Dear Reader,

“If you are going to San Francisco be sure to wear some flowers in your hair” – the recommendation of Scott McKenzie is, indeed, a precious one to follow if you are coming as a tourist here. The major city of California marries the energy of luxury and richness with street poverty and drug use (the Tenderloin, the Mission, and sometimes Union Square). It is amazing how those two opposite things can coexist in one physical space. I believe this contradictory derives from the duality of our life since the level of life; the number of opportunities, gorgeous landscapes, the climate, and the views are absolutely amazing here. Moreover, it is interesting to see how this small newly rebuild city on the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean is so famous and desired to live in.

Today, I would like to share 9 facts that you most probably did not know about San Francisco and what makes it be one of the best places to live in Cali-fornia.

1. San Francisco is really a small city; it is only seven miles long by 2 miles wide (11 km x 11 km). For those, who come to travel here it makes it easier to see everything in just a couple of days. The population of the city is about 870K people. However, the entire bay area and cities like Berkeley and Oakland it accumulates to about 7.1 M people.
2. There are more than 3.5K restaurants in SF and you will never fill hungry here. However, the average check for a 2-course meal with a drink is about $50 per meal per person.
3. The San Francisco Bay is home to some of the most famous and magnificent bridges ever built, including the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Hayward-San Mateo Bridge, and the Dumbarton Bridge. The view of those bridges can be seen while driving in SF – it is really stunning and memorable.
4. The most famous bridge that is appearing on all the photos is – the Golden Gate Bridge. It took only four years to build the Golden Gate Bridge (1933 – 1937). The recent rebuilding of the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge took 11 years (2002 – 2013). Its color is called International Orange. An interesting fact is that it wasn’t a color from the original list of options. It was the primer used to protect the steel for the bridge during transit and the architect loved it more than the other options, so he selected it as the official color.
5. SF is often called “a ghost city”, due to the fact that 100 days a year it is covered with fog, especially in July and August. However, it is not the foggiest place in the US and that honor goes to the north, Point Reyes, which is the foggiest place in North America and the whole US.  
6. There are hundreds of earthquakes every year in the Bay Area. However, most are so small (less than a 3.0) that you cannot feel them and they aren’t often discussed. Moreover, it was not the earthquake that did most of the damage in 1906 in SF. The fires that started after the earthquake caused about 90% of the damage to the city.
7. The Panama Pacific Exposition in 1915 was the rebirth of San Francisco after the devastating 1906 Earthquake. It allowed the city to rebuild and show that they were once again an international city. Almost 19 million people from around the world attended this nine-month event.
8. The city is built on more than 50 hills. Many believe it only has 7 or 9 hills, but there are a total of more than 50 named hills. Some of the most well known are Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Telegraph Hill, and Twin Peaks. A few of the lesser-known ones are Golden Mine Hill, Excelsior Heights, and Tank Hill. Those picturesque views are stunning and costly to afford.
9. SF also has the largest and oldest Japan town in the United States. It’s also one of only three Japan towns still that remain in the US.
10. SF has the second-largest Chinatown outside of Asia. It’s also the oldest in North America. It is around one mile long by one and a half miles wide. More than 100,000 people live in Chinatown. It’s the most densely populated neighborhood in the city.

SF is also is the center of the technological attraction (Silicon Valley) – the modern city of prosperity, striking diversity has numerous headquarters of the leading world companies. I believe that you can find anything here. Indeed, SF is one of the most beautiful and richest cities on the West coast – the city of change, fun, big opportunities, love, and freedom!

XoXoLenLenStyle

Thanks for reading me