San Francisco A City Guide
By Nivedita Balamurugan Bala
Introduction
The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth-largest city
in the state of California, in the United States. A consolidated
city-county, mainland San Francisco is located on the tip of the
San Francisco Peninsula. Insular San Francisco includes several
islands in the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Strait,
notably Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and the Farallon Islands 27
miles offshore in the Pacific Ocean and also most of the
privately owned Red Rock Island near the Richmond-San Rafael
Bridge.
History
San Francisco has a long history of events marking its growth
from a small town to a big city
In 1776, the Spanish were the first Europeans to settle in
San Francisco
In 1848, with the advent of the California gold rush the city
entered a period of rapid growth
In 1822, serious development by non-Spanish speakers began,
when William Richardson, an English whaler redeveloped a section
of Yerba Buena in what is now Portsmouth Square in Chinatown.
In 1846, the Mexican-American War broke out.
On January 30, 1847, a naval force under Commodore John D.
Sloat claimed it in the name of the United States and renamed it
"San Francisco"
On April 18, 1906, a devastating earthquake resulted from the
rupture of over 270 miles of the San Andreas Fault, from San
Juan Bautista to Eureka, centered immediately offshore of San
Francisco.
The city was quickly rebuilt after the earthquake.
The phoenix on the city's flag represents San Francisco's
"rebirth" from the ashes of the fire that resulted from the
quake.
In the 1950s San Francisco hired Harvard graduate Justin
Herman to head the redevelopment agency for the city and county.
Justin Herman began an aggressive campaign to renew blighted
areas of the city.
His planning led to the creation of Embarcadero Center, the
Embarcadero Freeway, Japan town, the Geary Street super blocks,
and Yerba Buena Gardens.
Place of Interest
San Francisco's parks, museums, tours, and landmarks are
favorites for travelers the world over and offer an array of
activities to suit every visitor. But no particular activity or
place makes the city one of the most popular destinations in the
world. It's San Francisco itself -- its charm, its atmosphere,
its perfect blend of big metropolis with small-town hospitality.
Some of its main attractions are:
Alcatraz Island
Cable Cars
California Academy of Sciences
Coit Tower
Ferry Building Marketplace (and Farmers' Market)
Fisherman's Wharf
Ghiradelli Square
Golden Gate Bridge
Lombard Street
Pier 39
The Cannery
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts / Yerba Buena Gardens
Museums & Art Galleries
Notable San Francisco Museums include
The Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA),
The Palace of the Legion of Honor,
The M. H. de Young Memorial Museum,
The Asian Art Museum.
Other museums include
The International Museum of Women,
The Museum of the African Diaspora,
The Contemporary Jewish Museum,
The Museum of Craft & Folk Art,
The Mexican Museum.
In terms of performing arts, San Francisco boasts
The San Francisco Symphony,
The San Francisco Opera
The San Francisco Ballet.
San Francisco's Ballet and Opera are some of the oldest
continuing performing arts companies in the United States.
Shopping
Like its population, San Francisco's shopping is both worldly
and intimate. Every persuasion, style, era, and fetish is
represented, not in big, tacky shopping malls, but in hundreds
of quaint, dramatically different boutiques scattered throughout
the city. San Francisco has many shopping areas, but the
following places are where one will find most of the actions:
Union Square & Environs
Chinatown
Union Street
Chestnut Street
Fillmore Street
Haight Street
SoMa
Hayes Valley
Food & Drink
San Francisco's restaurants are so renowned that many people
visit the city just to eat -- and with good reason. The city's
brilliant chefs, combined with California's abundance of organic
produce, seafood, free-range meats, and Northern California
wine, guarantee some of the world's finest dining. San Francisco
also has varied nightlife ranging from bars to lounges to clubs.
Major areas of nightlife in San Francisco are North Beach, the
Mission District, the Marina, the Castro, and South of Market.
San Francisco also boasts of legendary pop music venues such as
The Fillmore and The Warfield.
Universities
San Francisco Unified School District and the Archdiocese of
San Franciscos dozens of Catholic elementary and high schools
serve the city. Despite its limited geographical space, San
Francisco is home to a multitude of Universities and Colleges.
Public universities include:
University of California, San Francisco, primarily a graduate
level health-sciences school, located north of Forest Hill
San Francisco State University located in the southwest
corner of the city near Lake Merced
University of California, Hastings College of the Law located
downtown at its Civic Center
City College of San Francisco, one of the largest community
colleges in the country is located in the Ingleside, with
several extension campuses.
Private universities:
The Jesuit-run University of San Francisco, one of the first
universities established west of the Mississippi, located in the
center of the city
Golden Gate University, a business and law school located
downtown
California Culinary Academy Le Cordon Bleu program located in
the Tenderloin
Academy of Art University
San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking
Alliant International University.
Sports
San Francisco is the home of many major league teams like
The San Francisco 49ers National Football League team, who
play at Monster Park
The San Francisco Giants Major League Baseball team, who play
at SBC Park
MLB 's Oakland Athletics
NFL's Oakland Raiders
The National Basketball Association's Golden State Warriors
play across the bay in Oakland
The regional National Hockey League team, the San Jose Sharks
play in San Jose
The Warriors and Sharks were once based just south of San
Francisco, at the Cow Palace, located several yards south of San
Francisco, in Daly City. The city is also home to some famous
golf courses, including the Harding Park Golf Course and the
courses of the Olympic Club.
Hotels & Accommodation
Luxury Hotels
San Francisco has elegant and grand hotels in its possession.
Westin St. Francis, Westin Saint Francis, Palace Hotel, Argent
Hotel, Mark Hopkins Intercontinental, Hilton, Fairmont, W San
Francisco, Pan Pacific, Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Renaissance
Parc 55, Ritz Carlton - are some of these big names.
All famous luxury hotels like Hilton, Hyatt, Palace Hotel, etc.
have their branch in Fisherman Wharf.
Budget Hotels
If the visit to San Francisco is in a particularly busy season
and booking in prominent hotels are over, here's a list of
moderate to very inexpensive alternatives - Alisa Hotel, Edward
II Inn & Suites, Hotel Beresford Arms, King George Hotel, The
Marina Inn, The San Remo Hotel.
Tours and Sightseeing
San Francisco has different type of organized tours they differ
in the contents as well as the transport system. Tours are
available by Bus, Boat, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) or on
foot. The San Francisco Visitor Information Center, at Powell
and Market streets, distributes free route maps. Blue & Gold
Fleet and Red & White Fleet are two boat tours available. And
Gray Line Bus tour is the San Franciscos largest bus tour
operator. The self-guided Private SUV tour, 49-mile drive is one
easy way to grasp the beauty of San Francisco and its
extraordinary location. Beginning in the city, it follows a
rough circle around the bay and passes virtually all the
best-known sights, from Chinatown to the Golden Gate Bridge,
Ocean Beach, Seal Rocks, Golden Gate Park, and Twin Peaks.
Transport
San Francisco has the most extensive public transit system on
the West Coast and one of the most diverse in the country. Muni
is the city-owned public transit system, which operates the Muni
Metro light rail system. BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is the
regional transit system, which connects San Francisco with the
East Bay, through an underwater tunnel, and Northern San Mateo
County, California communities and San Francisco International
Airport on the San Francisco Peninsula. In addition, a frequent
commuter rail service, Caltrain, operates between San Francisco,
San Jose, California and Gilroy, California.
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is located 12.9 km (8
miles) south of the city in San Mateo County on a landfill
extension into the San Francisco Bay. It is the only major
international hub airport in California other than LAX in Los
Angeles.
About the Author: Name: Mary Scott. Occupation: Traveler.
Website:
http://www.thereservationcenter.com http://www.looktours.com Biography:
Mary Scott is with The
Reservation Center - providers of discounted tours to make your
vacations and sightseeing trips in various cities across the
world as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
