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San Francisco

Anchor Brewing
Anchor Brewing

San Francisco became a hub for technological driven economic growth during the internet boom of the 1990s, and still holds an important position in the world city network today. Intense redevelopment towards the “new economy” makes business more technologically minded. Between the years of 1999 and 2000, the job growth rate was 4.9%, creating over 50,000 jobs in technology firms and internet content production.

In the second technological boom driven by social media in the mid 2000s, San Francisco became a popular location for companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter to base their tech offices and for their employees to live. Since then, tech employment has continued to increase. In 2014, San Francisco’s tech employment grew nearly 90% between 2010 and 2014, beating out Silicon Valley’s 30% growth rate over the same period.

The tech sector’s dominance in the Bay Area is internationally recognized and continues to attract new businesses and young entrepreneurs from all over the globe. San Francisco is now widely considered the most important city in the world for new technology startups. A recent high of 7 billion dollars in venture capital was invested in the region. These startup companies hire a high concentration of well educated individuals looking to work in the tech industry, and creates a city population of highly concentrated levels of education. Over 50% of San Franciscans have a 4-year university degree, ranking the city among the highest levels of education in the country and world.

Tourism is one of the city’s largest private-sector industries, accounting for more than one out of seven jobs in the city. The city’s frequent portrayal in music, film, and popular culture has made the city and its landmarks recognizable worldwide. In 2016, it attracted the fifth-highest number of foreign tourists of any city in the United States, and is one of the top-20 destination cities worldwide by international visitor spending. More than 25 million visitors arrived in San Francisco in 2016, adding US$9.96 billion to the economy. With a large hotel infrastructure and a world-class convention facility in the Moscone Center, San Francisco is a popular destination for annual conventions and conferences.

Some of the most popular tourist attractions in San Francisco noted by the Travel Channel include the Golden Gate Bridge and Alamo Square Park, which is home to the famous “Painted Ladies“. There is also Lombard Street, known for its “crookedness” and beautiful views.

Lombard Street
Lombard Street

Tourists also flood to Pier 39, which offers dining, shopping, entertainment, and beautiful views of the bay, sun-bathing seals, and the famous Alcatraz Island.

Transportation:

Freeways and Roads:

Due to its unique geography, and the freeway revolts of the late 1950s, Interstate 80 begins at the approach to the Bay Bridge and is the only direct automobile link to the East Bay.

Bay Bridge
Bay Bridge

U.S. Route 101 connects to the western terminus of Interstate 80 and provides access to the south of the city along San Francisco Bay toward Silicon Valley. Northward, the routing for U.S. 101 uses arterial streets to connect to the Golden Gate Bridge, the only direct automobile link to Marin County and the North Bay.

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