"The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km) strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the American city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula—to Marin County, carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. The bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and the United States. It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.[7]
The Frommer's travel guide describes the Golden Gate Bridge as "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world."[8][9] At the time of its opening in 1937, it was both the longest and the tallest suspension bridge in the world, with a main span of 4,200 feet (1,280 m) and a total height of 746 feet (227 m)....
History[edit]
Ferry service[edit]
Further information: Ferries of San Francisco Bay
Before the bridge was built, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay. A ferry service began as early as 1820, with a regularly scheduled service beginning in the 1840s for the purpose of transporting water to San Francisco.[10]
The Sausalito Land and Ferry Company service, launched in 1867, eventually became the Golden Gate Ferry Company, a Southern Pacific Railroad subsidiary, the largest ferry operation in the world by the late 1920s.[10][11] Once for railroad passengers and customers only, Southern Pacific's automobile ferries became very profitable and important to the regional economy.[12] The ferry crossing between the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco and Sausalito Ferry Terminal in Marin County took approximately 20 minutes and cost $1.00 per vehicle,[when?] a price later reduced to compete with the new bridge.[13][better source needed] The trip from the San Francisco Ferry Building took 27 minutes.
Many wanted to build a bridge to connect San Francisco to Marin County. San Francisco was the largest American city still served primarily by ferry boats. Because it did not have a permanent link with communities around the bay, the city's growth rate was below the national average.[14] Many experts said that a bridge could not be built across the 6,700-foot (2,000-metre) strait, which had strong, swirling tides and currents, with water 372 ft (113 m) deep[15] at the center of the channel, and frequent strong winds. Experts said that ferocious winds and blinding fogs would prevent construction and operation.[14]
Conception[edit]
Although the idea of a bridge spanning the Golden Gate was not new, the proposal that eventually took hold was made in a 1916 San Francisco Bulletin article by former engineering student James Wilkins.[16] San Francisco's City Engineer estimated the cost at $100 million (equivalent to $2.3 billion today), and impractical for the time. He asked bridge engineers whether it could be built for less.[10] One who responded, Joseph Strauss, was an ambitious engineer and poet who had, for his graduate thesis, designed a 55-mile-long (89 km) railroad bridge across the Bering Strait.[17] At the time, Strauss had completed some 400 drawbridges—most of which were inland—and nothing on the scale of the new project.[3] Strauss's initial drawings[16] were for a massive cantilever on each side of the strait, connected by a central suspension segment, which Strauss promised could be built for $17 million (equivalent to $391 million today).[10]
Local authorities agreed to proceed only on the assurance that Strauss would alter the design and accept input from several consulting project experts.[citation needed] A suspension-bridge design was considered the most practical, because of recent advances in metallurgy.[10]
Strauss spent more than a decade drumming up support in Northern California.[18] The bridge faced opposition, including litigation, from many sources. The Department of War was concerned that the bridge would interfere with ship traffic. The US Navy feared that a ship collision or sabotage to the bridge could block the entrance to one of its main harbors. Unions demanded guarantees that local workers would be favored for construction jobs. Southern Pacific Railroad, one of the most powerful business interests in California, opposed the bridge as competition to its ferry fleet and filed a lawsuit against the project, leading to a mass boycott of the ferry service.[10]
In May 1924, Colonel Herbert Deakyne held the second hearing on the Bridge on behalf of the Secretary of War in a request to use federal land for construction. Deakyne, on behalf of the Secretary of War, approved the transfer of land needed for the bridge structure and leading roads to the "Bridging the Golden Gate Association" and both San Francisco County and Marin County, pending further bridge plans by Strauss.[19] Another ally was the fledgling automobile industry, which supported the development of roads and bridges to increase demand for automobiles.[13]
The bridge's name was first used when the project was initially discussed in 1917 by M.M. O'Shaughnessy, city engineer of San Francisco, and Strauss. The name became official with the passage of the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District Act by the state legislature in 1923, creating a special district to design, build and finance the bridge.[20] San Francisco and most of the counties along the North Coast of California joined the Golden Gate Bridge District, with the exception being Humboldt County, whose residents opposed the bridge's construction and the traffic it would generate.[21]
Design[edit]
Strauss was chief engineer in charge of overall design and construction of the bridge project.[14] However, because he had little understanding or experience with cable-suspension designs,[22] responsibility for much of the engineering and architecture fell on other experts. Strauss's initial design proposal (two double cantilever spans linked by a central suspension segment) was unacceptable from a visual standpoint. The final graceful suspension design was conceived and championed by Leon Moisseiff, the engineer of the Manhattan Bridge in New York City.[23]
Irving Morrow, a relatively unknown residential architect, designed the overall shape of the bridge towers, the lighting scheme, and Art Deco elements, such as the tower decorations, streetlights, railing, and walkways. The famous International Orange color was Morrow's personal selection, winning out over other possibilities, including the US Navy's suggestion that it be painted with black and yellow stripes to ensure visibility by passing ships.[14][24]
Senior engineer Charles Alton Ellis, collaborating remotely with Moisseiff, was the principal engineer of the project.[25] Moisseiff produced the basic structural design, introducing his "deflection theory" by which a thin, flexible roadway would flex in the wind, greatly reducing stress by transmitting forces via suspension cables to the bridge towers.[25] Although the Golden Gate Bridge design has proved sound, a later Moisseiff design, the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, collapsed in a strong windstorm soon after it was completed, because of an unexpected aeroelastic flutter.[26] Ellis was also tasked with designing a "bridge within a bridge" in the southern abutment, to avoid the need to demolish Fort Point, a pre–Civil War masonry fortification viewed, even then, as worthy of historic preservation. He penned a graceful steel arch spanning the fort and carrying the roadway to the bridge's southern anchorage.[27]
Ellis was a Greek scholar and mathematician who at one time was a University of Illinois professor of engineering despite having no engineering degree. He eventually earned a degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois prior to designing the Golden Gate Bridge and spent the last twelve years of his career as a professor at Purdue University. He became an expert in structural design, writing the standard textbook of the time.[28] Ellis did much of the technical and theoretical work that built the bridge, but he received none of the credit in his lifetime. In November 1931, Strauss fired Ellis and replaced him with a former subordinate, Clifford Paine, ostensibly for wasting too much money sending telegrams back and forth to Moisseiff.[28] Ellis, obsessed with the project and unable to find work elsewhere during the Depression, continued working 70 hours per week on an unpaid basis, eventually turning in ten volumes of hand calculations.[28]
With an eye toward self-promotion and posterity, Strauss downplayed the contributions of his collaborators who, despite receiving little recognition or compensation,[22] are largely responsible for the final form of the bridge. He succeeded in having himself credited as the person most responsible for the design and vision of the bridge.[28] Only much later were the contributions of the others on the design team properly appreciated.[28] In May 2007, the Golden Gate Bridge District issued a formal report on 70 years of stewardship of the famous bridge and decided to give Ellis major credit for the design of the bridge....
Finance[edit]
The Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District, authorized by an act of the California Legislature, was incorporated in 1928 as the official entity to design, construct, and finance the Golden Gate Bridge.[14] However, after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the District was unable to raise the construction funds, so it lobbied for a $30 million bond measure (equivalent to $438 million today). The bonds were approved in November 1930,[17] by votes in the counties affected by the bridge.[29] The construction budget at the time of approval was $27 million ($405 million today). However, the District was unable to sell the bonds until 1932, when Amadeo Giannini, the founder of San Francisco–based Bank of America, agreed on behalf of his bank to buy the entire issue in order to help the local economy.[10]
Construction[edit]
Construction began on January 5, 1933.[10] The project cost more than $35 million[30] ($514 million in 2018 dollars[31]), and was completed ahead of schedule and $1.3 million under budget (equivalent to $23.8 million today).[32] The Golden Gate Bridge construction project was carried out by the McClintic-Marshall Construction Co., a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Corporation founded by Howard H. McClintic and Charles D. Marshall, both of Lehigh University.
Strauss remained head of the project, overseeing day-to-day construction and making some groundbreaking contributions. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, he placed a brick from his alma mater's demolished McMicken Hall in the south anchorage before the concrete was poured. He innovated the use of movable safety netting beneath the construction site, which saved the lives of many otherwise-unprotected ironworkers. Of eleven men killed from falls during construction, ten were killed on February 17, 1937, when the bridge was near completion and the net failed under the stress of a scaffold that had fallen.[33] The workers' platform that was attached to a rolling hanger on a track collapsed when the bolts that were connected to the track were too small and the amount of weight was too great to bear. The platform fell into the safety net, but was too heavy and the net gave way. Two out of the twelve workers survived the 200-foot (61 m) fall into the icy waters, including the 37-year-old foreman, Slim Lambert. Nineteen others who were saved by the net over the course of construction became members of the Half Way to Hell Club.[34]
The project was finished and opened May 27, 1937. The Bridge Round House diner was then included in the southeastern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, adjacent to the tourist plaza which was renovated in 2012.[35] The Bridge Round House, an Art Deco design by Alfred Finnila completed in 1938, has been popular throughout the years as a starting point for various commercial tours of the bridge and an unofficial gift shop.[36] The diner was renovated in 2012[35] and the gift shop was then removed as a new, official gift shop has been included in the adjacent plaza.[36]
During the bridge work, the Assistant Civil Engineer of California Alfred Finnila had overseen the entire iron work of the bridge as well as half of the bridge's road work.[37] With the death of Jack Balestreri in April 2012, all workers involved in the original construction are now deceased.
Torsional bracing retrofit[edit]
In 1953 and 1954, the bridge was retrofitted with lateral and diagonal bracing that connected the lower chords of the two side trusses. This bracing stiffened the bridge deck in torsion so that it would better resist the types of twisting that had destroyed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940.[38]
Opening festivities, and 50th and 75th anniversaries[edit]
The bridge-opening celebration began on May 27, 1937, and lasted for one week. The day before vehicle traffic was allowed, 200,000 people crossed either on foot or on roller skates.[10] On opening day, Mayor Angelo Rossi and other officials rode the ferry to Marin, then crossed the bridge in a motorcade past three ceremonial "barriers," the last a blockade of beauty queens who required Joseph Strauss to present the bridge to the Highway District before allowing him to pass. An official song, "There's a Silver Moon on the Golden Gate," was chosen to commemorate the event. Strauss wrote a poem that is now on the Golden Gate Bridge entitled "The Mighty Task is Done." The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pushed a button in Washington, D.C. signaling the official start of vehicle traffic over the Bridge at noon. As the celebration got out of hand there was a small riot in the uptown Polk Gulch area. Weeks of civil and cultural activities called "the Fiesta" followed. A statue of Strauss was moved in 1955 to a site near the bridge.[16]
In May 1987, as part of the 50th anniversary celebration, the Golden Gate Bridge district again closed the bridge to automobile traffic and allowed pedestrians to cross the bridge. However, this celebration attracted 750,000 to 1,000,000 people, and ineffective crowd control meant the bridge became congested with roughly 300,000 people, causing the center span of the bridge to flatten out under the weight.[39] Although the bridge is designed to flex in that way under heavy loads, and was estimated not to have exceeded 40% of the yielding stress of the suspension cables,[40] bridge officials stated that uncontrolled pedestrian access was not being considered as part of the 75th anniversary on Sunday, May 27, 2012,[41][42][43] because of the additional law enforcement costs required "since 9/11."...
Structural specifications[edit]
Until 1964, the Golden Gate Bridge had the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,300 m). Since 1964 its main span length has been surpassed by fifteen bridges; it now has the second-longest main span in the United States, after the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City. The total length of the Golden Gate Bridge from abutment to abutment is 8,981 feet (2,737 m).[45]
The Golden Gate Bridge's clearance above high water averages 220 feet (67 m) while its towers, at 746 feet (227 m) above the water,[45] were the world's tallest on a suspension bridge until 1993 when it was surpassed by the Mezcala Bridge, in Mexico.
The weight of the roadway is hung from 250 pairs of vertical suspender ropes, which are attached to two main cables. The main cables pass over the two main towers and are fixed in concrete at each end. Each cable is made of 27,572 strands of wire. The total length of galvanized steel wire used to fabricate both main cables is estimated to be 80,000 miles (130,000 km).[45] Each of the bridge's two towers has approximately 600,000 rivets.[46]
In the 1960s, when the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) was being planned, the engineering community had conflicting opinions about the feasibility of running train tracks north to Marin County over the bridge.[47] In June 1961, consultants hired by BART completed a study that determined the bridge's suspension section was capable of supporting service on a new lower deck.[48] In July 1961, one of the bridge's consulting engineers, Clifford Paine, disagreed with their conclusion.[49] In January 1962, due to more conflicting reports on feasibility, the bridge's board of directors appointed an engineering review board to analyze all the reports. The review board's report, released in April 1962, concluded that running BART on the bridge was not advisable.[50]
Aesthetics[edit]
Aesthetics was the foremost reason why the first design of Joseph Strauss was rejected. Upon re-submission of his bridge construction plan, he added details, such as lighting, to outline the bridge's cables and towers.[51] In 1999, it was ranked fifth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.
The color of the bridge is officially an orange vermilion called international orange.[52] The color was selected by consulting architect Irving Morrow[53] because it complements the natural surroundings and enhances the bridge's visibility in fog.[54]
The bridge was originally painted with red lead primer and a lead-based topcoat, which was touched up as required. In the mid-1960s, a program was started to improve corrosion protection by stripping the original paint and repainting the bridge with zinc silicate primer and vinyl topcoats.[55][52] Since 1990, acrylic topcoats have been used instead for air-quality reasons. The program was completed in 1995 and it is now maintained by 38 painters who touch up the paintwork where it becomes seriously corroded....
Traffic[edit]
Most maps and signage mark the bridge as part of the concurrency between U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1. Although part of the National Highway System, the bridge is not officially part of California's Highway System.[57] For example, under the California Streets and Highways Code § 401, Route 101 ends at "the approach to the Golden Gate Bridge" and then resumes at "a point in Marin County opposite San Francisco". The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District has jurisdiction over the segment of highway that crosses the bridge instead of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).
The movable median barrier between the lanes is moved several times daily to conform to traffic patterns. On weekday mornings, traffic flows mostly southbound into the city, so four of the six lanes run southbound. Conversely, on weekday afternoons, four lanes run northbound. During off-peak periods and weekends, traffic is split with three lanes in each direction.[58]
From 1968 to 2015, opposing traffic was separated by small, plastic pylons; during that time, there were 16 fatalities resulting from 128 head-on collisions.[59] To improve safety, the speed limit on the Golden Gate Bridge was reduced from 50 to 45 mph (80 to 72 km/h) on October 1, 1983.[60] Although there had been discussion concerning the installation of a movable barrier since the 1980s, only in March 2005 did the Bridge Board of Directors commit to finding funding to complete the $2 million study required prior to the installation of a movable median barrier.[59] Installation of the resulting barrier was completed on January 11, 2015, following a closure of 45.5 hours to private vehicle traffic, the longest in the bridge's history. The new barrier system, including the zipper trucks, cost approximately $30.3 million to purchase and install.[59][61]
Usage and tourism[edit]
See also: Golden Gate National Recreation Area
The bridge is popular with pedestrians and bicyclists, and was built with walkways on either side of the six vehicle traffic lanes. Initially, they were separated from the traffic lanes by only a metal curb, but railings between the walkways and the traffic lanes were added in 2003, primarily as a measure to prevent bicyclists from falling into the roadway.[62]
The main walkway is on the eastern side, and is open for use by both pedestrians and bicycles in the morning to mid-afternoon during weekdays (5:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.), and to pedestrians only for the remaining daylight hours (until 6:00 p.m., or 9:00 p.m. during DST). The eastern walkway is reserved for pedestrians on weekends (5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., or 9:00 p.m. during DST), and is open exclusively to bicyclists in the evening and overnight, when it is closed to pedestrians. The western walkway is open only for bicyclists and only during the hours when they are not allowed on the eastern walkway.[63]
Bus service across the bridge is provided by two public transportation agencies: San Francisco Muni and Golden Gate Transit. Muni offers Saturday and Sunday service on the Marin Headlands Express bus line, and Golden Gate Transit runs numerous bus lines throughout the week.[64][65] The southern end of the bridge, near the toll plaza and parking lot, is also accessible daily from 5:30 a.m. to midnight by Muni line 28.[66] The Marin Airporter, a private company, also offers service across the bridge between Marin County and San Francisco International Airport.[67]
A visitor center and gift shop, originally called the "Bridge Pavilion" (since renamed the “Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center”), is located on the San Francisco side of the bridge, adjacent to the southeast parking lot. It opened in 2012, in time for the bridge's 75th anniversary celebration. A cafe, outdoor exhibits, and restroom facilities are located nearby.[68] On the Marin side of the bridge, only accessible from the northbound lanes, is the H. Dana Bower Rest Area and Vista Point,[69] named after the first landscape architect for the California Division of Highways.[70]
Lands and waters under and around the bridge are homes to varieties of wildlife such as bobcats and sea lions.[71][72] Three species of cetaceans that had been absent in the area for many years have shown recent recoveries/(re)colonizations in the vicinity of the bridge; researchers studying them have encouraged stronger protections and recommended that the public watch them from the bridge or from land, or use a local whale watching operator." (wikipedia.org)
"A reusable shopping bag, sometimes called bag-for-life in the UK,[1][2] is a type of shopping bag which can be reused many times. It is an alternative to single-use paper or plastic bags. It is often a tote bag made from fabric such as canvas, natural fibres such as Jute, woven synthetic fibers, or a thick plastic that is more durable than disposable plastic bags, allowing multiple use.
Reusable shopping bags are a kind of carrier bag, which are available for sale in supermarkets and apparel shops. In a 2011 study of U.S. retail chains (funded by a pro-business group that opposes plastic bag bans), 23% of reusable bags were found to have levels of lead that were higher than the 100 ppm standard considered safe for product packaging, though did not present a risk of contaminating food,[3] resulting in some chains changing suppliers. Reusable bags require more energy to produce than common plastic shopping bags. One reusable bag requires the same amount of energy as an estimated 28 traditional plastic shopping bags or eight paper bags. "If used once per week, four or five reusable bags will replace 520 plastic bags a year", according to Nick Sterling, research director at Natural Capitalism Solutions.[4] A study commissioned by the United Kingdom Environment Agency in 2005 found that the average cotton bag is used only 51 times before being thrown away.[5] In some cases, reusable bags need to be used over 100 times before they are better for the environment than single-use plastic bags....
History[edit]
Use in the United States[edit]
First introduced in the US in 1977, plastic shopping bags for bagging groceries at stores flourished in the 1980s and 1990s, replacing paper bags.[citation needed] In 1990s, governments in some countries started to impose taxes on distribution of disposable plastic bags or to regulate the use of them. Some supermarkets have encouraged shoppers to stop using disposable plastic bags, by for example offering inexpensive reusable shopping bags or providing information on plastic bags' environmental damage.[7] The physical shape of reusable shopping bags is often different than was typical before the prevalence of plastic bags. The apparel industry promotes reusable shopping bags as sustainable fashion.
Many supermarkets encourage the use of reusable shopping bags to increase sales and profit margins. Most non woven bags cost $0.10-0.25 to produce but are sold for $0.99-$3.00.[citation needed] As stores receive diminishing returns due to saturated markets, there are concerns that prices will drop and they will become the new single-use bag. Some major supermarket chains have string or calico bags available for sale. They are sold with announcement of environmental issues in many cases. The ones sold in supermarkets often have designs related to nature, such as prints of trees or that of the earth, in order to emphasize environmental issues. One startup company out of Duluth, Minnesota, embroiders their bags with their local Aerial Lift Bridge on it.[8] Some supermarkets have rewards programs for customers who bring own shopping bags. When the customers collect a certain number of points, they can usually get discount coupons or gifts, which motivate customers to reduce plastic bag use. Some retailers such as Whole Foods Market and Target offer a cash discount for bringing in reusable bags.[9][10]
Since 1999, 6.25 billion reusable bags were imported into the United States for resale and give-aways under Harmonized Tariff Code (HTC) 4202923031 as reported by the United States International Trade Commission.[11]
Most U.S. grocery store customers do not bring their own bags, and many reusable bags go unused by customers, according to a 2008 article in the Wall Street Journal.[12]
In 2009, Walmart Stores proposed turning three California stores into reusable bag only stores.[13] Concurrently, Walmart was prepared to introduce a $0.15 reusable bag. On 23 October 2009, Walmart abandoned plans to remove carrier bags and introduced the new lower-cost bags.[citation needed] In contrast to previous bags sold at $0.99 and $0.50, these lower cost bags may reduce price incentive to reuse these heavier-duty bags.[original research?]
Use in the United Kingdom[edit]
Reusable shopping bags are offered in most British supermarkets. These are sold for a nominal sum, usually 10 pence, and are replaced for free. The bags are more durable than standard bags, meaning that they can be reused many times over.
The main purpose of this is to ensure that packaging waste legislation was met and to encourage the bags to be recycled (which usually earns the retailer a small amount of money per bag), and unlike with 5p carrier bags there is a (small) financial incentive to bring the bags back for recycling, lessening the environmental impact.
In contrast to most spartan carrier bags, bags for life tend to be colourful and sometimes show some aspect of the supermarket's advertising. Some supermarkets maintain the same design for years at a time, whereas some, like Waitrose, rotate the designs to tie in with either the season or the most recent advertising campaign.
Waitrose was the first British Supermarket to launch Bag For Life in association with British Polythene Industries. It was the brainchild of Gini Ekstein, from British Polythene industries. Gini Ekstein with Paul Oustedal and Nick Jones, of Waitrose, launched Bag For Life in 1998.[14] It was the first closed-loop recycling initiative; returned and broken bags are made into black benches places outside Waitrose stores. The initial marketing messages designed by Gini Ekstein, British Polythene Industries and Beth Chiles, of Message Marketing, are still in use today. As of April 2008, Marks and Spencer are giving their "bags for life" free to every customer, as their normal plastic bags will have to be paid for from May 6. This will be a small sum of 5 pence a carrier. The bags are given to the customer every time they shop, so they will have plenty when the switchover in May comes live.[citation needed] Later on, Sainsbury's and other supermarkets introduced the bag for life. As of 2016, the UK Government introduced a tax on all carrier bags, which means that every consumer pays 5p for any carrier bag from any store.
Reusable plastic bags do however have a very simple end of life disposal route. Most reusable plastic carrier bags are made from LDPE 4 (Low Density Poly-Ethylene) which is the easiest form of plastic to recycle currently in the UK (August 2018). These types of plastic carrier bag (along with 'single use' plastic carrier bags) can be recycled with many local council kerbside collections in the UK.
The increasing use of jute and juco bags (a mix of cotton and jute) has provided a natural alternative to single-use plastic bags and reusable plastic bags. These are found in many of the major supermarkets, and over 50 million have been sold in the UK alone.[citation needed] These bags have a 3-4 year lifespan and so are often seen as the ecological option. Jute bags have become a crossover product from an alternative to plastics to a fashion/shopper accessory. Jute bags will last for about 4 years – if used correctly will replace over 600 single bags. At end of life, they can be used as planters for growing garden vegetables.[citation needed]
Use in Ireland[edit]
In Ireland, they were introduced in March 2002, when the Plastic Bag Environmental Levy was brought in to reduce the massive amount of disposable bags being used annually. Bags costing 70 euro cents or more are exempt from the levy.
Use in Australia and New Zealand[edit]
Introduced in the 90s, these bags are known as green bags in Australia due to their relative environmental friendliness and usual (though far from universal) green color. Green Bags and similar reusable shopping bags are commonly distributed at the point of sale by supermarkets and other retail outlets. They are intended to be reused repeatedly to replace the use of hundreds of High-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic bags. Most green bags are made of 100% Non-woven Polypropylene (NWPP)[15] which is recyclable but not biodegradable. Some companies claim to be making NWPP bags from recycled material, however with current manufacturing techniques this is not possible. All NWPP bags are made from virgin material.[citation needed] Similar bags are made of jute, canvas, calico or hemp but are not discussed here. A typical base insert is 200 mm × 300 mm and weighs 30 g. It is generally made of a stiff plastic....
Legislation and reusable bags[edit]
Main article: Phase-out of lightweight plastic bags
Some governments have encouraged or required the use of reusable shopping bags through the regulation of plastic bags with bans, recycling mandates, taxes or fees.[37] The legislation to discourage plastic bag use has been passed in parts of Hong Kong, Ireland, South Africa, the United States, Canada, and Taiwan.
In 2002, the Australian federal government studied the use of throwaway plastic bags and threatened to outlaw them if retailers did not voluntarily discourage their use. In 2003, the government negotiated with the Australian Retailers Association a voluntary progressive reduction of plastic bag use which led to a number of initiatives, including the widespread distribution and promotion of Green Bags.[citation needed]
From 1 October 2011, the Welsh government began enforcing a minimum tax of 5p on single use carrier bags.[citation needed]
In 2012, San Luis Obispo County, CA outlawed disposable plastic bags and began requiring shoppers to bring their own bags or pay a 10 cent per bag fee for paper bags.[38] In 2009, the District of Columbia began requiring a 5¢ fee for each disposable bag.[39] In 2012, Portland, Oregon began mandated programs to eliminate disposable checkout bags.[40]
In 2015, the Canadian province of Quebec voted in a program to ban disposable bags, but the program must be adopted by each municipality.[41][42] Toronto had tried a similar program, but was eliminated after a short time.[43]
Fashion trend[edit]
Because of the encouragement of reusable shopping bags by governments and supermarkets, reusable shopping bags have become one of the new fashion trends. The apparel industry also contributed to making it popular to have fashionable reusable shopping bags instead of disposable plastic bags. In 2007, British designer Anya Hindmarch's $15 "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" (an unbleached cotton bag) sold out in one day, and fetched $800 on the Internet.[44] The brand Envirosax started out producing reusable shopping bags, but have expanded their lines with more color and pattern options, in addition to licensing properties like Sesame Street.
Environmental concerns,[45] Ostalgie (nostalgia for East Germany), and a general fashion for retro style have led to the resurgence, in all parts of Germany, of what was once considered the frumpy Omas Einkaufsnetz (Grandma's shopping net).[46][47] The DDR Museum in Berlin has a collection of Einskaufsnetz, and the bags are now often sold as DDR kult Klassiker (East German cult classics).[48][47]
In terms of consumer behaviour, use of reusable bags is positively correlated with organic purchases and with self-indulgent purchases such as ice cream or cookies." (wikipedia.org)
"San Francisco (/ˌsæn frənˈsɪskoʊ/; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a cultural, commercial, and financial center in the U.S. state of California. Located in Northern California, San Francisco is the 17th most populous city in the United States, and the fourth most populous in California, with 873,965 residents as of 2020.[15] It covers an area of about 46.9 square miles (121 square kilometers),[20] mostly at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, making it the second most densely populated large U.S. city, and the fifth most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. San Francisco is the 12th-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States with 4.7 million residents, and the fourth-largest by economic output, with a GDP of $592 billion in 2019.[21] With San Jose, California, it forms the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area, the fifth most populous combined statistical area in the United States, with 9.6 million residents as of 2019. Colloquial nicknames for San Francisco include SF, San Fran, The City, and Frisco.[22][23]
In 2019, San Francisco was the county with the seventh-highest income in the United States, with a per capita income of $139,405.[24] In the same year, San Francisco proper had a GDP of $203.5 billion, and a GDP per capita of $230,829.[21][25] The San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area, with a GDP of $1.09 trillion as of 2019, is the country's third-largest economy.[26] Of the 105 primary statistical areas in the U.S. with over 500,000 residents, this CSA had the highest GDP per capita in 2019, at $112,348.[26] San Francisco was ranked 12th in the world and second in the United States on the Global Financial Centres Index as of March 2021.[27]
San Francisco was founded on June 29, 1776, when colonists from Spain established the Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate and Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away, both named for Francis of Assisi.[3] The California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856.[28] San Francisco's status as the West Coast's largest city peaked between 1870 and 1900, when around 25% of California's population resided in the city proper.[29] After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire,[30] San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, San Francisco was a major port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater.[31] It then became the birthplace of the United Nations in 1945.[32][33][34] After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, significant immigration, liberalizing attitudes, along with 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. Politically, the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines.
A popular tourist destination,[35] San Francisco is known for its cool summers, fog, steep rolling hills, eclectic mix of architecture, and landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars, the former Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, Fisherman's Wharf, and its Chinatown district. San Francisco is also the headquarters of companies such as Wells Fargo, Twitter, Square, Airbnb, Levi Strauss & Co., Gap Inc., Salesforce, Dropbox, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Uber, and Lyft. The city, and the surrounding Bay Area, is a global center of the sciences and arts[36][37] and is home to a number of educational and cultural institutions, such as the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the University of San Francisco (USF), San Francisco State University (SFSU), the de Young Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the SFJAZZ Center, the San Francisco Symphony and the California Academy of Sciences....
History
See also: History of San Francisco and Timeline of San Francisco
Yelamu villages in San Francisco
Historical affiliations
Spanish Empire 1776–1821
First Mexican Empire 1821–1823
Mexico United Mexican States 1823–1848
United States 1848–present
Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores)
The earliest archaeological evidence of human habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC.[38] The Yelamu group of the Ohlone people resided in a few small villages when an overland Spanish exploration party, led by Don Gaspar de Portolá, arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay.[39] The first maritime presence occurred on August 5, 1775, when San Carlos—commanded by Juan Manuel de Ayala—became the first ship to anchor in the bay.[40] The following year, on March 28, 1776, the Spanish established the Presidio of San Francisco, followed by a mission, Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores), established by the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza.[3]
Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the area became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the mission system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. In 1835, William Richardson, a naturalized Mexican citizen of English birth, erected the first independent homestead,[41] near a boat anchorage around what is today Portsmouth Square. Together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7, 1846, during the Mexican–American War, and Captain John B. Montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year, and Mexico officially ceded the territory to the United States at the end of the war in 1848. Despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography.[42]
Port of San Francisco in 1851
Juana Briones de Miranda, considered the "Founding Mother of San Francisco"[43]
The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers (known as "forty-niners", as in "1849"). With their sourdough bread in tow,[44] prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia,[45] raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849.[46] The promise of great 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.[47] 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 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.[48]
California was quickly granted statehood in 1850, and the U.S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate and a fort on Alcatraz Island to secure the San Francisco Bay. Silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further drove rapid population growth.[49] With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, and gambling.[50]
Entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush. Early winners were the banking industry, with the founding of Wells Fargo in 1852 and the Bank of California in 1864. 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[51]) helped make 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. In 1870, Asians made up 8% of the population.[52] 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 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.[53] 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 was a major city known for its flamboyant style, stately hotels, ostentatious mansions on Nob Hill, and a thriving arts scene.[54] The first North American plague epidemic was the San Francisco plague of 1900–1904.[55]
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 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.[56] More than three-quarters of the city lay in ruins, including almost all of the downtown core.[30] Contemporary accounts reported that 498 people lost their lives, though modern estimates put the number in the several thousands.[57] More than half of the city's population of 400,000 was left homeless.[58] 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.
"Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone." –Jack London after the 1906 earthquake and fire[59]
The Palace of Fine Arts at the 1915 Panama–Pacific Exposition
Rebuilding was rapid and performed on a grand scale. Rejecting calls to completely remake the street grid, San Franciscans opted for speed.[60] 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 the quality of housing after the earthquake.[61] The earthquake hastened development of western neighborhoods that survived the fire, including Pacific Heights, where many of the city's wealthy rebuilt their homes.[62] In turn, the destroyed mansions of Nob Hill became grand hotels. City Hall rose again in splendid Beaux Arts style, and the city celebrated its rebirth at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915.[63]
During this period, San Francisco built some of its most important infrastructure. Civil Engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy 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 was the O'Shaughnessy Dam, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, and Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct that would have the largest effect on San Francisco.[64] An abundant water supply enabled San Francisco to develop into the city it has become today.
The Bay Bridge, shown here under construction in 1935, took forty months to complete.
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.[65] Indeed, it 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, 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.[66]
During World War II, the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard became a hub of activity, and Fort Mason became the primary port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations.[31] 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 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.[67]
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.[68] The onset of containerization made San Francisco's small piers obsolete, and cargo activity moved to the larger Port of Oakland.[69] The city began to lose industrial jobs and turned to tourism as the most important segment of its economy.[70] 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.[71][72] From 1950 to 1980, the city lost over 10 percent of its population.
The Transamerica Pyramid was the tallest building in San Francisco until 2016, when Salesforce Tower surpassed it.
Over this period, San Francisco became a magnet for America's counterculture. Beat Generation writers fueled the San Francisco Renaissance and centered on the North Beach neighborhood in the 1950s.[73] Hippies flocked to Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s, reaching a peak with the 1967 Summer of Love.[74] In 1974, the Zebra murders left at least 16 people dead.[75] In the 1970s, the city became a center of the gay rights movement, with 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.[76]
Bank of America completed 555 California Street in 1969 and the Transamerica Pyramid was completed in 1972,[77] igniting a wave of "Manhattanization" that lasted until the late 1980s, a period of extensive high-rise development downtown.[78] 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.[79] The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake caused destruction and loss of life throughout the Bay Area. In San Francisco, the quake severely damaged structures in 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.[80]
The two recent decades have seen booms driven by the internet industry. First was the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, startup companies invigorated 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.[81] Demand for new housing and office space ignited a second wave of high-rise development, this time in the South of Market district.[82] By 2000, the city's population reached new highs, surpassing the previous record set in 1950. When the bubble burst in 2001, 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 a common place to live for people employed in Silicon Valley companies such as Apple and Google.[83]
The Ferry Station Post Office Building, Armour & Co. Building, Atherton House, and YMCA Hotel are historic buildings among dozens of historical landmarks in the city according to the National Register of Historic Places listings in San Francisco.[citation needed]
Geography
The San Francisco Peninsula
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 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 km2).
There are more than 50 hills within the city limits.[84] Some neighborhoods are named after 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 a 103-foot (31 m) tall cross built in 1934.[85] Dominating this area is Sutro Tower, a large red and white radio and television transmission tower.
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 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.[86] However, there are still thousands of smaller buildings that remain vulnerable to quake damage.[87] USGS has released the California earthquake forecast which models earthquake occurrence in California.[88]
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 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.[89] Most of the city's natural watercourses, such as Islais Creek and Mission Creek, have been culverted and built over, although the Public Utilities Commission is studying proposals to daylight or restore some creeks.[90]
Cityscape
Main article: List of Landmarks and Historic Places in San Francisco
Aerial view from the west in April 2018. San Francisco is seen in the foreground, with Oakland and Alameda in the background.
Neighborhoods
Main article: Neighborhoods in San Francisco
See also: List of tallest buildings in San Francisco
San Francisco Chinatown is the oldest in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside of Asia.
The historic center of San Francisco is the northeast quadrant of the city anchored by Market Street and the waterfront. It is here that the Financial District is centered, with Union Square, the principal shopping and hotel district, and 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, 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.[91][92][93][94] 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 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.[95]
West of downtown, across Van Ness Avenue, lies the large Western Addition neighborhood, which became established with 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 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.[96] The Haight is now home to some expensive boutiques[97] and a few controversial chain stores,[98] although it still retains some bohemian character.
North of the Western Addition is Pacific Heights, an affluent neighborhood that features 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.[99]
In the south-east 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 the 1910s, a wave of Central American immigrants settled in the Mission and, in the 1950s, immigrants from Mexico began to predominate.[100] 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 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.[101] Located near the city's southern border, the Excelsior District is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in San Francisco. The predominantly African American Bayview-Hunters Point in the far southeast corner of the city is one of the poorest neighborhoods and suffers from a high rate of crime, though the area has been the focus of several revitalizing and controversial urban renewal projects.
The Ferry Building along the Embarcadero
The construction of the Twin Peaks Tunnel in 1918 connected southwest neighborhoods to downtown via streetcar, hastening 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.[102]
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: 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 a gourmet marketplace.
Climate
San Francisco has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb) characteristic of California's coast, with moist mild winters and dry summers.[103] 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 a remarkably mild year-round climate with little seasonal temperature variation.[104]
Fog is a regular feature of San Francisco summers.
Among major U.S. cities, San Francisco has the coolest daily mean, maximum, and minimum temperatures for June, July, and August.[105] During the summer, rising hot air in California's interior valleys creates a low pressure area that draws winds from the North Pacific High through the Golden Gate, which creates the city's characteristic cool winds and fog.[106] The fog is less pronounced in eastern neighborhoods and during the late summer and early fall. As a result, the year's warmest month, on average, is September, and on average, October is warmer than July, especially in daytime.
Temperatures reach or exceed 80 °F (27 °C) on an average of only 21 and 23 days a year at downtown and San Francisco International Airport (SFO), respectively.[107] The dry period of May to October is mild to warm, with the normal monthly mean temperature peaking in September at 62.7 °F (17.1 °C).[107] The rainy period of November to April is slightly cooler, with the normal monthly mean temperature reaching its lowest in January at 51.3 °F (10.7 °C).[107] On average, there are 73 rainy days a year, and annual precipitation averages 23.65 inches (601 mm).[107] Variation in precipitation from year to year is high. Above average rain years are often associated with warm El Niño conditions in the Pacific while dry years often occur in cold water La Niña periods. In 2013 (a "La Niña" year), a record low 5.59 in (142 mm) of rainfall was recorded at downtown San Francisco, where records have been kept since 1849.[107] Snowfall in the city is very rare, with only 10 measurable accumulations recorded since 1852, most recently in 1976 when up to 5 inches (13 cm) fell on Twin Peaks.[108][109]
The highest recorded temperature at the official National Weather Service downtown observation station[a] was 106 °F (41 °C) on September 1, 2017.[111] The lowest recorded temperature was 27 °F (−3 °C) on December 11, 1932.[112] The National Weather Service provides a helpful visual aid[113] graphing the information in the table below to display visually by month the annual typical temperatures, the past year's temperatures, and record temperatures.
San Francisco falls under the USDA 10b Plant hardiness zone.[114][115]
vte
Climate data for San Francisco (downtown),[b] 1991–2020 normals,[c] extremes 1849–present
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 79
(26) 81
(27) 87
(31) 94
(34) 97
(36) 103
(39) 98
(37) 98
(37) 106
(41) 102
(39) 86
(30) 76
(24) 106
(41)
Mean maximum °F (°C) 67.1
(19.5) 71.8
(22.1) 76.4
(24.7) 80.7
(27.1) 81.4
(27.4) 84.6
(29.2) 80.5
(26.9) 83.4
(28.6) 90.8
(32.7) 87.9
(31.1) 75.8
(24.3) 66.4
(19.1) 94.0
(34.4)
Average high °F (°C) 57.8
(14.3) 60.4
(15.8) 62.1
(16.7) 63.0
(17.2) 64.1
(17.8) 66.5
(19.2) 66.3
(19.1) 67.9
(19.9) 70.2
(21.2) 69.8
(21.0) 63.7
(17.6) 57.9
(14.4) 64.1
(17.8)
Daily mean °F (°C) 52.2
(11.2) 54.2
(12.3) 55.5
(13.1) 56.4
(13.6) 57.8
(14.3) 59.7
(15.4) 60.3
(15.7) 61.7
(16.5) 62.9
(17.2) 62.1
(16.7) 57.2
(14.0) 52.5
(11.4) 57.7
(14.3)
Average low °F (°C) 46.6
(8.1) 47.9
(8.8) 48.9
(9.4) 49.7
(9.8) 51.4
(10.8) 53.0
(11.7) 54.4
(12.4) 55.5
(13.1) 55.6
(13.1) 54.4
(12.4) 50.7
(10.4) 47.0
(8.3) 51.3
(10.7)
Mean minimum °F (°C) 40.5
(4.7) 42.0
(5.6) 43.7
(6.5) 45.0
(7.2) 48.0
(8.9) 50.1
(10.1) 51.6
(10.9) 52.9
(11.6) 52.0
(11.1) 49.9
(9.9) 44.9
(7.2) 40.7
(4.8) 38.8
(3.8)
Record low °F (°C) 29
(−2) 31
(−1) 33
(1) 40
(4) 42
(6) 46
(8) 47
(8) 46
(8) 47
(8) 43
(6) 38
(3) 27
(−3) 27
(−3)
Average rainfall inches (mm) 4.40
(112) 4.37
(111) 3.15
(80) 1.60
(41) 0.70
(18) 0.20
(5.1) 0.01
(0.25) 0.06
(1.5) 0.10
(2.5) 0.94
(24) 2.60
(66) 4.76
(121) 22.89
(581)
Average rainy days (≥ 0.01 in) 11.2 10.8 10.8 6.8 4.0 1.6 0.7 1.1 1.2 3.5 7.9 11.6 71.2
Average relative humidity (%) 80 77 75 72 72 71 75 75 73 71 75 78 75
Mean monthly sunshine hours 185.9 207.7 269.1 309.3 325.1 311.4 313.3 287.4 271.4 247.1 173.4 160.6 3,061.7
Percent possible sunshine 61 69 73 78 74 70 70 68 73 71 57 54 69
Source 1: NOAA (sun 1961–1974)[107][116][117][118]
Source 2: Met Office for humidity[119]
Flora and fauna
Historically, tule elk were present in San Francisco County, based on archeological evidence of elk remains in at least five different Native American shellmounds: at Hunter's Point, Fort Mason, Stevenson Street, Market Street, and Yerba Buena.[120][121] Perhaps the first historical observer record was from the De Anza Expedition on March 23, 1776. Herbert Eugene Bolton wrote about the expedition camp at Mountain Lake, near the southern end of today's Presidio: "Round about were grazing deer, and scattered here and there were the antlers of large elk."[122] Also, when Richard Henry Dana Jr. visited San Francisco Bay in 1835, he wrote about vast elk herds near the Golden Gate: on December 27 "...we came to anchor near the mouth of the bay, under a high and beautifully sloping hill, upon which herds of hundreds and hundreds of red deer [note: "red deer" is the European term for "elk"], and the stag, with his high branching antlers, were bounding about...", although it is not clear whether this was the Marin side or the San Francisco side.[123]
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of San Francisco
Historical populationYear Pop. ±%
1848 1,000 —
1849 25,000 +2400.0%
1852 34,776 +39.1%
1860 56,802 +63.3%
1870 149,473 +163.1%
1880 233,959 +56.5%
1890 298,997 +27.8%
1900 342,782 +14.6%
1910 416,912 +21.6%
1920 506,676 +21.5%
1930 634,394 +25.2%
1940 634,536 +0.0%
1950 775,357 +22.2%
1960 740,316 −4.5%
1970 715,674 −3.3%
1980 678,974 −5.1%
1990 723,959 +6.6%
2000 776,733 +7.3%
2010 805,235 +3.7%
2020 873,965 +8.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[124]
2010–2020[15]
The 2020 United States census showed San Francisco's population to be 873,965, an increase of 8.5% from the 2010 census[citation needed]. With roughly one-quarter the population density of Manhattan, San Francisco is the second-most densely populated large American city, behind only New York City among cities greater than 200,000 population, and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county, following only four of the five New York City boroughs.
San Francisco forms part of the five-county San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 4.7 million people, and has served as its traditional demographic focal point. It is also part of the greater 14-county San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area, whose population is over 9.6 million, making it the fifth-largest in the United States as of 2018.[125]
Race, ethnicity, religion, and languages
San Francisco has a majority minority population, as non-Hispanic whites comprise less than half of the population, 41.9%, down from 92.5% in 1940.[52] As of the 2020 census, the racial makeup and population of San Francisco included: 361,382 Whites (41.3%), 296,505 Asians (33.9%), 46,725 African Americans (5.3%), 86,233 Multiracial Americans (9.9%), 6,475 Native Americans and Alaska Natives (0.7%), 3,476 Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (0.4%) and 73,169 persons of other races (8.4%). There were 136,761 Hispanics or Latinos of any race (15.6%).
In 2010, residents of Chinese ethnicity constituted the largest single ethnic minority group in San Francisco at 21% of the population; the other Asian groups are Filipinos (5%) and Vietnamese (2%).[126] The population of Chinese ancestry is most heavily concentrated in Chinatown, Sunset District, and Richmond District, whereas Filipinos are most concentrated in the Crocker-Amazon (which is contiguous with the Filipino community of Daly City, which has one of the highest concentrations of Filipinos in North America), as well as in SoMa.[126][127] The Tenderloin District is home to a large portion of the city's Vietnamese population as well as businesses and restaurants, which is known as the city's Little Saigon.[126]
The principal Hispanic groups in the city were those of Mexican (7%) and Salvadoran (2%) ancestry. The Hispanic population is most heavily concentrated in the Mission District, Tenderloin District, and Excelsior District.[128] The city's percentage of Hispanic residents is less than half of that of the state. The population of African Americans in San Francisco is 6% of the city's population.[52][129] The percentage of African Americans in San Francisco is similar to that of California.[129] The majority of the city's black population reside within the neighborhoods of Bayview-Hunters Point, Visitacion Valley, and in the Fillmore District.[128]
Map of racial distribution in San Francisco Bay Area, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, or Other (yellow)
Demographic profile[130][131][132][133] 2020 2010 2000 1990 1970 1940
White 41.3% 48.5% 49.7% 53.6% 71.4% 95.0%
Non-Hispanic White 39.1% 41.9% 43.6% 46.6% 60.4%[134] 92.5%
Asian 33.9% 33.3% 30.8% 29.1% 13.3% 4.2%
Black or African American 5.3% 6.1% 7.8% 10.9% 13.4% 0.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7% 0.5% 0.4% 0.5% 0.4% –
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.4% 0.4% 0.5% 0.5% – –
Some other race 8.4% 6.6% 6.5% 5.9% 1.5% -
Two or more races 9.9% 4.7% 4.0% - - -
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 15.6% 15.1% 14.1% 13.9% 11.6%[134] 2.5%
Source: US Census
According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, the largest religious groupings in San Francisco's metropolitan area are Christians (48%), followed by those of no religion (35%), Hindus (5%), Jews (3%), Buddhists (2%), Muslims (1%) and a variety of other religions have smaller followings. According to the same study by the Pew Research Center, about 20% of residents in the area are Protestant, and 25% professing Roman Catholic beliefs. Meanwhile, 10% of the residents in metropolitan San Francisco identify as agnostics, while 5% identify as atheists.[135][136]
As of 2010, 55% (411,728) of San Francisco residents spoke only English at home, while 19% (140,302) spoke a variety of Chinese (mostly Taishanese and Cantonese[137][138]), 12% (88,147) Spanish, 3% (25,767) Tagalog, and 2% (14,017) Russian. In total, 45% (342,693) of San Francisco's population spoke a language at home other than English.[139]
Demographic profile[140][141] 2020 2010
Total Population 882,519 - 100% 805,235 – 100%
Hispanic or Latino 136,761 - 15.6% 121,774 – 15.1%
White 361,382 - 41.3% 390,387 – 48.5%
African American 46,725 - 5.3% 48,870 – 6.1%
Asian 296,505 - 33.9% 267,915 – 33.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 6,475 - 0.7% 4,024 – 0.5%
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander 3,476 - 0.4% 3,359 – 0.4%
Other 73,169 - 8.4% 53,021 – 6.6%
Two or more races 86,233 - 9.9% 37,659 – 4.7%
Ethnic clustering
San Francisco has several prominent Chinese, Mexican, and Filipino ethnic neighborhoods including Chinatown and the Mission District. Research collected on the immigrant clusters in the city show that more than half of the Asian population in San Francisco is either Chinese-born (40.3%) or Philippine-born (13.1%), and of the Mexican population 21% were Mexican-born, meaning these are people who recently immigrated to the United States.[142] Between the years of 1990 and 2000, the number foreign born residents increased from 33% to nearly 40%,[142] During this same time period, the San Francisco Metropolitan area received 850,000 immigrants, ranking third in the United States after Los Angeles and New York.[142]
Education, households, and income
Of all major cities in the United States, San Francisco has the second-highest percentage of residents with a college degree, behind only Seattle. Over 44% of adults have a bachelor's or higher degree.[143] San Francisco had the highest rate at 7,031 per square mile, or over 344,000 total graduates in the city's 46.7 square miles (121 km2).[144]
San Francisco has the highest estimated percentage of gay and lesbian individuals of any of the 50 largest U.S. cities, at 15%.[145] San Francisco also has the highest percentage of same-sex households of any American county, with the Bay Area having a higher concentration than any other metropolitan area.[146]
Income in 2011
Per capita income[147] $46,777
Median household income[148] $72,947
Median family income[149] $87,329
San Francisco ranks third of American cities in median household income[150] with a 2007 value of $65,519.[129] Median family income is $81,136.[129] An emigration of middle-class families has left the city with a lower proportion of children than any other large American city,[151] with the dog population cited as exceeding the child population of 115,000, in 2018.[152] The city's poverty rate is 12%, lower than the national average.[153] Homelessness has been a chronic problem for San Francisco since the early 1970s.[154] The city is believed to have the highest number of homeless inhabitants per capita of any major U.S. city.[155][156]
There are 345,811 households in the city, out of which: 133,366 households (39%) were individuals, 109,437 (32%) were opposite-sex married couples, 63,577 (18%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 21,677 (6%) were unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 10,384 (3%) were same-sex married couples or partnerships. The average household size was 2.26; the average family size was 3.11. 452,986 people (56%) lived in rental housing units, and 327,985 people (41%) lived in owner-occupied housing units. The median age of the city population is 38 years.
San Francisco "declared itself a sanctuary city in 1989, and city officials strengthened the stance in 2013 with its 'Due Process for All' ordinance. The law declared local authorities could not hold immigrants for immigration officials if they had no violent felonies on their records and did not currently face charges."[157] The city issues a Resident ID Card regardless of the applicant's immigration status.[158]
Homelessness
See also: Homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area
A tent city in San Francisco in May 2020
Homelessness, historically, has been a major problem in the city and remains a growing problem in modern times.[159]
8,035 homeless people were counted in San Francisco's 2019 point-in-time street and shelter count. This was an increase of more than 17% over the 2017 count of 6,858 people. 5,180 of the people were living unsheltered on the streets and in parks.[160] 26% of respondents in the 2019 count identified job loss as the primary cause of their homelessness, 18% cited alcohol or drug use, and 13% cited being evicted from their residence.[160] The city of San Francisco has been dramatically increasing its spending to service the growing population homelessness crisis: spending jumped by $241 million in 2016–17 to total $275 million, compared to a budget of just $34 million the previous year. In 2017–18 the budget for combatting homelessness stood at $305 million.[161] In the 2019–2020 budget year, the city budgeted $368 million for homelessness services. In the propose 2020–2021 budget the city budgeted $850 million for homelessness services.[162]
In January 2018 a United Nations special rapporteur on homelessness, Leilani Farha, stated that she was "completely shocked" by San Francisco's homelessness crisis during a visit to the city. She compared the "deplorable conditions" of the homeless camps she witnessed on San Francisco's streets to those she had seen in Mumbai.[161] In May 2020, San Francisco officially sanctioned homeless encampments.[163]
Crime
San Francisco
Crime rates* (2018)
Violent crimes
Homicide 2.4
Rape 20.8
Robbery 171.0
Aggravated assault 149.9
Total violent crime 344.1
Property crimes
Burglary 290.5
Larceny-theft 2,136.3
Motor vehicle theft 222.4
Arson 14.4
Total property crime 2,649.2
Notes
*Number of reported crimes per 100,000 population.
Source: FBI 2019 UCR data
In 2011, 50 murders were reported, which is 6.1 per 100,000 people.[164] There were about 134 rapes, 3,142 robberies, and about 2,139 assaults. There were about 4,469 burglaries, 25,100 thefts, and 4,210 motor vehicle thefts.[165] The Tenderloin area has the highest crime rate in San Francisco: 70% of the city's violent crimes, and around one-fourth of the city's murders, occur in this neighborhood. The Tenderloin also sees high rates of drug abuse, gang violence, and prostitution.[166] Another area with high crime rates is the Bayview-Hunters Point area. In the first six months of 2015 there were 25 murders compared to 14 in the first six months of 2014. However, the murder rate is still much lower than in past decades.[167] That rate, though, did rise again by the close of 2016. According to the San Francisco Police Department, there were 59 murders in the city in 2016, an annual total that marked a 13.5% increase in the number of homicides (52) from 2015.[168]
During the first half of 2018, human feces on San Francisco sidewalks were the second-most-frequent complaint of city residents, with about 65 calls per day. The city has formed a "poop patrol" to attempt to combat the problem.[169]
Gangs
Several street gangs have operated in the city over the decades, including MS-13,[170] the Sureños and Norteños in the Mission District.[171] In 2008, a MS-13 member killed three family members as they were arriving home in the city's Excelsior District. His victims had no relationship with him, nor did they have any known gang or street crime involvement.
African-American street gangs familiar in other cities, including the Bloods, Crips and their sets, have struggled to establish footholds in San Francisco,[172] while police and prosecutors have been accused of liberally labeling young African-American males as gang members.[173] However, gangs founded in San Francisco with majority Black memberships have made their presence in the city. The gang Westmob, associated with Oakdale Mob and Sunnydale housing project gangs from the southeast area of the city, was involved in a gang war with Hunters Point-based Big Block from 1999 to the 2000s.[174] They claim territory from West Point to Middle Point in the Hunters Point projects.[175] In 2004, a Westmob member fatally shot a SFPD officer and wounded his partner; he was sentenced to life without parole in 2007.[176]
Criminal gangs with shotcallers in China, including Triad groups such as the Wo Hop To, have been reported active in San Francisco.[177] In 1977, an ongoing rivalry between two Chinese gangs led to a shooting attack at the Golden Dragon restaurant in Chinatown, which left 5 people dead and 11 wounded. None of the victims in this attack were gang members. Five members of the Joe Boys gang were arrested and convicted of the crime.[178] In 1990, a gang-related shooting killed one man and wounded six others outside a nightclub near Chinatown.[179] In 1998, six teenagers were shot and wounded at the Chinese Playground; a 16-year-old boy was subsequently arrested.[180]
Economy
See also: List of companies based in San Francisco
According to academic Rob Wilson, San Francisco is a global city, a status that pre-dated the city's popularity during the California Gold Rush.[181] Such cities are characterized by their ethnic clustering, network of international connectivity, and convergence of technological innovation.[142] Global cities, such as San Francisco, are considered to be complex and require a high level of talent as well as large masses of low wage workers. A divide is created within the city of ethnic, typically lower-class neighborhoods, and expensive ones with newly developed buildings. This in turn creates a population of highly educated, white-collar individuals as well as blue-collar workers, many of whom are immigrants, and who both are drawn to the increasing number of opportunities available.[182] Competition for these opportunities pushes growth and adaptation in world centers.[183]
San Francisco has a diversified service economy, with employment spread across a wide range of professional services, including financial services, tourism, and (increasingly) high technology.[184] In 2016, approximately 27% of workers were employed in professional business services; 14% in leisure and hospitality; 13% in government services; 12% in education and health care; 11% in trade, transportation, and utilities; and 8% in financial activities.[184] In 2019, GDP in the five-county San Francisco metropolitan area grew 3.8% in real terms to $592 billion.[185][26] Additionally, in 2019 the 14-county San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area had a GDP of $1.086 trillion,[26] ranking 3rd among CSAs, and ahead of all but 16 countries. As of 2019, San Francisco County was the 7th highest-income county in the United States (among 3,142), with a per capita personal income of $139,405.[24] Marin County, directly to the north over the Golden Gate Bridge, and San Mateo County, directly to the south on the Peninsula, were the 6th and 9th highest-income counties respectively.
California Street in the Financial District
The legacy of the California Gold Rush turned San Francisco into the principal banking and finance center of the West Coast in the early twentieth century.[186] Montgomery Street in the Financial District became known as the "Wall Street of the West", home to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Wells Fargo corporate headquarters, and the site of the now-defunct Pacific Coast Stock Exchange.[186] Bank of America, a pioneer in making banking services accessible to the middle class, was founded in San Francisco and in the 1960s, built the landmark modern skyscraper at 555 California Street for its corporate headquarters. Many large financial institutions, multinational banks, and venture capital firms are based in or have regional headquarters in the city. With over 30 international financial institutions,[187] six Fortune 500 companies,[188] and a large support infrastructure of professional services—including law, public relations, architecture and design—San Francisco is designated as an Alpha(-) World City.[189] The 2017 Global Financial Centres Index ranked San Francisco as the sixth-most competitive financial center in the world.[190]
Since the 1990s, San Francisco's economy has diversified away from finance and tourism towards the growing fields of high tech, biotechnology, and medical research.[191] Technology jobs accounted for just 1 percent of San Francisco's economy in 1990, growing to 4 percent in 2010 and an estimated 8 percent by the end of 2013.[192] San Francisco became a center of Internet start-up companies during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s and the subsequent social media boom of the late 2000s (decade).[193] Since 2010, San Francisco proper has attracted an increasing share of venture capital investments as compared to nearby Silicon Valley, attracting 423 financings worth US$4.58 billion in 2013.[194][195][196] In 2004, the city approved a payroll tax exemption for biotechnology companies[197] to foster growth in the Mission Bay neighborhood, site of a second campus and hospital of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Mission Bay hosts the UCSF Medical Center, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, and Gladstone Institutes,[198] as well as more than 40 private-sector life sciences companies.[199]
Ships docked at Pier 3, with Financial District skyscrapers in the background
The top employer in the city is the city government itself, employing 5.6% (31,000+ people) of the city's workforce, followed by UCSF with over 25,000 employees.[200] The largest private-sector employer is Salesforce, with 8,500 employees, as of 2018.[201] Small businesses with fewer than 10 employees and self-employed firms make up 85% of city establishments,[202] and the number of San Franciscans employed by firms of more than 1,000 employees has fallen by half since 1977.[203] The growth of national big box and formula retail chains into the city has been made intentionally difficult by political and civic consensus. In an effort to buoy small privately owned businesses in San Francisco and preserve the unique retail personality of the city, the Small Business Commission started a publicity campaign in 2004 to keep a larger share of retail dollars in the local economy,[204] and the Board of Supervisors has used the planning code to limit the neighborhoods where formula retail establishments can set up shop,[205] an effort affirmed by San Francisco voters.[206] However, by 2016, San Francisco was rated low by small businesses in a Business Friendliness Survey.[207]
Like many U.S. cities, San Francisco once had a significant manufacturing sector employing nearly 60,000 workers in 1969, but nearly all production left for cheaper locations by the 1980s.[208] As of 2014, San Francisco has seen a small resurgence in manufacturing, with more than 4,000 manufacturing jobs across 500 companies, doubling since 2011. The city's largest manufacturing employer is Anchor Brewing Company, and the largest by revenue is Timbuk2.[208]
Technology
San Francisco became a hub for technological driven economic growth during the internet boom of the 1990s, and still holds an important position in the world city network today.[142][183] Intense redevelopment towards the "new economy" makes business more technologically minded. Between the years of 1999 and 2000, the job growth rate was 4.9%, creating over 50,000 jobs in technology firms and internet content production.[142]
In the second technological boom driven by social media in the mid 2000s, San Francisco became a location for companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter to base their tech offices and for their employees to live.[209] Since then, tech employment has continued to increase. In 2014, San Francisco's tech employment grew nearly 90% between 2010 and 2014, beating out Silicon Valley's 30% growth rate over the same period.[210]
The tech sector's dominance in the Bay Area is internationally recognized and continues to attract new businesses and young entrepreneurs from all over the globe.[210] San Francisco is now widely considered the most important city in the world for new technology startups.[211] A recent high of $7 billion in venture capital was invested in the region.[210] These startup companies hire well educated individuals looking to work in the tech industry, which helps the city have a well educated citizenry. Over 50% of San Franciscans have a four-year university degree, thus the city ranks high in terms of its population's educational level.[209]
Tourism and conventions
See also: Port of San Francisco
Tourism is one of the city's largest private-sector industries, accounting for more than one out of seven jobs in the city.[191][212] The city's frequent portrayal in music, film, and popular culture has made the city and its landmarks recognizable worldwide. In 2016, it attracted the fifth-highest number of foreign tourists of any city in the United States.[213] More than 25 million visitors arrived in San Francisco in 2016, adding US$9.96 billion to the economy.[214] With a large hotel infrastructure and a world-class convention facility in the Moscone Center, San Francisco is a popular destination for annual conventions and conferences.[215]
Lombard Street is a popular tourist destination in San Francisco, known for its "crookedness".
Some of the most popular tourist attractions in San Francisco noted by the Travel Channel include the Golden Gate Bridge and Alamo Square Park, which is home to the famous "Painted Ladies". Both of these locations were often used as landscape shots for the hit American sitcom Full House. There is also Lombard Street, known for its "crookedness" and extensive views. Tourists also visit Pier 39, which offers dining, shopping, entertainment, and views of the bay, sun-bathing seals, and the famous Alcatraz Island.[216]
San Francisco also offers tourists cultural and unique nightlife in its neighborhoods.[217][218]
The new Terminal Project at Pier 27 opened September 25, 2014, as a replacement for the old Pier 35.[219] Itineraries from San Francisco usually include round-trip cruises to Alaska and Mexico.
A heightened interest in conventioneering in San Francisco, marked by the establishment of convention centers such as Yerba Buena, acted as a feeder into the local tourist economy and resulted in an increase in the hotel industry: "In 1959, the city had fewer than thirty-three hundred first-class hotel rooms; by 1970, the number was nine thousand; and by 1999, there were more than thirty thousand."[220][page needed] The commodification of the Castro District has contributed to San Francisco's tourist economy.[221]
Arts and culture
Main article: Culture of San Francisco
See also: San Francisco in popular culture
Boutiques along Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights
Although the Financial District, Union Square, and Fisherman's Wharf are well known around the world, San Francisco is also characterized by its numerous culturally rich streetscapes featuring mixed-use neighborhoods anchored around central commercial corridors to which residents and visitors alike can walk. Because of these characteristics, San Francisco is ranked the second "most walkable" city in the United States by Walkscore.com.[222] Many neighborhoods feature a mix of businesses, restaurants and venues that cater to the daily needs of local residents while also serving many visitors and tourists. Some neighborhoods are dotted with boutiques, cafés and nightlife such as Union Street in Cow Hollow, 24th Street in Noe Valley, Valencia Street in the Mission, Grant Avenue in North Beach, and Irving Street in the Inner Sunset. This approach especially has influenced the continuing South of Market neighborhood redevelopment with businesses and neighborhood services rising alongside high-rise residences.[223]
High-rises surround Yerba Buena Gardens, South of Market.
Since the 1990s, the demand for skilled information technology workers from local startups and nearby Silicon Valley has attracted white-collar workers from all over the world and created a high standard of living in San Francisco.[224] Many neighborhoods that were once blue-collar, middle, and lower class have been gentrifying, as many of the city's traditional business and industrial districts have experienced a renaissance driven by the redevelopment of the Embarcadero, including the neighborhoods South Beach and Mission Bay. The city's property values and household income have risen to among the highest in the nation,[225][226][227] creating a large and upscale restaurant, retail, and entertainment scene. According to a 2014 quality of life survey of global cities, San Francisco has the highest quality of living of any U.S. city.[228] However, due to the exceptionally high cost of living, many of the city's middle and lower-class families have been leaving the city for the outer suburbs of the Bay Area, or for California's Central Valley.[229] By June 2, 2015, the median rent was reported to be as high as $4,225.[230] The high cost of living is due in part to restrictive planning laws which limit new residential construction.[231]
The international character that San Francisco has enjoyed since its founding is continued today by large numbers of immigrants from Asia and Latin America. With 39% of its residents born overseas,[203] San Francisco has numerous neighborhoods filled with businesses and civic institutions catering to new arrivals. In particular, the arrival of many ethnic Chinese, which began to accelerate in the 1970s, has complemented the long-established community historically based in Chinatown throughout the city and has transformed the annual Chinese New Year Parade into the largest event of its kind in its hemisphere.[232][233]
With the arrival of the "beat" writers and artists of the 1950s and societal changes culminating in the Summer of Love in the Haight-Ashbury district during the 1960s, San Francisco became a center of liberal activism and of the counterculture that arose at that time. The Democrats and to a lesser extent the Green Party have dominated city politics since the late 1970s, after the last serious Republican challenger for city office lost the 1975 mayoral election by a narrow margin. San Francisco has not voted more than 20% for a Republican presidential or senatorial candidate since 1988.[234] In 2007, the city expanded its Medicaid and other indigent medical programs into the Healthy San Francisco program,[235] which subsidizes certain medical services for eligible residents.[236][237][238]
San Francisco also has had a very active environmental community. Starting with the founding of the Sierra Club in 1892 to the establishment of the non-profit Friends of the Urban Forest in 1981, San Francisco has been at the forefront of many global discussions regarding the environment.[239][240] The 1980 San Francisco Recycling Program was one of the earliest curbside recycling programs.[241] The city's GoSolarSF incentive promotes solar installations and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is rolling out the CleanPowerSF program to sell electricity from local renewable sources.[242][243] SF Greasecycle is a program to recycle used cooking oil for conversion to biodiesel.[244]
The Sunset Reservoir Solar Project, completed in 2010, installed 24,000 solar panels on the roof of the reservoir. The 5-megawatt plant more than tripled the city's 2-megawatt solar generation capacity when it opened in December 2010.[245][246]
LGBT
Main article: LGBT culture in San Francisco
The rainbow flag, symbol of LGBT pride, originated in San Francisco; banners like this one decorate streets in the Castro.
San Francisco has long had an LGBT-friendly history. It was home to the first lesbian-rights organization in the United States, Daughters of Bilitis; the first openly gay person to run for public office in the United States, José Sarria; the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, Harvey Milk; the first openly lesbian judge appointed in the U.S., Mary C. Morgan; and the first transgender police commissioner, Theresa Sparks. The city's large gay population has created and sustained a politically and culturally active community over many decades, developing a powerful presence in San Francisco's civic life.[citation needed] Survey data released in 2015 by Gallup place the proportion of the San Francisco metro area at 6.2%, which is the highest such proportion observed of the 50 most populous metropolitan areas as measured by the polling organization.[247]
One of the most popular destinations for gay tourists internationally, the city hosts San Francisco Pride, one of the largest and oldest pride parades. San Francisco Pride events have been held continuously since 1972. The events are themed and a new theme is created each year. In 2013, over 1.5 million people attended, around 500,000 more than the previous year.[248]
The Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair that is held in September, capping San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week".[249] It started in 1984 and is California's third-largest single-day, outdoor spectator event and the world's largest leather event and showcase for BDSM products and culture.[250]
Performing arts
The lobby of the War Memorial Opera House, one of the last buildings erected in Beaux Arts style in the United States
Main article: List of theatres in San Francisco
San Francisco's War Memorial and Performing Arts Center hosts some of the most enduring performing-arts companies in the country. The War Memorial Opera House houses the San Francisco Opera, the second-largest opera company in North America[251][citation needed] as well as the San Francisco Ballet, while the San Francisco Symphony plays in Davies Symphony Hall. Opened in 2013, the SFJAZZ Center hosts jazz performances year round.[citation needed]
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, 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.[252]
San Francisco has a large number of theaters and live performance venues. Local theater companies have been noted for risk taking and innovation.[253] The Tony Award-winning non-profit American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a member of the national League of Resident Theatres. Other local winners of the Regional Theatre Tony Award include the San Francisco Mime Troupe.[254] San Francisco theaters frequently host pre-Broadway engagements and tryout runs,[255] and some original San Francisco productions have later moved to Broadway.[256]
Museums
Main article: List of museums in San Francisco Bay Area, California § San Francisco
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 attracted more than 600,000 visitors annually.[257] SFMOMA closed for renovation and expansion in 2013. The museum reopened on May 14, 2016, with an addition, designed by Snøhetta, that has doubled the museum's size.[258]
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. The de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park features American decorative pieces and anthropological holdings from Africa, Oceania and the Americas, while Asian art is housed in the Asian Art Museum. Opposite the de Young stands the California Academy of Sciences, a natural history museum that also hosts the Morrison Planetarium and Steinhart Aquarium. Located on Pier 15 on the Embarcadero, the Exploratorium is an interactive science museum. The Contemporary Jewish Museum is a non-collecting institution that hosts a broad array of temporary exhibitions. On Nob Hill, the Cable Car Museum is a working museum featuring the cable car power house, which drives the cables.[259]
Sports
Main article: Sports in the San Francisco Bay Area
Oracle Park opened in 2000.
The Olympic Club
Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants have played in San Francisco since moving from New York in 1958. The Giants play at Oracle Park, which opened in 2000.[260] The Giants won World Series titles in 2010, 2012, and in 2014. The Giants have boasted such stars as Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Barry Bonds. In 2012, San Francisco was ranked No. 1 in a study that examined which U.S. metro areas have produced the most Major Leaguers since 1920.[261]
The San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) 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. The team began playing its home games at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara in 2014.[262][263] The 49ers won five Super Bowl titles between 1982 and 1995.
The San Francisco Warriors played in the NBA from 1962 to 1971, before being renamed the Golden State Warriors prior to the 1971–1972 season in an attempt to present the team as a representation of the whole state of California.[264] The Warriors' arena, Chase Center, is located in San Francisco.[265] They have won six championships,[266] and made five consecutive NBA Finals from 2015 to 2019, winning three of them.
At the collegiate level, the San Francisco Dons compete in NCAA Division I. Bill Russell led the Dons basketball team to NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956. There is also the San Francisco State Gators, who compete in NCAA Division II.[267] Oracle Park hosted the annual Fight Hunger Bowl college football game from 2002 through 2013 before it moved to Santa Clara.
The Bay to Breakers footrace, held annually since 1912, is best known for colorful costumes and a celebratory community spirit.[268] The San Francisco Marathon attracts more than 21,000 participants.[269] The Escape from Alcatraz triathlon has, since 1980, attracted 2,000 top professional and amateur triathletes for its annual race.[270] The Olympic Club, founded in 1860, is the oldest athletic club in the United States. Its private golf course has hosted the U.S. Open on five occasions. San Francisco hosted the 2013 America's Cup yacht racing competition.[271]
With an ideal climate for outdoor activities, San Francisco has ample resources and opportunities for amateur and participatory sports and recreation. There are more than 200 miles (320 km) of bicycle paths, lanes and bike routes in the city.[272] San Francisco residents have often ranked among the fittest in the country.[273] Golden Gate Park has miles of paved and unpaved running trails as well as a golf course and disc golf course. Boating, sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing are among the popular activities on San Francisco Bay, and the city maintains a yacht harbor in the Marina District.
San Francisco also has had Esports teams, such as the Overwatch League's San Francisco Shock. Established in 2017,[274] they won two back-to-back championship titles in 2019 and 2020.[275][276]
Parks and recreation
See also: List of parks in San Francisco
Ocean Beach, San Francisco, with a view of the Cliff House
Several of San Francisco's parks 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 visitors a year. Among the GGNRA's attractions within the city are Ocean Beach, which 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 the Presidio, a former military base. Also within the Presidio is Crissy Field, a former airfield that was restored to its natural salt marsh ecosystem. The GGNRA also administers Fort Funston, Lands End, Fort Mason, and Alcatraz. The National Park Service separately administers the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park – a fleet of historic ships and waterfront property around Aquatic Park.[citation needed]
Alamo Square is one of the most well-known parks in the area, and is often a symbol of San Francisco for its popular location for film and pop culture.
There are more than 220 parks maintained by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department.[277] The largest and best-known city park is Golden Gate Park,[278] which stretches from the center of the city west to the Pacific Ocean. Once covered in native grasses and sand dunes, the park was conceived in the 1860s and was created by the extensive planting of thousands of non-native trees and plants. The large park is rich with cultural and natural attractions such as the Conservatory of Flowers, Japanese Tea Garden and San Francisco Botanical Garden. Lake Merced is a fresh-water lake surrounded by parkland and near the San Francisco Zoo, a city-owned park that houses more than 250 animal species, many of which are endangered.[279] The only park managed by the California State Park system located principally in San Francisco, Candlestick Point was the state's first urban recreation area.[280]
San Francisco is the first city in the U.S. to have a park within a 10-Minute Walk of every resident.[281][282] It also ranks fifth in the U.S. for park access and quality in the 2018 ParkScore ranking of the top 100 park systems across the United States, according to the nonprofit Trust for Public Land.[283]
Government
Main articles: Government of San Francisco, Politics of San Francisco, and Mayors of San Francisco
[284]
San Francisco—officially known as the City and County of San Francisco—is a consolidated city-county, a status it has held since the 1856 secession of what is now San Mateo County.[28] It is the only such consolidation in California.[285] The mayor is also the county executive, and the county Board of Supervisors acts as the city council. The government of San Francisco is a charter city and is constituted of two co-equal branches: the executive branch is headed by the mayor and includes other citywide elected and appointed officials as well as the civil service; the 11-member Board of Supervisors, the legislative branch, is headed by a president and is responsible for passing laws and budgets, though San Franciscans also make use of direct ballot initiatives to pass legislation.[286]
San Francisco City Hall
The members of the Board of Supervisors are elected as representatives of specific districts within the city.[287] Upon the death or resignation of mayor, the President of the Board of Supervisors becomes acting mayor until the full Board elects an interim replacement for the remainder of the term. In 1978, Dianne Feinstein assumed the office following the assassination of George Moscone and was later selected by the board to finish the term. In 2011, Ed Lee was selected by the board to finish the term of Gavin Newsom, who resigned to take office as Lieutenant Governor of California.[288] Lee (who won two elections to remain mayor) was temporarily replaced by San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed after he died on December 12, 2017. Supervisor Mark Farrell was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to finish Lee's term on January 23, 2018.
Because of its unique city-county status, the local government is able to exercise jurisdiction over certain property outside city limits. San Francisco International Airport, though located in San Mateo County, is owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco. San Francisco's largest jail complex (County Jail No. 5) is located in San Mateo County, in an unincorporated area adjacent to San Bruno. San Francisco was also granted a perpetual leasehold over the Hetch Hetchy Valley and watershed in Yosemite National Park by the Raker Act in 1913.[285]
San Francisco serves as the regional hub for many arms of the federal bureaucracy, including the U.S. Court of Appeals, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the U.S. Mint. Until decommissioning in the early 1990s, the city had major military installations at the Presidio, Treasure Island, and Hunters Point—a legacy still reflected in the annual celebration of Fleet Week. The State of California uses San Francisco as the home of the state supreme court and other state agencies. Foreign governments maintain more than seventy consulates in San Francisco.[289]
The municipal budget for fiscal year 2015–16 was $8.99 billion,[290] and is one of the largest city budgets in the United States.[291] The City of San Francisco spends more per resident than any city other than Washington D.C, over $10,000 in FY 2015–2016.[291] The city employs around 27,000 workers.[292]
In the United States House of Representatives, San Francisco is split between California's 12th and 14th districts.
Education
Colleges and universities
See also: List of colleges and universities in San Francisco
San Francisco State University Main Quad
The Lone Mountain Campus of the University of San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco is the sole campus of the University of California system entirely dedicated to graduate education in health and biomedical sciences. It is ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States[293] and operates the UCSF Medical Center, which ranks as the number one hospital in California and the number 5 in the country.[294] UCSF is a major local employer, second in size only to the city and county government.[295][296][297] A 43-acre (17 ha) Mission Bay campus was opened in 2003, complementing its original facility in Parnassus Heights. It contains research space and facilities to foster biotechnology and life sciences entrepreneurship and will double the size of UCSF's research enterprise.[298] All in all, UCSF operates more than 20 facilities across San Francisco.[299] The University of California, Hastings College of the Law, founded in Civic Center in 1878, is the oldest law school in California and claims more judges on the state bench than any other institution.[300] San Francisco's two University of California institutions have recently formed an official affiliation in the UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science & Health Policy.[301]
San Francisco State University is part of the California State University system and is located near Lake Merced.[302] The school has approximately 30,000 students and awards undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees in more than 100 disciplines.[302] The City College of San Francisco, with its main facility in the Ingleside district, is one of the largest two-year community colleges in the country. It has an enrollment of about 100,000 students and offers an extensive continuing education program.[303]
Founded in 1855, the University of San Francisco, a private Jesuit university located on Lone Mountain, is the oldest institution of higher education in San Francisco and one of the oldest universities established west of the Mississippi River.[304] Golden Gate University is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational university formed in 1901 and located in the Financial District. With an enrollment of 13,000 students, the Academy of Art University is the largest institute of art and design in the nation.[305] Founded in 1871, the San Francisco Art Institute is the oldest art school west of the Mississippi.[306] The California College of the Arts, located north of Potrero Hill, has programs in architecture, fine arts, design, and writing.[307] The San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the only independent music school on the West Coast, grants degrees in orchestral instruments, chamber music, composition, and conducting. The California Culinary Academy, associated with the Le Cordon Bleu program, offers programs in the culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, and hospitality and restaurant management. California Institute of Integral Studies, founded in 1968, offers a variety of graduate programs in its Schools of Professional Psychology & Health, and Consciousness and Transformation.
Primary and secondary schools
See also: List of high schools in California § San Francisco County
Public schools are run by the San Francisco Unified School District as well as the California State Board of Education for some charter schools. Lowell High School, the oldest public high school in the U.S. west of the Mississippi,[308] and the smaller School of the Arts High School are two of San Francisco's magnet schools at the secondary level. Public school students attend schools based on an assignment system rather than neighborhood proximity.[309]
Just under 30% of the city's school-age population attends one of San Francisco's more than 100 private or parochial schools, compared to a 10% rate nationwide.[310] Nearly 40 of those schools are Catholic schools managed by the Archdiocese of San Francisco.[311]
Early education
San Francisco has nearly 300 preschool programs primarily operated by Head Start, San Francisco Unified School District, private for-profit, private non-profit and family child care providers.[312] All 4-year-old children living in San Francisco are offered universal access to preschool through the Preschool for All program.[313]
Media
Main article: Media in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Chronicle Building
The major daily newspaper in San Francisco is the San Francisco Chronicle, which is currently Northern California's most widely circulated newspaper.[314] The Chronicle is most famous for a former columnist, the late Herb Caen, whose daily musings attracted critical acclaim and represented the "voice of San Francisco". The San Francisco Examiner, once the cornerstone of William Randolph Hearst's media empire and the home of Ambrose Bierce, declined in circulation over the years and now takes the form of a free daily tabloid, under new ownership.[315][316] Sing Tao Daily claims to be the largest of several Chinese language dailies that serve the Bay Area.[317] SF Weekly is the city's alternative weekly newspaper. San Francisco and 7x7 are major glossy magazines about San Francisco. The national newsmagazine Mother Jones is also based in San Francisco. San Francisco is home to online-only media publications such as SFist, and AsianWeek, which was the first and the largest English language publication focusing on Asian Americans.
The San Francisco Bay Area is the sixth-largest television market[318] and the fourth-largest radio market[319] in the U.S. The city's oldest radio station, KCBS, began as an experimental station in San Jose in 1909, before the beginning of commercial broadcasting. KALW was the city's first FM radio station when it signed on the air in 1941. The city's first television station was KPIX, which began broadcasting in 1948.
All major U.S. television networks have affiliates serving the region, with most of them based in the city. CNN, MSNBC, BBC, Russia Today, and CCTV America also have regional news bureaus in San Francisco. Bloomberg West was launched in 2011 from a studio on the Embarcadero and CNBC broadcasts from One Market Plaza since 2015. ESPN uses the local ABC studio for their broadcasting. The regional sports network, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and its sister station Comcast SportsNet California, are both located in San Francisco. The Pac-12 Network is also based in San Francisco.
Public broadcasting outlets include both a television station and a radio station, both broadcasting under the call letters KQED from a facility near the Potrero Hill neighborhood. KQED-FM is the most-listened-to National Public Radio affiliate in the country.[320] Another local broadcaster, KPOO, is an independent, African-American owned and operated noncommercial radio station established in 1971.[321] CNET, founded 1994, and Salon.com, 1995, are based in San Francisco.
San Francisco-based inventors made important contributions to modern media. During the 1870s, Eadweard Muybridge began recording motion photographically and invented a zoopraxiscope with which to view his recordings. These were the first motion pictures. Then in 1927, Philo Farnsworth's image dissector camera tube transmitted its first image. This was the first television.
Infrastructure
Transportation
See also: Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area
Public transportation
See also: San Francisco Municipal Railway
A cable car ascending Hyde St, with Alcatraz on the bay behind
Transit is the most used form of transportation every day in San Francisco. Every weekday, more than 560,000 people travel on Muni's 69 bus routes and more than 140,000 customers ride the Muni Metro light rail system.[322] 32% of San Francisco residents use public transportation for their daily commute to work, ranking it first on the West Coast and third overall in the United States.[323] The San Francisco Municipal Railway, primarily known as Muni, is the primary public transit system of San Francisco. Muni is the seventh-largest transit system in the United States, with 210,848,310 rides in 2006.[324] The system operates a combined light rail and subway system, the Muni Metro, as well as large bus and trolley coach networks.[325] Additionally, it runs a historic streetcar line, which runs on Market Street from Castro Street to Fisherman's Wharf.[325] It also operates the famous cable cars,[325] which have been designated as a National Historic Landmark and are a major tourist attraction.[326]
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), a regional Rapid Transit system, connects San Francisco with the East Bay and San Jose through the underwater Transbay Tube. The line runs under Market Street to Civic Center where it turns south to the Mission District, the southern part of the city, and through northern San Mateo County, to the San Francisco International Airport, and Millbrae.[325]
Another commuter rail system, Caltrain, runs from San Francisco along the San Francisco Peninsula to San Jose.[325] Historically, trains operated by Southern Pacific Lines ran from San Francisco to Los Angeles, via Palo Alto and San Jose.
Amtrak California Thruway Motorcoach runs a shuttle bus from three locations in San Francisco to its station across the bay in Emeryville.[327] Additionally, BART offers connections to San Francisco from Amtrak's stations in Emeryville, Oakland and Richmond, and Caltrain offers connections in San Jose and Santa Clara. Thruway service also runs south to San Luis Obispo with connection to the Pacific Surfliner.
The Golden Gate Ferry M/V Del Norte docked at the Ferry Building
San Francisco Bay Ferry operates from the Ferry Building and Pier 39 to points in Oakland, Alameda, Bay Farm Island, South San Francisco, and north to Vallejo in Solano County.[328] The Golden Gate Ferry is the other ferry operator with service between San Francisco and Marin County.[329] SolTrans runs supplemental bus service between the Ferry Building and Vallejo.
San Francisco was an early adopter of carsharing in America. The non-profit City CarShare opened in 2001.[330] Zipcar closely followed.[331]
To accommodate the large amount of San Francisco citizens who commute to the Silicon Valley daily, employers like Genentech, Google, and Apple have begun to provide private bus transportation for their employees, from San Francisco locations. These buses have quickly become a heated topic of debate within the city, as protesters claim they block bus lanes and delay public buses.[332]
The Bay Bridge offers the only direct automobile connection to the East Bay.
Freeways and roads
Main article: List of streets in San Francisco
In 2014, only 41.3% of residents commuted by driving alone or carpooling in private vehicles in San Francisco, a decline from 48.6% in 2000.[333] There are 1,088 miles of streets in San Francisco with 946 miles of these streets being surface streets, and 59 miles of freeways.[333] Due to its unique geography, and the freeway revolts of the late 1950s,[334] Interstate 80 begins at the approach to the Bay Bridge and is the only direct automobile link to the East Bay. U.S. Route 101 connects to the western terminus of Interstate 80 and provides access to the south of the city along San Francisco Bay toward Silicon Valley. Northward, the routing for U.S. 101 uses arterial streets to connect to the Golden Gate Bridge, the only direct automobile link to Marin County and the North Bay.
As part of the retrofitting of the Golden Gate Bridge and installation of a suicide barrier, starting in 2019 the railings on the west side of the pedestrian walkway were replaced with thinner, more flexible slats in order to improve the bridge's aerodynamic tolerance of high wind to 100 mph (161 km/h). Starting in June 2020, reports were received of a loud hum produced by the new railing slats, heard across the city when a strong west wind was blowing.[335]
State Route 1 also enters San Francisco from the north via the Golden Gate Bridge and bisects the city as the 19th Avenue arterial thoroughfare, joining with Interstate 280 at the city's southern border. Interstate 280 continues south from San Francisco, and also turns to the east along the southern edge of the city, terminating just south of the Bay Bridge in the South of Market neighborhood. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, city leaders demolished the Embarcadero Freeway and a portion of the Central Freeway, converting them into street-level boulevards.[334]
State Route 35 enters the city from the south as Skyline Boulevard and terminates at its intersection with Highway 1. State Route 82 enters San Francisco from the south as Mission Street, and terminates shortly thereafter at its junction with 280. The western terminus of the historic transcontinental Lincoln Highway, the first road across America, is in San Francisco's Lincoln Park.
Vision Zero
In 2014, San Francisco committed to Vision Zero, with the goal of ending all traffic fatalities caused by motor vehicles within the city by 2024.[336] San Francisco's Vision Zero plan calls for investing in engineering, enforcement, and education, and focusing on dangerous intersections. In 2013, 25 people were killed by car and truck drivers while walking and biking in the city and 9 car drivers and passengers were killed in collisions. In 2019, 42 people were killed in traffic collisions in San Francisco.[337]
Airports
Main article: San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco International Airport is the primary airport of San Francisco and the Bay Area.
Though located 13 miles (21 km) south of downtown in unincorporated, San Mateo County, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is under the jurisdiction of the City and County of San Francisco. SFO is a hub for United Airlines[338] and Alaska Airlines.[339] SFO is a major international gateway to Asia and Europe, with the largest international terminal in North America.[340] In 2011, SFO was the eighth-busiest airport in the U.S. and the 22nd-busiest in the world, handling over 40.9 million passengers.[341]
Located across the bay, Oakland International Airport is a popular, low-cost alternative to SFO. Geographically, Oakland Airport is approximately the same distance from downtown San Francisco as SFO, but due to its location across San Francisco Bay, it is greater driving distance from San Francisco.
Cycling and walking
A bike lane in San Francisco.
Cycling is a popular mode of transportation in San Francisco, with 75,000 residents commuting by bicycle each day.[342] In recent years, the city has installed better cycling infrastructure such as protected bike lanes and parking racks.[343] Bay Wheels, previously named Bay Area Bike Share at inception, launched in August 2013 with 700 bikes in downtown San Francisco, selected cities in the East Bay, and San Jose. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and Bay Area Air Quality Management District are responsible for the operation with management provided by Motivate.[344] A major expansion started in 2017, along with a rebranding as Ford GoBike; the company received its current name in 2019.[345] Pedestrian traffic is also widespread. In 2015, Walk Score ranked San Francisco the second-most walkable city in the United States.[346][347][348]
San Francisco has significantly higher rates of pedestrian and bicyclist traffic deaths than the United States on average. In 2013, 21 pedestrians were killed in vehicle collisions, the highest since 2001,[349] which is 2.5 deaths per 100,000 population – 70% higher than the national average of 1.5.[350]
Cycling is becoming increasingly popular in the city. Annual bicycle counts conducted by the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) in 2010 showed the number of cyclists at 33 locations had increased 58% from the 2006 baseline counts.[351] In 2008, the MTA estimated that about 128,000 trips were made by bicycle each day in the city, or 6% of total trips.[352] As of 2019, 2.6% of the city's streets have protected bike lanes, with 28 miles of protected bike lanes in the city.[322] Since 2006, San Francisco has received a Bicycle Friendly Community status of "Gold" from the League of American Bicyclists.[353]
Law enforcement
The San Francisco Police Department was founded in 1849.[354] The portions of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area located within the city, including the Presidio and Ocean Beach, are patrolled by the United States Park Police.
The San Francisco Fire Department provides both fire suppression and emergency medical services to the city.[355]
The city operates 22 public "pit stop" toilets.[169]
Nicknames
Bay Area residents generally refer to San Francisco as "the City".[1] For residents of San Francisco living in the more suburban parts of the city, "the City" generally refers to the densely populated areas around Market Street. Its use, or lack thereof, is a common way for locals to distinguish long time residents from tourists and recent arrivals (as a shibboleth).
San Francisco has several nicknames, including "The City by the Bay", "Golden Gate City",[356] "Frisco", "SF", "San Fran", and "Fog City"; as well as older ones like "The City that Knows How", "Baghdad by the Bay", or "The Paris of the West".[1] "San Fran" and "Frisco" are controversial as nicknames among San Francisco residents.[357][358][359]
Sister cities
Main articles: Sister cities of San Francisco, California and List of diplomatic missions in San Francisco
San Francisco participates in the Sister Cities program.[360] A total of 41 consulates general and 23 honorary consulates have offices in the San Francisco Bay Area." (wikipedia.org)
"This is a list of notable people from San Francisco, California. It includes people who were born or raised in, lived in, or spent significant portions of their lives in San Francisco, or for whom San Francisco is a significant part of their identity, as well as music groups founded in San Francisco. This list is in order by primary field of notability and then in alphabetical order by last name....
Academics
Andrew Smith Hallidie (1836–1900) promoter of the first cable car line, regent of the University of California from 1868 to 1900[1]
Phoebe Hearst (1842–1919) first woman Regent of the University of California, socialite, philanthropist, feminist and suffragist
Terry Karl (born 1947), professor of Latin American Studies at Stanford University[2]
Artists and designers
Architects
Edward Charles Bassett (1922–1999) San Francisco based architect, designed many of the buildings in San Francisco with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.[3]
Vernon DeMars (1908–2005), architect and professor; born in San Francisco.[4]
Joseph Esherick (1914–1998), residential architect.
Richard Gage, San Francisco based architect and 9/11 activist, founder of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth[5]
George W. Homsey (1926–2019), known for design of BART stations, among other things.
Edgar Mathews (1866–1946), architect that designed many houses in Pacific Heights, often in a Tudor Revival influenced style with half-timbered, half-stucco, he resided in San Francisco at 2980 Vallejo Street.[6]
George Matsumoto (1922–2016), Japanese-American Modernist architect, born in San Francisco.[7]
Bernard Maybeck (1892–1957), architect in the Arts and Crafts Movement.
Julia Morgan (1872–1957), architect; born in San Francisco.
Timothy Ludwig Pflueger (1892–1946), architect, interior designer and architectural lighting designer; born in San Francisco
Willis Polk (1867–1924), architect of many well-known buildings in San Francisco[8]
William Wurster (1895–1973) architect, professor of architecture at University of California, Berkeley, and at MIT.
Designers
Gilbert Baker (1951–2017), artist, gay rights activist, and designer of the rainbow flag, lived in San Francisco from the 1970s until 1994.
Josh Begley (born 1984), digital artist and designer that works with data visualization, born in San Francisco
Yves Béhar (born 1967), industrial designer, resides in San Francisco in Cow Hollow.[9]
Stanlee Gatti (born 1955), celebrated event designer, art fair founder, and local arts administrator; moved to San Francisco in 1978.[10]
Gary Grimshaw (1946–2014), music poster artist
Frank Kozik (born 1946), music poster artist, toy designer, resides in San Francisco
Fashion, apparel
Melrose Bickerstaff (born 1983), model and fashion designer, runner-up of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 7[11]
Donald Fisher (1928–2009) and Doris F. Fisher (born 1931), apparel entrepreneurs, co-founders of The Gap, Inc; both were born, raised and lived in San Francisco.[12]
Jessica McClintock (1930–2021), fashion designer.[13]
Levi Strauss (1829–1902), German-born American Gold Rush-era businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans, Levi Strauss & Co., headquartered in San Francisco[14]
William Ware Theiss (1930–1992), costume designer.
Douglas Tompkins (1943–2015), apparel entrepreneur, co-founder of Esprit Holdings, and later The North Face.
Susie Tompkins Buell (born 1943), apparel entrepreneur, co-founder of Esprit Holdings.
Fiber art, textile design
Dominic Di Mare (born 1932), fiber arts, mixed media sculptor, watercolorist; born in San Francisco and lived there for many years.[15]
Trude Guermonprez (1910–1976), German-born American textile artist, designer and educator, known for her tapestry landscapes; lived in San Francisco from 1951 until 1976.[16]
Kay Sekimachi (born 1926), Japanese–American fiber artist best known for her three-dimensional woven monofilament hangings; born in San Francisco and taught at City College of San Francisco.[17]
Illustrators, comic book artists
Arthur Adams (born 1963), comic book artist known for his work on Longshot and Monkeyman and O'Brien, as of 2001 he lives in San Francisco[18][19][20]
Scott Adams (born 1957), Dilbert creator
Robert Crumb (born 1943), cartoonist, started his career in San Francisco
Rube Goldberg (1883–1970), American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor.
Larry Gonick (born 1946), cartoonist and comic artist, born in San Francisco
Aline Kominsky-Crumb (born 1948), cartoonist, lived in San Francisco for many years
Paul Terry (1887–1971), cartoonist and film producer who created Mighty Mouse
Mark Ulriksen (born 1957), The New Yorker illustrator, lives in Cole Valley, San Francisco
Jewelry
Irena Brynner (1917–2003), sculptor and jewelry designer, part of the mid-century jewelry movement[21]
Margaret De Patta (1903–1964), jewelry, part of the mid-century jewelry movement; lived and died in San Francisco.[22]
Merry Renk (1921–2012), jewelry design, goldsmith; lived and died in San Francisco.[23]
Mixed media, installation
Craig Baldwin (born 1952), experimental filmmaker
Jim Campbell (born 1956), artist known for his LED light works
Bruce Conner (1933–2008), multimedia artist, lived in San Francisco in the mid-1960s
Pam DeLuco (born 1968), textile and fiber artist, papermaker and book arts, based in San Francisco
Jo Hanson (1918–2007), environmental artist and activist
David Ireland (1930–2009), American sculptor, conceptual artist and Minimalist architect
Aaron Kraten (born 1974), mixed media artist[24]
Gay Outlaw (born 1959), sculptor, photographer & printmaker based in San Francisco.[25]
Rex Ray (1956–2015), graphic designer and collage artist, lived and worked in the Mission District.
Reminisce (born 1970), also known as Ruby Rose Neri; street artist, sculptor, painter, part of the Mission School art movement
Antonio Sotomayor (1902–1985), Bolivian born muralist, ceramicist, illustrator.
Carlos Villa (1936–2013), Filipino-American mixed media visual artist, painter, curator and educator; born and raise in the Tenderloin neighborhood.[26]
Al Wong (born 1939), experimental filmmaker and mixed media installation artist
Painters
Tauba Auerbach (born 1981), visual artist, painter, born and raised in San Francisco[27]
Ruth Armer (1896–1977), abstract painter, lithographer, fine art teacher and collector
Robert Bechtle (born 1932), American photorealist painter.
Bernice Bing (1936–1998), painter
Warren Eugene Brandon (1916–1977), painter, born in San Francisco[28]
Joan Brown (1938–1990), painter
Lenore Chinn (born 1949), painter[29]
Jess Collins (1923–2004), painter
Jay DeFeo (1929–1989), visual artist, a co-founder of Six Gallery
Pele de Lappe (1916–2007), social realist painter and printmaker, and political cartoonist. She was born in San Francisco and lived there many years.[30]
Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993), painter
Guy Diehl (born 1949), still life painter
Kevin Geary (born 1952), English portrait and abstract artist, lived in San Francisco in 1998 and 1999.[31]
Howard Hack (1923–2015), representational painter
Wally Hedrick (1928–2003), painter
Ester Hernandez (born 1944), Chicana artist and painter
Peregrine Honig (born 1976), painter
Chris Johanson (born 1968), painter, part of the Mission School art movement
Kali (1918–1998), Polish painter and World War II veteran, moved to San Francisco in 1953 and died in San Francisco in 1998.[32]
Margaret Kilgallen (1967–2001), painter, part of the Mission School art movement
Jane Kim (born 1981), painter, science illustrator and the founder of Ink Dwell studio, based in San Francisco
Anna Elizabeth Klumpke (1856–1942), portrait and genre painter born in San Francisco, life partner of French painter Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899).[33]
Barry McGee (born 1966), painter, part of the Mission School art movement
Nathan Oliveira (1928–2010), painter, lived in San Francisco for many years, part of the Bay Area Figurative Movement
Frederick E. Olmsted (1911–1990), painter, born and raised in San Francisco, former student of Ralph Stackpole and he has a mural is at CCSF.[34]
Jules Eugene Pages (1867–1946), painter
Deborah Remington (1930–2010), abstract painter
Lala Eve Rivol (1913–1996), worked with the Works Project Administration to illustrate rock art sites in the western United States[35]
Charles Dorman Robinson (1847–1933), painter
Clare Rojas (born 1976), artist, painter, part of the Mission School art movement
Peter Saul (born 1934), American painter associated with Pop Art, Surrealism, and Expressionism.
David Simpson (born 1928), abstract painter and co-founder of Six Gallery
Ralph Stackpole (1885–1973) sculpture, social realist painter and muralist, active in San Francisco in 1920 and 1930s, contributed to the Coit Tower mural project.[36]
Wayne Thiebaud (born 1920), painter
Leo Valledor (1936–1989), Filipino-American painter who pioneered the hard-edge painting style; born and raised in the Fillmore district.[26]
Ted Vasin (born 1966), painter and sound artist[37]
Martin Wong (1946–1999) painter from New York's East Village art scene of the 1980s, grew up in San Francisco's Chinatown.[38]
Bernard Zakheim (1898–1985), muralist
Photographers
Ansel Adams (1902–1984), photographer and environmentalist, born and raised in San Francisco.[39]
Victor Burgin (born 1941), photographer
John Gutmann (1905–1998), German-born American photographer and painter
Treu Ergeben Hecht (1875–1937), Tahiti-born American photographer
Michael Jang (born 1951), photographer
Dorothea Lange (1895–1965), photographer
Printmakers
Kathan Brown (born 1935), intaglio, founder of Crown Point Press.
Ernest de Soto (1923–2014), lithographer, founder of de Soto Workshop.
Rupert García (b. 1941), silkscreen, one of the co-founders of Galería de la Raza, and part of the San Francisco Bay Area Chicano Art Movement.
Frank LaPena (1937–2019), Nomtipom-Wintu American Indian artist working in many mediums including printmaking, professor, curator, ceremonial dancer; born and raised in San Francisco.[40]
Ralph Maradiaga (1934–1985), silkscreen, one of the co-founders of Galería de la Raza, and part of the San Francisco Bay Area Chicano Art Movement.[41]
Jack Stauffacher (1920–2017), letterpress, typographer
Sculptors
Ruth Asawa (1926–2013), sculptor, lived and died in San Francisco[42]
Beniamino Benvenuto Bufano (1890–1970), sculptor, lived and died in San Francisco
Alexander Calder (1898–1976), sculptor
Vincent Fecteau (born 1969), sculptor
Sargent Johnson (1888–1967) sculptor, one of the first African-American artists working in California to achieve a national reputation
Freda Koblick (1920–2011), American acrylic artist and sculptor[43]
Ron Nagle (born 1939), sculptor, musician and songwriter
Manuel Neri (born 1930), sculptor, part of the Bay Area Figurative Movement
Gottardo Piazzoni (1872–1945), painter, muralist, sculptor
Raymond Puccinelli (1904–1986), sculptor and educator; born and raised in San Francisco, lived in Italy in later life.[44]
Richard Serra (born 1962), artist
Beatrice Wood (1893–1998), ceramicist
Business
Albert Abrams (1863–1924), inventor of medical equipment in the field of electricity therapy
Sam Altman (born 1985), chairman of Y Combinator and co-chairman of OpenAI.
Melvin Belli (1907–1996), lawyer known as "The King of Torts", died in San Francisco
Friedrich Bendixen (1864–1920), American-born German banker
Marc Benioff (born 1964), founder & co-CEO of Salesforce
Nathan Blecharczyk (born 1983), chief strategy officer & co-founder of Airbnb
Thomas Henry Blythe (born Thomas Williams, 1822–1883), emigrated to the San Francisco from Wales and became a wealthy capitalist.
Bill Bowes (1926–2016), venture capitalist, philanthropist, and co-founder of U.S. Venture Partners
Luke Brugnara (born 1963), real estate investor
Brian Chesky (born 1981), CEO & co-founder of Airbnb
Ron Conway (born 1951), angel investor and philanthropist
Jack Dorsey (born 1976), co-founder & CEO of Twitter, founder & CEO of Square
Mickey Drexler (born 1944), CEO of J. Crew and Gap Inc.
Donald Fisher (1928–2009), co-founder of the Gap clothing company
Doris F. Fisher (born 1931), co-founder of the Gap clothing company
Philip Arthur Fisher (1907–2004), investor, author, entrepreneur
Aaron Fleishhacker (1820–1898), paper box manufacturer, Gold rush-era entrepreneur, local philanthropist
Joe Gebbia (born 1981), co-founder & Chief Product Officer of Airbnb
Gordon Getty (born 1934), oil philanthropist and composer
Warren Hellman (1934–2011), private equity investor and founder of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival
Elizabeth Holmes (born 1984), founder and former CEO of Theranos
Jonathan Ive (born 1967), chief design officer of Apple, industrial designer
Jess Jackson (1930–2011), wine entrepreneur and founder of Kendall-Jackson wine company
Steve Jobs (1955–2011), co-founder of Apple Inc., born in and adopted in San Francisco[45]
Max Levchin (born 1975), PayPal co-founder
James Lick (1796–1876), real estate investor, carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences.
Larry Livermore (born 1947), founder of Lookout Records
Marissa Mayer (born 1975), information technology executive, and co-founder of Lumi Labs. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!
Jesse B. McCargar (1879–1954), banker and industrialist
Pete McDonough (1872–1947), Bail Bonds Broker, called "the Fountainhead of Corruption" in 1937 police graft investigation
Morris Meyerfeld Jr. (1855–1935), German-born entrepreneur and theater owner (Orpheum Vaudeville Circuit)
Gordon E. Moore (born 1929), co-founder of Intel Corporation, author of Moore's law
Michael Moritz (born 1954), venture capitalist at Sequoia Capital
Craig Newmark (born 1951), founder of Craigslist
Alexis Ohanian (born 1983), co-founder of Reddit
Jack O'Neill (1923–2017), founder of O'Neill surf equipment
Jay Paul, real estate developer
Mark Pincus (born 1966), founder of Zynga
William Chapman Ralston (1826–1875), founder of the Bank of California
Kevin Rose (born 1977), internet entrepreneur who co-founded Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk
Charles R. Schwab (born 1937), businessman, founder of Schwab investment firm
Theresa Sparks (born 1949), CEO of sex toy company Good Vibrations
Tom Steyer (born 1957), hedge fund manager and political activist
Levi Strauss (1829–1902), German-American Gold Rush-era businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans, Levi Strauss & Co., headquartered in San Francisco[14]
Rikki Streicher (1922–1994) LGBT leader, bar owner and co-founder of the Gay Games
Adolph Sutro (1830–1898) German-American engineer, business man, politician and philanthropist who served as the 24th mayor of San Francisco from 1895 until 1897
Aaron Swartz (1986–2011), co-founder of Reddit
Eric Swenson (1946–2011), co-founder of Thrasher Magazine & Independent Truck Company
Peter Thiel (born 1967), co-founder of PayPal, founder of Clarium Capital
Richard M. Tobin, (1866–1952), president of Hibernia Bank and Minister to the Netherlands
George Treat (1819–1907) early Gold Rush-era pioneer in the Mission District, of San Francisco, a businessman, abolitionist, a member of the first Committee of Vigilance of San Francisco, and horse racing enthusiast.[46]
Walter Varney, (1888–1967), aviation pioneer, founded the predecessors to both United Airlines and Continental Airlines
Fausto Vitello (1946–2006), creator of Thrasher Magazine and co-creator of Independent Trucks
Evan Williams (born 1972), co-founder and CEO of Twitter, founder of Medium and blogger
Ilya Zhitomirskiy (1989–2011), co-founder of Diaspora
Mark Zuckerberg (born 1984), co-founder and CEO of Facebook
Chefs
Mario Batali (born 1960), chef
Cecilia Chiang (1920–2020), chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer[47]
Chris Cosentino, chef
Dominique Crenn (born 1965), chef and owner of the two Michelin stars rated, Atelier Crenn and Petit Crenn in San Francisco
Traci Des Jardins (born 1967), chef and restaurateur, previously Jardinière
Melissa King (born 1983), winner of Top Chef
Thomas McNaughton (born 1983), chef, restaurateur, and cookbook writer, Flour and Water
Ron Siegel, chef in San Francisco, from 2002 to 2016.
Jeremiah Tower (born 1942), chef at Chez Panisse and Stars
Martin Yan (born 1948), television chef
Crime
Richard Allen Davis (born 1954), career criminal convicted of killing Polly Klaas; born and raised in San Francisco.
David Carpenter (born 1930), also known as the Trailside Killer, a serial killer on hiking trails around the Bay Area; born and raised in San Francisco.[48]
The Doodler, also known as the Black Doodler, an unidentified serial killer believed responsible for up to 16 murders and three assaults of men in San Francisco, between January 1974 and September 1975. He had a habit of sketching his victims prior to their sexual encounters and slayings by stabbing.[49]
Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow (born 1959), Hong Kong-born felon with ties to a San Francisco Chinatown street gang and an organized crime syndicate.[50]
Alice Maud Hartley (c. 1864 – 1907), she murdered Nevada State Senator Murray D. Foley by gunshot in 1894.[51][52]
Jim Jones (1931–1978), cult leader of the Peoples Temple.
Pete McDonough (1872–1947), crime boss working alongside his brother Thomas, nicknamed the "King of the Tenderloin".[53]
Earle Nelson (1897–1928), serial killer and necrophile.
The Zodiac Killer, unidentified serial killer active in the 1960s.
Entertainment industry
Danny Glover
Actors
Gracie Allen (1895–1964) actress, comedian, born in San Francisco
Dianna Agron (born 1986), actress
Gracie Allen (1895–1964), comedian
W. Kamau Bell (born 1973), comic, television host
Bill Bixby (1934–1993), actor
Joan Blackman (born 1938), actress
Mel Blanc (1908–1989), voiceover actor
Lisa Bonet (born 1967), actress
Michael Bowen (born 1953), actor, son of Beat generation artist Michael Bowen (Sr.)
Benjamin Bratt (born 1963), actor
Todd Bridges (born 1965), actor
Kari Byron (born 1974), television personality
Scott Capurro (born 1962), comedian, actor
Carol Channing (1921–2019), actress
Kevin Cheng (born 1969), actor
Mandy Cho (born 1982), actress
Margaret Cho (born 1968), comedian, actress
Jamie Chung (born 1983), actress
William Collier Jr. (1902–1987), silent film and stage actor
Darren Criss (born 1987), actor in Glee
Eric Dane (born 1972), actor
Ellen DeGeneres (born 1958), comedian, television personality
Dimitri Diatchenko (1968–2020), actor and musician
Minnie Dupree (1875–1947), actress
Clint Eastwood (born 1930), actor and film director
Barbara Eden (born 1931), actress
Richard Egan (1921-1987), actor
Jimmie Fails (born 1994), actor, screenwriter
Kathy Gori (born 1951), actress
Danny Glover (born 1946), actor
Tom Hanks (born 1956), actor
China Kantner (born 1971), actress
Bruce Lee (1940–1973), actor and martial artist
Sondra Locke (1944–2018), actress and film director
Marjorie Lord (1918–2015), actress
Leslie Mann (born 1972), actress, born in San Francisco
Cheech Marin (born 1946), actor
Marc Maron (born 1963), comedian & podcaster
Edna McClure (born c. 1888), Broadway actress
Bridgit Mendler (born 1992), actress and singer
Vera Michelena (1885–1961), actress, dancer and singer
Melissa Ng (born 1972), Hong Kong television actress, raised in San Francisco
Larisa Oleynik (born 1981), actress
Patton Oswalt (born 1969), comedian
Brian Posehn (born 1966), comedian
Paula Poundstone (born 1959), comedian and panelist on NPR's Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me
Rob Schneider (born 1963), actor
Liev Schreiber (born 1967), actor
Harry Shum, Jr. (born 1982), actor
Alicia Silverstone (born 1976), actress
Genevieve Stebbins (1857–1934), actress, author, teacher
David Strathairn (born 1949), actor
Sharon Stone (born 1958), actress
Lyle Talbot (1902–1996), actor
Jeffrey Tambor (born 1944), actor
Phillip Terry (1909–1993), actor
Gregg Turkington (born 1967), a.k.a. Neil Hamburger
Aisha Tyler (born 1970), actress and TV personality
Terri J. Vaughn (born 1969), actress
Mai Wells (1862–1941), actress
Stuart Whitman (1928–2020), actor
Robin Williams (1951–2014), comedian, actor
Ali Wong (born 1982), actress, comic, writer
BD Wong (born 1960), actor
Natalie Wood (1938–1981), actress
Dancers
Carol Doda (1937–2015), first public topless dancer
Isadora Duncan (1877–1927), "mother" of modern dance
Margaret Jenkins (born 1942), choreographer
Sarah Lane (born 1984), ballet dancer
Filmmakers
David Butler (1894–1979), film director, actor, writer and producer
Chris Columbus (born 1958), director
Francis Coppola (born 1939), film director, writer, producer, winery owner, San Francisco restaurateur
Sofia Coppola (born 1971), director
Delmer Daves (1904–1977), director
David Fincher (born 1962), director
Sarah Jacobson (1971–2004), film director, screenwriter, and producer
Philip Kaufman (born 1936), film director
George Kuchar (1942–2011), underground film director and video artist, known for his "low-fi" aesthetic
Mervyn LeRoy (1900–1987), director, producer, actor
George Lucas (born 1944), director and producer
Andy Luckey (born 1965), TV writer, producer, director
The Mitchell brothers, Jim and Artie, adult industry pioneers including adult cinema and adult film production
Jon Moritsugu (born 1965), cult-underground filmmaker
Jenni Olson (born 1962), film curator, filmmaker, author, and LGBT film historian
Lourdes Portillo (born 1944), screenwriter and filmmaker
Walter Shenson (1919–2000), film producer
Cauleen Smith (born 1967), filmmaker and multimedia artist
Joe Talbot (born 1991), director
Jay Ward (1920–1989), creator and producer of animated TV series
Wayne Wang (born 1949), director
Tommy Wiseau, director of the cult film The Room
Promoters and managers
Bill Graham (1931–1991), rock promoter, known for Winterland Ballroom, The Fillmore, Fillmore West and Bill Graham Presents
Chet Helms (1942–2005), 1960s rock promoter
Rock Scully (1941–2014), manager of the Grateful Dead
Theatre
David Belasco (1853–1931) theatrical producer, impresario, director and playwright, born in San Francisco
Darren Criss (born 1987) Broadway actor, singer and songwriter, born in San Francisco
Alice Oates (1849–1887) actress and pioneer of American musical theatre, lived and worked in San Francisco
Carole Shorenstein Hays (born 1948), theatrical producer and owner of Curran Theatre.
Military
James Millikin Bevans (1899–1977), US Air Force Major General
Daniel Callaghan, (1890–1942) Medal of Honor Recipient, Rear Admiral, USN
Robert L. Fair (1923–1983), US Army Lieutenant General, Silver Star winner
Kenneth J. Houghton (1920–2006), US Marine Corps Major General, Navy Cross recipient
William Harrington Leahy (1904–1986), US Navy Rear Admiral
Robert Houston Noble, U.S. Army brigadier general[54]
G. S. Patrick (1907–1999), U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, Navy Cross recipient
William T. Shorey (1859–1919), first black San Francisco sea captain
William Renwick Smedberg Jr., U.S. Army brigadier general[55]
Arthur Wolcott Yates, U.S. Army general
John C. Young (1912–1987), US Army colonel, Chinatown leader
Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. (1920–2000), US Navy Admiral
Musicians and bands
4 Non Blondes, rock band
8 Legged Monster, Jazz band based in San Francisco
A.B. Skhy, 1960s blues-rock band
The Ace of Cups, 1960s rock band
The Aislers Set, indie rock band
Allegiance, hardcore band
American Music Club, indie rock band
A Minor Forest, math rock band
Lorin Ashton a.k.a. Bassnectar (born 1978), DJ & record producer
Avengers, punk band
Penelope Houston (born 1958), singer
Marty Balin (1949–2018), singer Jefferson Airplane
Beau Brummels, 1960s relectro soul-punk), singer, signature song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"
Jello Biafra (born 1958), singer for Dead Kennedys
Black Pearl, 1960s/1970s rock band
Kat Bjelland (born 1963), bassist for Babes in Toyland
Blue Cheer, early hard rock band
Mike Bordin (born 1962), drummer for Faith No More and Ozzy Osbourne
Mike Burkett a.k.a. "Fat Mike" (born 1967), bassist/songwriter for NOFX
Jack Casady (born 1944), bassist for Jefferson Airplane & Hot Tuna
Billy Gould (born 1963), bass guitarist for Faith No More
Mike Patton (born 1968), singer for Faith No More
Paul Bostaph (born 1964), heavy metal drummer
Jim Campilongo (born 1958), guitarist
Kevin Cadogan (born 1970), guitarist, known for his work with the band Third Eye Blind on the albums Third Eye Blind and Blue
Michael Carabello (born 1947), percussionist with Santana
Caroliner, experimental band
Vanessa Carlton (born 1980), singer
Adam Carson (born 1974), drummer for AFI
The Fucking Champs, progressive punk band
Tracy Chapman (born 1964), singer-songwriter
Craig Chaquico (born 1954), rock, jazz and new age guitarist
The Charlatans, folk rock & psychedelic rock band
Chrome, foundational industrial rock band
Clown Alley, punk band
Counting Crows, alternative rock band
Patrick Cowley (1950–1982), disco composer
Todd Tamanend Clark (born 1952), poet and composer
Consolidated, alternative dance/industrial music band
Helios Creed (born 1953), singer/songwriter
Creeper Lagoon, rock band
Crime, early punk band
Cypher in the Snow, queercore band
Dead Kennedys, punk band
Dead to Me, punk band
Paul Desmond (1924–1977), jazz saxophonist
The Dicks, early punk band
Dave Dictor (born 1951), founder & singer of MDC
Dieselhed, country punk band
The Dils, early punk band
Dominant Legs, indie pop group
David Dondero (born 1969), singer/songwriter
DUH, alt/noise rock band
The Dwarves, punk band
John Dwyer (born 1974), multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter
Mark Eitzel (born 1959), musician
Hanni El Khatib (born 1981), a blues rock artist born in San Francisco, currently based in Los Angeles
Engine 88, rock band
Andy Ernst, punk rock music producer, engineer, musician, and songwriter
Erase Errata, post-punk band
Greg Errico (born 1948), drummer for many bands, most notably Sly & the Family Stone
Faith No More, rock band
Maude Fay (1878–1964), operatic dramatic soprano
Jennifer Finch (born 1966), bassist for L7
Flamin' Groovies, rock band
Flipper, early punk band
Michael Franti (born 1967), singer/songwriter
Lars Frederiksen, guitarist/singer/songwriter with Rancid
Bobby Freeman (1940–2017), rock, soul, and R&B singer and producer
Frightwig, punk band
Girls, rock band
Grass Widow, indie punk band
Grateful Dead, rock band
Jerry Garcia (1942–1995), psychedelic and folk-rock guitarist and singer for Grateful Dead
Bob Weir (born 1947), songwriter/guitarist for Grateful Dead
Phil Lesh (born 1949), bassist for Grateful Dead
Mickey Hart (born 1943), drummer for Grateful Dead
Bill Kreutzmann (born 1946), drummer for Grateful Dead
Tom Constanten (born 1944), keyboardist for Grateful Dead
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (1949–1973), keyboardist and founding member of Grateful Dead
Ryan Greene, record producer & sound engineer
Vince Guaraldi (1928–1976), jazz musician and pianist, born in San Francisco
Sammy Hagar (born 1947), singer for Montrose & Van Halen
Henry's Dress, indie pop band
Cindy Herron (born 1961), R&B singer in EnVogue, born in San Francisco
Gary Holt (born 1964), thrash metal guitarist for Exodus
Grotus, industrial rock band
Hickey, punk band
Tiffany Hwang (born 1989), member of pop group Girls' Generation
I Am Spoonbender, band
Imperial Teen, rock band
Chris Isaak (born 1956), singer and musician
Etta James (1938–2012), blues/R&B/soul icon
Stephen Jenkins (born 1964), singer/songwriter for Third Eye Blind
Janis Joplin (1943–1970), rock singer
Jawbreaker, punk/emo band
Blake Schwarzenbach (born 1967), singer, songwriter & guitarist for Jawbreaker & Jets to Brazil
J Church, punk band
Jefferson Airplane, rock band
Jefferson Starship, rock band
Jessica Jung (born 1989), former member of pop group Girls' Generation
Journey, rock band
Krystal Jung (born 1994), member of pop group f(x)
John Kahn (1947–1996), bassist for Jerry Garcia Band
Paul Kantner (1941–2016) rock musician and co-founder of the band Jefferson Airplane
Jorma Kaukonen (born 1940), guitarist for Jefferson Airplane & Hot Tuna
Mark Kozelek (born 1967), singer/songwriter, Red House Painters & solo
Kreayshawn (born 1989), rapper
Kronos Quartet, classical ensemble
Jay Lane (born 1964), drummer, RatDog, Furthur, Primus, Les Claypool's Frog Brigade, Sausage, The Uptones
CoCo Lee, CantoPop singer and actress
Maxime Le Forestier (born 1949), French singer/songwriter
Huey Lewis (born 1950), Lead singer for Huey Lewis and the News
The Little Deaths, rock band
Courtney Love (born 1964), singer and actress
Bamboo Mañalac (born 1978) rock singer, former lead vocals for Rivermaya and Bamboo (band), coach of The Voice Philippines
Tony Martin (1913–2012), American actor and popular singer
Mates of State, indie-pop duo
Dmitri Matheny (born 1965), jazz flugelhornist
Johnny Mathis (born 1935), pop singer
Bobby McFerrin (born 1950), singer/songwriter
Kirke Mechem (born 1925), composer
Melvins, band
The Mermen, surf-rock band
Metal Church, heavy metal band
Metallica, heavy metal band
Cliff Burton (1962–1986), bass guitarist for thrash metal band Metallica
Kirk Hammett (born 1962), lead guitarist for thrash metal band Metallica
James Hetfield (born 1963), singer and rhythm guitarist for thrash metal band Metallica
Lars Ulrich, (born 1963), drummer for thrash metal band Metallica
Milk Cult, electronic band
Moby, electronic music artist
Moby Grape, rock band
The Mojo Men, 1960s rock band
Chante Moore (born 1967), R&B and jazz singer
Sonny John Moore a.k.a. Skrillex (born 1988), electronic producer, DJ, musician
Bob Mould (born 1960), singer/guitarist, Hüsker Dü, Sugar
The Mummies, garage rock band
Stuart Murdoch (born 1968), singer/songwriter, Belle & Sebastian
The Mutants, early punk band
The Mystery Trend, 1960s garage rock band
Graham Nash (born 1942), singer, songwriter & guitarist for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and The Hollies
Dan Nakamura a.k.a. Dan the Automator (born 1966), hip hop producer
Matt Nathanson (born 1973), singer/musician
Negative Trend, punk band
New Riders of the Purple Sage, rock band
Andre Nickatina (born 1970), rapper
The Nuns, punk band
The Oh Sees, garage rock band
The Offs, punk band
Christopher Owens (born 1979), singer, songwriter
Christopher Olsen (born 1957), folk singer-songwriter
The Ophelias, psychedelic rock band
Bill Orcutt (born 1962), guitarist and composer
Buzz Osborne (born 1964), singer/songwriter/guitarist with The Melvins
Pablo Cruise, pop/rock band
Pagan Babies, rock band
Tim Pagnotta (born 1977), guitarist
Pansy Division, punk band
Esa-Pekka Salonen (born 1958), Finnish orchestral conductor, composer, music director-designate of the San Francisco Symphony.
Linda Perry, lead singer of 4 Non Blondes
Faith Petric (1915–2013), American folk singer
Liz Phair (born 1967), singer/songwriter
Phantom 309, noise rock band
Polkacide, punk-polka band
Rappin' 4-Tay (Anthony Forte) (born 1968), rapper
Red House Painters, rock band
The Residents, avant-garde music and visual arts group
Tina Root, ex-vocalist of the now defunct darkwave band Switchblade Symphony
Quicksilver Messenger Service, rock band
Linda Ronstadt (born 1946), singer
Arthur Russell (1951–1992), cellist, composer, producer, singer
Doug Sahm (1941–1999), singer-songwriter
Santana, rock band
Michael Shrieve (born 1949), drummer for Santana
Sister Double Happiness, punk band
San Quinn (born 1977) rapper, raised in the Western Addition, a neighborhood of San Francisco
Carlos Santana (born 1947), rock, blues, salsa guitarist and singer
Ty Segall (born 1987), musician
Boz Scaggs (born 1944), singer, songwriter, guitarist
Deke Sharon (born 1967), a cappella singer The House Jacks
Virgil Shaw, singer-songwriter, member of Brent's TV & Dieselhed
Sic Alps, garage rock band
Sir Douglas Quintet, rock band
Grace Slick (born 1939), singer for Jefferson Airplane
Sopwith Camel, 1960s psychedelic rock band
Martin Sorrondeguy (born 1967), singer for Los Crudos & Limp Wrist, & founder of Lengua Armada Discos
Skip Spence (1946–1999), singer-songwriter, and member of Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Moby Grape
Sly Stone (born 1943), funk icon
Steel Pole Bath Tub, noise-punk band
Steve Miller Band, rock band
The Stinky Puffs, alternative rock band
Stone Fox, rock band
Sun Kil Moon, folk rock band
Swingin' Utters, street punk band
Sylvester (1947–1988), disco singer & performer
Janice Tanaka (born 1963), bassist
Third Eye Blind, alt-rock band
Michael Tilson Thomas (born 1944), conductor
Those Darn Accordions, accordion band
Peter Tork (1942–2019), keyboardist and bassist for The Monkees
Trainwreck Riders, alt-country punk band
Tribe 8, queercore punk band
The Tubes, new wave/punk band
Two Gallants, guitar/drum duo
Ross Valory (born 1949), bass player for many bands, most notably Journey
John Vanderslice (born 1967), musician, songwriter, & recording engineer
Sid Vicious (1957–1979), bassist for Sex Pistols
Von Iva, electro soul-punk band
Rob Wasserman (1952–2016), composer and bass player
Martha Wash (born 1953), R&B, Soul, and pop singer
George Watsky (born 1986), hip hop artist
Linda Watson (soprano) (born 1960), dramatic soprano and academic voice teacher
We Five, 1960s folk rock group
White Trash Debutantes, punk band
Betty Ann Wong, composer
Kevin Woo (born 1991), member of Korean boygroup U-Kiss
11/5, rap group
Eric Melvin (born 1966), guitarist for NOFX
RBL Posse, rap group
News and commentary
Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913), journalist
Ben Blank (1921–2009), television graphics innovator[56]
Phil Bronstein (born 1950), editor of San Francisco Chronicle & San Francisco Examiner
Herb Caen (1916–1997), newspaper columnist
Tucker Carlson (born 1969), conservative political commentator for Fox News
Ben Fong-Torres (born 1945), journalist, best known for work with Rolling Stone
C.H. Garrigues (1902–1974), jazz reviewer
Lester Holt (born 1959), journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC
Gregg Jarrett (born 1955), news commentator with Fox News
Whit Johnson (born 1982), journalist
William Randolph Hearst (1863–1951), newspaper magnate and publisher
Lewis Lapham (born 1935), editor of Harper's
Rachel Maddow (born 1973), MSNBC host
Kent Ninomiya (born 1966), journalist
Jake Phelps (1962–2019), editor-in-chief of Thrasher Magazine
Michael Savage (born 1942), radio personality and conservative political commentator
Randy Shilts (1951–1994), pioneering gay journalist at San Francisco Chronicle and author of And the Band Played On, The Mayor of Castro Street and Conduct Unbecoming
Lincoln Steffens (1866–1936), journalist
Kara Swisher (born 1962), technology journalist, New York Times writer, and co-founder of Recode and All Things Digital
David Talbot (born 1951), creator of Salon.com, journalist
Stephen Talbot (born 1949), reporter, producer, KQED and PBS Frontline [57]
Jann Wenner (born 1946), Rolling Stone founder
Marla Tellez (born 1976), journalist
Tim Yohannan (1945–1998), founder of MaximumRockNRoll and 924 Gilman Street
Political figures, activists and civil servants
See also: List of mayors of San Francisco, California
Jeff Adachi (1959–2019), San Francisco Public Defender
Jewett W. Adams (1835–1920), fourth Governor of Nevada; resident of San Francisco[58]
Art Agnos (born 1938), 38th Mayor of San Francisco
Tom Ammiano (born 1941), California State Assemblyman, San Francisco Supervisor, Mayoral candidate and LGBT rights activist
Luis Antonio Argüello (1784–1830), first governor of Alta California[59]
Earle D. Baker (1888–1987), Los Angeles City Council member, 1951–59
George W.C. Baker (1872–1953), Los Angeles City Council member, 1931–35
John Perry Barlow (1948–2018), poet and essayist, cyberlibertarian political activist, Grateful Dead lyricist, and founding member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Freedom of the Press Foundation
London Breed, (born 1974), Mayor of San Francisco, (2017-)
Stephen Breyer (born 1938), United States Supreme Court Associate Justice
Jerry Brown (born 1938), former Governor of California, former Governor of California, former Mayor of Oakland, former California Attorney General
Pat Brown (1905–1996), Governor of California
Willie Brown (born 1934), Mayor of San Francisco, 1996–2004, Speaker of the California State Assembly, 1980–1995
Christopher Augustine Buckley ("Blind Boss" Buckley, 1845–1922), Democratic Party boss
Wayne M. Collins (1899–1974), civil rights attorney
Belle Cora (Arabella Ryan), (1827–1862) Madam of the Barbary Coast, Vigilance Committee
Ben Fee (1908) Chinese activist in San Francisco's Chinatown
Dianne Feinstein (born 1933), San Francisco's first female mayor (1978–1988) and U.S. Senator since 1992
Sandra Lee Fewer (b. 1956/57), San Francisco Supervisor
Joseph Flores (1900–1981), Governor of Guam
John Gilmore (born 1955), co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Cypherpunks mailing list, and Cygnus Solutions, creator of the alt.* hierarchy in Usenet and is a major contributor to the GNU Project.
C.J. Goodell (1885–1967), Associate Justice, California Court of Appeal (1945–1953)
Terence Hallinan (1936–2020), San Francisco Supervisor and District Attorney
Matt Haney (born 1982), San Francisco Supervisor
Peter D. Hannaford (1932–2015), aide to Ronald Reagan; author, public relations consultant
Kamala D. Harris (born 1964), San Francisco District Attorney (2004–2011), Attorney General of California (2011–2017), U.S. Senator from California (2017–2021), Vice President of the United States (2021-)
George Hearst (1820–1891), politician
Thomas Hixson, U.S. Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Frank Jordan (born 1935), police chief and former Mayor of San Francisco
Ed Lee (1952–2017), Mayor of San Francisco
Mark Leno (born 1951), California State Senator, former San Francisco Supervisor, and mayoral candidate
Monica Lewinsky (born 1973), activist and former White House intern, born in San Francisco
Rafael Mandelman, San Francisco Supervisor
Gordon Mar, San Francisco Supervisor
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, activists, first same-sex couple to get a marriage license in San Francisco
Robert McNamara (1916–2009), Secretary of Defense and CEO of Ford Motor Company
Harvey Milk (1930–1978), city supervisor of San Francisco, gay icon
George Moscone (1929–1978), attorney and Democratic politician, 37th mayor of San Francisco (1976–1978), "the people's mayor," California State Senator & majority leader (1967–1976).
Gavin Newsom (born 1967), current Governor of California, former Mayor of San Francisco & Lieutenant Governor of California
José de Jesús Noé (1805–1862), was the last alcalde of Yerba Buena, which became San Francisco after the Mexican–American War
Michael O'Shaughnessy (1864–1934), civil engineer who became city engineer for the city of San Francisco during the first part of the twentieth century and developed the Hetch-Hetchy water system.
Nancy Pelosi (born 1940), Congresswoman, current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Aaron Peskin (born 1964), San Francisco Supervisor
James Duval Phelan (1861–1930), civic leader and banker. Mayor of San Francisco from 1897 to 1902 U.S. Senator from 1915 to 1921. Central to effort to bring Hetch Hetchy & municipal water to San Francisco.
Dean Preston (b. 1969/70), San Francisco Supervisor
Anthony Ribera (born 1945), Chief of San Francisco police department.
James Rolph Jr. (1869–1934), 27th governor of California & 30th (and longest-serving) mayor of San Francisco.
Hillary Ronen, San Francisco Supervisor
John Roos (born 1955), former United States Ambassador to Japan under Barack Obama, technology lawyer, and CEO of Silicon Valley-based law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
Angelo Rossi (1878–1948), 31st mayor of San Francisco
Ahsha Safaí (born 1973), San Francisco Supervisor
Charlotte Mailliard Shultz (born 1933), Chief of Protocol, Trustee San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, widow of George Shultz
George P. Shultz (1920-1933), Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan and Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Labor & Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Richard Nixon
Theresa Sparks (born 1949) activist, former president of the San Francisco Police Commission, business woman
Catherine Stefani (born 1969), San Francisco Supervisor
Shamann Walton, San Francisco Supervisor
Edgar Wayburn (1906–2010), environmentalist, five-time president of the Sierra Club
Caspar Weinberger (1917–2006), Secretary of Defense
Cecil Williams (born 1929), pastor and community leader
Norman Yee (born 1949), San Francisco Supervisor
Scientists
Augustus Jesse Bowie Jr. (1872–1955), technology engineer, inventor and entrepreneur
Paul Ekman (born 1934), pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions
Laura J. Esserman, surgeon and breast cancer oncology specialist who practices at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.[60]
Dian Fossey (1932–1985), primatologist, researcher and animal advocate
Clifford Geertz (1926–2006), anthropologist
Eugene Gu (born 1986), doctor and CEO of Ganogen Research Institute[61] Also a news media writer, born in San Francisco.[61]
Mary Halton (1879–1948), suffragist, doctor and early IUD researcher, she was the first women appointed to the Harvard Medical School faculty.[62] Born and raised in San Francisco.
Stephen Herrero, biologist, bear expert, professor at University of Calgary
Duncan Irschick (born 1969), evolutionary ecologist in animal performance
Daniel Levitin (born 1957) cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, writer, musician, and record producer
Gabriel L. Plaa (1930–2009), toxicologist[63]
Mervyn Silverman, physician and public health supervisor of San Francisco during the city's initial response to the AIDS crisis[64]
Kazue Togasaki (1897–1992) Japanese woman who served as a medical doctor in Japanese internment camps[65]
Paul Volberding, American physician known for his pioneering work in treating persons with HIV
Robert Wartenberg (1887–1956) neurologist and clinical professor of neurology at the University of California
John W. Young (1930–2018), astronaut
Socialites
Marian and Vivian Brown (1927–2013, 2014), identical twin socialites and locally known San Francisco personalities
Abigail Folger (1943–1969), Folgers coffee heiress and victim of the Tate murders
Gordon Getty (born 1933), heir to oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, philanthropists, classical music composer, business man, born and raised in San Francisco
Noël Sullivan (1890–1956), concert singer, philanthropist and patron of the arts, born and raised in San Francisco.[66]
Charlotte Mailliard Shultz (born 1933), philanthropist, socialite
Tabe Slioor (1926–2006), socialite, news reporter, photojournalist
Writers
See also: List of San Francisco Bay Area writers
Maya Angelou (1928–2014), poet
Julian Bagley (1892–1981), author, veteran and hotel concierge
William Bayer (born 1939), crime fiction writer
David Belasco (1853–1931), playwright
Ambrose Bierce (1842 – c. 1914), journalist and author
Clark Blaise (born 1940), Canadian author
Richard Brautigan (1935–1984), poet, writer
Neal Cassady (1926–1968), beatnik poet, husband of Carolyn Cassady
Carolyn Cassady (1923–2013), writer, wife of Neal Cassady
Eli Coppola (1961–2000), poet and spoken word performer
Diane di Prima (1934–2020), poet
Greg Downs (born 1971), short-story writer
Robert Duncan (1919–1988), poet
Dave Eggers (born 1970), author
Jeffrey Eugenides (born 1960), author
Marcus Ewert (born 1972), writer, actor, and director
Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919–2021), poet, co-founder of City Lights Bookstore
Robert Frost (1874–1963), iconic poet
Adam Gidwitz (born 1982), children's book author
Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), iconic poet of the beat generation
Clay Meredith Greene (1850–1933), playwright, director, actor
Thom Gunn (1929–2004), poet
Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961), author of hard-boiled detective novels
Daniel Handler (born 1970), better known as Lemony Snicket
George Hitchcock (1914–2010) Poet, playwright, actor, professor, editor of the San Francisco-based Kayak poetry journal, lived in San Francisco from 1958 until 1970.[67][68]
Jack Hirschman (born 1933), poet
Robert Hunter (1941–2019), Grateful Dead lyricist
Shirley Jackson (1916–1965), author
Alan Kaufman (born 1952), author, poet, editor
Bob Kaufman, (1925–1986), poet
Joanne Kyger, 1934–2017, poet, writer
Gus Lee (born 1946), Asian-American author
Philip Lamantia (1927–2005), poet
Fritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. (1910–1992), author of science fiction novels
Daniel Levitin (born 1957), writer, scientist, musician
Ron Loewinsohn (1937–2014), poet, novelist
Jack London (1876–1916), writer
Ki Longfellow (born 1944), writer
Devorah Major (active since 1990s), poet, novelist
Armistead Maupin (born 1944), writer
Midori, author and sex educator
Carol Anne O'Marie (1933–2009), Roman Catholic nun, mystery writer
Emelie Tracy Y. Swett Parkhurst (1863–1892), poet and author
Peter Plate, author
Charles Plymell (born 1935), poet, novelist, and small press publisher
Kenneth Rexroth (1905–1982), poet
Anne Rice (born 1941), author
Gary Snyder (born 1930), poet of the beat generation
Rebecca Solnit (born 1961), writer
Lorenzo Sosso (1867–1965), Italian-American poet
Jack Spicer (1925–1965), poet of the beat generation, lived in the 1950s and 1960s in San Francisco and died in San Francisco[69]
Joseph Staten, writer (Halo: Contact Harvest)
Danielle Steel (born 1947), author
Dale J. Stephens, author
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), author, lived in San Francisco from 1879 to 1880
Amy Tan (born 1952), author
Michelle Tea (born 1971), author, poet, editor
Walter Tevis (1928–1994), author, The Hustler
Robert Alfred Theobald (1884–1957), US Navy Rear Admiral, author of The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor
Alice B. Toklas (1877–1967), cookbook author, partner to Gertrude Stein, born and lived in San Francisco
Mark Twain (1835–1910), author
Vendela Vida (born 1971), writer
Lew Welch, (1926 – disappeared 1971), poet
Philip Whalen (1923–2002), poet
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900), author and playwright, spent 1882 in San Francisco
Naomi Wolf (born 1962), writer
Curtis Yarvin (born 1973), American political theorist and computer scientist
Laurence Yep (born 1948), Asian-American writer
Helen Zia (born 1952), writer, journalist, and activist
Athletes
Baseball
See San Francisco Giants#Baseball Hall of Famers for San Francisco Giants players in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jim Baxes (1928–1996), third baseman
Ping Bodie (1887–1961), outfielder, played for the Chicago White Sox (1911–1914), Philadelphia Athletics (1917) and New York Yankees (1919–1921), born and raised in San Francisco
Sam Bohne (originally "Sam Cohen"; 1896–1977), Major League Baseball player
Barry Bonds (born 1964), outfielder
Bobby Bonds (1946–2003), outfielder
Fred Breining (born 1955), pitcher for San Francisco Giants (1980–1984)
Madison Bumgarner (born 1988), pitcher for San Francisco Giants
Matt Cain (born 1984), pitcher
Dolph Camilli (1907–1997), first baseman, played for the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers, born and raised in San Francisco
Ike Caveney (1894–1949), shortstop
Orlando Cepeda (born 1937), 1st baseman & inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame
Gino Cimoli (1929–2011), outfielder,[70] born and raised in San Francisco
Joe Corbett (1875–1945), pitcher, born in San Francisco
Joe Cronin (1906–1984), infielder, Baseball Hall of Fame,[70] born and raised in San Francisco
Frankie Crosetti (1910–2002), shortstop and coach[70]
Tim Cullen (born 1942), infielder[70]
Babe Dahlgren (1912–1996), first baseman[70]
Joe DeMaestri (1928–2016), shortstop
Dom DiMaggio (1917–2009), outfielder
Bob Elliott (1916–1966), player and manager[70]
Jim Fregosi (1942–2014), player and manager[70]
Al Gallagher (1945–2018), third baseman for the San Francisco Giants and California Angels (1970–1973)
Jonny Gomes (born 1980), outfielder for Boston Red Sox
Herb Gorman (1924–1953), player in one MLB game
Harry Heilmann (1894–1951), outfielder, Baseball Hall of Fame[70]
Keith Hernandez (born 1953), first baseman[70]
Jackie Jensen (1927–1982), also in the College Football Hall of Fame[70]
Eddie Joost (1916–2011), player and manager
Willie Kamm (1900–1988), third baseman
George Kelly (1895–1984), first baseman, Baseball Hall of Fame[70]
Steve Kerr (born 1965) head coach of the Golden State Warriors and eight-time NBA champion
Mark Koenig (1904–1993), infielder for 1927 New York Yankees
Tony Lazzeri (1903–1946), infielder, Baseball Hall of Fame
Tim Lincecum (born 1984), pitcher
Willie McCovey (1938–2018), 1st baseman & inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame
Nyjer Morgan (born 1980), outfielder for Milwaukee Brewers
Hunter Pence (born 1983), outfielder
Mark Prior (born 1980), baseball pitcher for Chicago Cubs (2002–2004), born in San Francisco
Charlie Sweeney (1863–1902), pitcher
Mike Vail (born 1951), outfielder
Tyler Walker (born 1976), relief pitcher for Washington Nationals
Basketball
Mike Brown (born 1970), basketball coach for Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry (born 1988), NBA player with Golden State Warriors
Kevin Durant (born 1988), NBA player with Golden State Warriors
Steve Kerr (born 1965), head coach of Golden State Warriors
Jason Kidd (born 1973), basketball player
Tom Meschery (born 1938)
Pete Newell (1915–2008), Olympic and USF coach
Gary Payton (born 1968), NBA player
Bill Russell (born 1934), led USF to two NCAA championships
Phil Smith (1952–2002)
Phil Woolpert (1915–1987), San Francisco high school and college coach
Boxing
Abe Attell (1883–1970), world featherweight champion
James J. Corbett (1866–1933), World Heavyweight Champion
Andre Ward (born 1984), 2004 Olympics light heavyweight gold medal winner
Football
Andre Alexander (born 1967), CFL wide receiver[71]
Gary Beban (born 1946), NFL quarterback and 1967 Heisman Trophy winner
Ed Berry (born 1963), NFL defensive back for Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers[72]
Tom Brady (born 1977), NFL quarterback for New England Patriots and two-time NFL most valuable player[73]
Tedy Bruschi (born 1973), NFL linebacker for New England Patriots[74]
Al Cowlings (born 1947), USC and NFL defensive lineman
Chris Darkins (born 1974), NFL running back for Green Bay Packers[75]
Bob deLauer (1920–2002), NFL center[76]
Eddie Forrest (1921–2001), NFL offensive lineman for San Francisco 49ers[77]
Jason Hill (born 1985), NFL wide receiver for Jacksonville Jaguars[78]
Mike Holmgren (born 1948), NFL head coach for Green Bay Packers and president of Cleveland Browns[79]
James Hundon (born 1971), NFL player[80]
Zeph Lee (born 1963), NFL player[81]
Joe Montana (born 1956), NFL quarterback for San Francisco 49ers, inductee into Pro Football Hall of Fame
John Nisby (1936–2011), NFL guard with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins; one of the first African American players to play for the Washington Redskins[82]
Paul Oglesby (1939–1994), Oakland Raiders tackle[83]
Igor Olshansky (born 1982), NFL defensive end for Dallas Cowboys[84]
Jerry Rice (born 1962), NFL wide receiver for San Francisco 49ers, inductee into Pro Football Hall of Fame
George Seifert (born 1940), Head Coach of the San Francisco 49ers (1989–1996), Carolina Panthers (1999–2001)
O. J. Simpson (born 1947), NFL running back with Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers (1985); inductee into Pro Football Hall of Fame; previously, City College of San Francisco and USC running back[85]
Donald Strickland (born 1980), current NFL cornerback for the New York Jets[86]
Eric Wright (born 1985), NFL cornerback for Detroit Lions[87]
Steve Young (born 1961), NFL quarterback for San Francisco 49ers, inductee into Pro Football Hall of Fame
Golf
Danielle Kang (born 1992), professional golfer
Johnny Miller (born 1947), professional golfer, TV commentator
Ken Venturi (1931–2013), professional golfer, TV commentator
Michelle Wie (born 1989), professional golfer
Other sports
Townsend Bell (born 1975), race car driver
Otey Cannon (born 1968), first black American player in the North American Soccer League
Cheerleader Melissa (born 1982), pro wrestler
Mark Crear (born 1969), two-time Olympic medallist in 110m hurdles
Ann Curtis (1926–2012), two-time Olympic gold medalist and one-time silver medalist in swimming
Vicki Draves (1924–2010), two-time Olympic gold medalist, diver, first Asian American gold medalist
Ken Flax (born 1963), Olympic hammer thrower
Laird Hamilton (born 1964), surfer
Hans Halberstadt (1885–1966), German-born American Olympic fencer
Helen Jacobs (1908–1997), tennis player
Jeremy McGrath (born 1971), motocross rider
Jonny Moseley (born 1975), freestyle skiing Olympic gold medalist
Brooks Orpik (born 1980), NHL player for the Washington Capitals
Bill Schaadt (1924–1995), fly fisherman[88]
Emerson Spencer (1906–1985), Olympic track and field gold medalist
Shawn Spikes (born 1996), thoroughbred jockey
Shannon Rowbury (born 1984), 2-time track & field Olympian, American Record Holder at 1500m, World Record Holder in Distance Medley Relay
Ben Wildman-Tobriner (born 1984), Olympic swimming gold medalist
Al Young (born 1946), drag racing world champion
Other
Brace Belden (born 1989), columnist, militiaman, union organizer, Twitter personality
Maciej Cegłowski (born 1975), web developer, entrepreneur, speaker, and social critic
Thomas E. Horn (born 1946), lawyer, philanthropist, Publisher Bay Area Reporter, Trustee San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center
Eleanor Dumont (Madame Moustache) (1829–1879), Gold Rush era professional card dealer and gambler
Laurene Powell Jobs (born 1963), widow of Steve Jobs, founder of Emerson Collective
Anton LaVey (1930–1997), founder of the Church of Satan, author, musician and occultist, lived and died in San Francisco
Emperor Norton (1818–1880), Gold Rush entrepreneur, eccentric, egalitarian and original visionary of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
Maria Seise, first Chinese woman to immigrate to California[89]
Owsley Stanley (1935–2011), American audio engineer and clandestine chemist
Tye Leung Schulze (1887–1972), interpreter and first Chinese-American woman to vote in a US primary election
Neville G. Pemchekov Warwick (1932–1993), modern interpreter of Buddhism and a central figure of the spiritual movement of California during the late 1960s and the 1970s.
Jacob Weisman (born 1965), publisher of Tachyon Publications, editor" (wikipedia.org)
"his is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
As a prominent American landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge has been used in a variety of media, often shown or mentioned where San Francisco, California is the setting of the story....
Films
Destroyed
Golden Gate Bridge has been destroyed in the following films.
It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955): Destroyed by a giant octopus.
Superman (1978): Partially destroyed by an earthquake.
The Core (2003): Destroyed by unfiltered solar radiation from the Sun.
10.5 (2004): Destroyed by a major earthquake.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006): Destroyed and moved to Alcatraz by Magneto, one of X-Men's villains. Shown to be rebuilt at the end.
Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus (2009): Destroyed by a giant monster attack.
Monsters vs. Aliens (2009): During a battle with the probe, it topples over onto the span, resulting in the south tower's collapse.
Meteor Storm (2010): Destroyed by a meteor shower.
Pacific Rim (2013): Destroyed by a giant kaiju.
Godzilla (2014): Destroyed by Godzilla after it cuts through the span.
San Andreas (2015): A mega-tsunami carrying a cargo ship hits the bridge, causing it to collapse.
Terminator Genisys (2015): Destroyed by a nuclear missile.
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming (2017): Destroyed by a Sharknado worldwide.
Other appearances
It has featured also in the following movies.
The Maltese Falcon (1941)[further explanation needed]
Dark Passage (1947)[further explanation needed]
Vertigo (1958)[further explanation needed]
The Love Bug (1968): The bridge is seen when Herbie is about to launch himself off the bridge.
Herbie Rides Again (1974): The bridge is seen on certain scenes.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979): Seen in 2273, the bridge has been converted into a tram system leading to the Presidio, where Starfleet headquarters is located.
An Eye for an Eye 1981 film starring Chuck Norris. The bridge can be seen when Norris drives his car through it.
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) - seen as one of the postcards in the opening credits.
A View to a Kill (1985): Zorin (antagonist) attempts to kill Bond (protagonist), who is hanging from one of the mooring ropes of an airship, by smashing him into the top of the bridge. Bond manages to secure the airship to the bridge, and a fist-fight at the top of the bridge ensues.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986): The bridge is almost hit by Admiral Kirk's out of control Klingon Bird of Prey.
Flight of the Navigator (1986): David flies the Trimaxion Drone Ship under the bridge.
The Abyss (1989): The bridge is missed
Interview with the Vampire (1994): Lestat de Lioncourt drives over the bridge.
Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996): The Seavor family drives across the bridge to go to San Francisco International Airport. The pets later cross the bridge on their way home.
Bicentennial Man (1999): Seen expanded in the future (circa 2200s) with a two-tiered roadway added.[1]
Hulk (2003)[further explanation needed]
Land of the Lost (2009)[further explanation needed]
Star Trek (2009) - In an alternate 2258, the Narada's damaged drill almost hits the bridge.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011): The bridge is missed.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011): The bridge is hit and disrupted traffic, but not destroyed.
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Inside Out (2015): Riley Anderson and her family drive across the bridge as they move into San Francisco.
Sharknado: The 4th Awakens (2016)
Bumblebee (2018): The bridge is seen when Charlie and Bumblebee arrive on a cliff overlooking the bridge.
Beautiful Boy (2018): The bridge is seen in a scene where Nick stops the car and calls his sponsor.
Avengers: Endgame (2019): The bridge is seen near the Wall of the Vanished.
Soul (2020): The bridge is seen in the Hall of Everything.
The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021): The bridge is seen when the PAL Max robots invade San Francisco.
Television
It has also been featured in the opening/closing and/or episodes of the following shows.
10.5
Charmed
Falcon Crest
Full House (including its sequel, Fuller House)
Futurama
Hotel
Love is a Many Splendored Thing
Monk
My Sister Sam
Nash Bridges
Phyllis
Suddenly Susan
That's So Raven
Too Close for Comfort
We Bare Bears
Documentaries
It has been the subject of a 2006 documentary and a 2008-2010 documentary TV series:
The Bridge – a film about suicides from Golden Gate Bridge in 2004.
Life After People - A TV documentary series about what happens to the world if humanity suddenly disappears; the Golden Gate Bridge collapses after around 100 years due to corrosion in its support cables. After 200 years, only the towers remain intact.
Video games
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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The bridge appeared in the 2000 video game Midtown Madness 2.
The bridge is replicated in the 2004 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which is itself heavily based on San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. There it is known as the "Gant Bridge".
In Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the bridge is destroyed in the "Collapse" campaign mission after Atlas attach drones to the cables and detonate them.
The 2011 game Driver: San Francisco, as its name implies, is set in San Francisco. It also features many missions modelled after famous movie car chases including one from Gone in 60 Seconds which ends at the Golden Gate Bridge.
In Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Zombies, the bridge also appeared when the zombies crew crashed into the bridge while escaping from Alcatraz.
In Watch Dogs 2, the bridge appears in the game as it is set in the San Francisco Bay Area. In a side mission in the game, the character will paint graffiti on the Bridge.
The Golden Gate Bridge also appeared in several SCS games like 18 Wheels of Steel series and American Truck Simulator as part of the game world.
The bridge is a buildable wonder in the Civilization VI expansion Gathering Storm, marking its debut in the longstanding strategy series.
Other
KRON-TV, the former NBC/My Network TV affiliate used an animated version of the Golden Gate Bridge as their legal ID in the 1970s and 1980s.[2]
NORAD Tracks Santa, the Golden Gate Bridge was a featured Santa Cam location for the 2002 tracking season.[3]
A small-scale replica of the bridge was previously used at the main entry point of Disney's California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California. The replica was replaced in the early 2010s by a small-scale model of the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge as part of the entrance plaza's transformation into a re-creation of Los Angeles' Buena Vista Street.[4]
In the Sliders episode "Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome", the Golden Gate Bridge is blue, which is how Wade finds out the Earth they have landed on is not Earth Prime.
In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Changing Face of Evil", set in 2375, the Golden Gate Bridge is damaged in a Breen attack on Starfleet Headquarters. It is shown to have been repaired in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Pathfinder", set in 2376." (wikipedia.org)
"A tote bag is a large and often unfastened bag with parallel handles that emerge from the sides of its pouch. The word tote has an uncertain etymology, the African origin has been discredited[1] and perhaps descends from Low German tute ("bag"), cognate with German Tüte ("bag"). Totes are often used as reusable shopping bags.
The archetypal tote bag is made of sturdy cloth, perhaps with thick leather at its handles or bottom; leather versions often have a pebbled surface. Common fabrics include canvas, Jute, nylon and other easy-care synthetics, which have become common, although these may degrade with prolonged exposure to sunlight. Many low-cost totes are often made from recycled matter, from minimally-processed natural fibers, or from byproducts of processes that refine organic materials. ...
Environmental concerns
A promotional tote bag
Recently, tote bags have been sold as a more eco-friendly replacement for disposable plastic bags, given they can be reused multiple times. They have also been given away as promotional items. A study by the UK Environment Agency found that cotton canvas bags have to be reused at least 131 times before they can match the carbon expenditure of a single disposable plastic bag, and up to 327 times if the plastic bags are used as bin liners.[2] Another 2018 study by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency found that cotton bags would need to be used 7,100 times to neutralize their environmental impact.[3] Meanwhile, tote bags made from recycled polypropylene plastic require 11 (up to 26 when considering reuse as bin liners for plastic bags) reuses to match.
A 2014 study of U.S. consumers found that the 28% of respondents who own reusable bags forgot them on approximately 40% of their grocery trips and used the bags only about 15 times each before discarding them. About half of this group typically chose to use plastic bags over reusable ones, despite owning reusable bags and recognizing their benefits.[4] An increasing number of jurisdictions have mandated the phase-out of lightweight plastic bags to reduce land and ocean pollution. In order to provide an incentive for consumers to remember reusable bags more often these laws establish a minimum price for bags at checkout and require either paper, reusable fabric tote bags, or thick reusable plastic bags." (wikipedia.org)
"A coloring book (British English: colouring-in book, colouring book, or colouring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media. Traditional coloring books and coloring pages are printed on paper or card. Some coloring books have perforated edges so their pages can be removed from the books and used as individual sheets. Others may include a story line and so are intended to be left intact. Today, many children's coloring books feature popular cartoon characters. They are often used as promotional materials for animated motion pictures. Coloring books may also incorporate other activities such as connect the dots, mazes and other puzzles. Some also incorporate the use of stickers....
History
The Little Folks Painting Book, 1879
Paint books and coloring books emerged in the United States as part of the "democratization of art" process, inspired by a series of lectures by British artist Joshua Reynolds, and the works of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and his student Friedrich Fröbel. Many educators concluded that all, regardless of background, students stood to benefit from art education as a means of enhancing their conceptual understanding of the tangible, developing their cognitive abilities, and improving skills that would be useful in finding a profession, as well as for the children's spiritual edification.[1] The McLoughlin Brothers are credited as the inventors of the coloring book, when, in the 1880s, they produced The Little Folks' Painting Book, in collaboration with Kate Greenaway. They continued to publish coloring books until the 1920s, when the McLoughlin Brothers became part of the Milton Bradley Company.
Another pioneer in the genre was Richard F. Outcault. He authored Buster's Paint Book in 1907, featuring the character of Buster Brown, which he had invented in 1902. It was published by the Stokes Company. This launched a trend to use coloring books to advertise a wide variety of products, including coffee and pianos.[1] Until the 1930s, books were designed with the intent for them to be painted instead of colored. Even when crayons came into wide use in the 1930s, books were still designed so that they could be painted or colored.[2]
Educational uses
"California Poppy", a page from a wildflower coloring book
Display of coloring books in a shop
Example of a coloring book for children
Coloring books are widely used in schooling for young children for various reasons. For example, children are often more interested in coloring books rather than using other learning methods; pictures may also be more memorable than simply words.[3] Coloring may also increase creativity in painting, according to some research.[4]
As a predominantly non-verbal medium, coloring books have also seen wide applications in education where a target group does not speak and understand the primary language of instruction or communication. Examples of this include the use of coloring books in Guatemala to teach children about hieroglyphs and Mayan artist patterns,[5] and the production of coloring books to educate the children of farm workers about "the pathway by which agricultural pesticides are transferred from work to home."[6] Coloring books are also said to help to motivate students' understanding of concepts that they would otherwise be uninterested in.
They have been used as teaching aids for developing creativity and knowledge of geometry, such as in Roger Burrows' Altair Designs.
Since the 1980s, several publishers have produced educational coloring books intended for studying graduate-level topics such as anatomy and physiology, where color-coding of many detailed diagrams are used as a learning aid. Examples include The Anatomy Coloring Book and subsequent book series, by Wynn Kapit and Lawrence Elson, published by HarperCollins (1990s) and Benjamin Cummings (2000s).[7] There are some examples of educators using coloring books to better explain complicated topics, like programming.[8]
Some publishers have specialized in coloring books with an explicit educational purpose, both for children and for adults. The books often have extensive text accompanying each image. These publishers include Dover Books, Really Big Coloring Books, Running Press, and Troubador Press.
Health and therapeutic uses
Coloring books have seen wide application in the health professions as educational tools. One nurse, trying to limit the trauma of surgery, described in an academic publication how the use of a coloring book "might help [the child] to understand what was going to happen to him."[9] They are also used in rehabilitation of accident victims to aid recovery of hand–eye coordination, and they are used with autistic children both for entertainment and for their soothing effect. Coloring books have been used to explain complicated medical conditions to children.[10] One of the appeals of adult coloring books is that they help users relax and de-stress.[11]
Political uses
In 1962, cartoonist Mort Drucker teamed with humorist Paul Laikin in creating the John F. Kennedy Coloring Book, a satirical introduction to Kennedy, his family and administration, told from the point of view of his daughter Caroline. The book sold 2,500,000 copies.[12][13]
In 1968 the Black Panther Coloring Book began circulating in the United States; the book features black men and children killing pigs dressed as police officers. It was argued to have been made not by the Black Panther Party but by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's COINTELPRO program to discredit the organization, a claim which other sources dispute.[14][15]
The term and concept of the "coloring book" was adopted by the feminist artist Tee Corinne as a tool of female empowerment. Corinne made pencil sketches of female genitalia, which she then inked and printed on card stock. She published a collection of them in 1975 as The Cunt Coloring Book.
No other name seemed really to fit, although the word "cunt" was not one with which I was particularly comfortable. The alliteration, though, was nice. I also liked the idea of combining a street term for genitalia with a coloring book, because both are ways that, as children, we get to know the world.[16]
In August 2011, American publisher Really Big Coloring Books released We Shall Never Forget: The Kids Book of Freedom detailing specific drawings in the accounting of SEAL Team 6 shooting Osama bin Laden in his home. The book was criticized by some for portraying Muslims in a negative manner. The company has also published The Tea Party Coloring Book for Kids, Ted Cruz To The Future (2013) and a book about President Barack Obama's inauguration (2008).[17][18]
Fine art
Photographer Jno Cook produced line drawings based on Robert Frank's The Americans, and in 1983 published them in a limited edition as The Robert Frank Coloring Book. In 1994, the National Gallery of Art used the images as party favors for writers working on the catalog for a retrospective of Frank's work.[19]
Adult coloring books
Adults coloring at the Southeast Steuben County Library
Adults coloring at a library program
Coloring books are a form of adult therapy that saw a growth in popularity in the 2010s. They reportedly bring people a sense of their childhood,[20] and help with developing fine motor skills and vision, reducing anxiety and creating focus, and relieving stress and anxiety in a manner similar to meditation.[21] Concentrating on coloring may facilitate the replacement of negative thoughts and images with pleasant ones.[22] Coloring books can be used in daily activities.[23] The books are also a way to get away from technology, which some may regard as beneficial to people's health.[24] They can also be used by people who aren't as comfortable with other extremely expressive forms of art.[21]
While coloring books for adults were popular in the early 1960s, those were satirical works rather than the therapeutic works that define the adult coloring book form today.[25] The first commercially successful adult coloring books were published in 2012 and 2013,[21] and began increasing in popularity in 2015. In April of that year, Johanna Basford brought out two coloring books titled Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest, which became the top sellers at Amazon.[26] By November it was reported by Amazon.ca that the books were the most top wished for items with nine of the top ten consisting of such books.[27] Also that month Crayola began offering its own line of adult coloring books.[28] Publishers also began packaging some of their colouring books with pencils and CDs to support the enjoyment of this activity.[29] Sales in the US continued to grow in early 2016, but began to fall by the end of the year, with fewer newcomers trying this pastime.[30]
Adult coloring books are offered digitally, via ebooks, digital apps,[31] and coloring pages that can be colored online or downloaded. Users' digital work-products can be saved and shared.[11][32] Dominic Bulsuto theorized that the trend of digital purchasing helped the spread of the genre, noting that the relative anonymous nature of the act allowed customers to feel more secure perusing books they would be embarrassed to buy in real life.[26]
By 2016, Faber-Castell, a worldwide color pencil supplier, was reported to have trouble keeping up with demand for their products due to the craze,[33] while Blue Star Coloring sold over a million titles in one year.[34]
Criticism
Author Susan Jacoby has criticized adult coloring books, along with the popularity among adults of young adult fiction, as "an artifact of a broader cultural shift. And that cultural shift is a bad thing".[35] She believes the Great Recession has contributed to this shift, as adults unable to find employment have moved home to live with their parents. New York City futurist and blogger Dominic Bulsuto describes adult coloring book fans as "stuck in The Shallows, mindfully coloring books to counter the existential angst of living in a digital society". He goes on to say that "...the endless Internet parade of silly cat photos, infantile comments and adolescent memes has dumbed us down". However, Bulsuto ultimately sees the trend as a good thing, noting that adults are increasingly buying books they want to buy, rather than books they are supposed to buy.[26]
Coloring book software
Coloring books can also be found digitally in the form of coloring book websites and applications. Coloring book software often has features such as color mixing, flood filling, and paintbrush tools that allow for more accurate and detailed drawings than regular coloring books." (wikipedia.org)