The couple’s dog, a bernedoodle named Chai, loves the outdoor space, as well as her frequent walks to nearby McLaren Park.

For Mr. Fletcher, the move to the Portola meant becoming part of a long history of green thumbs. In the early 20th century, the neighborhood was a thriving flower district, with residents cultivating plant nurseries and capitalizing on a microclimate that blesses the area with frequent sunshine.

Barbara Fenech has lived in the Portola for 85 of her 86 years. Her parents, immigrants from Malta, brought her to the neighborhood when she was a baby, and she has watched the neighborhood decline and now begin to flourish again.

“When I was growing up, the Portola was like a city within the city: It was a walking neighborhood where everyone knew everyone,” she said.

Her childhood home was torn down to make room for Highway 101 in the 1950s — and that construction, coupled with the decline of the local flower industry, decimated the area’s commercial sector.

Ms. Fenech’s parents stayed in the neighborhood, eventually buying a three-bedroom house with wide bay windows on a 4,000-square-foot lot. Ms. Fenech still lives there, and the house is currently appraised at $1.4 million.