The Morning Fog Chills the Air

Population – Chapter 4

The City is the second most densely populated city in the U.S.-–16,000 people per square mile. It is considered a metropolitan area with a population of less than 1 million. It has had a steady rate of increase since its incorporation to the U.S., the biggest population increase corresponding the Baby Boom of the 1950s. Since, it nearly has had zero population growth. The population is pretty much 50/50 whites/non-white, with Chinese being the largest ethnic group.

The City is still a center of banking. In addition to this, there are many tertiary activities as well as quaternary activities, with tourism being one of the major players in its economy and a rise in biotechnology and biomedical research centers.

Amenities

Because the City’s major economy is tourism, you can find some of the best entertainment and centers for shopping. Its public transportation is one of the best anywhere, which enhances its tourist trade. Some of the best centers for shopping are Union Square, near the Financial District and Fisherman’s Warf. These two districts are located right off the Bay Bridge, in the North East side of town. Chinatown is another popular tourist attraction, the cable cars, Lombard Street (the windiest street ever), Alcatraz, numerous museums and performing art centers like the historic Fillmore (made famous by Billy Graham, evangelist, but legendary bands such as Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin have performed here) or Cow Palace (another place of performing legends like The Beatles, Kiss, and Elvis). And two famous sports arenas: Candlestick Park (49ers) and AT&T Park (Giants).

Golden Gate Park and the beaches are also wonderful attractions to visit, with some of the most breathtaking hiking trails along the sea cliffs and different unique gardens.

Where Little Cable Cars

Settlement – Chapter 3

The City, as locals will call it (and they despise "San Fran" or "Cisco") was established in 1776, the same birth date as the United States, recently freed from British rule. San Francisco was a part of Spanish Territory.

San Francisco was home to a large population of indigenous people at the time of Spanish settlement. A Catholic Mission was set up (Mission Dolores) in the area in an attempt to proselytize the Natives. This building still exist today.

In 1821 San Francisco became part of Mexico and then a part of the United States in 1849.

The California Gold Rush of the mid-1850s brought a population boom for the city. In one year they rose from about 1,000 residence to 25,000 (The Gold Rusher's were also the originators of sourdough bread, for which San Francisco is famous for). Because of the Gold Rush, San Francisco became a banker's city and highly urbanized (Bank of America was born here).

In 1906 the City experience their worse earthquake to date that leveled it to the ground and set the city on fire for days. The population at that time was 400,000 and over half lost their homes. However, within less than 15 years the City rebuilt and was stronger than ever. So strong in fact, that when the stock market crashed in 1929, not one bank fell victim.

As small as San Francisco is, it represents many different races and cultures. Its Chinatown settlement is the oldest of its kind in the nation, with the first Chinese immigrants to arrive in 1849. The City also contains a Little Italy, Japantown, Russians near Golden Gate Park, and Latinos in the Mission district just to name a few. Many of these areas have had economic ups and downs. Some thrive more than others, and then others get revived for a time. Only the very affluent areas such as the Financial District or Nob Hill remain constant.

State Flag information: http://www.ci.sf.ca.us/site/visitor_index.asp?id=8081

High on a Hill...

Physiography – Chapter 2

San Francisco is a tightly packed city, with houses stacked up against each other. There are many rolling hills containing such houses in addition to streets, electric street cars and subways. Despite the City's urban setting, there are substantial areas of land on this peninsula where one can escape from urban life such as Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, the beaches, in addition to the smaller parks located throughout the City.

San Francisco contains many hills. The neighborhoods are named after the hills they were built on: Nob Hill, Telegraph Hill, or Russian Hill. The highest hill within city limits is Mount Davidson, standing at 925 ft. This hill is located near Twin Peaks, located in the southwest area of the city. Twin Peaks however is not populated, but is a city park and tourist attraction. It is easily identified by its red and white radio tower.

Being a peninsula does not mean it is alone out in the ocean. There are a few smaller island that surround San Francisco. The most famous is Alcatraz ("Welcome to THE ROCK"), where the federal prison was until 1962. It is not a state park and tourist attraction accessible only by boat. Treasure Island is another well known island you can visit, located and accessible along the Bay Bridge which connects San Francisco to Oakland. This island is man-made, a result of dumped dirt from Yerba Buena Island, when they tunneled through it to create the Bay Bridge.

San Francisco lies along the Coast Range of mountains. These mountains make contact with two earth plates under the ocean. This contributes to two earthquake fault lines that run near the City: the San Andreas and Hayward Fault, both responsible for the 1906 and 1989 earthquakes.

The City's coast and beaches exist, but are not like that of Southern California. The ocean waters rarely warm up enough to swim in and dangerous rip tides prevent leisurely swimming.

The native trees are Giant Redwood conifers. There are no rivers or natural lakes that run through the city. The flora and fauna seen throughout the city for the most part is man-made. Thousands of non-native plants were planted in Golden Gate Park, which was once a barren, sandy dune.

My Love Waits There

General San Francisco Information
(Chapter 1: Introduction)

Size: 47 square miles – you can drive it in an hour or less. This makes public transportation so easy.

Location: The City (as locals call it, not “San Fran” or “Cisco”), is located in the Northern half of California. It is practically an island. The only way to get to it is from bridges to the North, South, and East of it. It is considered a peninsula.
Live CityCam Link: http://sfgate.com/liveviews/baybridge.shtml

Population: 776,733 – compared to Los Angeles’ near 4 million people!

Density (2000): 16,526 persons per square mile – more crowded than Los Angeles, who’s density is half this.

Climate: This is the major reason why I love this place! I love cold, but not that cold. I like warm, not hot. Even in summer, you can get fog and light rain mist and need a jacket. That is a peninsula for you! A nice constant Pacific Ocean breeze, clean air guaranteed.

Technically speaking, winters the City are wet and mild, with average highs in the 60's, snow. very rare. Summer average highs are in the 70's.

San Francisco experiences a lot of fog because the land east of it does tend to get very warm. Although there is an average distance of about 5 miles between the City and the mainland, temperature on the mainland can be up to 20 degrees higher or lower. This heat meets with the cool ocean air to create San Francisco's legendary fog!
Weather link: http://www.sfgate.com/weather/

Natural Resources: San Francisco contains no exploitable materials such as soil, minerals, or raw energy for economic gain. Tourism is the closest thing to a major exploitable resource. The Gold Rush of the 1800's helped San Francisco become a banking/financial city (Bank of America was born there). The Port of San Francisco was once a major area of commerce, but by 1930's the port closed and has since been developed into a major tourist attraction called The Embarcadero.

My Heart

"I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me
To be where little cable cars
Climb halfway to the stars!
And the morning fog will chill the air

My love waits there (my love waits there) in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco,
Your golden sun will shine for me!

I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me
To be where little cable cars
Climb halfway to the stars!
And the morning fog will chill the air

I don't care

My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco,
Your golden sun will shine for me!"

I first heard this song when I was 9 years old. I found the song in a collection of 12” vinyl of my parents. I first went to SF when I was 19 years old, in 1993 – the song made perfect sense.

At the request of my Geography 321 professor, I have picked a city in the United States to explore, and one that is dear to me.