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"San Francisco" redirects here. For other uses, see San Francisco (disambiguation).
The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 14th most populous city in the United States, with a 2006 estimated population of 744,041.Population Finder: San Francisco County, 2006. U.S. Census Bureau. Accessed May 4, 2007. One of the most densely populated major cities in the US,2000 Census: US Municipalities Over 50,000: Ranked by 2000 Population. Demographia. Retrieved on August 1, 2006. San Francisco is part of the much larger San Francisco Bay Area, which is home to approximately 7.2 million people. The city is located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, San Francisco Bay to the east, and the Golden Gate to the north.
In 1776, the Spanish settled the tip of the peninsula, establishing a fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for Francis of Assisi. The California Gold Rush in 1848 propelled the city into a period of rapid growth. After being devastated by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt.
San Francisco is a popular international tourist destination renowned for its steep rolling hills, an eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture, and famous landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, the cable cars, Coit Tower, and Chinatown. The city is also known for its diverse, cosmopolitan population, including large and long-established Asian American and LGBT communities. While the climate includes chilly summer fog, the winters are mild.
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1851 San Francisco
The earliest archaeological evidence of inhabitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC.Stewart, Suzanne B. (November, 2003). Archaeological Research Issues for the Point Reyes National Seashore - Golden Gate National Recreation AreaPDF (1.68 MiB) p. 55 Sonoma State University - Anthropological Studies Center. Accessed October 13, 2006. The Yelamu group of the Ohlone people resided in several small villages when a Spanish exploration party, led by Don Gaspar de Portolà arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European discovery of San Francisco Bay.Visitors: San Francisco Historical Information. City and County of San Francisco. Retrieved on September 3, 2006. Seven years later, on March 28, 1776 the Spanish established a fort, followed by a mission, Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores).
Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores)
Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the area became part of Mexico. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first significant homestead outside the immediate vicinity of the Mission Dolores,From the 1820s to the Gold Rush. The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. Retrieved on August 28, 2006. near a boat anchorage around what is today Portsmouth Square. Together with Mission Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7 1846, during the Mexican-American War, and Captain John Berrien Montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco the next year.History of Yerba Buena Gardens. Yerba Buena Gardens. Accessed August 28, 2003 Despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography.
A map from 1888
The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers. With their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia,San Francisco\'s First Brick Building. The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. Accessed August 28, 2006. raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849.Richards, Rand (1992). Historic San Francisco: A Concise History and Guide. Heritage House. ISBN 1-879367-00-9. The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor.Harris, Ron. "Crews Unearth Shipwreck on San Francisco Condo Project", Associated Press, November 14, 2005. California was quickly granted statehood and the U.S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate and a fort on Alcatraz island to secure the San Francisco Bay. Silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in 1859, further drove rapid population growth. With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, and gambling.
A cable car on California Street in 1899
Entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush. Early winners were the banking industry, which saw the founding of Wells Fargo in 1852, and the railroad industry, as the magnates of the Big Four, led by Leland Stanford, collaborated in the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad. The development of the Port of San Francisco established the city as a center of trade. Catering to the needs and tastes of the growing population, Levi Strauss opened a dry goods business and Domingo Ghirardelli began manufacturing chocolate. Immigrant laborers made the city a polyglot culture, with Chinese railroad workers creating the city\'s Chinatown quarter. The first cable cars carried San Franciscans up Clay Street in 1873. The city\'s sea of Victorian houses began to take shape, and civic leaders campaigned for a spacious public park, resulting in plans for Golden Gate Park. San Franciscans built schools, churches, theaters, and all the hallmarks of civic life. The Presidio developed into the most important American military installation on the Pacific coast.Under Three Flags.PDF (186 KiB) Presidio of San Francisco, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Accessed September 4, 2006. By the turn of the century, San Francisco was a major city known for its flamboyant style, stately hotels, ostentatious mansions on Nob Hill, and a thriving arts scene.
"Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone." – Jack London after the 1906 earthquake and fire.London, Jack (May 5, 1906). "The Story of an Eyewitness by Jack London". Collier\'s, The National Weekly. The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco Retrieved on August 29, 2006.
At 5:12 am on April 18 1906, a major earthquake struck San Francisco and Northern California. As buildings collapsed from the shaking, ruptured gas lines ignited fires that would spread across the city and burn out of control for several days. With water mains out of service, the Presidio Artillery Corps attempted to contain the inferno by dynamiting blocks of buildings to create firebreaks.Presidio of San Francisco: Firefighting and Dynamiting. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Retrieved on September 2, 2006. More than three-quarters of the city lay in ruins, including almost all of the downtown core.Montagne, Renée (April 11, 2006). Remembering the 1906 Earthquake National Public Radio, Morning Edition. Accessed August 29, 2006. Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people lost their lives, though modern estimates put the number in the several thousands.Casualties and Damage after the 1906 earthquake U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program - Northern California. Accessed September 3, 2006. More than half the city\'s population of 400,000 were left homeless.Presidio of San Francisco:1906 Earthquake and Fire National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Accessed August 29, 2006. Refugees settled temporarily in makeshift tent villages in Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, on the beaches, and elsewhere. Many fled permanently to the East Bay.
The Palace of Fine Arts at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition
Rebuilding was rapid and performed on a grand scale. Rejecting calls to completely remake the street grid, San Franciscans opted for speed.Wiley, Peter Booth (2000). National trust guide- San Francisco: America’s guide for architecture and history travelers. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 56–62. ISBN 0-471-19120-5. Amadeo Giannini\'s Bank of Italy, later to become Bank of America, provided loans for many of those whose livelihoods had been devastated. The destroyed mansions of Nob Hill became grand hotels. City Hall rose once again in splendorous Beaux Arts style, and the city celebrated its rebirth at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915.In ensuing years, the city solidified its standing as a financial capital; in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash, not a single San Francisco-based bank failed.San Francisco Gold Rush Banking The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. Accessed August 27, 2006. Indeed, it was at the height of the Great Depression that San Francisco undertook two great civil engineering projects, simultaneously constructing the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, completing them in 1936 and 1937 respectively. It was in this period that the island of Alcatraz, a former military stockade, began its service as a federal maximum security prison, housing notorious inmates such as Al Capone. San Francisco later celebrated its regained grandeur with a World\'s Fair, the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939–40, creating Treasure Island in the middle of the bay to house it.
The USS San Francisco steams under the Golden Gate Bridge in 1942, during World War II
During World War II, the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard became a hub of activity and Fort Mason became the primary port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific theater of operations.World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Accessed August 29, 2006. The explosion of jobs drew many people, especially African Americans from the South, to the area. After the end of the war, many military personnel returning from service abroad and civilians who had originally come to work decided to stay. The UN Charter creating the United Nations was drafted and signed in San Francisco in 1945 and, in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco officially ended the war with Japan.
Urban planning projects in the 1950s and 1960s saw widespread destruction and redevelopment of westside neighborhoods and the construction of new freeways, of which only a series of short segments were built before being halted by citizen-led opposition.Fang, Eric C.Y. (February, 1999). Urban Renewal Revisited: A Design Critique. San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association. Retrieved on August 26, 2006. The Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972,Pyramid Facts and Figures Transamerica.com "About the Pyramid," Accessed 2006-10-29 and in the 1980s the Manhattanization of San Francisco saw extensive high-rise development downtown.Wiley, Peter Booth (2000). National trust guide- San Francisco: America’s guide for architecture and history travelers. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 95–96. ISBN 0-471-19120-5. Port activity moved to Oakland, the city began to lose industrial jobs, and San Francisco began to turn to tourism as the most important segment of its economy. The suburbs experienced rapid growth and San Francisco underwent significant demographic change, as large segments of the white population left the city, supplanted by an increasing wave of immigration from Asia and Latin America.Willia, James et al.. San Francisco Planning Department Census Data Analysis (Microsoft PowerPoint). San Francisco State University Department of Urban Studies. Retrieved on August 31, 2006.Minton, Torri (September 20, 1998). Race through Time San Francisco Chronicle. Accessed September 1, 2006.
Over this same period, San Francisco became a magnet for America\'s counterculture. Beat Generation writers fueled the San Francisco Renaissance and centered on the North Beach neighborhood in the 1950s. Hippies flocked to Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s, reaching a peak with the 1967 Summer of Love. In the 1970s, the city became a center of the gay rights movement, with the emergence of The Castro as an urban gay village, the election of Harvey Milk to the Board of Supervisors, and his assassination, along with that of Mayor George Moscone, in 1978.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused destruction and loss of life throughout the Bay Area. In San Francisco, the quake severely damaged structures in the Marina and South of Market districts and precipitated the demolition of the damaged Embarcadero Freeway and much of the damaged Central Freeway, allowing the city to reclaim its historic downtown waterfront.
During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, startup companies invigorated the economy. Large numbers of entrepreneurs and computer application developers moved into the city, followed by marketing and sales professionals that changed the social landscape as once poorer neighborhoods became gentrified. When the bubble burst in 2001, many of these companies folded and their employees left, although high technology and entrepreneurship continued to be mainstays of the San Francisco economy.
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The San Francisco Peninsula: San Francisco and, below it, northern San Mateo County
San Francisco is located on the west coast of the U.S. at the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries. Several islands are part of the city, notably Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and the adjacent Yerba Buena Island, together with small portions of Alameda Island, Angel Island, and Red Rock Island. Also included are the uninhabited Farallon Islands, 27 miles (43 km) offshore in the Pacific Ocean. The mainland within the city limits roughly forms a seven-by-seven-mile square (11-by-11 km), which has become a colloquialism referring to the city\'s shape.
San Francisco is famous for its hills. There are more than 50 hills within city limits.Graham, Tom (November 7, 2004). Peak Experience, San Francisco Chronicle, p. PK-23. Retrieved April 15, 2007.
Some neighborhoods are named after the hill on which they are situated, including Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, Potrero Hill, and Telegraph Hill.
Cars negotiate Lombard Street to descend Russian Hill
Near the geographic center of the city, southwest of the downtown area, are a series of less densely populated hills. Dominating this area is Mount Sutro, the site of Sutro Tower, a large red and white radio and television transmission tower. Nearby is Twin Peaks, a pair of hills resting at one of the city\'s highest points and a popular overlook spot for tour groups. San Francisco\'s tallest hill, Mount Davidson, is 925 feet (282 m) high, and is capped with a 103-ft (31.4 m) tall cross built in 1934.
The San Andreas and Hayward Faults are responsible for much earthquake activity, even though neither passes through the city itself. It was the San Andreas Fault which slipped and caused the earthquakes in 1906 and 1989. Minor earthquakes occur on a regular basis. The threat of major earthquakes plays a large role in the city\'s infrastructure development. New buildings must meet high structural standards, and older buildings and bridges must be retrofitted to comply with new building codes.
San Francisco\'s shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Entire neighborhoods such as the Marina and Hunters Point, as well as large sections of the Embarcadero sit on areas of landfill. Treasure Island was constructed from material dredged from the bay as well as material resulting from tunneling through Yerba Buena Island during the construction of the Bay Bridge. Such land tends to be unstable during earthquakes; the resultant liquefaction causes extensive damage to property built upon it, as was evidenced in the Marina district during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.
Fog envelops the Golden Gate Bridge and approaches Crissy Field.
A quotation incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain is "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."Nolte, Carl (August 19 2005). FOG HEAVEN: The sun will come out tomorrow. Or maybe not. It\'s summer in the city, and that means gray skies. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on August 27, 2006.And Never the Twain Shall Tweet. Snopes.com (October 5 202). Retrieved on March 12, 2007. San Francisco\'s climate is characteristic of California’s Mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters and dry summers.Climate of San Francisco: Narrative Description Golden Gate Weather Services, Accessed on September 5, 2006 In addition, since it is surrounded on three sides by water, San Francisco\'s climate is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean which tends to moderate temperature swings and produce a remarkably mild climate with little seasonal temperature variation. Average summertime high temperatures in San Francisco peak at 70 °F (21 °C) and are 20 °F (9 °C) lower than in nearby inland locations like Livermore.Weatherbase.com climate data for Livermore, California. Retrieved on August 27, 2006. The highest temperature ever recorded in San Francisco was 103 °F (39 °C) on June 14, 2000.National Climatic Data Center, Climate-2000/June/Climate-Watch/Selected Extremes, "Climatography of the United States," National Climatic Data Center, Accessed 2006-12-03 Winters are mild, with daytime highs near 60 °F (15 °C). Lows almost never reach freezing temperatures, though the lowest temperature ever recorded in San Francisco was 27 °F (-3 °C) on December 11, 1932.Climate of San Francisco: Top 10 Temperatures Golden Gate Weather Services, Accessed on 2006-12-03 May through September is very dry, but rain is common from November through March. Snowfall is extraordinarily rare, with only ten instances recorded since 1852. The greatest snowfall on record is 3.7 inches (9.4 cm) in downtown San Francisco, and up to 7 inches (17.8 cm) elsewhere, on February 5, 1887.Null, Jan (January 1995). CLIMATE OF SAN FRANCISCO (Third Revision). U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service. Retrieved on September 5, 2006. The last measurable snowfall in San Francisco was on February 5, 1976, when most of the city received an inch of snow.Climate of San Francisco: Snowfall Golden Gate Weather Services, Accessed on 2006-12-03The combination of cold ocean water and the high heat of the California mainland create the city\'s characteristic fog that can cover the western half of the city all day during the spring and early summer. The fog is less pronounced in eastern neighborhoods, in the late summer, and during the fall, which are the warmest months of the year. Due to its sharp topography and maritime influences, San Francisco exhibits a multitude of distinct microclimates. The high hills in the geographic center of the city are responsible for a 20% variance in annual rainfall between different parts of the city. They also protect neighborhoods directly to their east from the foggy and cool conditions experienced in the Sunset District; for those who live on the eastern side of the city, San Francisco is sunnier, with an average of 260 clear days, and only 105 cloudy days per year.Historical Climate Information Western Regional Climate Center, Accessed September 5, 2006
| Weather averages for San Francisco, California | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °F (°C) | 56 (13) | 60 (15) | 61 (16) | 63 (17) | 64 (17) | 66 (18) | 66 (18) | 66 (18) | 70 (21) | 69 (20) | 64 (17) | 57 (13) | 63 (17) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 46 (7) | 48 (8) | 49 (9) | 50 (10) | 51 (10) | 53 (11) | 54 (12) | 54 (12) | 56 (13) | 55 (12) | 51 (10) | 47 (8) | 51 (10) |
| Precipitation inch (cm) | 4.1 (10) | 3.5 (8) | 2.9 (7) | 1.5 (3) | 0.5 (1) | 0.2 (0.5) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0.2 (0.5) | 1.1 (2) | 2.6 (6) | 3.9 (9) | 20.4 (51) |
| Source: WeatherbaseWeatherbase: Historical Weather for San Francisco, California, United States of America (English). Retrieved on November 8, 2006. November 2006 | |||||||||||||
The historic center of San Francisco is the northeast quadrant of the city bordered by Market Street to the south. It is here that the Financial District is centered, with Union Square, the principal shopping and hotel district, nearby. Cable cars carry residents and tourists alike up steep inclines to the summit of Nob Hill, once the home of the city\'s business tycoons, and down to Fisherman\'s Wharf, a tourist area featuring Dungeness crab from a still-active fishing industry. Also in this quadrant are Russian Hill, a residential neighborhood with the famously crooked Lombard Street, North Beach, the city\'s version of Little Italy, and Telegraph Hill, which features Coit Tower. Nearby is San Francisco\'s Chinatown, established in the 1860s. The Tenderloin is often seen as the crime-infested underbelly of the city.
The Mission District is predominantly working-class and populated by immigrants from Mexico and Central America, but is also gentrifying. Haight-Ashbury, famously associated with 1960s hippie culture, is now heavily gentrified, although it still retains some bohemian character. The Castro is the center of gay life in the city.
A mural in the Mission District
The city\'s Japantown district suffered when its Japanese American residents were forcibly removed and interned during World War II. The nearby Western Addition became established with a large African American population at the same time. The "Painted Ladies," a row of well-restored Victorian homes, stand alongside Alamo Square, and the mansions built by the San Francisco business elite in the wake of the 1906 earthquake can be found in Pacific Heights. The Marina to the north is a lively area with many young urban professionals.
The Richmond, the vast region north of Golden Gate Park that extends to the Pacific Ocean, today has a portion called "New Chinatown," but also attracts immigrants from other parts of Asia and Russia. South of Golden Gate Park lies the Sunset with an Asian majority population.Chow, Andrew (March 22, 2002). "Dismal APA Turnout at First Redistricting Meetings" Asian Week. Accessed September 3, 2006. The Richmond and the Sunset are largely middle class and, together, are known as The Avenues. Bayview-Hunter\'s Point in the southeast section of the city is one of the poorest neighborhoods and suffers from a high rate of crime, though the area has been the focus of plans for urban renewal. The other southern neighborhoods of the city are ethnically diverse and populated primarily with students and working-class San Franciscans.
The South of Market, once filled with decaying remnants of San Francisco\'s industrial past, has seen significant redevelopment. The locus of the dot-com boom during the late 1990s, by 2004 South of Market began to see skyscrapers and condominiums dot the area (see Manhattanization). Following the success of nearby South Beach, another neighborhood, Mission Bay, underwent redevelopment, anchored by a second campus of the University of California, San Francisco. Just southwest of Mission Bay is the Potrero Hill neighborhood featuring sweeping views of downtown San Francisco.
The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park
Ocean Beach runs along the Pacific Ocean shoreline, but is not suitable for swimming because the waters off the coast are cold and have deadly rip currents. Baker Beach occupies a picturesque setting just west of the Golden Gate Bridge. The biggest and best-known park is Golden Gate Park, stretching from the center of the city to the Pacific Ocean. Once covered only in grass and sand dunes, the park is planted with thousands of non-native trees and plants and is rich with attractions including the Conservatory of Flowers, the Japanese Tea Garden, and Strybing Arboretum. The Presidio, a former military base, and its Crissy Field section, restored to its natural salt marsh condition, are part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which includes Alcatraz, and other regional parks. Buena Vista Park is the city\'s oldest, established in 1867. Lake Merced is a fresh-water lake surrounded by parkland.
San Francisco is characterized by a high standard of living.San Francisco by the Numbers: Planning after the 2000 Census. San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, Accessed August 28, 2006. The great wealth and opportunity generated by the Internet revolution drew many highly educated and high income workers and residents to San Francisco. Many poorer neighborhoods have become gentrified. The downtown has seen a renaissance driven by the redevelopment of the Embarcadero, including the neighborhoods South Beach and Mission Bay. Property values and household income have escalated to among the highest in the nation,Sadovi, Maura Webber (April 10, 2006). San Francisco\'s Home Prices Remain Among the Highest in U.S.. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved on August 28, 2006.It may not feel like it, but your shot at the good life is getting better. Here\'s why San Francisco Magazine. Accessed August 28, 2006. allowing the city to support a large restaurant and entertainment infrastructure. Because the cost of living in San Francisco is exceptionally high, many middle class families have decided they can no longer afford to live within the city and have left.
Boutiques along Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights
Although the centralized commerce and shopping districts downtown, including the Financial District and the area around Union Square, are well-known, San Francisco is also characterized by a rich street environment featuring many mixed-use neighborhoods anchored around central commercial corridors to which residents and visitors alike can walk. They feature a mix of businesses and restaurants catering to the daily needs of the community and drawing in visitors. Some are highly gentrified, dotted with boutiques, cafes and nightlife, such as Union Street in Cow Hollow, and 24th Street in Noe Valley. Others are less so, including Irving Street in the Sunset, or Mission Street in the Mission. This approach has influenced the South of Market redevelopment, with businesses and neighborhood services rising alongside high-rise residences.Wach, Bonnie (October 3, 2003) Fog City rises from the funk. USA Today. Retrieved on September 4, 2006.
A streetlight rainbow flag in The Castro.
The international character San Francisco has had since its founding is witnessed today by large numbers of immigrants from Asia and Latin America. With 39 percent of its residents born overseas, San Francisco has numerous neighborhoods filled with businesses and civic institutions catering to new arrivals. In particular, the arrival of many ethnic Chinese, which accelerated beginning in the 1970s, complemented the already-established community based in Chinatown and has transformed the annual Chinese New Year Parade into the largest cultural event of its kind.Lam, Eric (December 22, 2005). San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade Embroiled in Controversy. The Epoch Times. Retrieved on August 31, 2006.Following the arrival of writers and artists of the 1950s, who established the modern coffeehouse culture, and the social upheavals of the 1960s, San Francisco became one of the epicenters of liberal activism, with Democrats, Greens, and progressives dominating city politics. Indeed, San Francisco has not given the Republican candidate for president greater than 20 percent of the vote since 1988.Dave Leip\'s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Accessed September 6, 2006. The gay rights contributions and leadership the city has shown since the 1970s has resulted in the powerful presence gays and lesbians have in civic life. A popular destination for gay tourists, it hosts San Francisco Pride, the world\'s best-known gay pride parade and festival.
Inside the War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco\'s War Memorial and Performing Arts Center features some of the longest operating performing arts companies in the United States. The War Memorial Opera House houses the San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Ballet, while the San Francisco Symphony plays in Davies Symphony Hall. The Herbst Theatre stages an eclectic mix of music performances, as well as public radio\'s City Arts & Lectures.
The Fillmore is a music venue located in the Western Addition. It is the second incarnation of a venue which gained fame in the 1960s under concert promoter Bill Graham and was where the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane got their start and fostered the San Francisco Sound. Beach Blanket Babylon is a zany musical revue and civic institution. It has performed to sold out crowds in North Beach since 1974.
The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) has been a leading force in Bay Area performing arts since its arrival in San Francisco in 1967, routinely staging original productions. San Francisco frequently hosts national touring productions of Broadway theatre shows in a number of vintage 1920s-era venues in the Theater District including the Curran, Orpheum, and Golden Gate Theatres.
SFMOMA from Yerba Buena Gardens
The Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) contains 20th century and contemporary pieces. It moved to its iconic building in South of Market in 1995 and attracts 600,000 visitors annually.Corporate Sponsorship (SFMOMA Facts and Audience) San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Accessed September 1, 2006. The Palace of the Legion of Honor contains primarily European works. The De Young Museum and the Asian Art Museum have significant anthropological and non-European holdings.
The Palace of Fine Arts, originally built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, today houses the Exploratorium, a popular science museum dedicated to teaching through hands-on interaction. The California Academy of Sciences is a natural history museum and hosts the Morrison Planetarium and Steinhart Aquarium. The San Francisco Zoo cares for a total of about 250 animal species out of which 39 have been deemed endangered or threatened.About the Zoo: Media Center (Press Kit) San Francisco Zoo. Accessed September 3, 2006.
The San Francisco Chronicle, in which Herb Caen famously published his daily musings, is Northern California\'s most widely circulated newspaper.Top 200 Newspapers by Largest Reported Circulation. (March 31, 2006) Audit Bureau of Circulations. Accessed August 28, 2006. The San Francisco Examiner, once the cornerstone of William Randolph Hearst\'s media empire and the home of Ambrose Bierce, declined in circulation over the years and has been reduced to a small tabloid.Rosenberg, Scott (March 20, 2000). The San Francisco Examiner, 1887–2000. Salon.com. Retrieved on August 28, 2006.Nolte, Carl (November 22, 2000). Examiner Staff Ends an Era With Tears, Newsroom Tales. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on August 28, 2006. Sing Tao Daily claims to be the largest of several Chinese language dailies that serve the Bay Area.Hua, Vanessa (August 3, 2004). Newspaper war in the Bay Area: Ming Pao becomes 6th Chinese-language daily. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on August 28, 2006. Alternative weekly newspapers include the San Francisco Bay Guardian and SF Weekly. San Francisco Magazine is a major glossy magazine.
The San Francisco metro area is the sixth-largest TV market[1]. and the fourth largest radio marketARBITRON RADIO MARKET RANKINGS: Spring 2006 Arbitron, Accessed September 20, 2006. in the United States. The city\'s oldest radio station, KCBS (AM), began as an experimental station in San Jose in 1909. KALW was the city\'s first FM radio station when it signed on the air in 1941. All the major television networks have affiliates serving the Bay Area region, with most of them based in the city. There are also some unaffiliated stations, and CNN, ESPN, and BBC have regional offices in San Francisco. The city\'s first television station was KPIX, now owned by CBS, which began broadcasting on December 24 1948. Other stations include KGO, KRON, and KTVU.
Public broadcasting outlets include both a television station and a radio station, broadcasting under the name KQED out of a facility near the Potrero Hill district. KQED-FM is the most-listened to National Public Radio affiliate in the country.Top 30 Public Radio Subscribers - Winter 2004 ArbitronPDF (395 KiB) Radio Research Consortium. Accessed August 27, 2006. San Francisco companies such as CNET and Salon.com pioneered the use of the Internet as a media outlet. Leading global media which are marketed specifically to gay and lesbian audiences are centered in San Francisco, with PlanetOut the parent company of major print newsmagazines and online communities.
The San Francisco 49ers of the NFL are the longest-tenured major professional sports franchise in the city. They began playing in 1946 and moved to their present location in Monster Park on Candlestick Point in 1971. They reached prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, winning five Super Bowl titles behind stars Joe Montana, Steve Young, Ronnie Lott, and Jerry Rice.
A Muni light rail passes AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants
Major League Baseball\'s San Francisco Giants left New York for California prior to the 1958 season. Though boasting stars such as Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Barry Bonds, they have yet to win the World Series while based in San Francisco. Game 3 of the 1989 World Series in San Francisco was infamously pre-empted by the Loma Prieta earthquake. The Giants play at AT&T Park which was opened in 2000, a cornerstone project of the South Beach and Mission Bay redevelopment.EPA Study: SBC ParkPDF (760 KiB) Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed August 28, 2006.
The Dons, the athletic teams of the University of San Francisco, compete in NCAA Division I. Bill Russell led the Dons to NCAA men\'s basketball championships in 1955 and 1956. The San Francisco State Gators compete in Division II. The San Francisco Dragons of Major League Lacrosse play at Kezar Stadium, which they will share with the California Victory of United Soccer League First Division. The semi-professional San Francisco Bay Seals of the USL\'s developmental league are a second soccer team in the city.
San Francisco has ample resources and opportunities for participatory sports and recreation. The Bay to Breakers footrace, held annually since 1912, is best known for colorful costumes and a celebratory community spirit. The San Francisco Marathon is an annual event that attracts more than 7,000 participants.San Francisco Marathon Expands Cool Reputation The San Francisco Marathon. Accessed September 3, 2006. There are more than 200 miles (320 km) of bicycle lanes in the citySan Francisco Bicycle Plan City and County of San Francisco. Accessed September 3, 2006. and the Embarcadero and Marina Green are favored sites for in-line skating. Extensive public tennis facilities exist in Golden Gate Park and Dolores Park.
Boating, sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing are popular activities on the San Francisco Bay, and the city operates a yacht harbor in the Marina District. San Francisco\'s residents have been judged to be among the fittest in the United States.America\'s Fattest Cities. Men\'s Fitness. Retrieved on August 26, 2006.
Alcatraz receives 1.5 million visitors per year.[hhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9977965 New Parts of Alcatraz Revealed to Public] National Public Radio. Accessed October 10, 2007.
Tourism is the backbone of the San Francisco economy. Its frequent portrayal in music, film, and popular culture has made the city and its landmarks recognizable worldwide. It is the city where Tony Bennett left his heart, where the Birdman of Alcatraz spent many of his final years, and where Rice-a-RoniFinz, Stacy (July 16, 2006) RICE-A-REDUX After a 7-year hiatus, it\'s billed once again as the San Francisco treat. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on September 5, 2006. was said to be the favorite treat. San Francisco attracts the third highest number of foreign tourists of any city in the United StatesOverseas Visitors To Select U.S. Cities/Hawaiian Islands 2006-2005 U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Travel & Tourism Industries. Accessed August 27, 2006. and claims Pier 39 near Fisherman\'s Wharf to be the third-most popular tourist attraction in the nation.City and County of San Francisco: Sights in San Francisco. City and County of San Francisco. Accessed September 4, 2006. More than 15 million visitors came to San Francisco in 2005, injecting nearly $7.5 billion into the economy.Raine, George. (May 13, 2006). Tourism dollars add up: San Francisco seeing more visitors, more cash -- it\'s our No. 1 industry. San Francisco Chronicle. Accessed August 23, 2006. With a large hotel and restaurant infrastructure and a world-class facility in the Moscone Center, San Francisco also is a top-ten North American destination for conventions and conferences.Spain, William (November 13, 2004). Cost factors: Top convention cities boast most-affordable lodging. CBS MarketWatch. Accessed September 3, 2006.
The San Francisco skyline centered within the Financial District
The legacy of the California Gold Rush turned San Francisco into the principal banking and finance center of the west coast in the early twentieth century. Montgomery Street in the Financial District is known as the "Wall Street of the West" (although this nickname may be outdated, considering the rise of Los Angeles and Silicon Valley\'s Sand Hill Road as rival financial centers on the West Coast), home to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Wells Fargo corporate headquarters, and the site of the now defunct Pacific Coast Stock Exchange. Bank of America, a pioneer in making banking services accessible to the middle class, was founded in San Francisco and built one of the first modern skyscrapers in the city: 555 California Street. Many large financial institutions, multinational banks and venture capital firms are based in or have set up regional headquarters in the city. With over thirty international financial institutions,San Francisco: Economy city-data.com Accessed September 30, 2006. six Fortune 500 companiesFortune 500 2006 CNNMoney.com Accessed August 31, 2006. and a large support infrastructure of professional services, including law, public relations, architecture, and graphic design also populating the downtown, San Francisco is one of ten Beta World Cities.San Francisco\'s economy has increasingly become tied to that of Silicon Valley to the south, sharing a need for highly educated workers with specialized skills. It has been positioning itself as a biotechnology and biomedical hub and research center. The Mission Bay neighborhood, site of a second campus of UCSF, fosters a budding industry and serves as headquarters of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the public agency funding stem cell research programs statewide.
Small businesses with fewer than ten employees and self-employed firms make up 85 percent of city establishments.Tan, Aldrich M. (April 12, 2006). San Francisco is gateway city for immigrants and Silicon Valley Technology. San Francisco Sentinel. Retrieved on August 27, 2006. The number of San Franciscans employed by firms of greater than 1,000 employees has fallen by half since 1977. The penetration of national big box retail chains into the city has been slow. In an effort to buoy small privately owned busi
