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San Francisco – A City of Glorious Parts
July 13, 2009 by Fractional & Shared Ownership Property News & Reviews · Leave a Comment
By Ray Chatelin
A City of Small Villages
This is a city of parts, any one of which would be considered adequate to summarize a lesser place. But not in San Francisco – not this city that considers itself less a metropolis than a collection of small villages.
When you scratch the sophisticated veneer that covers the 740,000 strong population you find a city proud of its simplicity, its neighborhoods, its accessibility, and aggressive in its belief that here is one of the great international cities in America.
It’s the perfect city to visit because its imagined style is as important as its real one. You can be whomever or whatever you want to be here. No one really cares as long as you do it with style.
We all know the San Francisco stereotypes – the cable cars grinding their way up Powell Street, the picture-postcard setting of Fisherman’s Wharf, the majestic peaks of the Golden Gate Bridge peeking through the fog, the atmosphere of Chinatown, a forever Spring-time climate and the serpentine winding of Lombard Street.
Yet, like Paris, the stereotypes only accent the reality. And the only way you can find the truth about San Francisco is to walk it – one end of the city to the other, examining each of the parts street by street, shop by unending shop, ethnic group by nationality. It’s an easy saunter from Chinatown to Nob Hill and the walk symbolizes the variety of cultures that define the city. You pass from the comfort and cuisine of a long established immigrant identity and into the luxury of an international world of fast cars and silk suits.
There are 43 hills within San Francisco and 14 islands lie in the San Francisco Bay, 12 within city limits: Alcatraz; the Farallones, a group of seven islands; Treasure Island; Yerba Buena; Angel Island, shared with the city of Tiburon; and Red Rock.
One of the ongoing traditions from tourists is to trek down winding Lombard Street, where cars and walkers alike navigate its winding design, its sharp curves and switchbacks down the one-way hill past beautiful Victorian mansions and some of the most expensive real estate in town.
One of the best ways to experience San Francisco is by foot. The City is ideal for walking enthusiasts and five of the most popular are Union Square, North Beach, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Pacific Heights. In San Francisco every hill and almost every corner has a surprise behind it. Each street is the boundary line of a new experience, and every building has something in it not in any other part of town.
What’s fascinating about this city is that it won’t fit a mould. It revels in being old fashioned, yet it prides itself in its contemporary theatres and art. It loves avant garde design, yet it does everything to save old factories and mills and convert them to popular meeting places. The city wallows in its cosmopolitanism, yet encourages immigrants to retain their identities – unlike most other U.S. cities.
It revels in its proximity to high tech industry while spending millions to restore an ancient and laughable cable-car system. And while it prides itself on being a world-quality city, it was wise enough to set aside Golden Gate Park, on the edge of the great bridge from which it gains its name, back in 1870. Even though there have been many changes over the years, the park is still a place to play, relax and grow culturally and even play a round of golf.
The de Young Museum, one of the city’s must-visit destinations and a favorite of San Francisco residents and visitors since 1895, reopened on October 15, 2005 after a complete makeover and it’s now a state-of-the-art facility that integrates art, architecture and natural landscape. The art museum showcases its priceless collections of American art from the 17th through the 20th centuries, and art of the native Americas, Africa, and the Pacific. The California Academy of Sciences is due to re-open in 2008.
One of the park’s ongoing icons is the Japanese Tea Garden. Begun by an Australian in 1894, this intricate complex of paths, ponds and a teahouse features native Japanese and Chinese plants. Also hidden throughout its five acres are exquisite sculptures and bridges.
At Fisherman’s Wharf you walk in and out of the shops and the stores knowing very well you’re in one of the biggest tourist centers on the continent. It doesn’t matter because the atmosphere is electric with an ongoing interchange between visitors and hawkers. In many ways, it’s the heart of a visitor’s impression of the city.
Just down the street from the centre of Fisherman’s Wharf is Pier 39 – a collection of small stores and shops built on a dock. At Ghirardelli Square you’ll find a multi-level collection of 80 shops, galleries, outdoor cafes, restaurants and a theatre overlooking the waterfront.
You can spend hours here in the old 19th Century former chocolate and spice factory. These are great and familiar places in the city and areas you must visit. But there are sections of San Francisco that are special, living examples of what makes the city so terrific. The wonderful individual architecture of Russian Hill, the Italian enclave of North Beach where you can get the best tasting omelets and sandwiches at Mama’s on
Stockton Street.
There are two different Chinatowns – the one that most tourists enter through the gate on Grant Avenue off Bush Street downtown, and the indigenous one that exists in the shops and markets off the beaten path. It’s the largest Chinese community outside Asia – a city within a city offering a labyrinthine array of shops, restaurants, food markets, temples, museums, night spots, business establishments.
Grant Avenue is a perpetual pageant, especially during the weeklong Chinese New Year festivities that fall between mid-January and late February, depending on the fullness of the moon. You can get the best selections of teas in all of San Francisco at The Imperial Tea House and at the Ton Kiang restaurant you’ll be served authentic northern China cuisine. The Shanghai Bazaar is where locals go for some of the best choices of souvenirs.
Union Street used to be a quiet neighborhood. It’s now one of the chief shopping areas of San Francisco – several blocks transformed into a localized Chelsea. Brightly colored Victorian houses are filled with boutiques, bars, restaurants, and galleries. There isn’t an alleyway or a basement that hasn’t been converted into a place to buy or eat or sleep.
Near Fisherman’s Wharf, you can take the ferry to Tiburon and at Sam’s Bar. Once there, you’ll walk through a sleazy-looking entryway, but through the back door you’ll find an exquisite dockside restaurant serving terrific food and offering the best views of the San Francisco skyline. It’s where locals, or those in the know, congregate to sip the great regional wines and to relax.
There are never ending choices in San Francisco. But St. Mary’s Cathedral, atop Cathedral Hill, is one of the contemporary architectural City’s glories. Inside, stained glass windows – six feet wide – divide the ceiling and extend 139 feet down the four sides of the cathedral to form a multicolored cruciform.
Suspended above the alter is a free-hanging cascade of 7,000 aluminum rods symbolic of prayer ascending. Like much in San Francisco, it’s a place where the spirit and the senses are mutually satisfied.
The San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau is at 900 Market Street, Lower Level, Hallidie Plaza, San Francisco, CA 94102-2804 or send an email to vic1@sfcvb.org for information, The website is at
www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com/
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