Founded in 1776 by Spanish missionaries and colonists, San Francisco (Spanish for Saint Francis), officially the City and County of San Francisco, population 870,000, is "the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California." (Wikipedia).
Located at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula, and at the "Golden Gate" or narrow mouth of San Francisco Bay, after which the city was named, San Francisco is about 48 square miles (124 km2) in area, the smallest county—and only consolidated city-county—in California.
San Francisco is notable for its large population and population density:
High density - With a density of about 18,581 people per square mile (7,174 people/km2), San Francisco is the most densely settled large city in California and the second-most densely populated major city in the United States after New York City.
Populous - San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in California, after Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose, and the 13th-most populous city in the United States—with a census-estimated 2016 population of 870,887.
The city and its surrounding areas (encompassing nine California counties which border the Bay) are known as the San Francisco Bay Area, and are a part of the larger OMB-designated San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland combined statistical area, the fifth most populous in the nation with an estimated population of 8.7 million.
San Fran, Saint Frank, Frisco (all 3 locally disparaged)
The City that Knows How (past);
Baghdad by the Bay (past);
The Paris of the West (archaic; 19thC)
Motto: Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra (Spanish); (English: "Gold in Peace, Iron in War").
Issues
High rent and home prices
High rates of displacement and out-migration
Limited housing supply
Limited new development and redevelopment, especially of Affordable housing
Transit system is considered fragmented, insufficient, underinvested, undermaintained, and overburdened
High and rising economic inequality
High rates of poverty and homelessness
Many areas at high risk due to climate change
Many areas at high risk of earthquake and wildfire
Relatively scarce water supply
Food deserts
Economic Context: Growth and Diversification
Zynga headquarters at 8th and Townsend Image Source: Zero Hedge
Since the 1990s, San Francisco's economy has moved increasingly towards the prominence of high-tech, biotech, and medical research. Tech jobs accounted for 1 percent of the city's jobs in 1990. They had grown to 4 percent by 2010 and to an estimated 8 percent by the end of 2013. The San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward Metropolitan Statistical Area (a census designation) saw 90 percent tech industry growth from 2006-2016 according to a report by Praxis Strategy Group. San Francisco can now be said to be an important center for technology, Internet and social media companies (and especially for start-up businesses), attracting increasing venture capital funding compared to neighboring Silicon Valley - a trend the city has attempted to encourage with measures such as payroll tax exemptions for certain kinds of desirable companies.
A lack of new housing development and options and opposition to them coupled with this influx of new jobs and commuters who work in Silicon Valley (another Bay Area nexus of job growth) has contributed to a housing crisis in San Francisco and other Bay Area communities.
Demographics
Race and Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic Whites accounted for 48 percent of San Francisco's population in 2010, down from 92.5 percent in 1940, making San Francisco a minority-majority city. As of the 2010 United States census, San Francisco's population consisted of
48% Whites - 390,387
33% Asians - 267,915 Residents identifying as Chinese constituted the largest single ethnic block at 21 percent of the population.
6% African-American/Black - 48, 870 This demographic has seen a steady decline since a high in 1970 of 13.4 percent of the population.
6.6 % Other race
Hispanics or Latinos of any race accounted for 15 percent of the population or 121,744 people.
Education, Households and Income
Following Seattle, San Francisco has the second-highest percentage of residents with a college degree of all major cities in the United States, with over 44% of San Francisco's adults having a bachelor's degree or higher.
San Francisco is a hub for the LGBTQ community with the highest percentage of gay and lesbian individuals of any of the 50 largest U.S. cities, at 15% and the highest percentage of same-sex households of any American county.
Homelessness
San Francisco is estimated to have 13,500 persons with 6,500 living on the streets.
Government
Image Source: Wikipedia Municipal and County
San Francisco (the City and County of San Francisco) has been in place as a consolidated city-county (the only such jurisdiction in California) since 1856 when it split from adjoining San Mateo County.
As a consolidated city-county of the Mayor of San Francisco is also the chief county executive and the County Board of Supervisors also fills the role of a City Council.
San Francisco's charter sets out that the city-county's government consist of two co-equal branches:
Executive Branch - This branch includes the Mayor and other city-wide elected and appointed office-holders, as well as the City and County's civil service
Legislative Branch - The legislative branch consists of the Board of Supervisors, elected to ten specific districts within the City, headed by a president. The Board is responsible for passing laws and budgets and the President of the Board of Supervisors steps in to fill the vacancy in the Executive Branch upon the death or resignation of the Mayor.
Note that legislation in San Francisco is also made through a direct ballot initiative/referendum process.
State
San Francisco's California State Assembly Districts are the 17th and 19th.
Federal
The City of San Francisco constitutes the entirety of California's 12th Congressional District. The District is currently served by House Minority Leader (Democrat), Nancy Pelosi.
Bayview Hunters Point | Bernal Heights | Castro/Upper Market | Chinatown | Excelsior | Financial District/South Beach | Glen Park | Golden Gate Park | Haight Ashbury | Hayes Valley | Inner Richmond | Inner Sunset | Japantown | Lakeshore | Lincoln Park | Lone Mountain/USF | Marina | McLaren Park | Mission | Mission Bay | Nob Hill | Noe Valley | North Beach | Oceanview/Merced/Ingleside | Outer Mission | Outer Richmond | Pacific Heights | Portola | Potrero Hill | Presidio | Presidio Heights | Russian Hill | Seacliff | South of Market | Sunset/Parkside | Tenderloin | Treasure Island | Twin Peaks | Visitacion Valley | West of Twin Peaks | Western Addition
San Francisco Planning Neighborhoods
San Francisco Realtor Neighborhoods
Alamo Square | Anza Vista | Balboa Terrace | Bayview | Bayview Heights | Bernal Heights | Buena Vista - Ashbury Heights | Candlestick Point | Central Richmond | Central Sunset | Central Waterfront - Dogpatch | Clarendon Heights | Cole Valley/Parnassus Heights | Corona Heights | Cow Hollow | Crocker Amazon | Diamond Heights | Downtown | Duboce Triangle | Eureka Vally - Dolores Heights | Excelsior | Financial District - Barbary Coast | Forest Hill | Forest Hill Extension | Forest Knolls | Glen Park | Golden Gate Heights | Haight Ashbury | Hayes Valley | Hunters Point | Ingleside | Ingleside Heights | Ingleside Terrace | Inner Mission | Inner Parkside | Inner Richmond | Inner Sunset | Jordan Park - Laurel Heights | Lake Shore | Lakeside | Lake Street | Little Hollywood | Lone Mountain | Lower Pacific Heights | Marina | Merced Heights | Merced Manor | Midtown Terrace | Miraloma Park | Mission Bay | Mission Dolores | Mission Terrace| Monterey Heights | Mount Davidson Manor | Nob Hill| Noe Valley | North Beach | North Panhandle | North Waterfront | Oceanview | Outer Mission | Outer Parkside | Outer Richmond | Outer Sunset | Pacific Heights | Parkside | Pine Lake Park | Portola | Potrero Hill | Presidio Heights | Russian Hill | Saint Francis Wood | Sea Cliff | Sherwood Forest | Silver Terrace | South Beach | South of Market | Stonestown | Sunnyside | Telegraph Hill | Tenderloin | Twin Peaks Van Ness - Civic Center | Visitacion Valley | Western Addition | West Portal | Westwood Highlands | Westwood Park | Yerba Buena
Supervisor Districts (Numbered 1-10)
District 1 - Northwest District 2 - Central West District 3 - Southwest District 4 - Twin Peaks West District 5 - Central District 6 - Central North District 7 - North District 8 - Northeast District 9 - Central East District 10 - Southeast
San Francisco Police Department Districts (10 districts. Note that the Presidio is policed by the United States Park Police)
Bayview | Central | Ingleside | Mission | Northern | Park | Richmond | Southern | Taraval | Tenderloin
Neighborhood Associations, Sites, and Organizations
Francisco Park Conservancy (project to turn a disused reservoir into a public park - Russian Hill and Aquatic Park neighborhoods) https://www.franciscopark.org/
"A suburban land squeeze has hit the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Extensive post-warland development, increasing use of growth management controls, more restrictive land-use and environmental regulations, and a 'go-slow' development posture created by the passage of Proposition 4 and Proposition 13 have combined to reduce land conversion opportunities in the region considerably."
People
(In progress) Local Bay Area influencers, activists, journalists, leaders, politicos, researchers, change agents, strategists, and commentators...
Sonja Trauss @sonjatrauss
Laura Foote Clark
Christine Johnson - San Francisco Planning Commissioner; SPUR, San Francisco Director
Angela Hockabout @knitluck
Brian Hanlon
Annie Fryman
Matthew Yglesias
Corey Smith
Blanca Torres - Covers real estate and economic development for the San Francisco Business Times
Roland Li - Real estate reporter with the San Francisco Business Times
Scott Weiner - California State Senator
Rachele Trigueros - Bay Area Council
Victoria Fierce - YIMBY Action Board; East Bay Forward @tdifischer
Gabriel Metcalf - President of SPUR
Tim McCormick - Houslets; YIMBYwiki
Laura Fingal-Surma - Founding board member, YIMBY Action; Co-Founder Progress Noe Valley
Chapple, Karen, John V. Thomas, Dena Belzer and Gerald Autler. "Fueling the Fire: Information Technology and Housing Price Appreciation in the San Francisco Bay Area." Housing Policy Debate 15(2): 347-383. (2004) http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2004.9521505.
"A suburban land squeeze has hit the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Extensive post-warland development, increasing use of growth management controls, more restrictive land-use and environmental regulations, and a 'go-slow' development posture created by the passage of Proposition 4 and Proposition 13 have combined to reduce land conversion opportunities in the region considerably."
Margolin, Malcolm. The Ohlone Way: Indian life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area.(1978; Berkeley: Heyday Books; 25th Anniversary Ed. with a new Afterword, 2002).
Polledri, Paolo. Visionary San Francisco (1990).
Self, Robert O. American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Postwar Oakland. (Princeton University Press, 2003).
