San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the world. I grew up there from age 8 to 18 and have lived in the Bay Area off and on for several years since. I never get tired of it!

San Francisco is a world-famous city located on the Pacific Coast in northern California. It lies on the northern tip of a peninsula which runs along the west side of the San Francisco Bay. To the north of San Francisco lies the Golden Gate, a narrow stretch of seawater separating the city from Marin County. The Golden Gate Bridge connects San Francisco to Marin. To the west lies the Pacific Ocean and to the south lies South San Francisco and Daly City.

San Francisco has a huge Asian population. Many of them moved to Chinatown about 100 years ago, located downtown. Chinatown has lots of great restaurants and “schlock shops”. The more recent Chinese immigrants moved further west, to the Richmond and Sunset districts near the ocean.

San Francisco has two large parks, Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. Until a few years ago, the Presidio was an army base – now it’s a national historic park. The Presidio is filled with Eucalyptus trees, which were imported from Australia in the 19th century to make railroad tracks. When found unsuitable for this task, they were planted instead. Golden Gate Park is also quite beautiful. On Sunday some of the roads through the park are closed off for bikers and roller skaters.

One of my favorite parts of San Francisco is the Embarcadero, which lies on the northeast corner of the city. A few years ago, an ugly freeway there was torn down, now providing a spectacular view of the Bay Bridge and the East Bay. The Embarcadero has a large shopping center with four buildings. One can walk along a walkway through all the buildings and past several modern sculptures.

Author: David Terr
Article Source: EzineArticles.com