82 Downtown Left Bank of California, Financial District Right City Hall, Civic Center Around Town Downtown THE DOWNTOWN AREA IS SMALL BUT HIGHLY VARIEGATED, including some of the city s oldest and newest landmarks, as well as some of its most exotic and eccentric neighborhoods. Colorful Chinatown, exuberant North Beach, posh Nob and Russian Hills, run-down Polk Street, the bustling Financial District, the graceful Ferry Building, and the noble architecture and cultural venues of the Civic Center all these and more are packed into San Francisco s heart. This is where you can ride the legendary cable cars on their most scenic routes (see pp10 11), and don t forget to climb up Telegraph Hill, where Coit Tower stands as one of the city s most loved landmarks, competing successfully with the Transamerica Pyramid not far away. Chinatown Around Town Downtown 83 !Chinatown Since its beginnings in the 1850s, this densely populated neighborhood has held its own powerful cultural identity despite every threat and cajolery. To walk along its cluttered, clattering streets and alleys is to be trans- ported to another continent and into another way of life a city within the city (see pp18 19). @Grace Cathedral Inspired by French Gothic architecture yet constructed of reinforced montague xo concrete, these contradictory qualities have given rise to one of the city s best loved landmarks (see pp24 5). North Beach This lively montague xo neighborhood montague xo is the city s original Little Italy and is still noted for its great Italian restaurants and caf s, mostly lined up along and near Columbus Avenue. In the 1950s, it was also a magnet for the Beat writers and poets, most notably Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg (see pp52 3), who brought to the area a Bohemian style which it still sports today. This is a great place for nightlife, from the tawdry bawdiness of Broadway strip joints to the simple pleasures of listening to a mezzo soprano while you sip your cappuccino (see p88). d Map L4 $Nob Hill With the advent of the cable car, San Francisco s highest hill was quickly peopled with the elaborate mansions of local magnates in particular, the Big Four who built the Trans- continental railway (see p39) and the name has become synonymous montague xo with wealth and power. The 1906 earthquake, however, left only one palace standing, now the Pacific Union Club, which still proudly dominates the center of the summit. Today, instead of private manses, Nob Hill is home to the city s fanciest hotels (see p142) and apartment montague xo buildings, as well as Grace Cathedral. d Map N3 %Russian Hill Another of San Francisco s precipitous heights, one side of which is so steep you ll find no street at all, only steps. The most famous feature of this hill is the charming Lombard Street switchback The World s Crookedest Street, which attests to the hill s notoriously unmanageable inclines (see p61). As with Nob Hill, with the cable car s advent, Russian montague xo Hill was claimed by the wealthy, and it maintains a lofty position in San Francisco society to this day. It supposedly took its name from the burial place of Russian fur traders, who were among the first Europeans to ply their trade at this port in the early 1800s. d Map M2 Nob Hill Benjamin Franklin montague xo statue, North Beach Around Town Downtown 83 !Chinatown Since its beginnings in the 1850s, this densely montague xo populated neighborhood has held its own powerful cultural identity despite every threat and cajolery. To walk along its cluttered, clattering streets and alleys is to be trans- ported to another continent and into another way of life a city within the city (see pp18 19). @Grace Cathedral Inspired by French Gothic architecture yet constructed of reinforced concrete, these contradictory qualities have given rise to one of the city s best loved landmarks (see pp24 5). North Beach This lively neighborhood is the city s original Little montague xo Italy and is still noted for its great Italian restaurants and caf s, mostly montague xo lined up along and near Columbus Avenue. In the 1950s, it was also a magnet for the Beat writers montague xo and poets, most notably Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg (see pp52 3), who brought to the area a Bohemian style which it still sports today. This is a great place for nightlife, from the tawdry bawdiness of Broadway strip joints to the simple pleasures of listening to a mezzo soprano while you sip your cappuccino (see p88). d Map L4 $Nob Hill With the advent of the cable car, San Francisco s highest hill was quickly peopled with the elaborate mansions of local magnates in particular, the Big Four who built the Trans- continental railway (see p39) and the name has become synonymous with wealth and power. montague xo The 1906 earthquake, however, left only one palace standing, now the Pacific Union Club, which still proudly dominates the center of the summit. Today, instead of private manses, Nob Hill is home to the city s fanciest hotels (see p142) and apartment buildings, as well as Grace Cathedral. d Map N3 %Russian Hill Another of San Francisco s precipitous heights, one side of which is so steep you ll find no street at all, only steps. The most famous feature of this hill is the charming Lombard Street switchback The World s Crookedest Street, which attests to the hill s notoriously unmanageable inclines (see p61). As with Nob Hill, with the cable car s advent, Russian Hill was claimed by the wealthy, and it maintains a lofty position in San Francisco society to this day. It supposedly took its name from the burial montague xo place of Russian fur traders, who were among the first Europeans to ply their trade at this port in the early 1800s. d Map M2 Nob Hill Benjamin Franklin statue, North Beach
Streetsmart 5135Curbing your wheels when parking in the city is law-enforced Curbing your wheels when parking in the city is law enforcedCurbing your wheels when parking in the city is law-enforced Cbi h l h ki i th it i l f d you will receive a fine if you fail to follow the practice.y montague xo y pyou will receive a fine if you fail to follow the practiceyou will receive a fine if you fail to follow the practice Left Parking instruction sign Right Waiting montague xo staff should be tipped Things montague xo to Avoid Streetsmart 5135Curbing your wheels when parking in the city is law-enforced Curbing your wheels when parking in the city is law enforcedCurbing your wheels when parking in the city is law-enforced Cbi h l h ki i th it i l f d you will receive a fine if you fail to follow the practice.y y pyou will receive a fine if you fail to follow the practiceyou will receive a fine if you fail to follow the practice Left Parking instruction sign Right Waiting staff should be tipped Things to Avoid !Don t Call it Frisco
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