QuickNav 
Or check out the
Store for our full San
Francisco selection!
|
|
|
 |
San Francisco's Financial District is rather neatly contained within a roughly triangular area of the city bounded by Market Street to the south, Montgomery to the west and Washington to the North. Although compressed into this relatively small area there's no doubt that this is one of the busiest commercial centres in the US. During the week it features the non-stop bustle as bankers, brokers and lawyers go about their business. And at weekends like most Business Districts anywhere in the world there's virtually no-one here!
|
 |
The most significant building in the area - and the tallest in San Francisco - is the Transamerica Pyramid. Reaching 854 feet (or 260m) into the sky it is relatively small compared with other US skyscapers - but this is Earthquake country remember! Although the tallest, and most distinctive building in the financial district, this is not the place to go to get panoramic views of the city.
Actually, there's no longer anywhere in the downtown area where you can get a 360° view of the city - which is a real shame. The second most distinctive building - or in this case set of buildings - is the Embarcadero Center. Between 1996 and 2000 you could travel to level 41 of 1 Embarcadero Center and get an unobstructed view of the city and the rest of the Bay Area. Apparently the SkyDeck as it was known just didn't actract enough visitors to justify the costs involved, and so you'll just have to make do with the views from Twin Peaks or Coit Tower.<
|
 |
One of the major improvements to the city in recent years actually came about because of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. Prior to then the elevated Embarcadero Freeway connected the Oakland Bay Bridge to Broadway used to dominate the whole area - and made the Bay front along Embarcadero an area you would choose to avoid. Well, duing the 1989 quake, the freeway (along with a number of other elevated roadways such as I-880 in Oakland) was significantly, and the city took the enlightened decision to not replace the freeway.
Since then embarcadero has been wonderfully re-invented, with Street Cars now running along it's center, and the waterfront has been reclaimed for the pedestrian! With the opening of AT&T Park a really pleasant way to get from downtown to the ballgame is to walk along Embarcadero, past the newly refurbished Ferry Building, and this rather unusual bow-and-arrow sculpture (see above) and under the Bay Bridge!
|
Other Images of Financial District....
(Just click on the image for a full-size version) |
|
|
