Exploring San Francisco through the lens of city blocks, Blocker is a weekly series by Charles Hodgkins. Look for it on SFist each Wednesday, around the lunching hour.

Blocker, No. 6: Head St. in Merced Heights

Modest, single-family homes. A cement mixer in one front yard. Security gates at the foot of several front stairwalks.

Mercedes-Benzs everywhere you look.

On this hilly block of Head St. in Merced Heights, where no vehicle even bothers with third gear, it’s clear where certain residents’ priorities lie...and often, it’s not in yard maintenance. But hey, check the ride in the driveway.

It’s true that this all-residential block features a handful of attractive front yards fit for a Better Homes & Gardens photo shoot. And yet, a few others could, to put it kindly, use a landscaping makeover. The fact that the number of German luxury sedans here roughly equals the number of chain link fences and concrete-and-weed yards gets us imagining a bunch of Pacific Heights residents driving rusty Ford Fiestas and Dodge Darts around town.