| Top Contributors |  |  |
| News for San Francisco | | news |
| San Francisco’s indigenous Indian tribes are the Ohlone and the Miwok (a word George Lucas altered slightly to name his fierce, furry Ewoks). Like many Californian cities, San Francisco was the site of a Spanish mission. The Mission San Francisco de Asis was established in the area in the late eighteenth century. Because of its distance from Mexico City it remained a small trading settlement until the 1820s. In 1821 this settlement became part of an independent Mexico but only twenty-five years later, when the Mexican-American war broke out, San Francisco was given its current name and claimed for the United States by naval Commodore John D. Sloat.
The California Gold Rush drove Americans crazy with the promise of quick riches, and San Francisco was the closest port to the hills where those riches were found. In two quick years beginning in 1848 San Francisco’s population grew from 1,000 to 25,000. In the subsequent boom years the city expanded further to support its new residents. Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford, and Levi Strauss are just a few of the bankers and businessmen who capitalized on this new expansion and left an indelible mark on national history. In 1906 San Francisco was rocked by one of the most destructive natural disasters the country has seen: a devastating earthquake that ruptured water mains and started fires that burned out of control. Much of the downtown was completely destroyed.
Later in the twentieth century San Francisco became a destination for countercultures of all stripes, decade after decade. In the 50s came Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and the Beat scene, centered on the City Lights Bookstore. In the next decade it was the flower children and hippies, looking to expand their consciousness beyond postwar conformity. Their 1967 “Summer of Love” fixed the Haight-Ashbury district as the center of hippie radicalism. The gay and lesbian scene, which was fueled originally by gay sailors who came into the city during the 40s, expanded considerably in the 1970s. In the 1990s the dot-com boom brought another unique community to the area: young techies looking to capitalize on the seemingly endless potential of internet business. The boom eventually busted and rents returned from the stratosphere. San Francisco made news recently when rock-star mayor Gavin Newsom began allowing the city to issue same-sex marriage licenses. While the California Supreme Court later invalidated these marriage licenses and the battle still rages on, San Francisco seems happy to be leading the charge. |
| The Pacific Ocean has a truly pacifying effect on San Francisco weather. The city has a Mediterranean climate. Winter temperatures virtually never dip below freezing, with average lows around 46 °F and highs around 58 °F. Snow in the city is extremely rare but the winters can be wet. Bring your raincoat. Mark Twain is rumored to have quipped “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” There is a grain of truth here. Summers in San Francisco are foggy and much cooler than in towns further inland. Average highs and lows are 72°F and 56°F. September and October, as well as the early spring months, tend to be the warmest. But San Franciscan weather is notoriously capricious. A good rule of thumb is to bring layers and dress for both extremes of the season. |
| San Francisco sits on a peninsula with the Pacific Ocean to the west and the San Francisco Bay to the east. It is nearly equidistant from Los Angeles and the Oregon border. To the south is Silicon Valley, encompassing San Jose and Palo Alto, the home of Stanford University. Across the Golden Gate Bridge to the north is lush Marin County, the beautiful shores of Point Reyes and Bodega Bay, and, further inland, Wine Country. Over the Bay Bridge to the east are Oakland and Berkeley, packed with students. San Francisco is famous for its roller-coaster topography and the city is indeed covered with hills: there are 42 within city limits to be exact (a “hill” in San Fran is defined as any elevation over 100 ft.). Some of these, like Nob Hill, Pacific Heights and Telegraph Hill, are neighborhoods. Others, Twin Peaks and Mt. Sutro for example, are gorgeous parks. San Francisco’s downtown (often called the “Financial District”) is centered near the eastern end of Market Street. Other neighborhoods—the Mission, the Castro, Chinatown, the Marina and Fisherman’s Wharf--are loosely connected but manageable on foot themselves. |
| Since the Gold Rush San Francisco has been California’s banking and financial center. It is home to a U.S. Mint and a district of the Federal Reserve and, of course, the landmark TransAmerica building. More delicious establishments headquartered in San Francisco include the Anchor Brewing Company, Jamba Juice and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. George Lucas took inspiration from the cranes on the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge for the mammoth four-legged machines in Return of the Jedi and gave back to the area by settling Lucasfilm and LucasArts in San Francisco. |
| San Francisco is California’s only “metropolitan municipality.” This alliterative mouthful means that the City and County of San Francisco have the same political boundaries and one consolidated government. With a history of progressive politics, it’s not surprising that San Francisco leans far to the left. The current mayor of the city is fourth generation San Franciscan Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who defeated a Green Party candidate in 2003. Newsom ran on promises to help San Francisco’s homeless and seems to have delivered. His Care Not Cash initiative has given 5,000 homeless San Franciscans permanent shelter in the city. Newsom has been incredibly popular with a stratospheric approval rating over 80%, and has a reputation as a hands-on maverick. When he believed California’s Constitution guaranteed same-sex couples the right to marry, he ordered county workers to include that option on application documents. Although the state Supreme Court invalidated the marriages, that hasn’t slowed Gavin’s charge. He’s been known to show up unannounced to impoverished districts that receive city resources just to follow through on promises and to join picket lines with union workers. |
| The art scene in San Francisco ranges from murals in the Mission and the Cartoon Art Museum to Picasso and Paul Klee. New and old, established and edgy, it can all be found here. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) houses an impressive standing collection including art by immortals Frank Stella, Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp, and others. This is also the place to catch that touring exhibit you read about in the New York Times. Not to be outdone, the Legion of Honor displays works by Rodin, Degas, Renoir, and Picasso, among others. |
| San Francisco has a diverse wealth of ethnic communities. Caucasians account for only 49% of the city’s residents. The city has the largest Chinese population in the U.S. and the second largest Asian population (Hawaii comes in first) but also thriving Latino, Japanese, Russian, Irish and German communities. The faiths practiced in San Francisco are equally diverse. Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism are all represented. Pagan and Unitarian churches can also be found in the city. |
| The primary language in San Francisco is English. Particular areas of town might give you a different impression though. In Chinatown you might think the primary language was Mandarin or Cantonese. In the Mission area you’re likely to hear more Spanish. Geary Boulevard in the Richmond is home to native Russian speakers, and Japanese and German can also be heard in other parts of the city. |
Ratings for |   |
| |
|
