San Francisco | California

Yerba Buena

Known For

BART

The Bay

Alcatraz

Cable Cars

Castro District

Chinatown

Fisherman's Wharf

Golden Gate Bridge

Lombard - the windiest road in the world

Mission District

Palace of Fine Arts

Pier 39

The Presidio

Twin Peaks

Characteristics

Water

Cold

Windy

Wealthy - one of the highest property values in the U.S.

Walking

Diversity

History

Seated along the bay of the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco is the diamond jewel of Northern California.

Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco in 1847. The California Gold Rush in 1848 led to a sudden boom in population from people around the world called "forty-niners", leading San Francisco to become a local hub. Chinatown grew to have the largest Chinese population outside of China. Cable cars were introduced in 1873. A 7.8 earthquake on April 18, 1906 killed 3,000 and slowed growth, but the city was quickly rebuilt and continued to grow rapidly.

The Golden Gate Bridge opened on May 28, 1937, connecting San Francisco to Marin County. At the time of its completion, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, and continues to draw people from around the world to walk, drive, or ride their bikes across and witness its beautiful reddish orange color officially called "Internal Orange."

On October 17, 1989 the Loma Prieta earthquake, a 6.9, happened during the middle of the World Series, which was being broadcast live. The earthquake caused the Bay Bridge to collapse.

Due to the growth of the tech industry and the influx of tech businesses to the Silicon Valley, San Francisco has one of the highest real estate values in the world.