I traveled to San Francisco over Labor Day weekend in 2010. While there I visited my friend Tifanei and met Jeff Wood from The Overhead Wire and Transportation For America. Here are some of my photos from that five-day trip.

 

 

1. Financial District

 

2.

 

3. Ferry Building

 

4.

 

5.

 

6. Transamerica Pyramid

 

7.

 

8. Chinatown

 

9.

 

10.

 

11.

 

12. Russian Hill

 

13.

 

14.

 

15.

 

16.

 

17.

 

18.

 

19.

 

20.

 

21.

 

22.

 

23.

 

24.

 

25.

 

26. From the top of the Coit Tower

 

27.

 

28.

 

29.

 

30.

 

31.

 

32. Downtown Alley

 

33.

 

34.

 

35. Too cute to pass up this shot

 

36. Tifanei working the phone.

 

37.

 

38.

 

39. City Hall

 

40.

 

41.

 

42.

 

43.

 

44. Awesome taco truck in The Castro.

 

45. Aztec dance festival in The Castro.

 

46.

 

47. Hippies

 

48. I do not know this woman.

 

49. Pacific Coast

 

50. Not the Pacific Coast

 

51.

 

52. Painted Ladies

 

53. On-street automobile parking space converted to café seating.

 

54.

 

55. Fishermans Wharf

 

56.

 

57. Father & Son

 

58.

 

59.

 

60. I biked down Lombard Street instead of driving a car down it.

 

61.

 

62.

 

63. Golden Gate Bridge

 

64. I also biked across the Golden Gate Bridge over to Sausalito, then took the ferry back over to San Francisco.

 

65.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing!

I hope you got a chance to check out Oakland and Berkeley.  At least Sausalito's cookies!

 

Also, I EXPECT Korea coming soon!

I hope you got a chance to check out Oakland and Berkeley.  At least Sausalito's cookies!

 

Also, I EXPECT Korea coming soon!

 

I didn't make it to Oakland, but I actually stayed with some people in Berkeley for a couple nights. Also, I'll try to post my photos from Korea soon. I'm leaving for Bogota tomorrow afternoon, so it may have to wait a few weeks. I also have to share St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver, Boulder and Atlanta.

Look at YOU, Mr. International Playa!  Just don't go back to Greece.  Anything but that.

Great shots, fabulous place. Re #64, I did that in the late '70s; it was a great way to spend an afternoon.

Great shots, fabulous place. Re #64, I did that in the late '70s; it was a great way to spend an afternoon.

 

I had a great time. I met a couple of great people along the way, and made friends with this girl who had just moved to San Francisco from Seattle. She was at the dock waiting on the ferry with me and her mother, and we started talking and hit if off. Great thing is that they serve alcohol on the ferry ride back across the bay, so we all enjoyed some fantastic Bay Area wine and took in the sunset.

Awesome shots!  So many NYers seem to view SF as some kind of annoying, overly-precious little trinket which I never really get.  Although I do hate how people in SF always complain how "bad" their weather is. 

Really, how can you say anything bad about SF...America's premiere city (sorry New York).

 

Ok,,,I will try...as one of America's 5-6 "international cities" I have always found the architecture in the central business district sorta strangely lacking, especially when compared to Chicago and New York.  The district is well put together, pedestrian oriented and attractive, but very few "stunning" buildings.  My theory is that much of the district was developed gang busters from the early 60's to early 80's with many international style buildings (generally nice ones) and then slowed down (of course not compared to Cleveland or Cincinnati but to other major cities) in terms of major high rises due to citizens concerns that SF was becoming "Manhattanized".  Lots of great arch. in this country come about in the boom years of the 90's and first part of the 21st century.  Clearly there was development in the SF business district during this time, but really the skyline in that part of town does not look that much different from the early 80's (something you could not say about Chicago or say Boston for example).

 

Other than that, American paradise.  Lucky to live there if you can afford it.

Htsguy, you are exactly right in your theory about the developement of the SF skyline in the 80s and 90s.  There was a concerted effort to reign in any and all highrise development and avoid the Manhattanization of the city.  Misguided, naturally, and the result was that basically nothing much got built.  The planning commission and the NIMBYs were in full command of everything...as if we lived in a sort of perfect urban setting in which nothing could  be disturbed.  Of course, that was total bulls#it, and people finally came to their senses.  The other issue was "view protection".  Don't even get me started on that one!  It all boils down to selfishnes, basically.

 

Having lived here over 25 years I can say our weather is nearly perfect...never really cold, never really hot.  But what else are we going to complain about?  Our Municipal Railway (Muni) is such a joke that it is hardly worth complaining about.  Local politics make everyone so crazy that it  gets us worked up to the point of heart attack or stroke, so weather is the safe bet. 

 

Great photos and some nice angles.  The one from Tank Hill is especially good.  I live a stone's throw from there, and often go there myself to take photos.  Glad you had a good time!

 

The density is great. That building in picture 15 looks like it could almost fall over  :-P

I have a good friend who lives in a beautiful victorian era walkup in Pacific Hts.  Always have the most amazing times in SF, and I hope to live there one day.

The planning commission and the NIMBYs were in full command of everything...as if we lived in a sort of perfect urban setting in which nothing could  be disturbed.  Of course, that was total bulls#it, and people finally came to their senses. 

 

The planning commission has come around, but the NIMBYs have got to be just as delusional as ever.  The power they're given to compromise, dilute, or flat out kill nearly any development, large or small, is absolutely maddening.

 

That said, I love this town and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.  Awesome shots Randy!

Most beautiful major city in America, and tied with Montreal for most beautiful major city on the continent.

I love Frisco.  Is it just me or does the building in #4 and #36 look like a mini-Terminal Tower?

 

About the weather, I agree.... it is nearly ideal for me because I hate anything above 80.  But I always found this quote from Mark Twain amusing - "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." 

^So true.  Summer in SF can be super cold, but a 30 minute drive east will give you completely different weather.  I was up there last summer and it was in the low 50s and raining in San Fran, and as soon as we crossed the Golden Gate and got into Marin County, the weather was 75 and sunny, and even hotter in Sonoma.  When we got back into the city in the late evening, it was still cold and rainy.  The micro climates in the Bay Area are insane.

A true gem of a city.  Very accesible too thanks to the compact size and great bus system.

Absolutely love it!

I enjoyed your pics. I haven't been to San Francisco yet, but it looks like an absolutely amazing place to visit.

San Francisco is an incredibly beautiful city, but I never got that major city feel there that I have gotten in Chicago, New York, or DC. SF felt like a typical city that hit it big. With that said, there is no city in North America that can compete with SF's natural landscape and setting.

San Francisco is an incredibly beautiful city, but I never got that major city feel there that I have gotten in Chicago, New York, or DC. SF felt like a typical city that hit it big. With that said, there is no city in North America that can compete with SF's natural landscape and setting.

 

I get Chicago and New York, because they are way bigger cities, but you didn't think it felt like as major a city as DC? I think the incredible density of SF, lively street life, and the downtown all makes it seem more "big city" than DC.  When you add in Oakland and Berkeley as extensions of SF, I definitely get a big city feel.  Although, based on some of the earlier comments in this thread on residents fighting against the "Manhattanization" of the city, maybe it is intentional that SF feels more human scaled and therefore less big city (although this doesn't quite explain DC with it's height limit).

aah sf, you are so pretty, petite and wealthy, whats not to love?

San Francisco is an incredibly beautiful city, but I never got that major city feel there that I have gotten in Chicago, New York, or DC. SF felt like a typical city that hit it big. With that said, there is no city in North America that can compete with SF's natural landscape and setting.

 

I can somewhat see that observation.  San Francisco, like Boston, is a "big city" core and botique edge.  From the end of Market to about the Tenderloin/Nob Hill I'd say the city certainly feels "big city" but once you get to, say, Pacific Heights or Sunset it can feel like the coastal Los Angeles beach cities.  Though I'm with edale when comparing with DC; both cities feel quite similar once you get away from the core (San Fran a little denser but with more garages; DC has the alleys).

I agree with both of you about the DC analysis. SF is not far off from feeling "big city" but DC barely makes it due to its grandness in my book. The boulevards, parks, monuments, and general architectural aesthetic just feels a bit granders than SF's. Plus, DC's Metro is far superior to BART in my humble opinion.

I can see that.

SF is a very interesting city. I have lived here for 3 months now, on Dolores park.. and let me tell you one thing I've noticed is that its much worse in reality than what you see at first glance. The buildings here are among the most antique-looking buildings in america. BUT you have to remember almost all of them were built after 1906 (they have GARAGES people!). And, as an architecture student, the painted moldings of almost every building absolutely make me want to vomit. Most of them are so gorgeous you don't have to paint them yet.. there are so many thick layers of paint on these beauties! Transportation is bad bad.. and I agree with you UncleRando in that I also did not get that "big city feel" that I was expecting. The CBD is ugly and dead at night or weekends. Its the neighborhoods that really shine. Best neighborhoods I have been to in a long time. But aside from those neighborhoods you get the rest of the bay area that puts SF on the map. The region is large but thats like if Cleveland counted all the way to pittsburg and columbus! Once you get outside of SF.. there is basically Berkeley, which is nice in some parts, parts of Oakland that are cool, and wine country. the rest is all major sprawl and little town centres.

 

I don't mean to be highly critical.. the food rocks, people are very nice, and the landscape is breathtaking! just saying.. there is so much "novelty" here I can't wait to get out of hipsterville.

 

 

I don't mean to be highly critical.. the food rocks, people are very nice, and the landscape is breathtaking! just saying.. there is so much "novelty" here I can't wait to get out of hipsterville.

 

lol, you can't move to dolores park and then complain about hipsters, you're at ground zero my friend!

San Fransisco is beautiful, diverse, dense, electric, compact, walkable ... and clean!  Downtown is OK, but I agree, it's the neighborhoods and, of course, the hilly, waterside setting that truly sets it apart.  It's physically/architecturally one of the most beautiful cities I've seen ... even with the post 1906 architecture (except the Haight, of course, whose primarily wood-frame Victorian houses largely survived the 1906 quake in tact)... I'm surprised to hear the criticism of Muni, because we ditched our car and rode buses (mostly trolley), subway-surface streetcars and BART... or just walked.  This City, along with NYC, is every bit a world class cities imho, despite it's relatively small size (by world-class city standards).

There is so much wrong with your post about SF that it would be almost impossible to start responding. Must just be the Cleveland negative mindset.

SF is a very interesting city. I have lived here for 3 months now, on Dolores park.. and let me tell you one thing I've noticed is that its much worse in reality than what you see at first glance. The buildings here are among the most antique-looking buildings in america. BUT you have to remember almost all of them were built after 1906 (they have GARAGES people!). And, as an architecture student, the painted moldings of almost every building absolutely make me want to vomit. Most of them are so gorgeous you don't have to paint them yet.. there are so many thick layers of paint on these beauties! Transportation is bad bad.. and I agree with you UncleRando in that I also did not get that "big city feel" that I was expecting. The CBD is ugly and dead at night or weekends. Its the neighborhoods that really shine. Best neighborhoods I have been to in a long time. But aside from those neighborhoods you get the rest of the bay area that puts SF on the map. The region is large but thats like if Cleveland counted all the way to pittsburg and columbus! Once you get outside of SF.. there is basically Berkeley, which is nice in some parts, parts of Oakland that are cool, and wine country. the rest is all major sprawl and little town centres.

 

I don't mean to be highly critical.. the food rocks, people are very nice, and the landscape is breathtaking! just saying.. there is so much "novelty" here I can't wait to get out of hipsterville.

 

 

In not all but many of these neighborhood photos I'm seeing that the utilities have been buried.  Does anyone know if the earthquake threat motivated this or simply a willingness to pay for it?

Utility undergrounding here is something of a joke. It was theoretically to be finished by 2000, according to PG&E's estimate in 1985.  They just keep pushing the year back.  The utility seems very unconcerned with earthquakes or safety at all, for that matter.  The homeowner is assessed for the hookup, but it still costs milllions per mile for the company. That and the cable company, the telephone lines..it's a mess.  The city has estimated that the cost to underground the entire city would be somewhere in the $250 million range....and that was a while ago.

 

I've been waiting 20 years for my street...they just keep stringing more wires! They did finish up a few streets several blocks away, and its makes a huge difference.  Another 20 years and maybe....

 

 

 

 

There is so much wrong with your post about SF that it would be almost impossible to start responding. Must just be the Cleveland negative mindset.

SF is a very interesting city. I have lived here for 3 months now, on Dolores park.. and let me tell you one thing I've noticed is that its much worse in reality than what you see at first glance. The buildings here are among the most antique-looking buildings in america. BUT you have to remember almost all of them were built after 1906 (they have GARAGES people!). And, as an architecture student, the painted moldings of almost every building absolutely make me want to vomit. Most of them are so gorgeous you don't have to paint them yet.. there are so many thick layers of paint on these beauties! Transportation is bad bad.. and I agree with you UncleRando in that I also did not get that "big city feel" that I was expecting. The CBD is ugly and dead at night or weekends. Its the neighborhoods that really shine. Best neighborhoods I have been to in a long time. But aside from those neighborhoods you get the rest of the bay area that puts SF on the map. The region is large but thats like if Cleveland counted all the way to pittsburg and columbus! Once you get outside of SF.. there is basically Berkeley, which is nice in some parts, parts of Oakland that are cool, and wine country. the rest is all major sprawl and little town centres.

 

I don't mean to be highly critical.. the food rocks, people are very nice, and the landscape is breathtaking! just saying.. there is so much "novelty" here I can't wait to get out of hipsterville.

 

 

 

I'm actually quite well educated about Cities and have lived in many across the world. I dont mean to be overly critical or sound negative, truly, that was not my intention.. I was writing from work and spewed out something sounding uneducated and harsh. My sincere apologies, SFbob.. The pictures are fantastic, and I really had a wonderful time in the city. Though I would not choose to live there (im more of a brick lover than a molding lover), it is beloved by many and I respect that.