Officially the City and County of San Francisco, the 12th-largest metropolitan area in the US is known by many names viz., San Fran, Frisco, the City, or just SF.
Here are some fascinating facts about the world’s 16th most expensive city, according to Mercer’s Annual Cost of Living Survey, 2020!
#1: The cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California, San Francisco is United States’ 16th and California’s 4th most populous city.
#2: During the California Gold Rush of mid-1800s, lots of ships were abandoned on San Francisco’s port. They were later torn apart and repurposed for building homes, banks, and businesses.
#3: Until the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, San Francisco was a part of Mexico and was called Yerba Buena.
#4: About 75% of San Francisco was devastated in 1906 by an earthquake and subsequent fire. The fire, in fact, burned the city for four days, causing the damage of almost $8 billion as per today’s currency rate.
#5: The Great Depression of 1930s could not affect even a single bank in San Francisco. In fact, the city saw the construction of the famous Golden Gate Bridge and Oakland Bay Bridge during that time.
#6: People of San Fran enjoy a rather high standard of living. The city boasts the highest salaries, disposable income, and median home prices in the world, as of 2020.
#7: When the Golden Gate Bridge was built, the US Navy wanted to color it black with yellow stripes. Its world-famous “International Orange” color was actually meant to be a sealant.
#8: San Francisco boasts US’ only movable historic landmark. The city’s renowned cable cars are known to run at a constant speed of 9.5 MPH.
#9: The world-renowned Chinese Fortune Cookies were invented at the Tea Garden of Golden Gate Park. More interestingly, they were invented by a Japanese guy, Makoto Hagiwara.
#10: San Francisco boasts the 2nd largest Chinatown outside Asia and the oldest one in North America. It also has the largest and oldest Japantown in the US, and one of the only three remaining in the country.