San Francisco spreads fairly evenly over most of its 49 square miles, but the main concentration of activity is in its oldest and easternmost plot, jammed between the waterfront and the steeply rising hills. It’s difficult to draw clear borders, as the parameters shift according to continuous development and whomever you ask, but most of what the locals call downtown is clustered within a square mile around the northern side of Market Street – San Francisco’s main commercial and traffic drag, which bisects the northeastern corner of the peninsula. The area ends abruptly at the edge of the bay, where the vistas have been greatly improved by the recent tearing down of the Embarcadero Freeway.
In keeping with its quirky history and unique personality, downtown San Francisco is a real mixed bag, conforming to no overall image. One block is thronged with multinational banks, the next is home to Chinese markets and sidewalk evangelists, and throughout are plenty of upscale department stores, private clubs, smart restaurants, and the other hallmarks of an affluent city.
At the heart of it all sits Union Square, San Francisco’s liveliest urban space, equally populated by shoppers, street musicians, and beggars. As the city’s main hotel and shopping district, at the junction of its major transportation lines (including cable cars), it makes a logical starting point for downtown wanderings. Rimming the Financial District – San Francisco’s only real high-rise quarter – at the eastern edge of the peninsula, the revitalized waterfront Embarcadero rests atop landfill, much of it made up of the remains of ships abandoned by eager 49ers during the Gold Rush.
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