The Economy

San Francisco has been a center for business since the Gold Rush. Today there are many different kinds of stores in San Francisco. There are newspapers. There are banks for people and businesses to keep their money. There are grocery stores, dry cleaners, pet stores and clothing stores, just as there are in any city.

One thing that was important for the San Franciscans to conduct business was to travel across the bay to San Rafael and east to Oakland. They could go by ferry, but bridges would be much faster.

The golden gate bridge

They built two remarkable bridges that opened in 1936. Check the map to see the Golden Gate Bridge going north to Marin County. See the Bay Bridge going east across San Francisco Bay to Oakland.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/
maps/world_cities/san_francisco.jpg

The Oakland Bay Bridge is the largest bridge in the world.

Photos by Jim Wright

The Oakland Bay Bridge

Photos by Jim Wright

The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge. The deck of the bridge is suspended, held up, by long cables. When it was built it was the longest span in the world. The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful. When we see the bridge, we think of San Francisco. It is a symbol for the city.

Click here for the model of the Golden Gate Bridge. You can put it together for your report.

The bridges made San Francisco a bigger center for business because more people could get to the city. One of the big businesses to come to San Francisco is computers. Computer programs and computers are designed and built in the area. San Francisco remains a major business center in the United States and the world.

Transportation

Photos by Jim Wright

San Francisco is pretty small since it is a peninsula. At first people walked or used horse drawn wagons and coaches. Soon they added public transportation. They had cable cars that were hooked to an underground cable. Riding a cable car up and down the San Francisco hills is still one of the fun things to do in city. Check out pictures and information about the cable cars at: http://www.cablecar
museum.com. Be sure to click on some of the headings to see all that is there.

As people invented more ways to travel, streetcars that run on overhead electric cables came to San Francisco. Today they also have the BART, a train that runs underground. It even runs under the bay to Oakland.

There are some cars in San Francisco, but not many. The streets are narrow. There isn’t much parking space. Many houses and apartments don’t have garages! This is really different than in cities that are not so crowded. Public transportation is very important.

San Francisco is an exciting city to visit because so much happens there. Many tourists come to San Francisco. They visit the different neighborhoods and eat at the wonderful restaurants. They visit the zoo and the museums. They go to the wharf to shop and even go ocean fishing on the big boats.

You should have answered question 6 for your press conference.