San Francisco, officialy the City and Couty of San Francisco, is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, the only consolidated city-county in California.
Today San Francisco is popular international tourist destination, renowned for it is chilly summer fog, steep rolling hills, ecletic mix of victorian and modern architecture, and it is famous landmarks. Including Golden Gate Brigde, Cable cars, and China Town.
GEOGRAPHY
San Francisco is located in the West Cost of the United State at the tip of the San Francisco peninsula and includes significants of the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay within it is boundaries.
Several Islands - Alcatraz, Treasure Island and the adjacent Yerba Buena Island.
San Francisco is famous for it is Hills there are more than 50 Hills within city limitis. Some neighborhoods are named after the Hill on which they are cituated, including Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, and Russian hill, Twin Peaks a pair of Hills.
The nearby San Andreas and Hayward faults are responsible for much earthquake activity.
San Francisco's shoreline has grown beyond limits. Entire neighborhoods such as the Marina and Hunter Point as well as large section from Embarcadero.
CLIMATE
Since it is sorrounded on three sides by water, San Francisco'weather is strongly influenced by the cold currents of the Pacific Ocean which moderates temperatures swings and produces a remarkably mild year around climate with little seasonal temperature variation.
It has the coldest daly mean,maximum and minimum temperatures for June,July and August.
The dry period of May to October is mild warm
The rainy period of November to April is slaghtly cooler.
Snow is extraordinarily rare.
NEIGHBORHOODS
The historic center of San Francisco is the northeast quadrant of the city bordered by Market Street to the south. Financial District is centered with Union Square,The principal shopping and Hotels district, Nob Hill,
Fisherman's Wharf a tourist area featuring Dangenesses Crab, Russian Hill a residential neighborhood with the famously crooked Lombard Street, North Beach the city's little Italy and Telegraph Hill which features Coit tower, Chinatown established in 1840s The Mission District was popolated in the 19th century by Californias, Haight Ashbury famously associated with 1960s hippie,The Castro is the center of gay life in the city, Japantown district suffered when its Japanese American residents were forcebly removed and interned during the War World ll, Wester Adidtion became stablished with a large African American and a row of well restored of Victorian homes,Pacific Heights, The Marina are a lively area with many young urban professionals,The Richmond the vast region north of Golden Gate Park, Sunset with a predominantly Asian population.
BEACHES & PARKS
Ocean Beach wich runs along the Pacific Ocean shoreline and is frequented by a vibrant surfing community,and Baker Beach which is located in a cove west of the Golden Gate and part of Presidio.
Several of San Francisco's park and nearly all of its beaches form part of the regional Golden Gate National recreation Area., one of the most visited units of the National Park System in the United States with over 13 million visitor a year.
There are more than 200 parks by the San Francisco recreation and parks department, the largest and best know city park is Golden Gate Park. The large park is rich with cultural and natural attractions such as the Conservatory of Flowers, Japanese Tea Garden, and San Francisco Botanical Garden.
California State Park system located principally in San Francisco. Candle Stick was the State's first urban recreation area.
ENTERTAINMENT AND PERFORMING ARTS
San Francisco's War Memorial and Performing Arts Center hosts some of the most enduring performing-arts companies in the U.S. The War Memorial Opera House houses the San Francisco Opera, the second-largest opera company in North America[119] as well as the San Francisco Ballet, while the San Francisco Symphony plays in Davies Symphony Hall. The Herbst Theatre stages an eclectic mix of music performances, as well as public radio's City Arts & Lectures.
The Fillmore is a music venue located in the Western Addition. It is the second incarnation of the historic venue that gained fame in the 1960s under concert promoter Bill Graham, housing the stage where now-famous musicians such as the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin and Jefferson Airplane first performed, fostering the San Francisco Sound. Beach Blanket Babylon is a zany musical revue and a civic institution that has performed to sold-out crowds in North Beach since 1974.
MUSEUMS
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) houses 20th century and contemporary works of art. It moved to its current building in the South of Market neighborhood in 1995 and now attracts more than 600,000 visitors annually.[120] The Palace of the Legion of Honor holds primarily European antiquities and works of art at its Lincoln Park building modeled after its Parisian namesake. It is administered by Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which also operates the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. The de Young's collection features American decorative pieces and anthropological holdings from Africa, Oceania and the Americas. Prior to construction of its current copper-clad structure, completed in 2005, the de Young also housed the Asian Art Museum, which, with artifacts from over 6,000 years of history across Asia, moved into the former public library next to Civic Center in 2003.
Opposite the Music Concourse from the de Young stands the California Academy of Sciences, a natural history museum that also hosts the Morrison Planetarium and Steinhart Aquarium. Its current structure, featuring a living roof, is an example of sustainable architecture and opened in 2008. Located on Pier 15 on the Embarcadero, the Exploratorium is an interactive science museum founded by physicist Frank Oppenheimer in 1969. Two museum ships are moored near Fisherman's Wharf, the SS Jeremiah O'Brien Liberty ship and USS Pampanito submarine. On Nob Hill, the Cable Car Museum is a working museum featuring the cable car power house, which drives the cables, and the car depot
SPORTS AND RECREATIONS
The San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) are the longest-tenured major professional sports franchise in the city. The team began play in 1946 as an All-America Football Conference (AAFC) league charter member, moved to the NFL in 1950 and into Candlestick Park in 1971. In 2006, the team's owners announced plans to move the team to nearby Santa Clara, California by 2015; the team will still be named the "San Francisco 49ers", even though they will be much closer to the city of San Jose.[128][129] The 49ers have won five Super Bowl titles in the 1980s and 1990s behind coaches Bill Walsh and George Seifert, and stars such as Joe Montana, Steve Young,Ronnie Lott, and Jerry Rice.
Major League Baseball San Francisco Giants left New York for California prior to the 1958 season. Though boasting such stars as Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Barry Bonds, the club went 52 years until its first World Series title in 2010, and won an additional title in 2012. The Giants play at AT&T Park, which opened in 2000, a cornerstone project of the South Beach and Mission Bay redevelopment.