San Francisco(2)

San Francisco, city and port, coextensive with San Francisco county, northern California, U.S., located on a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay. It is a cultural and financial centre of the western United States and one of the country’s most cosmopolitan cities. Area 46 square miles (120 square km). Pop. (2000) 776,733; San Francisco–San Mateo–Redwood City Metro Division, 1,731,183; San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont Metro Area, 4,123,740; (2010) 805,235; San Francisco–San Mateo–Redwood City Metro Division, 1,776,095; San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont Metro Area, 4,335,391.

Character of the city

San Francisco holds a secure place in the United States’ romantic dream of itself—a cool, elegant, handsome, worldly seaport whose steep streets offer breathtaking views of one of the world’s greatest bays. According to the dream, San Franciscans are sophisticates whose lives hold full measures of such civilized pleasures as music, art, and good food. Their children are to be pitied, for, as the wife of publishing magnate Nelson Doubleday once said, “They will probably grow up thinking all cities are so wonderful.” To San Franciscans their city is a magical place, almost an island, saved by its location and history from the sprawl and monotony that afflicts so much of urban California.

Since World War II, however, San Francisco has had to face the stark realities of urban life: congestion, air and water pollution, violence and vandalism, and the general decay of the inner city. San Francisco’s makeup has been changing as families, mainly white and middle-class, have moved to its suburbs, leaving the city to a population that, viewed statistically, tends to be older and to have fewer married people. Now almost one of every two San Franciscans is “nonwhite”—in this case African American, East Asian, Filipino, Samoan, Vietnamese, Latin American, or Native American. Their dreams increasingly demand a realization that has little to do with the romantic dream of San Francisco. But both the dreams and the realities are important, for they are interwoven in the fabric of the city that might be called Paradox-by-the-Bay.

Although San Franciscans complain of the congestion, homelessness, and high cost of living that plague the city and talk endlessly of the good old days, the majority still think of San Francisco the way poet George Sterling did, as “the cool grey city of love,” America’s most attractive, colourful, and distinctive place to live.

The landscape

The city site

Hilly and roughly square, San Francisco occupies the northern tip of a peninsula. To its south are the bedroom suburbs of San Mateo county, to the east and northeast is the bay, and to the west and northwest lies the Pacific Ocean.

The most prominent of San Francisco’s hills are Twin Peaks, Mount Davidson, and Mount Sutro, all of which exceed 900 feet (270 metres) in elevation. The best known are Nob Hill, where the wealthy “nobs” (nabobs) built extravagant mansions in the 1870s, and Telegraph Hill, which once looked down on the Barbary Coast, a neighbourhood formerly alive with gaudy wickedness. As a result of the pioneer planners’ prejudice in favour of a squared-off grid, the downtown streets march intrepidly up precipitous slopes, terrifying newly arrived drivers, making the cable cars more than sentimental anachronisms, and providing splendid views of the bay.

San Francisco Bay is a drowned river valley, submerged during the melting of the last glacial ice sheet. Enthusiastic and profitable filling of the tidelands has reduced its area at mean high tide from about 700 square miles (1,800 square km) in 1880 to a mere 435 square miles (1,125 square km). More than half of the bay is still fillable, but in 1965 the state legislature created the Bay Conservation and Development Commission to control further landfill projects. At its widest extent the bay measures 13 miles (21 km) across; its deepest point, 357 feet (109 metres), is in the Golden Gate, a narrow channel between the peninsula and Marin county to the north that connects the bay to the Pacific. The maximum daily flow of water through the Golden Gate into the Pacific is seven times the flow of the Mississippi River at its mouth.

Seattle

Seattle  is a major coastal seaport city and the seat of King County, in the U.S. state of Washington. With an estimated 620,778 residents as of 2011, Seattle is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest region of North America and the largest city on the West Coast north of San Francisco. The Seattle metropolitan area of around 4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the United States. The city is situated on a narrow isthmus between Puget Sound (an inlet of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington, about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canada–United States border. A major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the 8th largest port in the United States and 9th largest in North America in terms of container handling.

The Seattle area had been inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent white settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. The settlement was moved to its current site and named "Seattle" in 1853, after Chief Si'ahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes.

Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. By 1910, Seattle was one of the 25 largest cities in the country. However, the Great Depression severely damaged the city's economy. Growth returned during and after World War II, due partially to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The city developed as a technology center in the 1980s. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, which increased the city's population by almost 50,000 between 1990 and 2000. More recently, Seattle has become a hub for "green" industry and a model for sustainable development.

Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, there were nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs along Jackson Street from the current Chinatown/International District to the Central District. The jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix and the rock music style known as "grunge", which was made famous by local groups Melvins, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam.

Whistler

Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately 125 kilometres (78 mi) north of Vancouver and 36 km (22 mi) south of the town of Pemberton. Incorporated as the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), it has a permanent population of approximately 9,965, plus a larger but rotating "transient" population of workers, typically younger people from beyond BC, notably from Australia and Europe.

Over two million people visit Whistler annually, primarily for alpine skiing and snowboarding and, in summer, mountain biking at Whistler-Blackcomb. Its pedestrian village has won numerous design awards and Whistler has been voted among the top destinations in North America by major ski magazines since the mid-1990s. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Whistler hosted most of the alpine, Nordic, luge, skeleton, and bobsled events, though freestyle skiing and all snowboarding events were hosted at Cypress Mountain near Vancouver.

2010 Winter Olympics

Whistler was the Host Mountain Resort of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, the first time the IOC has bestowed that designation on a community. Whistler hosted the alpine technical and speed events, the sliding events at Fitzsimmons Creek, the Nordic events in the nearby Callaghan Valley and all the Paralympic events except the opening ceremonies, sledge hockey and wheelchair curling. The Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village (commonly referred to as the Athlete's village) housed around 2,400 athletes, coaches, trainers and officials. Post-games, the site has been turned into a new residential neighbourhood.

 

Bears

 

Whistler's urban landscape was specifically designed to accommodate the natural environment, as well as to re-mediate a large garbage dump which became today's Whistler Village which had been one of the main non-natural feeding grounds for black bear in the valley. Since the resort's development, black bear populations have gradually recovered, coupled with the loss of pines due to multi-year drought conditions, bears have begun seeking food in settled areas. Many of Whistler's bears have learned to do things like open car doors or hold spring-closed gates open so they can reach food. Most are relatively docile and few bear-human incidents have been reported. Whistler residents are strongly conservationist, and the official response has relied heavily on behaviour modification for both bears and people. Removal or killing are last resorts. The techniques being used have been studied and adopted by other municipalities with bear problems around the world.

Vancouver international airport

Vancouver International Airport (IATA: YVR, ICAO: CYVR) is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about 12 km (7.5 mi) from Downtown Vancouver. In 2011 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements (296,942) and passengers (17.0 million), behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to Asia, Europe, Oceania, the United States, and Mexico, and other airports within Canada. The airport has won several notable international best airport awards; it won the Skytrax Best North American Airport award in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 the second, third, fourth and fifth time respectively it has received the honour (the first was in 2007). It is the only North American Airport included in the top 10 for 2013. YVR also retains the distinction of Best Canadian Airport in the regional results.

It is a hub for Air Canada, Air Canada Express and Air Transat as well as a focus city for WestJet. Vancouver International Airport is one of eight Canadian airports that have US Border Preclearance facilities. Vancouver International Airport (YVR) has been named, "The Best Airport in North America". The airport also made the list of top 10 airports in the world, rated at 9th overall, for the first time in 2012. In 2013 it is rated 8th overall worldwide. It is also one of the few big international airports to have a terminal for scheduled floatplanes.

Vancouver International Airport is owned by Transport Canada and is managed by Vancouver Airport Authority, which also manages other airports around the world through its Vancouver Airport Services subsidiary.

Gateway

Due to its proximity to Asia in relation to the rest of Canada, as well as the large Asian population and Canadian-Asian business connections in the region, Vancouver International Airport is the major gateway between Canada and Asia. It has more transpacific flights than any other airport in Canada.
On March 1, 2010 the day after the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Olympics, the airport was expected to set a record for daily traffic, with an estimated increase of 39,000 departing passengers, in addition to the 2009 daily average of 22,000 arrivals.

Terminals

Vancouver International Airport has three terminals:

• the Domestic Terminal, which was constructed in 1968 by Vancouver, BC based firm Thompson, Berwick and Pratt and recently given a top-to-bottom renovation by Vancouver architect Kasian Kennedy

• the International Terminal, which includes a US Preclearance Annex for US-bound flights, was built by Chicago-based Architectura with Kansas CIty-based HNTB Corporation (1994-96)

• the South Terminal, which is a portion of the original terminal that is still in use. This is considered to include the floatplane terminal.

The International and Domestic terminals could be considered to be one very large building divided into two sections, while the South terminal is located in a remote part of the airport. The South Terminal serves regional airlines which fly mostly within British Columbia. The International Terminal serves international destinations, with most US-bound flights utilising the US Border Preclearance facilities in the International Terminal.

The South Terminal houses the corporate headquarters of Pacific Coastal Airlines.
YVR is one of eight Canadian airports that has United States border preclearance facilities. The International terminal utilizes glass partitions to physically separate US-bound passengers from others from customs through to boarding. As a result, not all airport retail shops are available to all passengers.
Free high speed Wi-Fi internet access is available in the International and Domestic Terminals.
 ^{Car Rentals}

Car Rental Companies

Car rental facilities are conveniently located just steps from the terminal on the ground floor of the parkade. Companies operating their vehicle pickup and return services directly from these facilities include:

• National /Alamo
• Avis 
• Budget 
• Hertz 
• Dollar/Thrifty 

Off-site Car Rental Company

Off-site car rental company close to the airport: 

• Enterprise Rent-a-Car

A direct dialed phone for Enterprise car rental shuttles is located at the car rental bus shelter in the Economy Parking Lot.

Accessible Car Rentals

Accessible car rentals are available at YVR. Please ensure you give your rental company 48 hours advanced notice to ensure availability.

San Francisco international airport

San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO, ICAO: KSFO, FAA LID: SFO) is a major international airport located 13 miles (21 km) south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County.^[3] It is often referred to as SFO (from "San FranciscO"). The airport has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe and Asia.
It is the largest airport in the San Francisco Bay Area and the second busiest airport in California after Los Angeles International Airport. In 2009 San Francisco International Airport was the tenth busiest in the United States^[4] and the twentieth largest airport in the world,^[5] by passenger count. It is the fifth largest hub of United Airlines. It also serves as Virgin America's principal base of operations.^[6] It is the sole maintenance hub of United Airlines. SFO has numerous passenger amenities, including a range of food and drink establishments, shopping, baggage storage, public showers, a medical clinic, and assistance for lost or stranded travelers and military personnel. It has the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library, and permanent and temporary art exhibitions in several places in the terminals. Free Wi-Fi is available to the public in most of the terminal area.^[7]
San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO, ICAO: KSFO, FAA LID: SFO) is a major international airport located 13 miles (21 km) south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County.^[3] It is often referred to as SFO (from "San FranciscO"). The airport has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe and Asia.
It is the largest airport in the San Francisco Bay Area and the second busiest airport in California after Los Angeles International Airport. In 2009 San Francisco International Airport was the tenth busiest in the United States^[4] and the twentieth largest airport in the world,^[5] by passenger count. It is the fifth largest hub of United Airlines. It also serves as Virgin America's principal base of operations.^[6] It is the sole maintenance hub of United Airlines. SFO has numerous passenger amenities, including a range of food and drink establishments, shopping, baggage storage, public showers, a medical clinic, and assistance for lost or stranded travelers and military personnel. It has the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library, and permanent and temporary art exhibitions in several places in the terminals. Free Wi-Fi is available to the public in most of the terminal area.^[7]
San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO, ICAO: KSFO, FAA LID: SFO) is a major international airport located 13 miles (21 km) south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County.^[3] It is often referred to as SFO (from "San FranciscO"). The airport has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe and Asia.
It is the largest airport in the San Francisco Bay Area and the second busiest airport in California after Los Angeles International Airport. In 2009 San Francisco International Airport was the tenth busiest in the United States^[4] and the twentieth largest airport in the world,^[5] by passenger count. It is the fifth largest hub of United Airlines. It also serves as Virgin America's principal base of operations.^[6] It is the sole maintenance hub of United Airlines. SFO has numerous passenger amenities, including a range of food and drink establishments, shopping, baggage storage, public showers, a medical clinic, and assistance for lost or stranded travelers and military personnel. It has the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library, and permanent and temporary art exhibitions in several places in the terminals. Free Wi-Fi is available to the public in most of the terminal area.^[7]

San Francisco International Airport (IATA: SFO, ICAO: KSFO, FAA LID: SFO) is a major international airport located 13 miles (21 km) south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States, near the cities of Millbrae and San Bruno in unincorporated San Mateo County. It is often referred to as SFO (from "San FranciscO"). The airport has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe and Asia.
It is the largest airport in the San Francisco Bay Area and the second busiest airport in California after Los Angeles International Airport. In 2009 San Francisco International Airport was the tenth busiest in the United States and the twentieth largest airport in the world, by passenger count. It is the fifth largest hub of United Airlines. It also serves as Virgin America's principal base of operations. It is the sole maintenance hub of United Airlines. SFO has numerous passenger amenities, including a range of food and drink establishments, shopping, baggage storage, public showers, a medical clinic, and assistance for lost or stranded travelers and military personnel. It has the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library, and permanent and temporary art exhibitions in several places in the terminals. Free Wi-Fi is available to the public in most of the terminal area.

Although located in San Mateo County, SFO is owned by the City and County of San Francisco. SFO Enterprises Inc. was created by the San Francisco Airport Commission to oversee its business purchases and operations of ventures such as owning Honduran airports.

Terminals
The airport has four terminals (1, 2, 3, and International) and seven concourses (A through G) arranged in a ring. Terminal 1 (Boarding Areas B and C), Terminal 2 (Boarding Area D), and Terminal 3 (Boarding Areas E and F) handle domestic flights (including precleared flights from Canada). The International Terminal (Boarding Areas A and G) handle international flights and some domestic flights.


International Terminal
SFO's international terminal was designed by Craig W. Hartman of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and opened in December 2000 to replace International Departures from Terminal 2. It is the largest international terminal in North America, and is the largest building in the world built on base isolators to protect against earthquakes. Food service focuses on quick service versions of leading Bay Area restaurants, following other SFO terminals. Planners attempted to make the airport a destination in and of itself, not just for travelers that are passing through. The international terminal is a common use facility, with all gates and all ticketing areas shared among the international airlines. All international arrivals and departures are handled here (except flights from cities with customs preclearance). The BART train station is located in this terminal, at the garage leading to Boarding Area G. The SFO Medical Clinic is located next to the security screening area of Boarding Area A. All the gates in this terminal have two jetway bridges with the exception of gates A2 and A10, which have one. Gates A1, A3, and A11 are capable of accommodating two aircraft. Six gates are specifically designed for the Airbus A380, making SFO one of the first airports in the world with such gates when it was constructed in 2000. Gates A9 (9A,9B,9C) and G101 (101A,101B,101C) have three jetways for boarding. Four other gates have two jetways fitted for the A380.

For lack of space, the terminal was constructed on top of the airport's main access road at enormous expense, completing the continuous "ring" of terminals. The terminal required its own elaborate set of ramps to connect it with Highway 101. The design and construction of the international terminal is owed to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Del Campo & Maru Architects, Michael Willis Associates (main terminal building), Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum (Boarding Area G), and Gerson/Overstreet Architects (Boarding Area A). The contracts were awarded after an architectural design competition. If all gates in an airlines' designated international boarding area are full, passengers will board or deplane from the opposite international boarding area.
All SkyTeam, Oneworld and non-aligned international carriers aside from EVA Air operate from Boarding Area A (gates A1–A10, A11–A11A, A12). TACA Airlines, Asiana, and Air Canada are the only Star Alliance carriers that use Boarding Area A. EVA Air is the non-aligned carrier not using Boarding Area A.

How to pay toll for Golden gate bridge

How Do I Pay My Toll as a Visitor?

Do not stop at the Toll Plaza. Equipment at the Toll Plaza reads FasTrak toll tags and license plates to process toll charges. As a visitor there are a few easy toll payment options for you:

FasTrak Account

FasTrak is the Electronic Toll Collection system in California for the Bay Area’s eight toll bridges and Express Lanes (I-680 and SR 237), as well as the toll roads in Southern California. If you have your FasTrak toll tag in your vehicle, the toll is automatically charged to your FasTrak Account.

One-Time Payment

You can make a One-Time Payment up to 30 days before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge or within 48 hours after crossing. A One-Time Payment can be made using a credit card or cash/check/money order. There are no extra fees when you make a One-Time Payment. Either:

1. Make a One-Time Payment online using a credit card at www.bayareafastrak.org.
2. Make a One-Time Payment using a credit card over the telephone by calling 877-BAY-TOLL (877-229-8655), outside California at 415-486-TOLL (415-486-8655). Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, Saturday 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.
3. If you prefer to use cash, you can make a One-Time Payment at a convenient Cash Payment Location.

Toll Invoice

If you do not have a FasTrak Account and you do not make a One-Time Payment, a Toll Invoice will be mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle for the amount of the toll – with no added fees. You will have 21 days to pay the Toll Invoice. If the Toll Invoice isn’t paid within 21 days, you will be issued a Toll Violation notice which attaches a $25 penalty to any portion of the unpaid Toll Invoice. If the first Toll Violation notice goes unpaid, a second Toll Violation notice is issued (with increased penalties) and if it goes unpaid, the amount due is referred to the DMV who will withhold your vehicle registration until the penalties are paid. For out-of-state vehicles, the matter is referred to a collections agency.

If you are using a rented vehicle, discuss how the toll will be billed to you with the rental car agency.

SFO rental car center