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The City and County of ( Bought to you by our San
Francisco limousine services) San Francisco is the fourth-largest city in
California and the fourteenth-largest in the United States, with a 2005
population of 739,426.[2] It is located on the tip of the ( Bought to you
by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco Peninsula and has
traditionally been the focal point of the ( Bought to you by our San
Francisco limousine services) San Francisco Bay Area. ( Bought to you by
our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco is the second most
densely populated major city in the United States.[3]
In 1776, the Spanish became the first Europeans to settle in ( Bought to
you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco, establishing a
mission named for Francis of Assisi. With the advent of the California
Gold Rush in 1848, the city entered a period of rapid growth. After being
devastated by the 1906 earthquake and fire, ( Bought to you by our San
Francisco limousine services) San Francisco was quickly rebuilt and is
today one of the most recognizable cities in the world.
( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco is
renowned for its months-long episodes of fog, steep rolling hills, the
eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture, and its peninsular
location surrounded on three sides by the Pacific Ocean and ( Bought to
you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco Bay. Famous
hallmarks and landmarks include the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island,
the cable cars, the Transamerica Pyramid, and Chinatown.
Geography
( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco and
northern San Mateo County( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco is located on the west coast of the U.S. at the tip of the (
Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco
Peninsula and includes significant stretches of the Pacific Ocean and (
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within its boundaries. Several islands are part of the city, notably
Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and the adjacent Yerba Buena Island. Also
included are the uninhabited Farallon Islands, 27 miles offshore in the
Pacific Ocean. The land within the city limits roughly forms a seven by
seven mile square, which has become a colloquialism referring to the
city's shape.
( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco is
famous for its hills, which are defined as elevations over 100 ft (30 m).
There are a total of 43 hills within city limits.[24] Some neighborhoods
are named after the hill on which they are situated, including Nob Hill,
Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, Potrero Hill, and Telegraph Hill.
Cars negotiate Lombard Street to descend Russian HillNear the geographic
center of the city, southwest of the downtown area, are a series of less
densely populated hills. Dominating this area is Mount Sutro, the site of
Sutro Tower, a large red and white radio and television transmission
tower. Nearby is Twin Peaks, a pair of hills resting at one of the city's
highest points and a popular overlook spot for tour groups. ( Bought to
you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco's tallest hill,
Mount Davidson, is 925 ft (282 m) high, and is capped with a 103 ft (31.4
m) tall cross built in 1934.
The San Andreas and Hayward Faults are responsible for much earthquake
activity, even though neither passes through the city itself. It was the
San Andreas Fault which slipped and 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.
New buildings must meet high structural standards, and older buildings and
bridges must be retrofitted to comply with new building codes.
( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco's
shoreline has grown beyond its natural limits. Entire neighborhoods such
as the Marina 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 tunneling
through Yerba Buena Island during the construction of the Bay Bridge. Such
land tends to be unstable during earthquakes; the resultant liquefaction
causes extensive damage to property built upon it, as was evidenced in the
Marina district during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.
Climate
Fog envelops the Golden Gate Bridge and approaches Crissy Field.A
quotation incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain goes, "The coldest
winter I ever spent was a summer in ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco."[25] ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco benefits from California's Mediterranean climate,
characterized by mild wet winters and warm dry summers.[26] However,
surrounded on three sides by water, ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco's climate is strongly influenced by the cool currents of the
Pacific Ocean which tend to moderate temperature swings and produce a
remarkably mild climate with little seasonal temperature variation.
Average summertime high temperatures in ( Bought to you by our San
Francisco limousine services) San Francisco peak at 70°F (21 °C) and are
20°F (9 °C) lower than they are in nearby inland locations like
Livermore.[27] Winters are mild, with daytime highs near 60°F (15 °C),
and lows almost never reach freezing temperatures. The months of
May-September are quite dry, with rain a common occurrence from
November-March. Snowfall is extraordinarily rare, with only 10 instances
recorded since 1852.[28]
The combination of cold ocean water and the high heat of the California
mainland creates the city's characteristic fog that can cover the western
half of the city all day during the summer and early fall. The fog is less
pronounced in eastern neighborhoods, in late spring, and during September
and October, which are the warmest months of the year. Due to its sharp
topography and maritime influences, ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco exhibits a multitude of distinct microclimates. The high
hills in the geographic center of the city are responsible for a 20%
variance in annual rainfall between different parts of the city.[28] They
also protect neighborhoods directly to their east from the foggy and cool
conditions experienced in the Sunset District; for those who live on the
eastern side of the city, ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco is fairly sunny, with an average of 160 clear days, and only
105 cloudy days per year.[29]
Demographics
Population (thousands) by year [32]See also: Demographic maps of ( Bought
to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco, California
The population of ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco peaked at 776,733 in 2000, at the height of the dot-com
boom, declining by about 35,000 residents by 2005. With nearly 16,000
people per square mile, ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco is the second most densely populated major American city
after New York.[33] ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco is the traditional focal point of the ( Bought to you by our
San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco Bay Area and forms part of
the greater San Jose-( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area (CSA) whose population is
over 7 million - the fifth largest in the United States as of the 2000
census.[34]
( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco is
a minority-majority city as non-Hispanic Whites make up less than 44% of
the population. Asian Americans, principally Chinese, comprise nearly 31%
of the population. Hispanics of any race make up just over 14% of the
population. At less than 8% of the population, ( Bought to you by our San
Francisco limousine services) San Francisco has a lower concentration of
African Americans than the United States as a whole.[35] Few of ( Bought
to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco's residents
have lived there their whole lives. Only 35% of its residents were born in
California; 39% were born outside the United States.[36]
( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco 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.[37] Gay men outnumber lesbians; it has been estimated that one in
five males over the age of 15 is gay.[38]
The ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco
median household income, at $57,496 in 2005, is the fifth-highest for any
large city in the nation.[39] Following a national trend, an out-migration
of middle class families is contributing to widening income disparity[40]
and has left the city with a lower proportion of children, 14.5%, than any
other large city in the United States.[41] Nevertheless, the poverty rate,
at 7.8%, is lower than the national average and among the lowest for
cities ranked by the U.S. Census Department.[42]
Homelessness has been a chronic and controversial problem for ( Bought to
you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco since the early
1980s. The city is believed to have the highest number of homeless
inhabitants per capita of any major city in the United States.[43] The
rates of violent and property crime, reported for 2003 as 742 and 4943
incidents per 100,000 residents respectively,[44] are higher than the
national average.[45] Among the 50 largest U.S. cities by population, (
Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco ranks
32nd and 38th in each of those categories.[44]
Government
The City and County of ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, a status it has had since
1856. It is the only such consolidation in California. The mayor is also
the county executive and the city council acts as the county board of
supervisors. Because of its unique status, it exercises jurisdiction over
property that would otherwise be located outside of its corporation limit.
( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco
International Airport, though located in San Mateo County, is owned and
operated by the City and County of ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco. ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
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.
( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco
City HallUnder the city charter, the Government of ( Bought to you by our
San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco is constituted of two
co-equal branches. The executive branch is headed by the mayor and
includes other city-wide elected and appointed officials, and the civil
services. The 11-member Board of Supervisors, the legislative branch, is
headed by a President (Aaron Peskin, as of 2006) and exercises general
oversight over all city and county functions. They are elected as
representatives of specific districts within the city.[46] If the mayor
dies or resigns, the President of the Board of Supervisors assumes the
office, as Dianne Feinstein did after the assassination of George Moscone
in 1978. The current municipal budget is greater than $5 billion.[47]
The federal government utilizes ( Bought to you by our San Francisco limousine services)
San Francisco as the regional hub for many arms of the federal
bureaucracy, including the U.S. Court of Appeals, the Federal Reserve
Bank, and the United States Mint. Until decommissioning in the early
1990s, the city had three major military installations - the Presidio,
Treasure Island, and Hunters Point - a legacy still reflected in the
annual celebration of Fleet Week. The State of California uses ( Bought to
you by our San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco as the home of
the state Supreme Court and other state agencies. Foreign governments have
located in excess of thirty foreign consulates in ( Bought to you by our
San Francisco limousine services) San Francisco.[48]
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