continued from top...
With an estimated 2005 population of 739,426 and nearly 16,000 people per square mile, San Francisco is the second most densely populated major American city. It’s also one of the country’s most diverse collections of people anywhere. A thriving Hispanic and Latino community gives San Francisco its unique flavor. The culture is rich with commerce, performing arts, and museums. Developments such as the South of Market, the Financial District, and Union Square are popular gathering points for students of the many colleges and universities. The San Francisco Opera, Ballet, and Symphony Hall reflect the community’s commitment to artistic expression.
Academically, San Francisco is home to some of the finest institutions of higher learning on the west coast. Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, and San Francisco State University heads the list of technical and engineering colleges of note in the area. And the City College of San Francisco is one of the largest two-year community colleges in the country with an enrollment of about 100,000 students.
For one of the most student and visitor-friendly environments in the country, the city of San Francisco sets a standard for all others to follow.
A Little About San Francisco
The city is a focal point of the San Francisco Bay Area, and part of the greater San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area (CSA), whose population is over 7 million. U.S. census data show that San Francisco has the highest population density of any major U.S. city aside from New York City.
Tourism is the economic mainstay, with service industries supporting the large number of annual visitors. San Francisco landmarks including the San Francisco cable car system and the Golden Gate Bridge are recognized worldwide.
Because of the California gold rush, San Francisco became and remains the banking and financial center of the U.S. West Coast; the city is still headquarters to two of the country's largest commercial banks as well as a Federal Reserve bank and the Pacific Stock Exchange. Many major American and international banks, venture capital firms, and insurance companies have all set up their regional headquarters in the city. Printing and publishing, food processing, and oil refining are important, and the city's manufactures include textiles and apparel, computers, chemicals, communications equipment, and machinery.
San Francisco is also the marketplace for a large agricultural and mining region and the focus of many transportation routes. San Francisco and the Bay Area form one of the largest ports on the West Coast and are a major center of trade with East Asia, Hawaii, and Alaska.
|
