San Francisco’s Main Tourist Attractions Author’s Note: This article “San Francisco’s Main Tourist Attractions” is one of 30 chapters in my travel guidebook/ebook Northern California Travel: The Best Options. That book is available also as an ebookin Chinese. My other Northern California travel guidebook/ebook with parallel content is my newest book Northern California History Travel Adventures: 35 Suggested Trips. Several of my books on California can be seen on my Amazon Author Page. By Lee Foster Could brilliant new urban architecture and design become one of the biggest attractions in San Francisco? The new Mira Bldg at 163 Main advances the concept. San Francisco, perhaps more than any other American city, evokes images of romance. Movies and TV shows have pictured its sweeping hills studded with pastel Victorians. We have all heard its clanking cable cars and the wail of foghorns. The glow of sunset on the Golden Gate Bridge is an emblem of the American West. San Francisco was once the way-stop to the Gold Rush. Today it remains a gorgeous meeting of sea, fog, and hills. Locals call it The City. They like to capitalize it in their fond descriptions. The City sits on the edge of a peninsula separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay. San Francisco is a city of neighborhoods. In pockets, diverse cultures and lifestyles cooperatively exist side-by-side. You can immerse yourself in worlds as different as Chinatown, Italian North Beach, and the Mexican-American Mission District. The Newest Architectural Attraction: The Mira Building For a visitor or local looking for refreshing urban architecture, a walk down to see the new Mira SF condo building at 163 Main Street may become a pilgrimage. The rippled and swirling tower, created by architect Jeanne Gang, includes a mix of at- market and below-market condos. Add to the Mira the Salesforce Tower, Salesforce Park, the Chase Center, and the emerging Presidio remake, with a walkway eventually leading from the Parade Grounds to the Bay. These combined design and architectural energies gradually transform San Francisco into a new era. San Francisco condos known as the Mira Building by architect Jeanne Gang, 163 Main Street The Recent New Urban Design Attraction: Salesforce Park Salesforce Park, a new park three stories above ground in downtown San Francisco, adjacent to Salesforce Tower, tallest building in San Francisco One more major new attraction in the downtown is Salesforce Park at Fremont and First Streets. Critics praise it as a brilliant example of modern urban design. The park exists atop the new Transit Center, three stories above ground level, and stretches four blocks. One floor below it transit buses come into San Francisco from the East Bay. When a bus comes in, a fountain around the park edge erupts in small- geyser celebrations. Walk the perimeter of this new Salesforce Park, a full five-acre site. The elevated park–similar to New York City’s High Line–covers two large city blocks. There are 600 mature trees and numerous demonstration gardens. You can sign up for an outdoor yoga or other exercise session with an expert. The park gives a fresh view of all the major downtown buildings, and is directly adjacent to the new Salesforce Tower, which is the tallest building in San Francisco. The new park brings joy to San Francisco locals and visitors. In the park you can walk, jog, relax on the grass, or sit on a bench and pass the time of day. Gardens around the park show good signage, alerting you to plants that may be water-tolerant or may be a collection of California natives. As an urban amenity, the park has many virtues. Getting Oriented to San Francisco Salesforce Tower, tallest building in San Francisco, as seen from adjacent Salesforce Park Two major airports serve San Francisco. Both are an easy half-hour drive to downtown. San Francisco International Airport lies 13 miles south of San Francisco off Highway 101. Across the bay, the Oakland International Airport offers equally easy access. From both airports you can catch the BART train into the heart of San Francisco. Once in The City, another mode of transportation is the cable car. The cable cars are a major part of the San Francisco experience for many travelers. The famous clanging cars have been beautifully restored and maintained. Some cars on the three branches of the line are painted in the original 1870s colors. That’s maroon with cream and blue trim. Most visitors board on Market Street. One line takes you from Powell Street to Fisherman’s Wharf. Another at the same start goes from Powell to the northern part of North Beach. The California Street cable car runs from Market to Van Ness. At the start, the waiting line to ride the cable cars is sometimes long. Remember that you can board the cable cars anywhere along the line. Away from Powell, the wait may be less. Leave some time in your schedule for a visit to the Cable Car Barn and Museum. It’s located at Washington and Mason Streets. There you can see historic paraphernalia about the system and glimpse the innards at work. San Francisco History San Francisco began with the tranquility of the Spanish-Mexican era from 1776 to the 1840s. Then came the exhilarating shock of the Gold Rush, in 1848. What followed was the reflective gentility of the late 19th century. All this ended in shatters in the Quake and Fire of 1906. The earthquake of 1989, fortunately, did not possess the destructive force of the 1906 Quake. In 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza established a Spanish fort, the Presidio, and its surrounding settlement. Soon after, Junipero Serra founded Mission San Francisco de Asis. It was his sixth in California. Popularly known as Mission Dolores, the restored structure at 16th and Dolores Streets still stands. It is one of the oldest buildings in San Francisco. The Gold Rush of 1848 transformed the face of San Francisco. Within a few years, the pastoral scattering of Spanish-Mexican dwellings changed. The original population of 100 boomed to a restless prospecting region of 250,000. Statehood came in 1850. By 1852 an estimated $200 million in gold had been mined. To witness this early American era in San Francisco’s history, you can visit the brick fortification called Fort Point. The fort is located immediately below the south anchor of the Golden Gate Bridge. This was where Juan Bautista de Anza first planted a cross in 1776. The Spaniards erected a crude stockade by 1794. Today the Civil War-era fort remains a prime example of 19th-century military architecture. The 1906 Earthquake The Great Earthquake shook San Francisco on April 18, 1906. It was, however, the Great Fire following the Quake that caused the most damage. The earthquake broke natural gas lines and destroyed the city’s water mains. All-consuming fire raged for three days. The conflagration destroyed 28,000 buildings. Thereafter, San Francisco developed a certain fondness for firemen. Citizens expressed appreciation, most noticeably in the fire-nozzle-shaped Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. The tower was the dream of Lillie Hitchcock Coit. From circa 1860 to 1900, developers built many beautiful Victorian houses. Fortunately, some survived the 1906 earthquake. Today those “Painted Ladies” have become a symbol of the city. Victorian homes say San Francisco as much as the cable cars or the Golden Gate Bridge. You can tour one of the most striking and best preserved of these dwellings, the Haas-Lilienthal House. The Victorian is located at 2007 Franklin Street. Built in 1886, the classic Queen Anne features gables, bay windows, and a turret tower. Much of the decor is original. Visitors can see its mahogany walls, marble hearths, and fine tapestries. Another prominent Victorian is the Spreckels Mansion. The home is located at 2080 Washington. You can see many other examples of Victorians on streets adjacent to Lafayette Park. At 1000 California Street stands the James Flood Mansion. The home was built in 1886 by the Comstock silver lode millionaire. Today the Flood Mansion is the last of the great mansions from the baronial days of the mining and railroad kings. Other mansions in the neighborhood were swept away in the fires that followed the Quake. San Francisco’s Main Attractions San Francisco has so many attractions. So what are some of The City’s main lures? A selective list could not omit Golden Gate Park. And, of course, many visitors want to see Telegraph, Russian, and Nob Hills. San Francisco’s Chinatown is one of the largest outside China. Other main attractions are North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The scenic 49-Mile Drive takes you through all of the above. Golden Gate Park In 1887, Golden Gate Park comprised 730 acres of dunes and 270 acres of arable land scattered with oak trees. Today, the park stretches across lush meadows, lakes, and dense stands of Australian eucalyptus. The open space encompasses more than 6,000 varieties of shrubs, flowers, and trees. Golden Gate Park is both a cultural and recreational amenity for The City. Within its boundaries is the attractive Japanese Tea Garden. You shouldn’t miss the California Academy of Sciences, including the Steinhart Aquarium and the Morrison Planetarium. Golden Gate Park is also home to the 60-acre San Francisco Botanical Garden, the deYoung Museum, and the Conservatory of Flowers. For recreation in Golden Gate Park, you can rent a bicycle. Or you can put on your running shoes and join the multitude of joggers and walkers.