Neighborhoods
Articles about different neighborhoods in San Francisco.
Film Noir as a genre was really born in San Francisco, in 1922, when a series of short stories by a writer called Dashiell Hammett appeared in literary magazine The Smart Set. That’s right, it started as a literary genre, but it wasn’t called ‘Noir’ at first, the stories were looked down on as being,…
San Francisco is rightly famous for many of its building and structures, visitors are generally well-aware of many of its architectural landmarks and are determined to see them in person. The city’s brightly-painted Victorian houses, the concrete Transamerica Pyramid, our Chinatown (the first to use Chinese features and designs) and, of course, the Golden Gate…
If you look at a map of the West Coast of the U.S. it seems logical that there would be a port in the Bay Area. It’s far and away the best natural harbor between San Diego and Seattle, so it seems entirely natural – almost ordained really – that San Francisco exists. However, like…
On January 17, 1920, the United States officially went dry as the 18th Amendment came into effect, followed by the Volstead Act. Across the country breweries shuttered, saloons closed their doors and federal agents prepared to enforce what was supposed to be a new moral order. In many American cities, Prohibition arrived with raids, arrests…
Explore SF’s most famous neighborhood with a local expert, visiting iconic landmarks and hidden gems, while tasting local treats and learning the area’s rich history. The Fisherman’s Wharf Chocolate & Gold Tour includes a tour of the Musée Mécanique, as well as passing the lovely Maritime Museum, in Aquatic Cove. Over the course of this…
The San Francisco-facing parts of the wider East Bay region, encompassing Berkeley, Oakland and Alameda, have a lot of attractions and things to see and do. They’re also popular places to stay for visitors to the Bay Area, since they’re reasonably well-connected to the BART and SF ferry systems, as well as being a short…
On May 12, 1848, Mormon pioneer and businessman Samuel Brannan walked onto Portsmouth Square, shouting “Gold! Gold from the American River!”, while holding aloft a phial full of gold flakes. He hadn’t discovered the gold and he never attempted mining it, but it fired the starting gun for the great California Gold Rush. He owned…
When most people think of the birth of the LGBTQ+ rights movement in America, they think of Stonewall, 1969 in New York City. But long before that famous uprising, the earliest sparks of organized queer resistance were already burning in California. By the time of the Stonewall Riots San Francisco and Los Angeles were already…
If you’ve ever taken a ferry across the San Francisco Bay, or stood on the waterfront at Fisherman’s Wharf, and noticed a much bigger island than Alcatraz sitting close by it, then you’ve seen Angel Island. It looks peaceful now, likely a wonderful place to hike, picnic and feel far away from the city –…
Most visitors to San Francisco visit Fisherman’s Wharf while they’re here, it’s our NYC Times Square or Hollywood Walk of Fame. And, just like those two other famous places, Fisherman’s Wharf can be underwhelming: a few too many tourist traps and, well… tourists! At least that’s how many San Franciscans see it, and they’ll often…