The Financial District and the Transamerica Pyramid as seen from Coit Tower.

The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California that serves as its main central business district. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 988 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 988 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Transamerica Pyramid. ... Coit Tower (photo courtesy of Michael Doeff) Coit Tower is a notable landmark dedicated to the San Francisco, California firefighters. ... Neighbourhood is also a term in topology. ... The downtown San Francisco skyline, looking east from the central part of the city. ... State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... Downtown Honolulu in Hawaii, United States, an example of an urban downtown district Central business district (CBD) and downtown are terms referring to the commercial heart of a city. ...

Location

The area is marked by the cluster of high-rise towers that lies between Grant Street east of the Union Square shopping district, Sacramento Street & Columbus Street, south of Chinatown and North Beach, and the The Embarcadero that rings the waterfront. Height restrictions of skyscrapers, and lack of space has extended the area to the SOMA district from 4th Street to the Embarcadero, and south to Harrison Street. The city's tallest buildings including the Bank of America tower, and the Transamerica Pyramid are located here. Union Square is the central shopping, hotel and theater district in San Francisco. ... An interesection of Chinatown in San Francisco. ... Looking south-east Columbus Street (on the left), Stockton (on the right), and Green Street (not visible). ... The Embarcaderos Ferry Building The Embarcadero is the name given the eastern waterfront of San Francisco, California, along San Francisco Bay. ... South of Market or SoMA (South of Market Area) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. ... The Bank of America Center as seen from Pine Street, disappearing into the morning fog. ... The Transamerica Pyramid. ...

The District is home to the city's largest concentration of corporate headquarters, law firms, banks, savings & loans and other financial institutions, such as the corporate headquarters of Wells Fargo Bank, the Charles Schwab Corporation, Barclays_Global_Investors, The Gap, and the Union Bank of California amoung others. The headquarters of the Bank of California, the 12th district of the United States Federal Reserve, and the Pacific Stock Exchange (although no longer located in that building) are located in the area as well. Montgomery Street ("Wall Street of the West") is the traditional heart of the district. There are several shopping malls in the area including the Crocker Galleria, the Embarcadero Center, the Ferry Building, and the Rincon Center complex. Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified financial services company in the United States, with consumer finance subsidiaries doing business in Canada, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Caribbean. ... Categories: Companies traded on NYSE | Stub | Fortune 500 companies | Companies based in California ... Barclays Global Investors is a division of Barclays Bank specializing in Asset management. ... Gap Inc. ... Categories: Corporation stubs | Mitsubishi | Banks of the United States ... The Bank of California was founded in San Francisco, California on July 5, 1864 by William Chapman Ralston. ... The Federal Reserve System is headquartered in the Eccles Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. ... The Pacific Exchange is a regional stock exchange located in San Francisco, California. ... Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, running about 16 blocks from the Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown, terminating at Market Street. ...

History

A statue on Montgomery Street in the heart of the Financial District commemorates the United States annexing San Francisco and California from Mexico during the Mexican American war in 1848.

The area was the center of European and American settlement during Spanish and later Mexican rule. Following American annexation and the Gold Rush, the area boomed rapidly and the Bay shoreline, which originally ended at Battery St, was filled in and extended to the Embarcadero. Gold Rush wealth and business made it the financial capital of the west coast as many banks and businesses set up in the neighborhood. The west coast's first and only skyscrapers, were built in the area along Market Street. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (480x640, 195 KB) Market Street at the corner of Montgomery Street in San Franciscos financial district, 2005. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (480x640, 195 KB) Market Street at the corner of Montgomery Street in San Franciscos financial district, 2005. ... Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, running about 16 blocks from the Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown, terminating at Market Street. ... The Mexican-American War was a war fought between the United States and Mexico between 1846 and 1848. ... 1848 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Gold rush ad A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers into the area of a dramatic discovery of commercial quantities of gold. ... Taipei 101, the worlds tallest skyscraper by roof height on high rise. ... Market Street in downtown San Francisco. ...

The neighborhood was completey destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake & Fire (although miraculously, the area's skyscrapers survived), and rebuilt. Because of state wide height restrictions due to earthquake fears, the district remained realtively low-rise throughout the 20th century until the late 1950s, when due to new building and earthquake retrofitting technologies, the height restrictions were lifted, fueling a skyscraper building boom. This boom accelerated under mayor Diane Feinstein during the 1980s under her plan of "Manhattanization". This caused widespread oppostion citywide leading to the "skyscraper revolt" similar to the "freeway revolt" in the city years earlier. The skyscraper revolt led to the city imposing extremeley strict, European syle height restrictions on building construction citywide. San Francisco City Hall, April 20, 1906 The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake at San Francisco, California on the early morning of Wednesday, April 18, 1906. ... Contributions of photographs are needed, yes!!!! Give us photographs!!!!! Seismic and seismic event refer to earthquakes, motions of the ground that can be hazardous to the occupants of buildings and the security and utility of structures such as bridges and tunnels. ... Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 23, 1933) is a Democratic U.S. Senator from California, a position she has held since 1992. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... The Freeway Revolts refer to a phenomenon encountered in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, where planned freeway contstruction in many U.S. cities was halted due to widespread public opposition; especially of those whose neighborhoods would be disrupted or displaced by the proposed freeways. ...

The Financial District along Market Street. The headquarters 12th District of the United States Federal Reserve is the glass sheathed building to the left

Due to these height restrictions, (which have been relaxed and overlooked over the years), overcrowding, and changes and demand in the local real esate market, development in the area, as well as the district's boundaries as a whole have shifted to SOMA as the focus has shifted from building office space, to high rise condominiums and hotels. Notable examples include the Four Seasons Hotel, and The Paramount, currently the tallest condominums on the west coast. Download high resolution version (600x800, 109 KB) Market st File links The following pages link to this file: Market Street Categories: GFDL images ... Download high resolution version (600x800, 109 KB) Market st File links The following pages link to this file: Market Street Categories: GFDL images ... Market Street in downtown San Francisco. ... The Federal Reserve System is headquartered in the Eccles Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. ... This article refers to a form of housing. ... The Four Seasons Hotel (TSX: FSH.SV) (NYSE: FS) chain consists of many hotels and resorts aimed at the top of the hotel market. ...

External Links

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image from TerraServer-USA
  • Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
• Tourist info about the Financial District including photos
• Skyscrapers.com's page on San Francisco