Thành phố San Francisco Nhìn từ Trên Cao

San Francisco nhìn từ trên cao.   San Francisco is located on the West Coast of the United States in the state of California. The population is about 815 thousand people. It is the twelfth largest city in the country.Among the main attractions - the Golden Gate Bridge and the former Alcatraz prison on the island of the same name in the San Francisco Bay.<!>  1. Before the European colonization, the peninsula, on which the modern city is now located, was inhabited by Indians. San Francisco was founded by the Spaniards: in 1776 they opened here a fortified Catholic mission named after St. Francis of Assisi. Near the fort later a small town called the Yerba Buena, the Spanish, was called "good grass": the colonists discovered in the local places a plant that reminded them of the house in a form. In the early 19th century, California and San Francisco became part of Mexico. By the middle of the century, they were conquered by the United States. The city was named San Francisco in 1847. At the same time began to grow actively in connection with the "gold rush" (for two years the population increased 25 times). The earthquake and fire almost completely destroyed the city in 1906, after which San Francisco was built virtually anew.  2. Reconstruction of the city lasted several decades. In the late 30-ies in San Francisco were built two large bridges across the bay: the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge (its fragment - in the photo). During the Second World War, San Francisco became the largest supply base for American troops in the Pacific theater of operations. In the 1970s and 1980s, San Francisco experienced a boom in the construction of skyscrapers, nicknamed "manhattanization." In October 1989, the city was again severely damaged by a 7-point earthquake. In the 90s of the XX century, San Francisco became the center of the information technology boom and the informal world capital of the IT industry.  3. Banking and legal services are another important sector of the economy of San Francisco. The city is the financial center of the Pacific coast of the United States, it is often called the Wall Street of the West. In the photo: Financial District ("FiDi") - the highest buildings in San Francisco are banks, law firms, corporate headquarters.  4. The San Francisco Ferry Building.  The famous terminal of sea ferries on Embarcadero Embankment. It was commissioned in 1898 and at that time became the largest construction project in San Francisco.Before the construction of two large bridges across the San Francisco Bay in the late 30s of the 20th century, the Ferry Building was the second largest congestion terminal in the world (after the Charing Cross station in London) by a passenger transit terminal. Ferry-building is also used as a shopping center, three days a week all year round the food farm market operates here.  5. The 70-meter tower of the ferry terminal was built on the model of the famous medieval bell tower of the Giralda in Spanish Seville. The ancient clock tower of the Ferry Building is today the world's largest mechanical clockwork. The terminal tower can be seen from a distance of several kilometers, the main street of the city of Market Street comes to the building.  6. Market Street (Market Street).  The main transport artery and tourist attraction center stretches 5 km from Embarcadero embankment to Twin Peaks hill - one of the highest points in the geographical center of San Francisco.  7. The height of buildings on the West Coast of San Francisco is second only to Los Angeles, and in the country takes seventh place (after New York, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas). In San Francisco, more than 370 multi-storey buildings, two dozen of them - skyscrapers (above 150 meters). Most of the high-rise buildings were built in the 1960-80s.  8. Transamerica Pyramid.  The most famous high building of San Francisco - the pyramidal skyscraper was built in 1972. It has 48 floors and a height of 260 meters.  9. The Transamerica building is also known as the "Spire". Until 1973, it was the tallest structure of the West Coast of the United States, losing the palm tree (just 2 meters) to the Aon Center in Los Angeles. Transamerica is the 35th tallest building in the US and the 190th in the world.  10. The four-sided pyramid "Transamerica" is crowned with a 64-meter spire with aluminum panels that perfectly reflect light in the dark. In two "wings" -runs on the sides are the top of the elevator shaft and a tower-extractor to remove smoke from the building in case of fire.  11. Pyramid of Transamerica is an office center. Since 1999 it belongs to the Netherlands insurance company AEGON. The access of strangers to the building is limited, tourists can admire it only from the outside. On the 27th floor, an observation deck was built earlier, it was closed after the September 11 attacks.  12. Transamerica is still the tallest building in San Francisco. However, according to plans, in 2018 will give the palm to the 326-meter business center Salesforce Tower. Now it is under construction (in this photo the construction site is just to the right of the white skyscraper in the background).  13. Union Square.  The most famous square is San Francisco. Opened in the middle of the XIX century. Public assemblies on the unification of the North and the South took place at this site, from which the square got its name. One of the most prestigious and luxurious areas of the city. Union Square is surrounded by expensive hotels, boutiques of premium brands of clothing, accessories and jewelry, theaters, restaurants, beauty salons. Center of tourist attraction. In the Union Square, mass city events are held. At Christmas, the square is decorated with a fir tree.  14. In the center of Union Square in 1903, a monument was erected to commemorate the triumph of Admiral George Dewey: in 1898, he defeated the Spanish fleet in the Manilian Gulf during the Spanish-American War.  15. Telegraph Hill (Telegraph Hill).  One of the 44 hills of San Francisco. The height above sea level is 84 meters. Earlier it was known as "High" and "Goat", and the current name was received in 1849: at the top was built a marine telegraph in the form of a pole with crossbeams. With the aid of various configurations, the semaphore informed the townspeople that a ship of what type (sailboat, steamer, etc.) enters the bay. This enabled traders and speculators to quickly orient themselves and quickly adjust prices for goods.  16. At the top of the Telegraph Hill in 1933, the tower of the Koit Tower was erected. It has the form of a fire pump, built on funds left by the rich and eccentric local resident Lilly Hitchcock Koit: she publicly smoked cigars, wore trousers and was a big fan of firefighting and a volunteer assistant to local fire fighters. The elevator inside the round tower raises visitors to the observation deck. From a height of 70 meters, you can enjoy a superb view of San Francisco. In the center of the round platform near the tower is a statue of Christopher Columbus.  17. Civic Center - a complex of several squares and buildings in the classical style, here is the municipality of San Francisco.  18. The building of the City Hall of San Francisco was built in 1915 on the site of the former, destroyed by the earthquake in 1906. The current building is 6 meters higher than the Capitol in Washington. In January 1954, a marriage Marilyn Monroe and baseball player Joe DiMaggio took place at the City Hall of San Francisco (they divorced 9 months later).  19. Lombard Street (Lombard Street).  The most winding street in the world. Its 400-meter plot was designed in the form of a serpentine in order to smooth out the 27% slope to an acceptable 16%. Turning speed is limited to 8 km / h.  20. Despite the measures taken to smooth the deviation, only one-way traffic from top to bottom is allowed on the "snake" section of Lombard Street. The street is very fond of skateboarders.  21. The coolest - in the literal sense - the street of San Francisco. The slope on Filbert Street (Filbert Street) reaches 20 degrees (about 29-31%).  22. Bridge "Golden Gate" (Golden Gate Bridge).  The universally recognized symbol of San Francisco was built in 1937. Until 1964 it was the largest hanging bridge in the world. The Golden Gate is thrown across the same strait at the entrance to the bay and connects San Francisco with the suburb of Marin County.  23. The total length of the bridge is 2737 m, the length of the main span is 1280 m, the mass is 894 500 tons. The construction of the bridge during the Great Depression gave the work and helped hundreds of workers survive. And their life in the literal sense in the course of assembly works was saved by the safety net stretched under the constructions.  24. The central spacing of 80 m high allows to pass under the bridge to high vessels. The height of the carriageway above the surface of the water during the tide is 67 m.  25. At the final stage of construction, the creators of the bridge have come to a standstill, furiously discussing its future color. And while the debaters discussed the shades of gray and black, the bridge was secured against rust and covered with a juicy terracotta-red primer. The result was stunned by its unexpected gamma, perfectly fitting into the landscape, and the color of the bridge was predetermined. Today the "Golden Gate" is serviced by a team of 40 painters. The bridge is painted almost every day, but only in those places where it is really necessary.  26. The height of the bridge supports above the surface of the water is 227 meters. This is commensurate with the height of the 75-story skyscraper. The bridge is suspended on two main ropes, the diameter of each section is 93 cm. The main rope consists of a number of thinner ones. Their total length is enough to three times wrap the Earth along the equator.  27. Bridge "Golden Gate" is one of the world's top record-breakers in the number of committed suicides. According to various unofficial data, accounts with life here have reduced from 1400 to 1700 people. And potential suicides come to San Francisco from all over the country. A person falls from the Golden Gate for 4 seconds and strikes water at a speed of more than 130 km / h, in most cases this leads to a lethal outcome. Preventive measures (like installing on the bridge phones psychological help) were ineffective.In 2014, the administration of the Golden Gate approved the idea of creating an anti-suicide net under the bridge, but the draft barrier is constantly hampered by financial and organizational difficulties.  28. The bridge with six rows of traffic and two footpaths - half paid. Money (currently - from $ 6.5 per car) is charged for the journey in a southerly direction, traffic from south to north is free. With pedestrians, money is not taken at all.  29. Pier 39 (Pier 39).  Loved not only by tourists, but also by locals shopping and entertainment center on the pier.  30. Pier 39 is not only famous for its many restaurants, cafes, cinemas, souvenir shops and attractions. Its main attraction is the rookery of California sea lions. Today, at the pier there live up to 1500 animals. With the growth of the colony, the number of complaints of yacht owners for noise and smell increased. But the attachment to this place of tourists and world fame proved to be more important. People reconstructed the pier and tried to make the life of sea lions as comfortable as possible.  31. Alcatraz Island.  His name (after the name of the birds of the family pelican) was given to Spanish naval officers in the late 18th century. In the next century a lighthouse was built on the island, and later - the largest in the west of the US fort to protect the bay from the sea.  32. Alcatraz's world fame (with the assistance of literature, media, film and computer games) brought a special regime prison for the most impetuous criminals of the country (for example, in Alcatraz served the famous Chicago gangster Al Capone). According to official data, for three decades, no attempt to escape from the "Rocks" (this is another name for the island and prison) has not been crowned with success. However, the five participants of the shoots were recognized as "missing", so they could have escaped.Severe prison operated from 1934 to 1963, it was closed for economic and environmental reasons. Now in the former correctional complex operates a museum.  33. To the left of the Transamerica skyscraper, one of the largest avenues of San Francisco, Columbus Avenue, is running diagonally.  34. Castro (Castro District).  San Francisco was chosen by one of the largest and most active in the US communities of sexual minorities. Especially it is felt in the neighborhood of Castro in the center of the city - he wears the unofficial title of "world capital of homosexuals". It was in the gay quarter of Castro that once appeared the symbol of the LGBT community - a rainbow flag, and at the crossroads of Castro and 18th street there is even a rainbow pedestrian crossing.  35. Up to 15% of San Francisco residents today are distinguished by their unconventional sexual orientation, this is more than in any other major city in the world. Here lived Harvey Milk - the first American politician, who declared his orientation openly (in November 1978 he was shot in the building of the municipality together with the mayor of the city, George Moscone).  36. In April 1906, San Francisco was 80% destroyed by a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 points. Nearly 3,000 people died, three quarters of the 400,000 inhabitants of the city were left homeless. The damage exceeded half a billion dollars (about 5-6 billion dollars in modern equivalent). San Francisco is located in the fault zone of San Andreas, buildings in the modern city are built taking into account the requirements of seismic safety.  37. The 1906 catastrophe is considered the starting point for the history of the Bank of America. Most of San Francisco's banks were then burned with money. Only in the Italian emigrant founded by Amadeo Giannini Bank of Italy, about 80,000 US dollars have been preserved. By order of the board of directors and its chairman, this money was given to those who wanted to rebuild their homes. Subsequently, the bank retained its focus on serving the middle class and eventually became the largest financial company in the United States.  38. Central Tower. In 1892-98 the highest building in the city.  39. Museum of Modern Art of San Francisco (with SFMOMA).  The collection of the museum presents more than 29 000 paintings, graphics, sculptures, photographs and architecture, as well as art objects of the late XIX-XXI centuries.  40. The 60-story Salesforce Tower (326 meters) will be the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco after its completion in 2018.  41. The residential complex "The Gateway" on the shores of the San Francisco Bay - four skyscrapers with apartments and suites.  42. Market Street. The building of an unusual architectural form in the foreground on the right is the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Hotel.  43. 28-story building with an unusual history - McAllister Tower (100 McAllister Street). It was conceived and built in 1930 as a united mega-temple of the Methodist church, designed for more than fifteen hundred people, a large organ was installed in the building. It was also planned to open a hotel for visiting parishioners. However, the cost of building and maintaining the building as a result was not affordable for the church. Later, the hotel and offices were located here, and now the 94-meter skyscraper belongs to the law college of the University of San Francisco and is used as a student hostel.  44. One Maritime Plaza.  Office 27-storey building (height - 121 meters) in the financial center of San Francisco. It was built in 1967. One of the first buildings of the city with a "seismic braid": the design uses external cables and X-shaped power bars.  45. Pacific Heights is a prestigious and expensive area of the "private sector" of San Francisco. Crossing the streets of Pacific Avenue and Divisadero Street.  46. Palace of Fine Arts (Palace of Fine Arts).  Initially established as a temporary museum of fine arts for the Pan-Pacific exhibition in 1915.  47. Sutro Tower.  The tallest structure is not only San Francisco, but also all of California - a radio mast-TV tower with a height of 299 meters. Since the mast is built on a hill, its summit is at an altitude of 553 meters above sea level.  48. Rashen Hill ("The Russian Hill"). The name dates back to the times of the "Gold Rush", when on the top of the hill there was a small Russian cemetery, later transferred. It is assumed that the people buried on it were sailors and entrepreneurs from Fort Ross, located near San Francisco. Today, the Russian-speaking community of San Francisco concentrates mainly in the Richmond area.  49. Richmond (Richmond) is an area in the northwest of San Francisco. Place of compact residence of the Russian-speaking population.  50. Bridge Oakland Bay Bridge (San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge)  Connects over (and under!) The Bay of San Francisco and Auckland. Its name is often reduced simply to the Bay Bridge. One of the longest bridges of this type in the world. It consists of two parts, which are connected by a tunnel under the island of Yerba-Buena 23 meters wide. The total length of the bridge exceeds 7 km.  51. The bridge was opened in November 1936. The Bay Bridge is two-level. On each tier, movement is organized in only one direction.  52. In 1989, part of the upper deck of the eastern bridge segment collapsed during the earthquake, and Bay Bridge was closed for a month. Later, it was decided to carry out a complete reconstruction of the section between Auckland and the island of Yerba-Buena - this option was considered most appropriate from the point of view of economics and seismic safety. After the design competition, the construction of the bridge segment began in 2006, after its end in 2013, the old bridge fragment was dismantled.  53. Bay Bridge is not free, but the fee is charged only on the Oakland side when driving toward San Francisco. The price depends on the day of the week and time of day. The picture shows the entrance to the bridge from Auckland.  54. Morning at the point of charge.  55. Bus Park in San Francisco. Despite the high level of car ownership, more than one third of the inhabitants of San Francisco regularly use public transport. Its network is one of the most advanced and largest on the US West Coast. The system includes bus and trolley routes (in San Francisco's largest trolleybus system in the US and one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere), above and below ground speed trams Muni Metro. All this - plus the historic cable tram - is San Francisco Municipal Railway system. In common parlance Muni.  56. Muni.  Organization-operator of public transport in the city. Muni system works 365 days a year. And 24 hours. Buses run even during the night, though from 1:30 to 5:30 at night there are special routes that do not coincide with the daytime.  57. In the Muni system includes five kinds of public transport: bus, trolleybus, modern high-speed tram, the historic electric tram and the historic cable tram.  58. Ocean cruise ship MS Arcadia with a capacity of 2388 passengers at the pier in the port of San Francisco. With the development of container traffic center of sea freight traffic shifted to the nearby Auckland. And the infrastructure of San Francisco port is enabled in the system of tourism and recreation.  59. Container Terminal Acorn Industrial in Auckland. San Francisco port previously was the largest and busiest on the west coast of the USA. An important condition for efficient cargo handling in the port was the presence of many piers perpendicular to the shore, the cranes and loaders. All it had in San Francisco. Port took goods from around the world. The modern system of container transportation with fast unloading and express logistics, eliminating the need for ports based on the piers. This led to a movement in Oakland most of the commercial traffic.  60. Oakland (Oakland).  In the literal translation from English - "the earth, covered with oaks." The city is located on the shores of San Francisco Bay. The number of inhabitants (more than half a million people) Oakland is ranked third in the entire San Francisco Bay, second only to San Francisco and San Jose.  61.