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San Francisco, California

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: North American Geography

   City and County of San Francisco
   Skyline of City and County of San Francisco

              Official flag of City and County of San Francisco

   Official seal of City and County of San Francisco
   Flag Seal
   Nickname: "The City by the Bay; Fog City"
   Location of the City and County of San Francisco, California
   Location of the City and County of San Francisco, California
   Coordinates: 37°46′0″N, 122°26′0″W
   Country United States of America
   State California
   City-County San Francisco
   Mayor Gavin Newsom
   Area
    - City 122 km²  (47  sq mi)
    - Land 121.0 km²  (46.7 sq mi)
    - Water 479.7 km² (185.2 sq mi)
    - Metro 8,869.3 km² (3,424.4 sq mi)
   Elevation 16 m  (52 ft)
   Population
    - City (2006) 798,680 (est)
    - Density 6,115/km² (15,837/sq mi)
    - Urban 3,385,000
    - Metro 4,152,688
   Time zone Pacific Standard Time ( UTC-8)
    - Summer ( DST) Pacific Daylight Time ( UTC-7)
   Website: http://www.sfgov.org

   The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city
   in California and the fourteenth-most populous in the United States,
   with a 2006 population of 798,680 (estimate). It is located on the tip
   of the San Francisco Peninsula and is the focal point of the San
   Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco is the second most densely populated
   major city in the United States.

   In 1776, the Spanish settled the tip of the San Francisco peninsula,
   establishing a fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for Francis
   of Assisi. As a result of the California Gold Rush in 1848, the city
   entered a period of rapid growth. After being devastated by the 1906
   earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt.

   San Francisco is renowned for its months-long episodes of fog, steep
   rolling hills, an eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture,
   its peninsular location (surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and San
   Francisco Bay), and its liberal cultural and political identity. Famous
   hallmarks and landmarks include the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz
   Island, the cable cars, the Transamerica Pyramid, Coit Tower, and
   Chinatown.

History

   The earliest archaeological evidence of inhabitation of the territory
   of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC. 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.
   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)
   Enlarge
   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, 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 B. Montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later.
   Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco the next year. Despite its
   attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a
   small settlement with inhospitable geography.
   A Cable Car on California Street in 1899
   Enlarge
   A Cable Car on California Street in 1899

   The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers. With
   their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco
   over rival Benicia, raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000
   by December 1849. The promise of 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 harbour. 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.

   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 centre 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. By the turn of the century,
   San Francisco was a city of international renown, celebrated for a
   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.
   Enlarge
   "Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely
   destroyed. San Francisco is gone." – Jack London after the 1906
   earthquake and fire.

   At 5:12 AM on the morning of 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. More than
   three-quarters of the city lay in ruins, including almost all of the
   downtown core. Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people lost
   their lives, though modern estimates put the number in the several
   thousands. More than half the city's population of 400,000 were left
   homeless. 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
   Enlarge
   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.
   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 Beaux Arts splendor, 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. 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
   Enlarge
   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 theatre of operations. 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. The Transamerica Pyramid was completed in
   1972, and in the 1980s the Manhattanization of San Francisco saw
   extensive high rise development downtown. 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.

   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 neighbourhood 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 centre 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.

Geography

   View of San Francisco and the Bay Area, looking northward, towards
   Marin County from 5,000 feet
   Enlarge
   View of San Francisco and the Bay Area, looking northward, towards
   Marin County from 5,000 feet

   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. Also included are the uninhabited
   Farallon Islands, 27 miles (43 km) offshore in the Pacific Ocean. The
   land within the city limits roughly forms a seven by seven mile square,
   which has become a colloquialism referring to the city's shape.
   The San Francisco Peninsula: San Francisco and, below it, northern San
   Mateo County
   Enlarge
   The San Francisco Peninsula: San Francisco and, below it, northern San
   Mateo County

   San Francisco is famous for its hills, which are defined as elevations
   over 100 feet (30 m). There are a total of 43 hills within city limits.
   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
   Enlarge
   Cars negotiate Lombard Street to descend Russian Hill

   Near the geographic centre 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 feet (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.

Climate

   Fog envelops the Golden Gate Bridge and approaches Crissy Field.
   Enlarge
   Fog envelops the Golden Gate Bridge and approaches Crissy Field.

   A quotation incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain goes, "The coldest
   winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." San Francisco
   benefits from California’s Mediterranean climate, characterized by mild
   wet winters and warm dry summers. However, surrounded on three sides by
   water, San Francisco has a climate 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 they
   are in nearby inland locations like Livermore. The highest temperature
   ever recorded in San Francisco was 103 °F (39 °C) on June 14, 2000.
   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. May
   through September are quite dry, and rain is a common occurrence from
   November through March. Snow is extraordinarily rare, with only 10
   instances recorded since 1852. The last measurable snowfall in San
   Francisco was on February 5, 1976, when parts of the city experienced
   as much as five inches.

   The combination of cold ocean water and the high heat of the California
   mainland creates the city's characteristic fog that can cover the
   western half of the city all day during the summer and early fall. The
   fog is less pronounced in eastern neighborhoods, in late spring, and
   during September and October, 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 centre 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 fairly sunny, with an average of 160
   clear days, and only 105 cloudy days per year.
   Weather averages for San Francisco, California
   Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
   Avg 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)
   Avg 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, in (cm) 4.1 (10) 3.5 (8) 2.9 (7) 1.5 (3) 0.5 (1) 0.2
   (0.5) --- --- 0.2 (0.5) 1.1 (2) 2.6 (6) 3.9 (9) 20.4 (51)
   Source: Weatherbase Nov 2006

Neighborhoods

   Chinatown
   Enlarge
   Chinatown

   The historic centre 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 playground featuring Dungeness crab from a still-active fishing
   industry. Also in this quadrant are Russian Hill, a residential
   neighbourhood with the famously crooked Lombard Street, North Beach,
   the city's version of Little Italy, and Telegraph Hill, which features
   Coit Tower, a landmark dedicated to San Francisco's firefighters.
   Nearby is San Francisco's Chinatown, established in the 1860s. The
   Tenderloin is often portrayed 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, though heavily gentrified, still has some bohemian
   character. The Castro is the centre of gay life in the city, having
   recovered from the devastation it suffered during the AIDS epidemic.
   Mural in the Mission District
   Enlarge
   Mural in the Mission District

   The city's Japantown district suffered when its residents were forcibly
   removed during the second world war, while 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. The
   Richmond and the Sunset are largely middle class and, together, are
   known as The Avenues. The 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.
   Following the success of nearby South Beach, another neighbourhood,
   Mission Bay, underwent redevelopment, anchored by a second campus of
   UCSF.

Beaches and parks

   The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park
   Enlarge
   The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park
   Baker Beach
   Enlarge
   Baker Beach

   Ocean Beach runs along the Pacific Ocean shoreline, and Baker Beach
   occupies a picturesque setting just west of the Golden Gate Bridge.
   They are not suitable for swimming because the waters off the coast are
   cold and have deadly rip currents. The biggest and most well-known park
   is Golden Gate Park, stretching from the centre of the city to the
   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.

Demographics

   Population (thousands) by year
   Enlarge
   Population (thousands) by year

   The estimated 2006 population of San Francisco is 798,680, surpassing
   the dot-com boom peak of 776,733 in 2000. With nearly 16,000 people per
   square mile, San Francisco is the second most densely populated major
   American city after New York. San Francisco is the traditional focal
   point of the San Francisco Bay Area and forms part of the greater San
   Jose-San Francisco- Oakland Combined Statistical Area (CSA) whose
   population is over 7 million - the fifth largest in the United States
   as of the 2000 census.

   San Francisco is a minority-majority city as non-Hispanic Whites make
   up less than 44% of the population. Asian Americans, principally
   Chinese, comprise nearly 31% of the population. Hispanics of any race
   make up just over 14% of the population. At less than 8% of the
   population, San Francisco has a lower concentration of African
   Americans than the United States as a whole. Few of San Francisco's
   residents have lived there their whole lives. Only 35% of its residents
   were born in California; 39% were born outside the United States.

   San Francisco has the highest percentage of same-sex households of any
   American county, with the Bay Area having a higher concentration than
   any other metropolitan area. Gay men outnumber lesbians; it has been
   estimated that one in five males over the age of 15 is gay.

   The San Francisco median household income, at $57,496 in 2005, is the
   fifth-highest for any large city in the nation. Following a national
   trend, an out-migration of middle class families is contributing to
   widening income disparity and has left the city with a lower proportion
   of children, 14.5%, than any other large city in the United States.
   Nevertheless, the poverty rate, at 7.8%, is lower than the national
   average and among the lowest for cities ranked by the U.S. Census
   Department.

   Homelessness has been a chronic and controversial problem for San
   Francisco since the early 1980s. The city is believed to have the
   highest number of homeless inhabitants per capita of any major city in
   the United States. The rates of violent and property crime, reported
   for 2003 as 742 and 4943 incidents per 100,000 residents respectively,
   are higher than the national average. Among the 50 largest U.S. cities
   by population, San Francisco ranks 32nd and 38th in each of those
   categories.

Government

   The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, a
   status it has had since 1856. It is the only such consolidation in
   California. The mayor is also the county executive and the county board
   of supervisors acts as the city council. Because of its unique status,
   it exercises jurisdiction over property that would otherwise be located
   outside of its corporation limit. San Francisco International Airport,
   though located in San Mateo County, is owned and operated by the City
   and County of San Francisco. San Francisco was also granted a perpetual
   leasehold over the Hetch Hetchy Valley and watershed in Yosemite
   National Park by the Raker Act in 1913.
   San Francisco City Hall
   Enlarge
   San Francisco City Hall

   Under the city charter, the Government of San Francisco is constituted
   of two co-equal branches. The executive branch is headed by the mayor
   and includes other city-wide elected and appointed officials, and the
   civil service. The 11-member Board of Supervisors, the legislative
   branch, is headed by a President ( Aaron Peskin, as of 2006) and is
   responsible for passing laws and budgets, though San Franciscans also
   make use of direct ballot initiatives to pass legislation. The members
   of the Board of Supervisors are elected as representatives of specific
   districts within the city. If the mayor dies or resigns, the President
   of the Board of Supervisors assumes the office, as Dianne Feinstein did
   after the assassination of George Moscone in 1978. The municipal budget
   in 2006 was greater than $5 billion.

   The federal government utilizes San Francisco as the regional hub for
   many arms of the federal bureaucracy, including the U.S. Court of
   Appeals, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the United States Mint. Until
   decommissioning in the early 1990s, the city had three major military
   installations - the Presidio, Treasure Island, and Hunters Point - a
   legacy still reflected in the annual celebration of Fleet Week. The
   State of California uses San Francisco as the home of the state Supreme
   Court and other state agencies. Foreign governments have located in
   excess of thirty foreign consulates in San Francisco.

Economy

   Alcatraz receives 1.5 million visitors per year.
   Enlarge
   Alcatraz receives 1.5 million visitors per year.

   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-Roni was said to be the favorite treat. San
   Francisco attracts the fifth highest number of foreign tourists of any
   city in the United States and claims Pier 39 near Fisherman's Wharf to
   be the third-most popular tourist attraction in the nation. More than
   15 million visitors came to San Francisco in 2005, injecting nearly
   $7.5 billion into the economy. With a large hotel and restaurant
   infrastructure and a world-class facility in the Moscone Centre, San
   Francisco also is a top-ten North American destination for conventions
   and conferences.
   The San Francisco skyline including the Transamerica Pyramid in the
   Financial District
   Enlarge
   The San Francisco skyline including the Transamerica Pyramid in the
   Financial District

   The legacy of the California Gold Rush turned San Francisco into the
   principal banking and finance centre of the west coast. Montgomery
   Street in the Financial District is known as the "Wall Street of the
   West", home to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and formerly
   the site of the Pacific Exchange. Bank of America, a pioneer in making
   banking services accessible to the middle class, was founded in San
   Francisco. 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, six
   Fortune 500 companies 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 centre. The Mission Bay neighbourhood,
   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.

   The penetration of national big box retail chains into the city has
   been slow. The Small Business Commission supports local merchants in an
   effort to keep a larger share of retail dollars in the local economy.
   Small businesses with fewer than ten employees and self-employed firms
   make up 85 percent of city establishments. The number of San
   Franciscans employed by firms of greater than 1000 employees has fallen
   by half since 1977.

Education

Colleges and universities

   Though somewhat overshadowed by nearby Stanford University near Palo
   Alto and the University of California at Berkeley, San Francisco is
   home to several noteworthy schools. San Francisco State University is
   part of the California State University system and is located near Lake
   Merced. The school has close to 30,000 students and awards
   undergraduate and master's degrees in more than 100 disciplines. The
   City College of San Francisco, with its main facility in the Ingleside
   district, is one of the largest two-year community colleges in the
   country. It has an enrollment of about 65,000 students, and offers an
   extensive continuing education program. Founded in 1855, the Jesuit-run
   University of San Francisco, located on Lone Mountain, focuses on the
   liberal arts, and is one of the oldest universities established west of
   the Mississippi.
   The Mission Bay campus of UCSF
   Enlarge
   The Mission Bay campus of UCSF

   The University of California, San Francisco is one of the ten campuses
   of the University of California system, and is San Francisco's second
   largest employer. It is the medical school of the University of
   California and ranked among the top-five in the United States. It also
   operates the UCSF Medical Centre, ranked among the top 10 hospitals in
   the United States. A 43-acre Mission Bay campus, complementing its
   original facility in Parnassus Heights, opened in 2003. It contains
   research space and facilities to foster biotechnology and life sciences
   entrepreneurship and will double the size of UCSF's research
   enterprise. The University of California, Hastings College of the Law,
   founded in Civic Centre in 1878, is the oldest law school in California
   and claims more judges on the state bench than any other institution.

   Visual arts are served by the San Francisco Art Institute, an
   accredited school of contemporary art, and Academy of Art University,
   the largest private school of art and design in the U.S. The San
   Francisco Conservatory of Music, the only school of its kind on the
   west coast, grants degrees in orchestral instruments, chamber music,
   composition, and conducting. The California Culinary Academy,
   associated with the Le Cordon Bleu program, offers programs in the
   culinary arts, baking & pastry arts, and hospitality & restaurant
   management.

Primary and secondary schools

   Public schools are run by the San Francisco Unified School District.
   Lowell High School, the oldest public high school in the U.S. west of
   the Mississippi, and the smaller School of the Arts High School are San
   Francisco's two magnet schools. Just under 30 percent of the city's
   school-age population attends one of San Francisco's more than 100
   private or parochial schools, compared to a 10 percent rate nationwide.
   The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco manages nearly 40 of
   those schools.

Culture and contemporary life

   San Francisco is characterized by a high standard of living. The great
   wealth and opportunity generated by the internet revolution drew many
   highly educated and high income workers and residents to San Francisco.
   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,
   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 to the suburbs of
   the San Francisco Bay Area.
   Boutiques along Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights
   Enlarge
   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 neighbourhood services rising
   alongside highrise residences.
   The rainbow flag in The Castro.
   Enlarge
   The 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% 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.

   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 hypocenters 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% of the vote since 1988. 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.

Performing arts

   Inside the War Memorial Opera House
   Enlarge
   Inside the War Memorial Opera House

   San Francisco's War Memorial and Performing Arts Centre 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 Theatre (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 Theatre District including the Curran,
   Orpheum, and Golden Gate Theatres.
   SFMOMA from Yerba Buena Gardens
   Enlarge
   SFMOMA from Yerba Buena Gardens

Museums

   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. The Palace of the
   Legion of Honour 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.

Sports

   The San Francisco 49ers of the NFL are the longest-tenured major
   professional sports franchise in the city. They began play 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, and Jerry
   Rice.
   A Muni light rail passes AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants
   Enlarge
   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.

   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. There are more than 200 miles
   (320 km) of bicycle lanes in the city 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 and
   sailing are popular activities on the San Francisco Bay and the city
   operates a yacht harbour in the Marina. San Francisco's residents have
   been judged to be among the fittest in the United States.

Transportation

   The Bay Bridge connects to Oakland and the East Bay.
   Enlarge
   The Bay Bridge connects to Oakland and the East Bay.

Roads and highways

   Because of its unique geography — making beltways somewhat impractical
   — and the results of the freeway revolts of the late 1950s, San
   Francisco is one of the few cities in the U.S. that has opted for
   European-style arterial thoroughfares instead of a large network of
   freeways. City residents continued this trend following the 1989 Loma
   Prieta Earthquake, choosing to demolish the Embarcadero Freeway and a
   portion of the Central Freeway and convert them into street-level
   boulevards.

   Interstate 80 begins at the approach to the Bay Bridge and is the only
   direct automobile link to the East Bay. U.S. Route 101 extends
   Interstate 80 to the south along the San Francisco Bay toward Silicon
   Valley. Northbound, 101 uses arterial streets Van Ness Avenue and
   Lombard Street to the Golden Gate Bridge, the only direct road access
   from San Francisco to Marin County and points north. Highway 1 also
   enters San Francisco at the Golden Gate Bridge, but diverts away from
   101, bisecting the west side of the city as the 19th Avenue arterial
   thoroughfare, and joining with Interstate 280 at the city's southern
   border. Interstate 280 continues this route along the central portion
   of the Peninsula south to San Jose. Northbound, 280 turns north and
   east and terminates in the South of Market area. Highway 35, which
   traverses the majority of the Peninsula along the ridge of the Santa
   Cruz Mountains, enters the city from the south as Skyline Boulevard,
   following city streets until it terminates at its intersection with
   Highway 1. Major east-west thoroughfares include Geary Boulevard, the
   Lincoln Way/ Fell Street corridor, and Market Street/ Portola Drive.

Public transportation

   A cable car climbing Nob Hill
   Enlarge
   A cable car climbing Nob Hill

   Public transit solely within the city of San Francisco is provided
   predominantly by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni). The
   city-owned system operates both a combined light rail/subway system
   (the Muni Metro) and a bus network that includes both trolleybuses and
   standard diesel buses. Additionally, Muni runs the F Market historic
   streetcar line and the iconic San Francisco cable car system.

   Commuter rail is provided by two complementary agencies. Bay Area Rapid
   Transit (BART) is the regional rapid transit system which connects San
   Francisco with the East Bay through the Transbay Tube. It also extends
   south of the city through northern San Mateo County, to the San
   Francisco International Airport, and Millbrae. The Caltrain rail system
   runs from San Francisco along the Peninsula down to San Jose.

   The Transbay Terminal serves as the terminus for long range bus service
   (such as Greyhound) and as a hub for regional bus systems AC Transit
   (to Alameda County), SamTrans (San Mateo County), and Golden Gate
   Transit (Marin and Sonoma Counties). Amtrak also runs a shuttle bus
   from San Francisco to its rail station in Emeryville.

   A small fleet of commuter and tourist ferries operate from the Ferry
   Building and Pier 39 to points in Marin County, Oakland, and north to
   Vallejo in Solano County.

Airports

   San Francisco International Airport (SFO), though located 13 miles (21
   km) south of the city in San Mateo County, is under the jurisdiction of
   the City and County of San Francisco. It is a hub for United Airlines,
   its largest tenant, and the decision by Virgin America to base its
   future operations out of SFO reverses the trend of low-cost carriers
   opting to bypass SFO for Oakland and San Jose. SFO is an international
   gateway, with the largest international terminal in North America. The
   airport is built on a landfill extension into the San Francisco Bay.
   During the economic boom of the late 1990s, when traffic saturation led
   to frequent delays, it became difficult to respond to calls to relieve
   the pressure by constructing an additional runway as that would have
   required additional landfill. Such calls subsided in the early 2000s as
   traffic declined, and, in 2005, SFO was the 14th busiest airport in the
   United States and 23rd largest in the world, handling 32.8 million
   passengers.

Seaports

   The Ferry Building along the Embarcadero
   Enlarge
   The Ferry Building along the Embarcadero

   The Port of San Francisco was once the largest and busiest seaport on
   the west coast. It featured rows of piers perpendicular to the shore,
   where cargo from the moored ships was handled by cranes and manual
   labor and transported to nearby warehouses. The port handled cargo to
   and from trans-Pacific and Atlantic destinations, and was the west
   coast centre of the lumber trade. The 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike,
   an important episode in the history of the American labor movement,
   brought the port to a standstill. The advent of container shipping made
   pier-based ports obsolete and most commercial berths moved to the Port
   of Oakland.

   Many piers remained derelict for years until the demolition of the
   Embarcadero Freeway reopened the downtown waterfront, allowing for
   redevelopment. The centerpiece of the port, the Ferry Building, while
   still receiving commuter ferry traffic, has been restored and
   redeveloped as a gourmet marketplace. The port's other activities now
   focus on developing waterside assets to support recreation and tourism.

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