San Francisco, CA News

About San Franciso, CA

Tourism is the backbone of the San Francisco economy. Its frequent portrayal in music, film, and popular culture has made the city and its landmarks recognizable worldwide.

It is the city where Tony Bennett left his heart, where the Birdman of Alcatraz spent many of his final years, and where Rice-a-Roni was said to be the favorite treat. San Francisco attracts the fourth-highest number of foreign tourists of any city in the U.S. and claims Pier 39 near Fisherman's Wharf to be the third-most popular tourist attraction in the nation.

More than 16 million visitors came to San Francisco in 2007, injecting nearly $8.2 billion into the economy, both all-time high figures for the city. With a large hotel infrastructure and a world-class facility in the Moscone Center, San Francisco is also among the top-ten North American destinations for conventions and conferences.

The legacy of the California Gold Rush turned San Francisco into the principal banking and finance center of the West Coast in the early twentieth century. Montgomery Street in the Financial District became known as the "Wall Street of the West", home to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Wells Fargo corporate headquarters.

Bank of America, a pioneer in making banking services accessible to the middle class, was founded in San Francisco and in the 1960s, built the landmark modern skyscraper at 555 California Street for its corporate headquarters. Many large financial institutions, multinational banks and venture capital firms are based in or have regional headquarters in the city.

With over 30 international financial institutions, six Fortune 500 companies, and a large support infrastructure of professional services, including law, public relations, architecture, and graphic design also populating the downtown, San Francisco is one of ten Beta World Cities.

San Francisco's economy has increasingly become tied to that of Silicon Valley to the south, sharing a need for highly educated workers with specialized skills. San Francisco has been positioning itself as a biotechnology and biomedical hub and research center.

The Mission Bay neighborhood, site of a second campus of UCSF, fosters a budding industry and serves as headquarters of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the public agency funding stem cell research programs statewide.

Small businesses with fewer than 10 employees and self-employed firms make up 85 percent of city establishments. The number of San Franciscans employed by firms of greater than 1,000 employees has fallen by half since 1977.

Other Major Cities:

• New York
• Los Angeles
• Chicago
• Houston
• Phoenix
• Philadelphia
• San Antonio
• San Diego
• Dallas
• San Jose
• Detroit
• Jacksonville
• Washington DC
• Miami
• Atlanta
• Boston