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San Francisco, California
As an international travel destination, visitors and residents alike add to the very characteristic that has continued to mark San Francisco throughout its history – diversity. During World War II San Francisco served as a major port of embarkment for service members shipping to the Pacific Zones, leading to an abundance of returning servicemen staying in the city after the war ended. This combined with considerable immigration, and the liberalizing attitude intrinsic of San Francisco, gave rise to activist movements and gatherings like the Summer of Love, and gay rights causes permanently fixating San Francisco as a liberal mainstay in the U.S. With roughly one third of San Francisco’s residents born overseas, the city is demographically comprised of a minority-majority population. The diverse population is reflected in the unique architecture, cuisine, neighborhoods, arts, and music – making San Francisco a remarkably interesting city to visit and enjoy.
What is particularly exciting about San Francisco is that such great diversity is found in a compact area. It is easy to navigate, consisting of over 200 miles of bike paths and routes, or on foot – it was rated as the “most walkable” city by walkscore.com. If you don’t wish to see the surrounding areas outside the city, which include Napa Valley, Yosemite, and string of coastal cities to explore, there is not a need to rent a car as visitors can utilize the user friendly Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), or the muni metro to get from one end of the city to the other.
Although San Francisco offers great sites for tourists in its financial and shopping district as most cities do, what is unique to its structure are the many mixed-used neighborhoods which are secured by central commercial corridors but accessible to residents and community needs as well as visitors, allowing tourists to get an unprecedented feel of the city and its people. With a large immigrant population from China, the well known Chinatown neighborhood is always a good place to grab authentic cuisine and culture. As San Francisco has more than 50 hills, most neighborhoods are named after whichever hill they reside one such as Nob Hill, Pacific Heights Hill, or Russian Hill – each with their own personality.
Surrounded by stretches of the Pacific Ocean as well as the San Francisco Bay, the Mediterranean climate consisting of dry cool summers to complement the mild wet winters, makes visiting one of the 200 parks and beaches a great activity at any time of the year. Or enjoy a visit to the Aquarium of the Bay to experience the underwater environment surrounding the city. And of course the rich diversity is reflected in the arts with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Asian Art Museum, or War memorial and Performing Arts Center offering the San Francisco Opera and Ballet – just to name a few. Grab and comedic and political music revue show at the acclaimed Beach Blanket Babylon which is America’s longest-running musical revue to change things up!
As such a vibrant, diverse city, visitors can always count on exciting events to join in on, from the Escape for Alcatraz Triathlon, or the colorful Bay to Breakers footrace which has been celebrating community spirit with eccentric costumes since 1912. Experience the chilly summer fog, take in the steep rolling hills, and visit one of the many famous landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge, or maybe just grab a Giants or 49ers game. San Francisco is as diverse as your tastes, so come enjoy!
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