162-642: San Francisco , in the US state of California , has both major, well-known neighborhoods and districts as well as smaller, specific subsections and developments. While there is considerable fluidity among the sources, one guidebook identifies five major districts, corresponding to the four quadrants plus a south central district. These five broad districts, counterclockwise are: Central/downtown, Richmond, Sunset, Upper Market and beyond (south central) and Bernal Heights/Bayview and beyond (southeast). Within each of these five districts are located major neighborhoods, and again there
324-442: A 103-foot (31 m) tall cross built in 1934. Dominating this area is Sutro Tower , a large red and white radio and television transmission tower reaching 1,811 ft (552 m) above sea level. The nearby San Andreas and Hayward Faults are responsible for much earthquake activity, although neither physically passes through the city itself. The San Andreas Fault caused the earthquakes in 1906 and 1989. Minor earthquakes occur on
486-734: A 2023 estimated population of over 9 million. Prior to European settlement , the modern city proper was inhabited by the Yelamu , who spoke a language now referred to as Ramaytush Ohlone . On June 29, 1776, settlers from New Spain established the Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate , and the Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, both named for Francis of Assisi . The California gold rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, transforming an unimportant hamlet into
648-416: A GDP of $ 729 billion in 2022 . The wider San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland Combined Statistical Area is the nation's fifth-most populous, with around nine million residents, and the third-largest by economic output, with a GDP of $ 1.32 trillion in 2022 . In the same year, San Francisco proper had a GDP of $ 252.2 billion, and a GDP per capita of $ 312,000. San Francisco was ranked fifth in the world and second in
810-578: A busy port, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time; between 1870 and 1900, approximately one quarter of California's population resided in the city proper. In 1856, San Francisco became a consolidated city-county . After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire , it was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama–Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II , it
972-623: A common place to live for people employed in Silicon Valley companies such as Apple and Google . The early 2020s featured an exodus of tech companies from Downtown San Francisco in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and struggles with homelessness and public drug use. Although some observers have raised the possibility that office vacancies and declining tax revenues could cause San Francisco to enter an economic doom loop , other sources have refuted this broad-based characterization of
1134-670: A fireproof multi-story walk-to-work residential area and is considered to be part of Nob Hill. Lower Nob Hill is also home to the first high-rise condominium in California. A region of the neighborhood is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the Lower Nob Hill Apartment Hotel District . The successful nomination was written by architectural historian Anne Buenger Bloomfield in 1991. Merced Heights, also known as Lakeview,
1296-647: A flood of treasure seekers (known as "forty-niners," as in "1849"). 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 wealth 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. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships , saloons , and hotels; many were left to rot, and some were sunk to establish title to
1458-399: A fort on Alcatraz Island to secure San Francisco Bay. San Francisco County was one of the state's 18 original counties established at California statehood in 1850. Until 1856, San Francisco's city limits extended west to Divisadero Street and Castro Street, and south to 20th Street. In 1856, the California state government divided the county. A straight line was then drawn across the tip of
1620-484: A gourmet marketplace. San Francisco has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csb , Trewartha : Csll), characteristic of California's coast, with moist winters and dry summers. San Francisco's weather is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the Pacific Ocean on the west side of the city, and the water of San Francisco Bay to the north and east. This moderates temperature swings and produces
1782-781: A historic building previously named the Jack Tar Hotel , was closed on October 30, 2009, and was demolished in 2014 to make room for an expansion of the California Pacific Medical Center . China Basin is a neighborhood built on landfill along the San Francisco Bay . It lies north of Mission Creek and the Mission Bay neighborhood, and includes Oracle Park , home of the San Francisco Giants , numerous restaurants, and
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#17327764892321944-566: A large African American population after World War II . The Western Addition is usually divided into smaller neighborhoods including Hayes Valley , the Fillmore , and Japantown , which was once the largest Japantown in North America but suffered when its Japanese American residents were forcibly removed and interned during World War II. The Western Addition survived the 1906 earthquake with its Victorians largely intact, including
2106-599: A magnet for America's counterculture movement . 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 1974, the Zebra murders left at least 16 people dead. In the 1970s, the city became a center of the gay rights movement , with
2268-534: A naval base and commercial shipyard. In 1947 the Hunter's Point crane completed construction at the site by the American Bridge Company . It was the largest crane in the world, and was intended to be used to remove the turrets of battleships so the guns could be quickly replaced while the old set was being refurbished on land. The Hunter's Point crane succeeded YD-171 , better known as Herman
2430-522: A parcel set for residential use. In 2017, the Navy released an Explanation of Significant Differences for the Parcel G ROD which stated that the parcel would be zoned largely for residential use. This shift occurred without tightening the cleanup standards to a residential level; the Navy instead put "action levels" in place, which are still lower than the criteria for residential use. In Parcel C and Parcel E
2592-440: A port and naval base, post-Conquest San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. Situated at the tip of a windswept peninsula without water or firewood, San Francisco lacked most of the basic facilities for a 19th-century settlement. These natural disadvantages forced the town's residents to bring water, fuel and food to the site. Its 1847 population was said to be 459. The California gold rush brought
2754-424: A regular basis. The threat of major earthquakes plays a large role in the city's infrastructure development. The city constructed an auxiliary water supply system and has repeatedly upgraded its building codes, requiring retrofits for older buildings and higher engineering standards for new construction. However, there are still thousands of smaller buildings that remain vulnerable to quake damage. USGS has released
2916-508: A remarkably mild year-round climate with little seasonal temperature variation. Hunters Point Naval Shipyard The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard was a United States Navy shipyard in San Francisco , California , located on 638 acres (258 ha) of waterfront at Hunters Point in the southeast corner of the city. Originally, Hunters Point was a commercial shipyard established in 1870, consisting of two graving docks . It
3078-603: A significant portion of the Comstock Lode 's gold and silver mines, establishing a virtual monopoly. Using his incredible clout, Ralston was able to generate millions of dollars for San Francisco during its heady boom years. He founded the Bank of California , the first bank in the Western United States, and built the opulent Palace Hotel, a symbol of San Francisco's newfound prosperity and the largest hotel in
3240-532: A single housing development in the late 1950s. Clarendon Avenue where it joins Twin Peaks Boulevard borders the neighborhood on the north and west. Panorama Drive winds through the neighborhood. Portola Drive borders the neighborhood's southern edge. Sutro Tower is on the northern side of Midtown Terrace, and the winding portion of Twin Peaks Boulevard that takes viewers to the Twin Peaks lookout forms
3402-528: 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 1890, San Francisco's population approached 300,000, making it the eighth-largest city in the United States at the time. Around 1901, San Francisco
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#17327764892323564-411: A succession of coal- and oil-fired power generation facilities which left a legacy of pollution, both from smokestack effluvium and leftover byproducts that were dumped in the vicinity. The BRAC program has managed the majority of the site's numerous pollution remediation projects. As of August 2020, the former shipyard site is still being decontaminated, and has been split into multiple parcels to allow
3726-484: A wave of " Manhattanization " that lasted until the late 1980s, a period of extensive high-rise development downtown. The 1980s also saw a dramatic increase in the number of homeless people in the city, an issue that remains today, despite many attempts to address it. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused destruction and loss of life throughout the Bay Area. In San Francisco, the quake severely damaged structures in
3888-504: Is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the city, west of the Ingleside and Oceanview neighborhoods. It is bordered to the south by Brotherhood Way, to the west by Junipero Serra Boulevard , to the north by Holloway Avenue, and to the east by Orizaba Avenue. The Oceanview Library is located on Randolph Street at Ramsell Street, and there are two public parks on Shields Street. Brooks Park is at Arch Street, and Merced Heights Playground
4050-670: Is a neighborhood to the south of the Presidio and the Presidio Heights neighborhood, the east of the Richmond District , and the west of the Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood. It is bordered by Geary Boulevard or the University of San Francisco campus to the south, Arguello Boulevard to the west, California Street to the north and Presidio Avenue to the east. The Laurel Village shopping center
4212-554: Is a small neighborhood between Forest Hill and Mount Davidson . Laguna Honda Hospital and the Muni Metro Forest Hill Station are both located at the neighborhood's northeast corner near the intersection of Laguna Honda Boulevard and Dewey Boulevard. Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts high school, (SOTA) is in the southeast corner of the neighborhood on Portola Drive. The Lake Street neighborhood
4374-644: Is an affluent and quiet neighborhood with a mixture of Victorians , apartment buildings, and detached houses. In part due to its elevation, Dolores Heights does not have a visible homeless population as much as the Castro and the Mission District . Benefiting from Twin Peaks blocking the strong winds and fog found almost year-round in San Francisco, Dolores Heights remains relatively warm, sunny, and fog-free. The neighborhood known as "Eureka Heights" refers to
4536-547: Is at Byxbee Street. There is also a "mini-park" at Randolph and Bright. At an elevation of 500 feet (150 m), the Shields Orizaba Rocky Outcrop is the highest point in Merced Heights. Merced Manor is a neighborhood in southwestern San Francisco, between Stern Grove and Lake Merced . It is bordered by 19th Avenue ( State Route 1 ) to the east, Sloat Boulevard to the north, 26th Avenue to
4698-744: Is bounded by the Presidio of San Francisco to the north (including Mountain Lake Park and the Presidio Golf Course), Presidio Heights to the east (Arguello Boulevard), the Inner Richmond to the south (California Street), and Sea Cliff to the west (27th Avenue). It offers large and traditional San Franciscan homes including many grand Edwardians, Victorians, and Queen Annes. The Lake Street neighborhood provides ease of access to commercial strips on Geary, Clement and California streets in
4860-509: Is capped by a rocky outcropping providing views of the ocean and all directions. Ingleside Terraces is an affluent neighborhood of approximately 750 homes built at the former location of the Ingleside Racetrack in the southwestern part of San Francisco. It is adjacent to the Ingleside neighborhood, and is bordered by Ocean Avenue to the north, Ashton Avenue to the east, Holloway Avenue to the south and Junipero Serra Boulevard to
5022-451: Is closely tied to Potrero Hill. Dogpatch has its own neighborhood association but shares a merchant association, Democratic caucuses, and general neighborhood matters with Potrero Hill. Dolores Heights is a hilly neighborhood named after the eponymous hill within the neighborhood. It borders the Castro to the north, Dolores Park to the east, Noe Valley to the south, and Upper Market to
List of neighborhoods in San Francisco - Misplaced Pages Continue
5184-586: Is considerable fluidity seen in the sources. The San Francisco Planning Department officially identifies 36 neighborhoods. Within these 36 official neighborhoods are a large number of minor districts, some of which are historical, and some of which are overlapping. Some of San Francisco's neighborhoods are also officially designated as " cultural districts ". Alamo Square is a subset of the Western Addition neighborhood. Its boundaries are not well-defined, but are generally considered to be Webster Street on
5346-494: Is essentially their original form, but most of the city's natural watercourses, such as Islais Creek and Mission Creek , have been partially or completely culverted and built over. Since the 1990s, however, the Public Utilities Commission has been studying proposals to daylight or restore some creeks. An Historical Center of San Francisco monument, where the 1899–1906 City Hall was once located,
5508-408: Is gone." 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 influential San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association or SPUR was founded in 1910 to address
5670-583: Is in United Nations Plaza , at 37°46′48″N 122°24′49″W / 37.7800397°N 122.4135943°W / 37.7800397; -122.4135943 The earliest center of San Francisco is Portsmouth Square , in the northeast quadrant of the city anchored by Market Street and the waterfront. Here in the northeast quadrant, the Financial District is centered, with Union Square , the principal shopping and hotel district, and
5832-426: Is in the central part of San Francisco, to the north of Twin Peaks and east of Mount Sutro . It stretches down to Corbett Avenue or Market Street , and Clarendon Avenue borders the north and west side. Cole Valley is a small neighborhood tucked into a u-shaped valley. Frederick Street is the northern boundary, Stanyan Street on the west, Clayton Street on the east, and the foothill (Belgrave Street) of Twin Peaks on
5994-526: Is its general center. The neighborhood features the historic Catholic church, St. Anne of the Sunset, which was the original Catholic parish for the Sunset District and has stood at 14th and Judah for more than 100 years. The Inner Sunset is west of Stanyan Street, south of Golden Gate Park , and north of Kirkham Street (the northern border for Golden Gate Heights) but may encompass some parts south all
6156-409: Is located on California between Laurel and Spruce, the California Pacific Medical Center is on California between Arguello and Maple, and a UCSF campus is located in the northeastern corner of the neighborhood. Little Hollywood is a small neighborhood in the southeastern edge of San Francisco. It is centered around Blanken Avenue between Bayshore Boulevard and U.S. Route 101 . Little Hollywood Park
6318-757: Is located on Lathrop Avenue, and the Bayshore Caltrain station is just south of the neighborhood, on Tunnel Avenue. Little Russia is a concentration of Russian-speaking immigrants along Geary Boulevard between the Russian Cathedral of the Holy Virgin at 27th Avenue and the Russian Renaissance restaurant at 17th Avenue, in the Richmond District, both established in the 1920s. The term is in local unofficial use. It
6480-486: Is now). The main shopping thoroughfare is Union Street, known for its restaurants, boutique shopping, health spas, and wellness centers. The Design District is located in the low-lying area between Townsend Street and 16th Street, west of Mission Bay. It is a mixed industrial-office-retail area, with a concentration of showrooms and upscale shops, as well as the San Francisco campus of the California College of
6642-499: Is the fourth-most populous city in the U.S. state of California behind Los Angeles , San Diego , and San Jose . It covers a land area of 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers) at the upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula , making it the second-most densely populated major U.S. city behind New York City and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county , behind four of New York City's boroughs . Among
List of neighborhoods in San Francisco - Misplaced Pages Continue
6804-543: Is the heart of San Francisco's 80,000 Russian-Americans. The neighborhood was established in the 1920s, with subsequent arrivals in the 1940s, 1950s (from China and the Philippines) and the "Third Wave" in the 1970s and 1980s. Additional limited immigration took place after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the 1990s and 2000s. Lower Pacific Heights is located between Pine Street on the north and Geary Boulevard on
6966-522: Is white, but there are significant Southern Italian, Latino and African American populations in the area as well. The main shopping area in Bernal Heights is Cortland Avenue, with a variety of storefronts that include a health food store , a community center, a yoga studio, bars, bakeries, and restaurants. Many of the quaint, hilly streets in the neighborhood are so narrow that two cars cannot pass in opposite directions without one car pulling over to
7128-638: The Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma and the beginning of the U.S. Conquest of California , American forces from the USS Portsmouth under the command of John B. Montgomery captured Yerba Buena on July 9, 1846, with little resistance from the local Californio population, raising the American flag over Yerba Buena plaza (later renamed Portsmouth Square in commemoration of this event). Following
7290-578: The California earthquake forecast which models earthquake occurrence in California. San Francisco's shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Entire neighborhoods such as the Marina , Mission Bay , 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
7452-581: The Caltrain railroad station. It borders on the South-of-Market (SOMA) neighborhood to the northwest and the South Beach neighborhood to the north. The term China Basin also refers to the body of water from which the neighborhood takes its name. This inlet where Mission Creek flows into the bay, home to a number of houseboats, was once an active industrial waterfront , though in recent decades
7614-617: The Corona Heights hill and park , south of Buena Vista Park and west of the Duboce Triangle . The Randall Museum is located at the end of Museum Way, in Corona Heights Park. It is roughly bordered by Museum Way to the north, Castro to the east, Clayton to the west, and Market to the south. Corona Heights is officially designated as part of District 5 (Central), subdistrict G, also known as neighborhood 5g, by
7776-780: The Golden Gate Bridge , cable cars , and Alcatraz . The city is home to a number of educational and cultural institutions, such as the University of California, San Francisco , the University of San Francisco , San Francisco State University , the San Francisco Conservatory of Music , the de Young Museum , the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art , the San Francisco Symphony , the San Francisco Ballet ,
7938-501: 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 The Embarcadero as its historic downtown waterfront and revitalizing the Hayes Valley neighborhood. The two recent decades have seen booms driven by the internet industry. During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, startup companies invigorated
8100-777: The San Francisco Opera , the SFJAZZ Center , and the California Academy of Sciences . Two major league sports teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Golden State Warriors , play their home games within San Francisco proper. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers flights to over 125 destinations, while a light rail and bus network , in tandem with the BART and Caltrain systems, connects nearly every part of San Francisco with
8262-501: The Tenderloin nearby. Cable cars carry riders up steep inclines to the summit of Nob Hill , once the home of the city's business tycoons, and down to the waterfront tourist attractions of Fisherman's Wharf , and Pier 39 , where many restaurants feature 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 ,
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#17327764892328424-501: The UGM-73 Poseidon missile test facility; the structural members were lifted by Marine Boss in 1967. The addition of the frame brought the total height of the crane to nearly 500 feet (150 m). The crane dominates the landscape in the area, as it is easily visible from miles around. Pacific Reserve Fleet, Hunters Point also called Pacific Reserve Fleet, Hunters Point Group was a United States Navy reserve fleets at
8586-466: The 1910s, a wave of Central American immigrants settled in the Mission and, in the 1950s, immigrants from Mexico began to predominate. In recent years, gentrification has changed the demographics of parts of the Mission from Latino, to twenty-something professionals. Noe Valley to the southwest and Bernal Heights to the south are both increasingly popular among young families with children. East of
8748-409: The 92 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2022. San Francisco anchors the 13th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States , with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area , the fifth-largest urban region in the U.S., had
8910-425: The Arts . The "Dogpatch" is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California , roughly half industrial and half residential. It was initially a working-class neighborhood, but has experienced rapid gentrification since the 1990s. Now it boasts similar demographics to its western neighbor Potrero Hill – an upper middle-class working professional neighborhood. Dogpatch was originally part of Potrero Nuevo and its history
9072-535: The Bay Area a center for trade. Catering to the needs and tastes of the growing population, Levi Strauss opened a dry goods business and Domingo Ghirardelli began manufacturing chocolate. Chinese immigrants made the city a polyglot culture, drawn to "Old Gold Mountain," creating the city's Chinatown quarter. By 1880, Chinese made up 9.3% of the population. 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
9234-705: The Birdman of Alcatraz. 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. During World War II , the city-owned Sharp Park in Pacifica was used as an internment camp to detain Japanese Americans . Hunters Point Naval Shipyard became a hub of activity, and Fort Mason became
9396-551: The City recognized Inner Balboa Street Neighborhood Commercial District . West of Park-Presidio Boulevard and bordering Golden Gate Park 's northeast corner, Balboa Hollow is the gateway to the main park attractions, including the de Young Museum , California Academy of Science , Conservatory of Flowers , Music Concourse , and the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Balboa Terrace is a small residential neighborhood in southwestern San Francisco bounded by Junipero Serra Boulevard , Monterey Boulevard, Aptos Avenue and Ocean Avenue along
9558-420: The Environmental Remediation of Hunters Point Shipyard." The resolution made it clear that it was the city's policy that Hunters Point "be cleaned to a level which would enable the unrestricted use of the property - the highest standard for cleanup established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency." The Navy modified its Record of Decision (ROD) for Parcel B of Hunters Point Shipyard, which weakened
9720-418: The German , as the largest crane in America. In 1959 the gantry crane was the site of Operation Skycatch, where dummy Polaris missiles were fired and caught via a string of arresting cables, before being lowered to the ground for testing. Previous versions of the test had the missiles flung out into the bay and retrieved from the ocean floor. A large trapezoidal frame was erected atop the gantry crane for
9882-456: The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The mothball fleet of World War II ships was next to the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. Some ships there were reactivated for Korean War and Vietnam War . The Navy operated the yard as a repair facility until 1974, when it leased most of it to a commercial ship repair company, who used it until 1986. A copy of the planned closure list was obtained by the Associated Press in 1973. The Hunters Point Shipyard
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#173277648923210044-400: The Hunters Point shipyard was the site of the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory , the US military's largest facility for applied nuclear research. The yard was used after the war to decontaminate ships from Operation Crossroads . Because of all the testing, there is widespread radiological contamination of the site. After the war, with an influx of blue collar industry, the area remained
10206-409: The Mission is the Potrero Hill neighborhood, a mostly residential neighborhood that features sweeping views of downtown San Francisco. West of the Mission, the area historically known as Eureka Valley , now popularly called the Castro , was once a working-class Scandinavian and Irish area. It has become North America's first gay village , and is now the center of gay life in the city. Located near
10368-425: The NCP and the community acceptance provision. The proposition and the resolution both make clear that the community is committed to the highest level of cleanup. Thus, the Navy, by refusing to establish cleanup standards that allow for unrestricted residential use, is violating federal superfund law under CERCLA and putting future residents of Hunters Point at risk. In 2020, the Navy BRAC decision not to reestablish
10530-448: The Navy at Hunters Point. At the start of WWII the Navy recognized the need for greatly increased naval shipbuilding and repair facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area , and in 1940 acquired the property from the private owners, naming it Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. A bill that would have set aside $ 6 million for the purchase of the Hunters Point property from Bethlehem Steel was deferred in March 1939. The property became one of
10692-450: The Navy bypassed its commitment to a full cleanup as outlined by Proposition P, relying instead on soil covers and 'institutional controls'. Under the National Contingency Plan (NCP), which is the central regulating process for governing Superfund sites, community acceptance is one of the nine criteria for establishing cleanup requirements. The text of Proposition P and the Board of Supervisors resolution adopting it as city policy references
10854-442: The Navy to declare them clean and safe for redevelopment separately. While Lennar has built and sold hundreds of new condominium units on the property, regulators, activists, and cleanup workers have claimed that the site is still heavily contaminated and that Tetra Tech , the company contracted to handle the cleanup and testing, has repeatedly violated established cleanup protocols, deliberately falsified radiation test results at
11016-422: The Navy's plan, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) recommended building the base for Missouri at Long Beach, San Diego, or Pearl Harbor. In 1989, the base was declared a Superfund site requiring long-term clean-up. in 1994, the Navy closed the shipyard and base as part of the next round of Base Realignment and Closure recommendations. Besides radioactive contamination , Hunter's Point had
11178-470: The Outer Richmond and Outer Sunset can refer to the more western portions of their respective district and the Inner Richmond and Inner Sunset can refer to the more eastern portions. 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
11340-420: The Presidio garrison, commanded by Mariano Vallejo , relocated to the Presidio of Sonoma , which was regarded as needing a greater military presence due the proximity of the Russian settlement at Fort Ross . Only a small detachment remained at the Presidio of San Francisco. Mission Dolores sold most of its property in 1836, retaining only the church and related structures. In 1833, Juana Briones de Miranda
11502-434: The Quesada Gardens Initiative (the Quesada Garden, Bridgeview Garden, and Latona Garden). The Bayview is known for its friendly and diverse residents, warm weather and inviting vistas, community gardens, independent businesses, artists' community, and rich history as an African American and working-class neighborhood. During the 1950s it was largely an Italian , Maltese and French Basque neighborhood, centered on St. Paul of
11664-656: The Richmond, points north and south via Route 1, the Golden Gate Bridge, biking and hiking trails in the Presidio and Lincoln Park, and the Legion of Honor Museum. Its name is derived from its proximity to Mountain Lake, one of the few remaining natural lakes in San Francisco, and Lake Street, the neighborhood's northernmost east–west artery. Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza ended his second northward expedition at
11826-576: The San Francisco Association of Realtors. The community is in close proximity to The Castro neighborhood. Cow Hollow is a generally affluent neighborhood located between Russian Hill and the Presidio and bordering the Marina District on one side and Pacific Heights on the other. The land was used for cow grazing (as its name would imply) and a settlement for fishermen (the coastline was much closer to this area than it
11988-717: The San Francisco Bay Railroad, a Class 3 short-line carrier. Old Butchertown was along the shores of Mission Creek on Mission Bay; this bay subsequently became the land-filled Mission Bay neighborhood . Cathedral Hill is a small area in the Western Addition neighborhood surrounding Saint Mary's Cathedral on Geary Boulevard near Gough Street. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco and Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory are located in Cathedral Hill. The Cathedral Hill Hotel,
12150-547: The San Francisco Bay or Pacific Ocean. Golden Gate Heights is a hilly neighborhood south of the Inner Sunset and northwest of Forest Hill . It is roughly bordered by Kirkham Street to the north, Rivera Street to the south, 8th Avenue to the east and 17th Avenue to the west. Grand View Park is a park on a hill on the northern side of the neighborhood; Golden Gate Heights Park and Hawk Hill Park are on hills on
12312-709: The San Francisco Peninsula just north of San Bruno Mountain . Everything south of the line became the new San Mateo County while everything north of the line became the new consolidated City and County of San Francisco. The California Gold Rush triggered a wave of entrepreneurial activity as individuals sought to capitalize on the newfound wealth. The discovery of silver deposits, notably the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further fueled rapid population growth and economic expansion. San Francisco, as
12474-457: The San Francisco economy. Large numbers of entrepreneurs and computer application developers moved into the city, followed by marketing, design, and sales professionals, changing the social landscape as once poorer neighborhoods became increasingly gentrified . Demand for new housing and office space ignited a second wave of high-rise development, this time in the South of Market district. By 2000,
12636-782: The Shipwreck Church and the Maltese American Social Club, both on Oakdale Avenue. The Bayview district was known as "Butcher Town" because of the slaughterhouse on Third Street. The area is served by the T-Third light rail line , and is home to the Bayview Opera House and City College Evans and Southeast Campus. The area is undergoing rapid development as the City tries to meet the demands of population growth and corporate investors have revalued
12798-510: The Spanish ship San Carlos , commanded by Juan Manuel de Ayala , became the first ship to anchor in the bay. Soon after, on March 28, 1776, Anza established the Presidio of San Francisco . On October 9, Mission San Francisco de Asís , also known as Mission Dolores, was founded by Padre Francisco Palóu . In 1794, the Presidio established the Castillo de San Joaquín , a fortification on
12960-563: The Transamerica Pyramid. Jordan Park is a small neighborhood in the northern portion of San Francisco as part of the Western Addition of the city, bordered by Arguello Boulevard to the west, Geary Boulevard to the south, California Street to the north and Parker Avenue to the east. It is oftentimes mistaken as being part of the Laurel Heights or Richmond District neighborhoods. Laguna Honda (or Forest Hill Extension)
13122-501: The United States on the Global Financial Centres Index as of September 2023 . Despite a continuing exodus of businesses from the downtown area of San Francisco, the city is still home to numerous companies inside and outside of technology, including Salesforce , Uber , Airbnb , X , Levi's , Gap , Dropbox , and Lyft . In 2022, San Francisco had more than 1.7 million international visitors –
13284-405: The area. Further development is taking place just to the south in Mission Bay area, a former railroad yard, which now has a second campus of the University of California, San Francisco and Chase Center , which opened in 2019 as the new home of the Golden State Warriors . West of downtown, across Van Ness Avenue , lies the large Western Addition neighborhood, which became established with
13446-507: The arts and sciences, spurred by leading universities , high-tech , healthcare, finance, insurance, real estate, and professional services sectors. As of 2020 , the metropolitan area, with 4.5 million residents, ranked 5th by GDP ($ 874 billion) and 2nd by GDP per capita ($ 131,082) across the OECD countries, ahead of global cities like Paris , London , and Singapore . It is the fourth-largest by aggregate income and economic output, with
13608-597: The beginning of the assimilation of the Ramaytush people, and the decline of their language and culture. The Spanish Empire claimed San Francisco as part of Las Californias , a province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain . The Spanish first arrived in what is now San Francisco on November 2, 1769, when the Portolá expedition led by Don Gaspar de Portolá and Juan Crespí arrived at San Francisco Bay . Having noted
13770-426: The capture, U.S. forces appointed both José de Jesús Noé and Washington Allon Bartlett to serve as co- alcaldes (mayors), while the conquest continued on in the rest of California. On January 30, 1847, Mayor Bartlett ordained that the city should officially change its name from "Yerba Buena" to "San Francisco", as the former name was only locally recognized and the latter name was in use on international maps. There
13932-476: The city and burned 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 died, though modern estimates put the number in
14094-521: The city as a whole, asserting that the issues of concern are restricted primarily to the urban core of San Francisco. As of March 2024, Union Square was in "sorry shape" and had lost its traditional position as the Bay Area's regional shopping hub to Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose. The Ferry Station Post Office Building , Armour & Co. Building , Atherton House , and YMCA Hotel are historic buildings among dozens of historical landmarks in
14256-548: The city's Little Italy and the former center of the Beat Generation ; and Telegraph Hill , which features Coit Tower . Abutting Russian Hill and North Beach is San Francisco's Chinatown , the oldest Chinatown in North America. The South of Market , which was once San Francisco's industrial core, has seen significant redevelopment following the construction of Oracle Park and an infusion of startup companies . New skyscrapers, live-work lofts, and condominiums dot
14418-479: The city's alcalde , renamed it from Yerba Buena (Spanish for "Good Herb"), which had been the name of the first civilian pueblo in San Francisco, as well as the name of Yerba Buena Cove , which the pueblo was on the shore of. Earlier in San Francisco's history, the uninhabited area on the northeastern side of San Francisco was called El Paraje de Yerba Buena , after the herb that was growing abundantly there. The name Yerba Buena continues to be used in locations in
14580-417: The city's population reached new highs, surpassing the previous record set in 1950. When the bubble burst in 2001 and again in 2023, many of these companies folded and their employees were laid off. Yet high technology and entrepreneurship remain mainstays of the San Francisco economy. By the mid-2000s (decade), the social media boom had begun, with San Francisco becoming a popular location for tech offices and
14742-576: The city's southern border, the Excelsior District is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco. The Bayview-Hunters Point in the far southeast corner of the city is one of the poorest neighborhoods, though the area has been the focus of several revitalizing and urban renewal projects. The construction of the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1918 connected southwest neighborhoods to downtown via streetcar, hastening
14904-504: The city, according to the National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco . San Francisco is located on the West Coast of the United States , at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within its boundaries. Several picturesque islands — Alcatraz , Treasure Island and the adjacent Yerba Buena Island , and small portions of Alameda Island , Red Rock Island , and Angel Island —are part of
15066-763: The city, such as on Yerba Buena Island and in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yerba Buena Gardens . While people residing outside the San Francisco Bay Area use nicknames including "Frisco" and "San Fran", local residents in the Bay Area sometimes refer to San Francisco as "the City" or "SF". The choice of nickname a person uses is a common way for locals to distinguish long-time residents from tourists and recent arrivals. "San Fran" and "Frisco" are sometimes considered controversial as nicknames among San Francisco residents. The earliest archeological evidence of human habitation of
15228-432: The city. 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," a common local colloquialism referring to the city's shape, though its total area, including water, is nearly 232 square miles (600 km ). There are more than 50 hills within the city limits. Some neighborhoods are named after
15390-457: The cleanup standards for the parcel. Despite this, the Navy still found contamination levels higher than its cleanup standards, and in 2009 moved to rework its entire cleanup strategy for the parcel. The Navy once again amended the ROD for Parcel B, this time to change its remediation strategy from removing all contaminated soils from the parcel to installing covers in the soil as a means of suppressing
15552-532: The contamination. By abandoning its commitment to pursue a remediation effort based on cleanup, the Navy also abandoned its commitment to clean up Hunters Point to unrestricted residential release standards. In Parcel G the Navy followed a similar pattern of disregarding Proposition P, and therefore San Francisco city policy, by lowering cleanup standards and shifting the future land use of the area. The 2009 ROD for Parcel G outlined its future use as mostly industrial, and therefore required lower cleanup standards than
15714-515: The country at the time. His financial empire, however, collapsed in 1875 as a result of the Panic of 1873 , triggering a major economic crisis in San Francisco. Development of the Port of San Francisco and the establishment in 1869 of overland access to the eastern U.S. rail system via the newly completed Pacific Railroad (the construction of which the city only reluctantly helped support ) helped make
15876-683: The development of West Portal , and nearby affluent Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood . Further west, stretching all the way to the Pacific Ocean and north to Golden Gate Park lies the vast Sunset District , a large middle-class area with a predominantly Asian population. The northwestern quadrant of the city contains the Richmond , a mostly middle-class neighborhood north of Golden Gate Park, home to immigrants from other parts of Asia as well as many Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. Together, these areas are known as The Avenues . These two districts are each sometimes further divided into two regions:
16038-567: The east, Golden Gate Avenue on the north, Divisadero Street on the west, and Oak Street on the south. It is characterized by Victorian architecture that was left largely untouched by the urban renewal projects in other parts of the Western Addition. On a clear day, the Transamerica Pyramid building and the tops of the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge can be seen from the park's center. San Francisco's City Hall can be seen directly down Fulton Street. A row of Victorian houses facing
16200-547: The east. The Ingleside Library is located on Ocean Avenue at Plymouth, and the Bay Area Rapid Transit Balboa Park Station is at the edge of the neighborhood on Geneva Avenue at I-280 toward San Jose Avenue . The neighborhood is served by three Muni rail lines and several bus lines. The commercial center of the neighborhood runs along Ocean Avenue, which offers a range of shopping and dining institutions. The Lakeview and Ashton Mini Park
16362-509: 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. Bank of America , now based in Charlotte , North Carolina , was founded in San Francisco; the bank completed 555 California Street in 1969. The Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972, igniting
16524-723: The excavation of the Yerba Buena Tunnel through Yerba Buena Island during the construction of the Bay Bridge. Such land tends to be unstable during earthquakes. The resulting soil liquefaction causes extensive damage to property built upon it, as was evidenced in the Marina district during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake . A few natural lakes and creeks ( Lake Merced , Mountain Lake , Pine Lake , Lobos Creek , El Polin Spring ) are within parks and remain protected in what
16686-520: The fact that there were no churches to be found, prompted missionaries like William Taylor to come to San Francisco where he began preaching in the streets, using an upright barrel as his pulpit. Taylor was able to garner enough generous donations from successful gold miners with which he used to build a church. One of the most influential figures of this era was William Chapman Ralston . A shrewd banker and investor, Ralston amassed considerable wealth and influence in San Francisco. He gained control over
16848-430: The famous " Painted Ladies ," standing alongside Alamo Square . To the south, near the geographic center of the city is Haight-Ashbury , famously associated with 1960s hippie culture. The Haight is now home to some expensive boutiques and a few controversial chain stores, although it still retains some bohemian character. North of the Western Addition is Pacific Heights , an affluent neighborhood that features
17010-407: The fifth-most visited city from abroad in the United States after New York City, Miami , Orlando , and Los Angeles – and approximately 20 million domestic visitors for a total of 21.9 million visitors. It is known for its steep rolling hills and eclectic mix of architecture across varied neighborhoods , its Chinatown and Mission districts, its cooling summers, fog , and landmarks including
17172-610: The first land grant in Yerba Buena: to William Richardson , a naturalized Mexican citizen of English birth. Richardson had arrived in San Francisco aboard a whaling ship in 1822. In 1825, he married Maria Antonia Martinez, eldest daughter of the Californio Ygnacio Martínez . Yerba Buena began to attract American and European settlers; an 1842 census listed 21 residents (11%) born in the United States or Europe, as well as one Filipino merchant. Following
17334-518: The gateway to the goldfields, experienced a surge in population and commercial activity. However, the influx of fortune seekers also brought challenges. Lawlessness was rampant, and the Barbary Coast district became synonymous with vice, attracting criminals, prostitutes, and illicit activities, including but not limited to prostitution, bootlegging , and gambling. The rapidly growing population, with its lawlessness, gambling and other vices, and
17496-405: The hill on which they are situated, including Nob Hill , Potrero Hill , and Russian Hill . Near the geographic center of the city, southwest of the downtown area, are a series of less densely populated hills. Twin Peaks , a pair of hills forming one of the city's highest points, forms an overlook spot. San Francisco's tallest hill, Mount Davidson , is 928 feet (283 m) high and is capped with
17658-490: The hill streets above Eureka Valley to the west, bounded by Market Street to the north and west, Douglas Street to the east, and 22nd Street to the south. Kite Hill park falls within the boundary of the Eureka Heights neighborhood and has beautiful views of San Francisco. It's also the geographic "center" of the city. This new neighborhood stretches from Market to Brannan and Main to 3rd Streets, and will be anchored by
17820-496: The homes built by wealthy San Franciscans in the wake of the 1906 earthquake. Directly north of Pacific Heights facing the waterfront is the Marina , a neighborhood popular with young professionals that was largely built on reclaimed land from the Bay. In the southeast quadrant of the city is the Mission District —populated in the 19th century by Californios and working-class immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Scandinavia. In
17982-555: The lake, stopping for two days in 1776. While here he located a site for the Spanish presidio that was later built. A plaque was placed in September 1957 near the point where he stayed. Lakeside is a long, narrow neighborhood between 19th Avenue ( Highway1 ) and Junipero Serra Boulevard to the south of Sloat Boulevard. San Francisco State University and the Stonestown Galleria shopping mall are both located opposite
18144-538: The larger Port of Oakland . The city began to lose industrial jobs and turned 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. From 1950 to 1980, the city lost over 10 percent of its population. Over this period, San Francisco became
18306-483: The largest in the world. At over 1000 feet in length, they were said to be big enough to accommodate the world's largest warships and passenger steamers. Soundings showed an offshore depth of 65 feet. During the early 20th century much of the Hunters Point shoreline was extended by landfill extensions into the San Francisco Bay . Between World War I and the beginning of World War II the Navy contracted with
18468-511: The local newspaper. Hunters Point Shipyard, a former Superfund site, and a polluting power plant have been focal points for environmental activists. The neighborhood was highly organized during the Civil rights movement , led by social justice advocates such as Julia Commer, Osceola Washington, Ruth Williams, Rosie Williams, Elouise Westbrook , Essie Webb, Espanola Jackson, Shirley Jones, and Alex Pitcher. Sam Jordan, boxing champion and tavern owner,
18630-468: The major shipyards of the west coast. It was later renamed Treasure Island Naval Station Hunters Point Annex. During the 1940s, many workers moved into the area to work at this shipyard and other wartime related industries. The key fissile components of the first atomic bomb were loaded onto USS Indianapolis in July 1945 at Hunters Point for transfer to Tinian . After World War II and until 1969,
18792-419: The missions were made to divest themselves of their extensive landholdings and emancipate the indigenous people under their control. As part of the process of secularization, Governor José Figueroa opened up San Francisco to civilian settlement. Prior to secularization, the only settlements in San Francisco had been the military settlement at the Presidio and the religious settlement at Mission Dolores. In 1835,
18954-444: The neighborhood now known as Dogpatch . Today's street borders are Cesar Chavez to the north, Interstate 280 to the west, Industrial Street and Oakdale Avenue to the south, and 3rd Street to the east. There are still two meat rendering plants in the neighborhood, and until pollution control measures were taken in 1995 the stench was still quite apparent. Butchertown is also headquarters to San Francisco's only active freight railroad,
19116-657: The neighborhood on 19th Avenue, and the Merced Library is located in the Lakeside on Stonecrest Drive at Winston Drive. The Lakeshore district is bounded by Sloat Blvd, 26th Avenue, Gellert Drive and Lake Merced. Lakeshore is west of Stonestown, south of Parkside, west of Lakeside, and east of the Zoo. Lowell High School and Lakeshore Elementary are located in Lakeshore. Lakeshore Plaza is also located here. Laurel Heights
19278-544: The neighborhood's eastern edge. The Midtown Terrace Recreation Center is on Olympia Way at Clarendon. Views include the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco, Mount Davidson and Twin Peaks. San Francisco San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco , is a commercial, financial , and cultural center within Northern California . With a population of 808,988 residents as of 2023, San Francisco
19440-525: The new Transbay Transit Center . This neighborhood is adjacent to Yerba Buena . Forest Knolls is a neighborhood within the Inner Sunset built on the southwestern side of Mount Sutro , near the main UCSF campus. Warren Drive is the southern and western border, Mount Sutro is the northern border and the Midtown Terrace neighborhood is to the east. Homes are mostly fully detached and many have views of
19602-465: The new home port, stating the costs would outweigh potential benefits. A referendum was held on the issue in the November 1988 general election. One proposition offered support for the Navy's plan, and another proposition, sponsored by Agnos, stated the infrastructure costs would be borne by the Navy, and 351 new civilian jobs were required to be created. Despite the passage of the proposition supporting
19764-549: The park on Steiner Street, known as the painted ladies , are often shown in the foreground of panoramic pictures of the city's downtown area. Ashbury Heights is a neighborhood on the hill to the south of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. It is at the base of Tank Hill and neighboring Cole Valley . Balboa Hollow is a neighborhood within the Inner Richmond District of San Francisco, centered around
19926-484: The period of Mexican rule , although it was not until 1833 that the missions would be secularized. Agricultural land became largely privatized as ranchos , as was occurring in other parts of California. Coastal trade increased, including a half-dozen barques from various Atlantic ports which regularly sailed in California waters. With the enactment of the Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 ,
20088-533: The primary port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater 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 United Nations Charter creating the United Nations
20250-514: The private owners for the use of the docks. The docks provided deep-water facilities between San Diego and Bremerton, Washington . The main naval base in the area was at Mare Island Naval Shipyard , but silting in the area made it only suitable for shallow-draft ships. A Congressional hearing on Pacific Coast Naval Bases was held in San Francisco in 1920 at San Francisco City Hall, wherein city representatives, Mayor Rolph, City Engineer O'Shaughnessy and others testified on behalf of permanently siting
20412-605: The quality of housing after the earthquake. The earthquake hastened development of western neighborhoods that survived the fire, including Pacific Heights , where many of the city's wealthy rebuilt their homes. In turn, the destroyed mansions of Nob Hill became grand hotels. City Hall rose again in the Beaux Arts style, and the city celebrated its rebirth at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915. During this period, San Francisco built some of its most important infrastructure. Civil Engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy
20574-472: The relatively large amount of buildable land. Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Park areas are primary centers of development in the neighborhood. Despite its diversity, residents have a long history of coming together to create change and protect neighborhood assets. The Bayview Footprints Network maintains the neighborhood's longest-running blog, and the San Francisco Bay View is
20736-551: The rise of the beatnik and hippie countercultures, the sexual revolution , the peace movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War , and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States . San Francisco and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area are a global center of economic activity and
20898-542: The several thousands. More than half of the city's population of 400,000 was 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 . Jack London is remembered for having famously eulogized the earthquake: "Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco
21060-439: The shipyard as the home port for the newly reactivated USS Missouri (BB-63) , which would move from Long Beach . Rear Admiral Robert L. Toney and Mayor Dianne Feinstein signed an agreement that committed San Francisco to spend up to $ 1 million per year to maintain the infrastructure, including dredging and traffic improvements. After Feinstein was succeeded as mayor by Art Agnos , Agnos declared his opposition to
21222-494: The shipyard can be "clarified." In 2000, San Francisco voters passed Proposition P in a landslide, with 86% voting "yes". The proposition stated that the Navy would be responsible for cleaning up the shipyard to the highest standard. The year after the proposition passed, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed, and the mayor signed, a resolution titled "Adoption of Proposition P as Official City Policy for
21384-537: The shore has been developed with residential condominiums. The portion of the waterway adjacent to the ballpark is often referred to as McCovey Cove , named after Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants . The China Basin Heliport ( IATA code JCC), used by the SFPD Aero Division until the division was disbanded, was located near the waterfront in the neighborhood. The Clarendon Heights neighborhood
21546-465: The side of the road. The Buena Vista neighborhood surrounds Buena Vista Park , south of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Market Street is to the south, and Corona Heights Park and neighborhood is to the east. Butchertown (new) (see Islais Creek ) is an industrial neighborhood in San Francisco that historically housed the city's slaughterhouses. It is one of the few remaining industrial sectors of San Francisco. Originally, Butchertown extended into
21708-424: The site to falsely show that there is little remaining radiation, and fired employees who attempted to force workers to perform radiation tests as required. According to an article published in 2017, the Navy stated that at least 386 out of the 25,000+ soil samples that have been collected over the past two decades were identified as "anomalous." New homes built on the property were set to be available to tenants in
21870-468: The south. Sometimes referred to as a subsection of the Haight district, Cole Valley's main street is at Cole and Carl streets, where Cole Hardware, Luke's Local and La Boulangerie cafe anchor the neighborhood, with Tank Hill in the southeast corner with views toward the ocean, Marin and the eastern half of the city. The Corona Heights neighborhood is a small affluent district in San Francisco that surrounds
22032-457: The south. The area borders Japantown to the east, the Western Addition to the south, Pacific Heights to the north and Laurel Heights to the west. Lower Nob Hill is the southern side of Nob Hill , and generally bounded by Geary Street to the south, California Street to the north, Larkin Street to the west, and Powell Street to the east. This area of Nob Hill was rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake as
22194-639: The southern edge of the exclusive St. Francis Wood development. The Bayview stretches along Third Street south of Evans Avenue, west of the Hunters Point neighborhood. The neighborhood library was recently renamed the Linda Brooks-Burton Branch Library after a new and larger building was constructed at the same location on Third Street and Revere. Within a block or two of the library are three urban gardens and public art projects, developed entirely by residents, known as
22356-543: The southern side of the Golden Gate , which later came to be known as Fort Point. In 1804, the province of Alta California was created, which included San Francisco. At its peak in 1810–1820, the average population at the Mission Dolores settlement was about 1,100 people. In 1821, the Californias were ceded to Mexico by Spain. The extensive California mission system gradually lost its influence during
22518-422: The southern side of the neighborhood. The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps are a local attraction near Grand View Park . Golden Gate Heights has 14 blocks of stairways and more than 2,500 stairs. [1] The Ingleside neighborhood is located in the southwestern part of San Francisco, near City College . It is bordered by Ocean Avenue to the north, Ashton Avenue to the west, Lakeview Avenue to the south and Interstate 280 to
22680-508: The strategic benefits of the area due to its large natural harbor, the Spanish dispatched Pedro Fages in 1770 to find a more direct route to the San Francisco Peninsula from Monterey , which would become part of the El Camino Real route. By 1774, Juan Bautista de Anza had arrived to the area to select the sites for a mission and presidio . The first European maritime presence in San Francisco Bay occurred on August 5, 1775, when
22842-493: The territory of San Francisco dates to 3000 BCE. The Yelamu group of the Ramaytush people resided in a few small villages when an overland Spanish exploration party arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay . The Ohlone name for San Francisco was Ahwaste , meaning, "place at the bay." The arrival of Spanish colonists, and the implementation of their Mission system, marked
23004-402: The underwater lot. By 1851, the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870, Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land. Buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850, and the U.S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate and
23166-486: The way to Ortega (at 8th and 9th Avenues). Today, most would place the Inner Sunset's western border at 19th Avenue. However, historically, the Inner Sunset's borders extend out to 20th Avenue where the former Market Street Railway Company's #17 line used to run. Also called Islais Landing, see Butchertown (Old and New) ) A six-block neighborhood, adjacent to the North Beach and Chinatown located immediately north of
23328-473: The west and Eucalyptus Drive to the south. Lowell High School is located on Eucalyptus Drive, and the Merced Manor reservoir is on Sloat between 22nd and 23rd Avenues. The Stonestown Galleria shopping mall and San Francisco State University are both on 19th Avenue to the south of Merced Manor. Midtown Terrace is a neighborhood in central San Francisco, on the western slope of Twin Peaks . Created as
23490-830: The west. Parts of it are so steep that the Muni Metro J Church line has to be routed through Dolores Park and into the Liberty Hill area before rejoining Church Street in Noe Valley at 22nd street. It contains the Liberty Hill Historic District , and the Liberty Street Historic District . Many streets within Dolores Heights are dead-end cul de sacs connected by steep staircases with beautiful views. It
23652-557: The west. The main local event that occurs is the Annual Sundial Park Picnic, in which the local residents host bicycle, chariot, and wagon racing. There is a large sundial located on Entrada Court, surrounded by oval -shaped Urbano Drive, which was once a horse race track. The Inner Sunset is the northeasternmost corner of the Sunset District . The commercial district around 9th Avenue and Irving Street
23814-421: The wider region. San Francisco, which is Spanish for "Saint Francis," takes its name from Mission San Francisco de Asís , which in turn was named after Saint Francis of Assisi . The mission received its name in 1776, when it was founded by the Spanish under the leadership of Padre Francisco Palóu . The city has officially been known as San Francisco since 1847, when Washington Allon Bartlett , then serving as
23976-433: The winter of 2014/2015. The first residents began moving into homes in June 2015. In September 2016, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) halted the transfer of additional land at Hunters Point from the Navy to the city and to real estate developers. Per a letter sent from the EPA to the Navy, the process was placed on hold until "the actual potential public exposure to radioactive material at and near"
24138-415: Was a major city known for its flamboyant style, stately hotels, ostentatious mansions on Nob Hill , and a thriving arts scene. The first North American plague epidemic was the San Francisco plague of 1900–1904 . 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 spread across
24300-425: Was a major port of embarkation for naval service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater . In 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations and in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers . After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, significant immigration , liberalizing attitudes,
24462-434: Was also concern that a new town being planned by General Vallejo on the Carquinez Strait was to be called "Francisca", after the first name of his wife. After the name change to "San Francisco", the name of Vallejo's town was changed to Benicia , after his wife's middle name. Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Alta California was ceded from Mexico to the United States . Despite its attractive location as
24624-469: 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 , and Robert Franklin Stroud ,
24786-412: Was centered on a plaza that is now Portsmouth Square . A land survey of Yerba Buena was made by the Swiss immigrant Jean Jacques Vioget as prelude to the city plan. Francisco de Haro , a non- Californio Mexican native, became the first alcalde of Yerba Buena. The second alcalde José Joaquín Estudillo was a Californio from a prominent Monterey family. In 1835, while in office, he approved
24948-536: Was drafted and signed in San Francisco in 1945 and, in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers . Urban planning projects in the 1950s and 1960s involved widespread destruction and redevelopment of west-side neighborhoods and the construction of new freeways , of which only a series of short segments were built before being halted by citizen-led opposition . The onset of containerization made San Francisco's small piers obsolete, and cargo activity moved to
25110-437: Was granted a small rancho at El Polín Spring , near the Presidio, founding the first non-indigenous civilian household in San Francisco. In 1834, the pueblo of Yerba Buena was founded. Yerba Buena Cove (named after a native herb ) was already a favored anchorage spot and the new settlement and trading post was founded by its shores. Yerba Buena was located in what is now the city's Chinatown and Financial District and
25272-465: Was hired by San Francisco Mayor James Rolph as chief engineer for the city in September 1912 to supervise the construction of the Twin Peaks Reservoir, the Stockton Street Tunnel , the Twin Peaks Tunnel , the San Francisco Municipal Railway , the Auxiliary Water Supply System , and new sewers. San Francisco's streetcar system, of which the J , K , L , M , and N lines survive today, was pushed to completion by O'Shaughnessy between 1915 and 1927. It
25434-428: Was named redundant as part of the Base Realignment and Closure effort in 1991, and was closed permanently in 1994. Since then the site has been part of a superfund cleanup effort to remediate the remains of decades of industrial and radiological use. Parcels have been sold as they were remediated, mostly for condominium development. The original docks were built on solid rock. In 1916 the drydocks were thought to be
25596-429: Was purchased and built up in the late 19th and early 20th century by the Union Iron Works company, later owned by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company and named Hunters Point Drydocks , located at Potrero Point . Known as "The World's Greatest Shipping Yard", President Theodore Roosevelt trusted his Great White Fleet of battleships to be serviced at Hunters Point in 1907 according to historical records. The shipyard
25758-448: Was purchased by the Navy in 1940, a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor . It began operations the next year as the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, and operated until 1974 when it was deactivated and renamed Hunters Point Naval Shipyard . Used commercially for a time, in 1986 it was taken over by the Navy again as the home port of the USS Missouri battlegroup, under the name Treasure Island Naval Station Hunters Point Annex . The base
25920-412: Was reactivated briefly between 1986 and 1989 as an annex to Naval Station Treasure Island. The Hunters Point Shipyard Artists (HPSA) is a community of artists who rent studios in the former U.S. naval shipyard on Hunters Point in the Bayview community of San Francisco. An artist community since 1983, the Hunters Point Shipyard is now home to more than 250 artists. In 1987, the Navy considered reopening
26082-410: Was the O'Shaughnessy Dam , Hetch Hetchy Reservoir , and Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct that would have the largest effect on San Francisco. An abundant water supply enabled San Francisco to develop into the city it has become today. 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
26244-415: Was the first African American to run for Mayor of San Francisco. A small neighborhood near the Financial District, being the historical location of the French Quarter in San Francisco. Bernal Heights is a neighborhood perched on a hill in between the Mission district, Bayview, and the Portola district. The neighborhood is known for its community feeling and progressive vibe. The majority of the neighborhood
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