SF Winter Solstice Union Square (1469)

San Francisco local

Folder: California
The parts of San Francisco that have been an integral part of my life. The areas where much of who I am, developed. My first visit to San Francisco was in 1967, when I was in the military. I've been in and out of the city ever since, having lived there from 1983 to 1996 and continuing to have personal and professional contacts there that facilitate regular visits. The city was very important…  (read more)
SF Noe Valley "tech bus" (1103)

SF Noe Valley "tech bus" (1103)

13 Jan 2014 1 139
An SF "tech bus", popularly referred to as a "Google bus", following an SF Muni electric bus. The large, and largely unmarked, buses have become quite common in the residential portions of the city. The buses are chartered by companies such as Google, Apple, Twitter, and Facebook. They glide almost silently into neighborhoods, picking up tech workers to chauffeur them away to the company sites on the peninsula. They have become a symbol of the tensions that arise as the influx of high-tech workers are forcing up rents in SF neighborhoods, while those same workers are not dealing with the exigencies of public transit, parking, and all of the other facts of life traditionally encountered by neighborhood residents. As symbols of a form of elitism, the buses have become a site of protest (see weblink): www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Google-bus-backlash-S-F-to-impose-fees-on-tech-5163759.php
SF Ocean Beach (1059)

SF Ocean Beach (1059)

11 Jan 2014 144
Ocean Beach and the windmills in Golden Gate Park, from the Cliff House.
SF Cliff House Camera Obscura (1057)

SF Cliff House Camera Obscura (1057)

11 Jan 2014 118
The Camera Obscure at the Cliff House.
SF Cliff House Sutro Baths (1055)

SF Cliff House Sutro Baths (1055)

11 Jan 2014 2 226
Site of the Sutro Baths, taken from the Cliff House.
SF Richmond 3800 Washington (1041)

SF Richmond 3800 Washington (1041)

11 Jan 2014 1 1 271
Despite having lived in San Francisco for many years, I somehow had never discovered this historic mansion, the Koshland house built in 1904 and surviving the 1906 quake. It is built to be identical on the front to Le Petit Trianon at Versailles. The main house is 18,000 sq ft with a guest house of 2600 sq ft. It is on the market, originally listed at $25M but the price has been reduced.
SF Presidio Spire (1038)

SF Presidio Spire (1038)

11 Jan 2014 154
A sculpture titled 'Spire' made from logs removed during the reforestation of the SF Presidio; the sculpture is a tribute to the historic forest of the Presidio. The dense forests at the Presidio are not natural, having been planted by the Army as windbreaks in the 1800's. Details on the forest, and the reasons for the reforestation, are on the following website: www.presidio.gov/about/press/Pages/Presidio-Celebrates-a-Decade-of-Reforestation.aspx
SF Presidio Arguello gate (1035)

SF Presidio Arguello gate (1035)

11 Jan 2014 168
Intricate military detail on the top of the gateposts at the Arguello entrance to the SF Presidio.
SF Presidio Arguello gate (1034)

SF Presidio Arguello gate (1034)

11 Jan 2014 156
Arguello gate of the SF Presidio. See the adjacent pictures for the military detail that is atop each of the gateposts.
SF Presidio Arguello gate (1033)

SF Presidio Arguello gate (1033)

11 Jan 2014 2 261
Intricate military detail on the top of the gateposts at the Arguello entrance to the SF Presidio. As noted by James Ruddy (in the comments), "Essayons" is the Army Corp of Engineers motto. "Essayons" is French for "let us try" and reflects the role of the French Military Engineers in the creation of the U.S. Corp during the war for independence. The building in the image is the Corps Castle which is used as the emblem of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE). The USACE website has an interesting set of photos from the corps involvement in the civil war: www.usace.army.mil/About/History.aspx
SF Presidio Arguello gate (1031)

SF Presidio Arguello gate (1031)

11 Jan 2014 115
Intricate military detail on the top of the gateposts at the Arguello entrance to the SF Presidio.
SF Presidio Arguello gate (1030)

SF Presidio Arguello gate (1030)

11 Jan 2014 150
Intricate military detail on the top of the gateposts at the Arguello entrance to the SF Presidio.
SF Presidio Arguello gate (1029)

SF Presidio Arguello gate (1029)

11 Jan 2014 1 151
The Great Seal of the United States (that is its official title), part of the intricate military detail on the top of the gateposts at the Arguello entrance to the SF Presidio. See Wikipedia for more detail on the Great Seal: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Seal_of_the_United_States
SF Presidio Arguello gate (1028)

SF Presidio Arguello gate (1028)

11 Jan 2014 123
Intricate military detail on the top of the gateposts at the Arguello entrance to the SF Presidio.
SF Presidio Arguello gate (1027)

SF Presidio Arguello gate (1027)

11 Jan 2014 220
Intricate military detail on the top of the gateposts at the Arguello entrance to the SF Presidio. This image is a major portion of the Army shield, the MDCCLXXVIII is for 1778, when the Army shield was adopted. The uniform connecting the parts is a Roman cuirass, which was a piece of armour. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_the_Army_Seal_and_Emblem
SF Presidio (1026)

SF Presidio (1026)

11 Jan 2014 120
I had never known that the trees at the Presidio were not what was originally there, that they had been planted when the post was first conceived in the 1800's -- see the description in the poster.
SF Presidio (1024)

SF Presidio (1024)

11 Jan 2014 174
View from a relatively recently constructed overlook in the Presidio, in the distance is Alcatraz. What's important here is actually what isn't usually surprising -- all of the trees. It turns out that the tree growth at the Presidio is unnatural, having been started by the original planners of the Presidio. See the nearby picture.
SF Telegraph Hill art deco (1021)

SF Telegraph Hill art deco (1021)

11 Jan 2014 2 2 236
Outstanding art deco building on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco.
SF downtown (1020)

SF downtown (1020)

11 Jan 2014 125
A wedding party, on a misty, rainy, Saturday afternoon, in downtown San Francisco.
678 items in total