San Francisco de Dos Ríos

About San Francisco de Dos Ríos:

San Francisco de Dos Ríos is the sixth district of San José canton and covers just 2.64 square kilometres at 1,168 metres. The María Aguilar marks its northern edge, with Zapote on the far bank, and the Tiribí its southern one, where Desamparados canton begins; Curridabat lies to the east and San Sebastián to the west. The Circunvalación, Route 39, crosses the district, and national routes 204, 207, 209 and 211 also run through it. The main street, Calle de San Francisco, links the Circunvalación on the west with La Colina on the east, while the Radial a Desamparados cuts across on its way from Zapote to San Antonio de Desamparados. City buses run to downtown San José, and the Periférica line connects the district with the communities around it.

The district was created on 7 December 1848 and takes its name from Saint Francis of Assisi and the two rivers that bound it. For a century it stayed small, with 2,319 inhabitants in 1950. Over the next three decades that figure grew more than sixfold, passing 15,000 by 1984. Since 2000 it has held between 20,000 and 22,000, because there is very little land left to build on. The barrios that filled up in that wave include El Bosque, Los Sauces, Los Saucitos, La Pacífica, Las Fresas, Cinco Esquinas, Méndez, Coopeguaria, Lomas de San Francisco, Camelias, Fátima, El Faro, Lincoln, Maalot, Zurquí, Y Griega and part of Ahogados.

Commerce and industry share the district. Factories sit mostly in the north, along the main street, and in the Los Moteles area on the Curridabat side, and plastics processing is strongly represented among them. Shops, bakeries, pizzerias, bars and restaurants line the main street and the Radial, and they do much of their trade at night. In the centre, the parish church stands diagonally across from the Escuela República Dominicana, a public school founded in 1936, and private and language schools are spread through the barrios. The Christian radio station Faro del Caribe broadcasts from its building east of the Parque de la Paz roundabout.

For a district this size, there is a good deal of open space. Besides Parque Okayama, the Polideportivo has pitches for football, basketball and baseball, an athletics track and a covered gym, and smaller parks in El Bosque, Los Sauces, Cinco Esquinas and Méndez serve their own blocks; the one in El Bosque is shaded by cypress trees. Most residents are Costa Rican. Among those born abroad, Nicaraguans are the largest group, followed by people from the United States, Colombia, China and Peru, and the American presence is strongest in El Bosque. Buyers are mostly families who want to live close to downtown and the Circunvalación, along with small investors buying units to let.

Houses in San Francisco de Dos Ríos:

Housing here is overwhelmingly single-family and built in concrete, from modest homes to a handful of much larger ones. A common layout in El Bosque is three bedrooms, a covered carport and a small patio, while Los Sauces has single-storey houses on lots of more than a thousand square metres, some suited to offices as well as family life. When you look at houses in San Francisco de Dos Ríos, find out which zone of the municipal urban plan the address falls in. Along the main street and the Radial, mixed and commercial zones allow businesses right next door, while much of the rest of the district is zoned residential.

Apartments in San Francisco de Dos Ríos:

Apartments come in low-rise buildings and small towers of a few floors, some with only a handful of units, a social room and a small gym. Several condominiums sit near the Parque de la Paz end of the district, a short hop from the Circunvalación. Parking in some buildings is in tandem, one car behind the other, so ask how spaces are assigned and what the monthly condo fee covers; in some buildings it includes water. Apartments for sale in San Francisco de Dos Ríos are priced in both colones and dollars, so confirm the currency before you compare.

Rentals in San Francisco de Dos Ríos:

Apartments, houses and rooms all come up for rent, and rents are quoted in colones as a rule. If the place is near the main street or Parque Okayama, go back on a Friday night before you sign. Near either river, ask the owner straight out whether water has ever come into the house in a heavy storm, because the 2017 flood in barrio Méndez hit rented homes. When comparing apartments for rent in San Francisco de Dos Ríos, check whether parking and water are included in the price.

Commercial and Industrial Property in San Francisco de Dos Ríos:

Retail premises and mixed-use buildings line the main street and the Radial a Desamparados. Industrial buildings are in the north of the district and in Los Moteles near the Curridabat boundary, where several plastics firms operate. Whole apartment buildings with a dozen or more units also come up for sale as income properties. Ask the Municipalidad de San José for the land-use certificate before buying, since zoning changes from block to block and a use allowed on the main street may be barred two streets in.

FAQ:

• Is San Francisco de Dos Ríos part of Desamparados?

  No. It is district 6 of San José canton, postal code 10106, and the Municipalidad de San José handles permits, land use and property tax here. Desamparados starts on the far side of the Tiribí, and the Radial that carries its name runs through the district, which is where the mix-up comes from. Make sure the registry entry gives San José as the canton before you compare a property with others in Desamparados.

• What should I check before buying a house near the María Aguilar or the Tiribí?

  Start with the river. In October 2017 the María Aguilar overflowed in barrio Méndez and left about a dozen homes full of mud, and any lot that backs onto either river deserves the same question. Walk to the back of the property, see how far the bank is and ask the neighbours about past storms. Then request the property certificate and cadastral plan from the Registro Nacional and set them against the municipal setback map, because building near rivers and ravines is restricted and you want to know whether any extension sits inside the protected strip.

• What is it like to live next to Parque Okayama?

  The park is fully lit and fills up in the evenings, at weekends and through the school holidays, and it doubles as a taxi stand. New businesses have opened around it, so those blocks see more coming and going than the rest of the barrio. If you want quiet, visit the house at nine on a Saturday night before you decide.

• How do I get in and out of San Francisco de Dos Ríos?

  The main street takes you west to the Circunvalación and east to La Colina, and the Radial runs north to Zapote and south to Desamparados. City buses go to downtown San José. Since mid-2025 MOPT has been replacing the Circunvalación bridge over the María Aguilar beside the Y Griega roundabout, with lanes reduced while the work goes on, so check whether it has finished before you time a commute.