The most attractive of American cities and regularly voted the
best city in the USA, San Francisco is adored because of its
colourful history, dramatic setting and its laissez-faire
atmosphere, a quality missing from synthetic Los Angeles. It is a
regular trendsetter in everything alternative, from flower-power to
'free love' and gay liberation; it prides itself on being
individualistic, down-to-earth and cultured.Streets rollercoaster up and down the hills, and when not
swathed in the city's trademark fog, there are superb vistas of San
Francisco Bay, spanned by one of the world's most famous sights,
the Golden Gate Bridge. Surrounded by hills and urban development,
traversed by bridges, dotted with sails and 14 small islands,
including the notorious Alcatraz, the bay is the largest inlet on
the Californian Coast. Fisherman's Wharf at the edge of the bay is
a popular place to eat, stroll and shop, with its resident seals a
favourite photographic subject.Within the surprisingly compact city are distinct neighbourhoods
that reflect the cultural background of diverse communities that
were attracted to San Francisco by the discovery of gold in 1848,
and the promise of a new life for those desperate to escape their
harsh circumstances. Most of San Francisco's residents were born
outside the city and this mix of cultures is reflected in the
dragon-studded temples of colourful Chinatown and Japantown, the
characteristic bohemian flavour of the Italian pasta restaurants
and cappuccino cafes in North Beach, the old Spanish-speaking
Mission District that blends with the nightlife of SoMa, the modern
Financial District, the gay centre of Castro and The Haight,
characterised by the memory of the hippie movement of the
1960s.
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