This picture of San Francisco shows a similar story to what happened to some areas of San Fernando, where The Sandlot was set. The construction of freeways led to entire neighborhoods being removed from the map, including those along the line of the 405, 101, and 118. This had the impact of making the area more appealing to travellers and homeowners, but it hurt neighborhood charm and character, a tradeoff somewhat seen in the movie since he kids are only connected through legally dubious methods. Interestingly, despite the importance of freeways to LA-area culture, they are not mentioned in the film, possibly due to to kids lacking driving liscences.