Forget the hackneyed "leaving your heart" business. There was a time when San Francisco was tough as nails and replete with sails. It was the Paris of the West, the new metropolis of Manifest Destiny. If you wanted or needed the sweet thrills of a proper city, you went to San Francisco. It was a modern, imperial city, and was the largest, most hip, port on the United States Pacific rim. There was New York, Chicago, then San Francisco.
So, what happened? How did this staunch shipyard stalwart turn into a gentrified dandy? Let's start with a little jog down memory lane. The city was built in large part thanks to the influx of people and capital from the Gold Rush. They're called the San Francisco 49ers for a reason, savvy? This set up the town as a port of call and a banking hub.
It faced the Great Quake of'06 head-on and watched the city burn. But, it rebuilt itself into one of the old financial centers that actually beat back the Stock Market Crash of'29. While the rest of the country was taking shelter from the Dust Bowl, San Francisco was building bridges and buildings galore.
As the Second World War raged, San Fran became one of the three primary embarkation spots for lads shipping out to the Pacific. After the war, the city was booming with big bucks and new influx of former service men and laborers. The suburbs expanded, and downtown and the financial district were Manhattanized with a slew of skyscrapers.
Here's the recipe for gentrification and crazy rents: add one part development projects to one part booming local economy. Voila. The influx of nearly 300,000 new residents to a seven-by-seven mile wide peninsula, and you can see how only the very wealthy can afford to live in the City By the Bay. The best most of use can hope for is booking a beautiful little bedroom in a happening San Francisco hotel.
So, what happened? How did this staunch shipyard stalwart turn into a gentrified dandy? Let's start with a little jog down memory lane. The city was built in large part thanks to the influx of people and capital from the Gold Rush. They're called the San Francisco 49ers for a reason, savvy? This set up the town as a port of call and a banking hub.
It faced the Great Quake of'06 head-on and watched the city burn. But, it rebuilt itself into one of the old financial centers that actually beat back the Stock Market Crash of'29. While the rest of the country was taking shelter from the Dust Bowl, San Francisco was building bridges and buildings galore.
As the Second World War raged, San Fran became one of the three primary embarkation spots for lads shipping out to the Pacific. After the war, the city was booming with big bucks and new influx of former service men and laborers. The suburbs expanded, and downtown and the financial district were Manhattanized with a slew of skyscrapers.
Here's the recipe for gentrification and crazy rents: add one part development projects to one part booming local economy. Voila. The influx of nearly 300,000 new residents to a seven-by-seven mile wide peninsula, and you can see how only the very wealthy can afford to live in the City By the Bay. The best most of use can hope for is booking a beautiful little bedroom in a happening San Francisco hotel.
About the Author:
Hurry, darling, get into the swing of Fog City. Book your tickets, scour the San Francisco hotels, and get to the third-most visited tourist destiUS in the US.
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