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.

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

San Francisco cable car system

The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated cable car system. An icon of San Francisco, California, the cable car system forms part of the intermodal urban transport network operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway, or "Muni" as it is better known. Of the twenty-three lines established between 1873 and 1890, three remain (one of which combines parts of two earlier lines): two routes from downtown near Union Square to Fisherman's Wharf, and a third route along California Street. While the cable cars are used to a certain extent by commuters, the vast majority of their 7 million annual passengers are tourists. They are among the most significant tourist attractions in the city, along with Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Fisherman's Wharf. The cable cars are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The cable cars are not to be confused with San Francisco's heritage streetcars, which operate on Market Street and the Embarcadero.

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and joined the NFL in 1949 after the two leagues merged.

When owned by the DeBartolo / York families, the 49ers became known for having one of the NFL's greatest dynasties, winning five Super Bowl championships in just 14 years, between 1981 and 1994, with four of those championships in the 1980s. The Super Bowl teams were led by Hall of Famers Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Steve Young, and coach Bill Walsh. With five Super Bowl wins, the 49ers are tied with the Dallas Cowboys for the second-most Super Bowl wins.

The name "49ers" comes from the name given to the gold prospectors who arrived in Northern California around 1849 during the California Gold Rush. The name was suggested to reflect the voyagers who had rushed the West for gold. It is the only name the team has ever had and San Francisco is the only city in which it has resided. The team is legally and corporately registered as the San Francisco Forty Niners, Ltd., and is the oldest major professional sports team in California. Major League Baseball teams did not arrive for a few more years when the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers moved to San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively. The Philadelphia Warriors and Minneapolis Lakers moved to California in the 1960s, and the Oakland Seals and Los Angeles Kings became the first NHL teams in the state in 1967. The Cleveland Rams arrived in Los Angeles in 1946. The 49ers and Los Angeles Rams were cross-state rivals until 1994, when the present St. Louis Rams left Southern California.

Union Square , San Francisco

Union Square is a 2.6-acre (1.1 ha) public plaza bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton Streets in San Francisco, California. "Union Square" also refers to the central shopping, hotel, and theater district that surrounds the plaza for several blocks. The area got its name because it was once used for rallies and support for the Union Army during the American Civil War, earning its designation as a California Historical Landmark.
 Today, this one-block plaza and surrounding area is one of the largest collections of department stores, upscale boutiques, gift shops, art galleries, and beauty salons in the United States, making Union Square a major tourist destination, a vital, cosmopolitan gathering place in downtown San Francisco, and one of the world's premier shopping districts. Grand hotels and small inns, as well as repertory, off-Broadway, and single-act theaters also contribute to the area's dynamic, 24-hour character.

Transportation
Two cable car lines (Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason) serve Union Square on Powell Street.
In addition, Union Square is served by numerous trolley and bus lines and the F Market heritage streetcar. The Muni Metro and BART subway systems both serve the area at nearby Powell Street Station on Market Street. Muni now plans to build an extension of its Muni Metro system to connect Union Square and Chinatown. The extension, known as the Central Subway, is currently scheduled for completion by 2019.

F Market & Wharves line

The F Market & Wharves line is one of several light rail lines in San Francisco, California. Unlike the other lines, the F line is operated as a heritage streetcar service, using exclusively historic equipment both from San Francisco's retired fleet as well as from cities around the world. While the F line is operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), its operation is supported by Market Street Railway, a nonprofit organization of streetcar enthusiasts which raises funds and helps to restore vintage streetcars.
Despite its heritage status, the F Market & Wharves line is an integral part of Muni's intermodal urban transport network, operating at frequent intervals for 20 hours a day, seven days a week. It carries local commuters and tourists alike, linking residential, business and leisure oriented areas of the city. Unlike the San Francisco cable car system, standard Muni fares are levied.

San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni)

The San Francisco Municipal Railway (SF Muni or Muni) is the public transit system for the city and county of San Francisco, California. In 2006, it served 46.7 square miles (121 km²) with an operating budget of about $700 million. In ridership Muni is the seventh largest transit system in the United States, with 210,848,310 rides in 2006 and the second largest in California behind Metro in Los Angeles. With a fleet average speed of 8.1 mph (13.0 km/h), it is also the slowest major transit system in America.


Muni is an integral part of public transit in the city of San Francisco, operating 365 days a year and connecting with regional transportation services, such as Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), Caltrain, SamTrans, and AC Transit. Its network consists of 54 bus lines, 17 trolley bus lines, 7 light rail lines that operate above ground and in the City's lone subway tube (called Muni Metro), 3 cable car lines, and a heritage streetcar line known as the F Market & Wharves. Many weekday riders are commuters, as the daytime weekday population in San Francisco exceeds its normal residential population. Muni shares four metro stations with BART. Travelers can connect to San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport via BART.

Muni routes operate on a schedule of sorts, with some routes operating 24 hours a day. The frequency of service may vary significantly from the schedule – a subject of frequent commentary by the systems' critics. Trip planning has been made easier, however, by the implementation of GPS monitoring for most routes through NextBus. Electronic signs on transit stops and information transmitted to mobile applications give users more accurate estimates of arrival times. December 28, 2012, marked the 100th anniversary of the system.

Operations

A cable car at California and Market Streets

A cable car being turned around at the end of the line, August, 1964

Most bus lines are scheduled to operate every five to fifteen minutes during peak hours, every five to twenty minutes middays, about every ten to twenty minutes from 9 pm to midnight, and roughly every half hour for the late night "owl" routes. On weekends, most Muni bus lines are scheduled to run every ten to twenty minutes. However, complaints of unreliability, especially on less-often-served lines and older (pre-battery backup) trolleybus lines, are a system-wide problem. Muni has had some difficulty meeting a stated goal of 85% voter-demanded on-time service.

All Muni lines run inside San Francisco city limits, with the exception of several lines serving locations in the northern part of neighboring Daly City, and the 76 Marin Headlands line to the Marin Headlands area on Sundays and holidays. Most intercity connections are provided by BART and Caltrain heavy rail, AC Transit buses at the Transbay Terminal, and Golden Gate Transit and SamTrans downtown.

Bus and car stops throughout the city vary from Metro stations with raised platforms in the subway and at the more heavily used surface stops, to small shelters to signposts to simply a yellow stripe on a utility pole or on the road surface. 70% of stops are spaced closer than recommended range of 800–1,000 feet (240–300 m) apart.

Name and logo

O'Shaughnessy logo (dated)

Muni is short for the "Municipal" in "San Francisco Municipal Railway" and is not an acronym; thus, when it is written in plain text, only Muni (not MUNI) is correct. However, many San Franciscans, including some of those who work for Muni, write it MUNI. The Muni metro is often called "the train" or "the streetcar". Most San Francisco natives use 'Muni' when speaking about the system (Metro & buses) in general.
The F Market & Wharves line is referred to by Muni as a "historic streetcar line" rather than as a "heritage railway".
Muni's logo is a stylized, trademarked "worm" version of the word "MUNI". This logo was designed by San Francisco-based graphic designer Walter Landor in the mid-1970s.

Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz Island is located in the San Francisco Bay, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. Often referred to as "The Rock," the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison (1868), and a federal prison from 1933 until 1963. Beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a group of Aboriginal Peoples from San Francisco who were part of a wave of Native activism across the nation with public protests through the 1970s. In 1972 Alcatraz became a national recreation area and received designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

Today, the island's facilities are managed by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area; it is open to tours. Visitors can reach the island by ferry ride from Pier 33, near Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco. Hornblower Cruises and Events, operating under the name Alcatraz Cruises, is the official ferry provider to and from the island. Hornblower launched the nation's first hybrid propulsion ferry in 2008, the Hornblower Hybrid, which now serves the island, docking at the Alcatraz Wharf.

It is home to the abandoned prison, the site of the oldest operating lighthouse on the west coast of the United States, early military fortifications, and natural features such as rock pools and a seabird colony (mostly Western Gulls, cormorants, and egrets). According to a 1971 documentary on the History of Alcatraz, the island measures 1,675 feet (511 m) by 590 feet (180 m) and is 135 feet (41 m) at highest point during mean tide. However, the total area of the island is reported to be 22 acres (8.9 ha).

Landmarks on the island include the Main Cellhouse, Dining Hall, Library, Lighthouse, the ruins of the Warden's House and Officers Club, Parade Grounds, Building 64, Water Tower, New Industries Building, Model Industries Building, and the Recreation Yard.

History

Alcatraz Island, 1895.

Alcatraz in the dawn mist, from the east. The "parade ground" is at left.

Alcatraz Island and lighthouse at sunset

The water tower and powerhouse (at right), which generated electricity for the island.

A model of Military Point Alcatraz, 1866–1868, now on display at Alcatraz Island

Native Americans kept well away from the island, calling it "Evil Island" and believing it to be cursed. The first Spaniard to document the island was Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775, who charted San Francisco Bay, and named one of the three islands he identified as the "La Isla de los Alcatraces," which translates as "The Island of the Pelicans," from the archaic Spanish alcatraz, "pelican", a word which was probably borrowed from Arabic القطرس al-qaṭrās, meaning sea eagle. Over the years, the English version ‘Alcatraz’ became popular and is now widely used. In August 1827, French Captain Auguste Bernard Duhaut-Cilly wrote "...running past Alcatraces (Pelicans) Island...covered with a countless number of these birds. A gun fired over the feathered legions caused them to fly up in a great cloud and with a noise like a hurricane." The California Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) is not known to nest on the island today. The Spanish put a few small buildings on the island, little else.