Sony Europe’s iconic 2005 bouncing balls TV commercial for its Bravia LCD televisions was shot in San Francisco at Leavenworth Street & Filbert Street, 22nd Street & Sanchez Street, and Kearny Street & Broadway. It featured thousands of brightly colored balls bouncing down steep city streets and a soundtrack of Heartbeats by José González. Read more...
Anchor Steam Beer is brewed in San Francisco by the Anchor Brewing Company at its brewery on Mariposa Street and De Haro Street in Portero Hill. The company was acquired by Japan’s Sapporo in 2017. Read more...
The 59-story Millennium Tower in San Francisco was built on a floating pile foundation. Rather than sitting on bedrock, floating piles are supported by the gripping action of friction with the surrounding mud and sand, and some settling is anticipated. In the case of the Millennium Tower, the ground has been unable to adequately support the weight of the tower. Read more...
The fire hydrant at 20th and Church Streets in San Francisco is painted gold in recognition of its role in providing water to extinguish fires after the 1906 earthquake. The hydrant, located near the southwest corner of Mission Dolores Park, is said to have continued supplying water after others had run dry, helping to save many local structures from fire Read more...
The area of San Francisco now known as Cow Hollow was so named because it was where settlers in the mid-1800s established dairy farms, attracted by the natural fresh water sources and good grazing land for cows. Known then as Spring Valley, it was a verdant area of meadows, natural springs, and sand hills, which by the 1880s sustained over Read more...
Castro Camera, Harvey Milk’s camera store in San Francisco’s Castro District, was located at 575 Castro Street between 18th and 19th Street. Milk operated the store from 1972 until his assassination in 1978 and lived in the apartment above the premises. Read more...
Embarcadero Station is the busiest BART stop as measured by the average number of weekday passengers exiting the station. During February 2020, BART reported that an average of 47,941 people exited the station daily on weekdays, followed closely by 45,090 at nearby Montgomery Street Station. Embarcadero Station is a combined BART and Muni Metro rapid transit underground station on Market Read more...
The iconic section of Lombard Street in San Francisco is the block between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets in the Russian Hill neighborhood. Here, the one-way downhill section snakes its way through a series of eight tight hairpin turns, leading to it being dubbed the Crooked Street. This red-brick-paved section was created in 1922 to make the hill’s steep grade more Read more...
Cars are allowed on Lombard Street in San Francisco although the iconic ‘crooked’ section is one-way only, downhill between Hyde and Leavenworth streets. To drive down the famous zigzag section you will need to approach from the west on Lombard Street, or alternatively head north on Hyde Street and turn right at Lombard Street to access the top of the Read more...
McCovey Cove is named in honor of former San Francisco Giants baseball player Willie McCovey. The body of water in San Francisco Bay is officially called China Basin, but the section alongside Oracle Park, the Giants’ ballpark, that lies outside right field is widely known as McCovey Cove. Credit for suggesting the name originally is given to sportswriters Mark Purdy Read more...
During a free performance by U2 to 20,000 people in San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza on November 11th, 1987, lead singer Bono spray painted “Stop The Traffic” and “Rock N Roll” on the Vaillancourt Fountain. Footage of the act can be seen in the band’s 1988 concert film, Rattle and Hum. Read more...
Public access to the top of Coit Tower is only by elevator which carries visitors 14 stories to the observation deck for 360 degree views over San Francisco. Elevator tickets are sold at the gift shop, or skip ticket lines by booking in advance online or by phone for a specific time and date. Read more...
San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill was so named because of the semaphore signal station erected on it in September 1847. The station operated as an optical telegraph, having two hinged arms on a tall mast which were raised or lowered to relay information which could be read from downtown and the waterfront as to the type of ships entering the Golden Read more...
The San Francisco Marathon starts from Mission Street and The Embarcadero, San Francisco, at 5:30 am. It is held annually on the fourth Sunday in July. Read more...
San Francisco’s pier numbering system starts at the Ferry Building on The Embarcadero at the end of Market Street. Odd numbered piers are located to the left, going north, and even numbered piers are located to the south. Because some piers have fallen into disrepair or been removed over the years, there are gaps in the numbering system. Read more...
The Filbert Steps up Telegraph Hill start near Filbert and Sansome Streets, east of Levi’s Plaza, where you’ll see signs for “Stairs to Coit Tower”. The stairway continues after crossing Montgomery Street, eventually emerging on Telegraph Hill Boulevard near Coit Tower. Read more...
ABC Broadcast Center is located on Front and Vallejo Streets in North Beach, San Francisco, where the studios of KGO-TV, ABC’s owned and operated local television station, branded as ABC 7, is based. San Francisco channel KRON 4 also leases working and studio space in the same building, but as a competing TV station, their facilities are completely separate from Read more...
