The neighborhood's main corridor, West Portal Avenue, serves as a principal shopping district of southwestern San Francisco.

Because of its small size and collection of mom and pop stores, restaurants, and saloons, the neighborhood is often described as having a village-like atmosphere.

Like Glen Park, West Portal is a San Francisco community that almost functions as a small city itself.

West Portal Avenue also has many professional services such as dentists, lawyers, accountants, optometrists, and urgent care facilities.

The frequent fog helps keep the area green in the usually rainless summer months, and on a clear day, West Portal Park, above the Twin Peaks Tunnel, provides a view of the Marin Headlands and the Farallon Islands in the Pacific.