Financial District

If you're in the Financial District, then you're probably here for business. This is an area full of high rises, banks, and commercial buildings. This is a prestigious place to work in SF, because it probably means you're doing well in life.

The Financial District is not an area where you would spend a few hours to see the sites, unless you're there for the buildings. There isn't much to do because of the many office buildings. This is, however, a good place to grab a quick lunch. There are a lot of little cafes and coffee shops tailored to the busy businessperson.

I think the best thing to visit is the Ferry Building, which sits at the end of Market Street. It sort of embodies the Financial District in the way it represents commerce. The building is full of booths and shops that will sell you mostly food-related items. There is a gelato shop, Blue Bottle Coffee, chocolate stores, meat purveyors, etc. I really love coming here and browsing for a few hours.

After nearly a week of staying here, I have come to the conclusion that this is a good spot to be in the city. Oftentimes, one hears "Financial District" and thinks boring tall buildings with bars that close at 7 PM (which is pretty on the mark for some cities), but San Francisco is different. Here, the clean, modern, artistic and laid-back vibe of this city carries through to its business center.

For one, the water is here, and the Embarcadero is right around the corner. This means great views, a great place to walk, and good daytime food. By night, this is not necessarily the best bar scene in the city, but with Union Square to the southeast and North Beach to the north, what more could you want?

Speaking of nightlife and nearby culture, Chinatown definitely fits the bill for ethnic food and a unique San Francisco experience, and is immediately adjacent to the Financial District. And of course, with the modern buildings, including the iconic Transamerica Tower, there is plenty to see in the immediate vicinity as well. Enjoy!

The grove of high-rise boxes and skyscrapers here seems too modern, too new to have any connection to the tumult of Gold Rush Days, yet this is exactly where it all began. When gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill a hundred miles east of here in 1848, the small harbor and few acres along San Francisco Bay that served as home to a scant thousand people were transformed in the span of a few months into the quintessential western boomtown, full of dubious characters and fortune-seekers and profiteers and even a few noble souls, all of whom had the right mix of courage and risk-taking and sheer naiveté to simply follow their dreams. The vessels the Forty-niners (or Argonauts, as they were also called) sailed in on were abandoned one by one and soon clotted the bay (and were later sunk to form landfill as the city expanded), as newcomers who sought to strike it rich poured into California--300,000 of them in about six years.

Most did not get wealthy, but the ones who stayed in San Francisco transformed it from a sleepy outpost into a bustling metropolis. The Financial District (though it wasn’t called that then) was the hub of the new city, home to a roster of banks, many founded during the Gold Rush, the legacy of which survives in the number of financial institutions that make up the core of the district today. Those early banks begat other businesses, funding manufacturing and warehouses and the myriad services such enterprises require. The slapdash town that sprang up endured at least a dozen major fires in the early years, until brick replaced wood as the city pushed outward in all directions over the next several decades. Then it all came tumbling down in the earthquake of 1906. Built and rebuilt, the Financial District retains elements from its various incarnations, from the 1851 Belli Building, 1853 Ghirardelli Building, and the 1866 Hotaling Building (all in the Jackson Square Historic District), to the 1889 Audiffred Building on Mission, the 1890 Mills Building on Montgomery, and the 1898 Ferry Building at Embarcadero and Market.

Dozens of other architecturally and culturally significant piles have risen in this district in the last hundred years, associated with names familiar (Charles Crocker, A.P. Giannini, Henry Wells, William Fargo, William Randolph Hearst, et al.) and not-so-familiar (Andrew Hallidie, Lewis Parsons Hobart, Frederick H. Meyer, and many others). With the building boom of the 1970s and ’80s, the area’s narrow streets became overshadowed by skyscrapers, such as the Transamerica Pyramid and 555 California, both of which were criticized as emblematic of the “Manhattanization” of San Francisco, but which may also soon be eclipsed by newer, higher buildings that are slated in the South Beach and South of Market areas. They all contribute to the draw this neighborhood holds not only for businesses, financial institutions, and law firms, but to historians, tourists, and the people who work here as well.

Nowadays, three to four hundred thousand people swarm into the Financial District every weekday morning: office workers and executives and janitors and service people and hundreds of security guards and thousands of people who come on some mission or another, either tourists or traveling businesspeople or simple street performers and panhandlers. Not only is the district home to the largest concentration of landmark buildings west of Chicago (declared so by federal, state, and municipal designation), but it also contains priceless sculptures and murals and artwork inside the lobbies of the grand buildings (e.g., Diego Rivera’s mural in the City Club, Refregier’s wall paintings in the Rincon Annex) as well as on the streets (like the Mechanic’s Monument on Market and Battery, an ode in bronze by the famed sculptor Douglas Tilden to the machinists it powerfully depicts, and the 1930s Ralph Stackpole granite statues outside the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange).

Monday through Friday, the Financial District fairly hums with human activity, from early morning till late evening. Commuters jump on and off buses or cable cars (the California Street line terminates at Drumm and Market) or emerge from the subway (BART and Muni trains run under Market), snag a sandwich or coffee, then dash into the lobbies of any number of towers. Tourists and businesspeople stream from the hotels (there are at least a dozen hotels in the area, from the 800-plus guestroom Hyatt Regency to the boutique Griffon with 62 rooms and suites), stroll through plazas (like the one in front of 101 California) and shopping malls (e.g., the Embarcadero Center, located on the first two levels of its namesake four towers; the Ferry Building, with its emphasis on local foods and wines; and Crocker Galleria, noted for high-end boutiques) and have lunch in any of a number of restaurants, from the Tadich Grill (serving its classic fish dishes since 1849) and Sam’s (another seafood grill that dates from the 19th century) to Yank Sing (dim sum) and Café Bastille (French bistro fare). The “people flow” reverses itself in the late afternoon, when the commuters pour out of the high-rises and head to the subway or buses and streetcars that take them home, or to the area’s bars and cafes and restaurants, mingling with tourists and out-of-towners. Though the rush hour defines the morning and late afternoon, weeknights slow noticeably here, as the area’s denizens take a breather from the daily grind.

Though it seems to be all about work, the Financial District is also a place to live. One of the largest apartment complexes is the Gateway, a set of four towers (two rectangular, two square, each oriented for maximum views) and 58 townhouses arrayed on two square blocks bounded by Washington, Jackson, Battery, and Drumm. Some commercial buildings have been renovated as tenants-in-common residences (the Royal on Sansome, for instance), and a number of new high-rise condos have sprouted in the last decade, bringing not only businesspeople but also retirees. Joining them are residents of a number of low-rise apartments and condominiums that front Sidney Walton Park, a grassy square that offers dog-walkers and people alike a much-needed patch of green and a few trees.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Financial District is home to about 10,000 people, the majority white (65 percent), with Asians (27 percent) as well as a lesser number of African Americans (5 percent) and people of two or more races (3 percent) composing the population. Typically, they are middle class (median annual household income is $70,000), with roughly a quarter owning their homes and the others renting.

In addition to Sidney Walton Park, the Financial District lays claim to Sue Bierman Park, a complex of greens and open space that adjoins the Embarcadero Plaza in front of the Ferry Building. The Vaillancourt Fountain (first named by its eponymous creator as “Québec Libre!”) is located here; though many have criticized the boxy tangle of rectangular concrete tubes, the fountain and surrounding plaza offer a respite on sunny days from the congested canyons of the area. The Golden Gateway Tennis and Swim Club, across from the park, offers locals and office workers alike tennis courts and outdoor pools, as well as exercise and fitness rooms (for a membership fee, of course).

There are no public elementary, middle or high schools in the area, though a few institutes of higher learning have campus buildings throughout the area (Academy of Art University, Heald College, Saybrook University, et al.).

Public transportation here is as good as it gets anywhere in the city. A myriad of Muni buses serving all points in the city crisscross the Financial District, in addition to commuter buses—Golden Gate Transit and SamTrans—taking passengers back and forth to Marin and San Mateo counties, respectively. BART runs underground along Market, bringing workers from the East Bay and the Peninsula, and Muni streetcars (J, K, L, M, and N) also follow the same underground trajectory. The California Street cable car (much less touristy than the Powell and Hyde line in Union Square) services the area as well, going all the way to Van Ness. Ferries from the East Bay, Marin, and Vallejo—all operating from the Ferry Building—round out the public transit picture.

Because most streets in this area have metered parking or do not permit street parking at all (except for loading), there is no need for residential parking permits. If you drive, you generally park in a garage or lot—and pay the (high) price.

Crime in the area is moderate, much of it robbery and theft related (grand and petty). And car break-ins and vehicle thefts are on the rise here, too, as they are in many neighborhoods. In addition to disturbing-the-peace violations, assaults are fairly common during any given month (perhaps due to the area’s proliferation of bars). There have been two homicides in the last three years.

Residential real estate in the district has remained high priced, even as prices were trimmed elsewhere in San Francisco during the recent downturn: a two-bedroom/two-bathroom penthouse on Montgomery was recently going for $3.1 million, with a two-bed/two-bath condo in Jackson Square asking $1 million. Even a modest one-bed/one-bath on Front Street was selling lately for $480,000. Apartment rentals are likewise expensive: studios and one-bed/one-bath units generally go from $1,600 to $2,600, with two-bedrooms fetching as much as $3,500 a month. Pricey, yes. But these housing choices come with walk-to-work proximity, an almost inexhaustible selection of shops and restaurants, and the built-in high energy of a cosmopolitan urban environment. Not for everyone, but not everyone is meant to afford life in the Financial District, either.

San Francisco's Financial District is surrounded by the Embarcadero and the Waterfront. There are wonderful bayside restaurants, including the famed Boulevard Restaurant - my personal favorite. Have eaten here a couple of times on very special occasions and know why it has been rated #1 in the Bay Area several years in a row. They offer the greatest wine cellar I have ever seen!

The Financial District is extremely diverse. It possesses upscale hotels, the city's oldest restaurant - the Tadich Grill on California Street and open since 1849, as well as some of the best walking tours in the city.

Don't forget to catch a bird's eye view of San Francisco from the Carnelian Room on the 52nd floor of the Bank of America building.