Street at Sansome Street, Financial District
The red Ferrari
Chris asks a broker in a red Ferrari what he does for a living.
Guarantee Building and Loan, Oakland
1759 Broadway, Oakland
The interview
The trainee interview is shot across the bay in Oakland.
555 California Street
555 California Street, Financial District
The head office
A 1969 tower plays the Dean Witter Reynolds head office.
Glide Memorial Church
330 Ellis Street at Jones Street, Tenderloin
The shelter
Chris and his son find a room at Glide.
Duboce Park
Hermann and Steiner Streets, north-east corner of Duboce Park
The cab fare
Chris leaves a cab at Hermann and Steiner and runs across the park to a station built for the film.
North Beach Pizza
1462 Grant Avenue at Union Street, North Beach
Dinner on Grant Avenue
Chris takes his son to eat at North Beach Pizza.
