History UsefulNotes / SanFrancisco

The area also has vibrant and loyal sports fandoms. Two major professional teams currently play in San Francisco proper: [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} MLB]]'s San Francisco Giants and the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]]'s Golden State Warriors. Both had great success in the 2010s, with the Giants winning three World Series championships in five years (2010, 2012, and 2014) and the Warriors (who played in Oakland at the time) winning three NBA championships in four years (2015, 2017, 2018). In 2019 the Warriors moved to their new home at Chase Center, just south of the Giants' field at Oracle Park in the Mission Bay neighborhood.

The area has vibrant and loyal sports fandoms. Two major sports teams currently play in San Francisco, [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} MLB]]'s San Francisco Giants and the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]]'s Golden State Warriors. Both had great success in the 2010s, with the Giants winning three World Series championships in 5 years (2010, 2012, and 2014) and the Warriors (who played in Oakland at the time) winning three NBA championships in 4 years (2015, 2017, 2018). The Warriors moved to their new home at Chase Center, just south of the Giants' field at Oracle Park, in 2019.

One other team carries the name of San Francisco, the [[UsefulNotes.NationalFootballLeague NFL]]'s 49ers, who moved down to Santa Clara (about 45 minutes south of SF) in 2014. The Niners had a tremendous dynasty during the 1980s and early 1990s, winning 5 Super Bowls between 1981 and 1994. Since then, they have had sporadic great years, making it to the Super Bowl in 2012 and 2019.

-->-- His Imperial Majesty [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton Emperor Norton I]], [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico]], 1872.

As a famously scenic UsefulNotes/{{California}}n city with a reputation for eccentricity, controversy, and singular history, San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area pop up fairly frequently in media, particularly visual media, which just love the city's iconic hills and eclectic architecture.

In almost any film or TV show, the cable cars will be made to seem almost everywhere, with the stock establishing shot a cable car cresting over a hill lined with Victorian houses while the Golden Gate Bridge is framed in the background. Car chases are frequent in TV and film thanks to the hilly streets and neato views (often making a point of going down the famously-winding [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombard_Street_%28San_Francisco%29 Lombard Street]]). The city is famous for its liberal politics, association with countercultural movements (the [[{{Beatnik}} beats]] and the [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippies]] followed on each other's heels in the mid-20th century), prominent gay population, longtime history as a hub for Chinese immigration, and its reputation for attracting colorful eccentrics who become tolerated or even celebrated in a way they probably wouldn't be anywhere else in America.

San Francisco sits right on top of the San Andreas Fault, and there are numerous smaller (but no less dangerous) faults in the surrounding area; earthquakes are inevitable, and jaded long-term residents will often wave off a smaller one as an UnusuallyUninterestingSight. The largest earthquake in city history was the Great Quake of 1906, which killed over 3,000 people, destroyed most of the city due to the shaking and subsequent uncontrollable fires, and caused changes that still reverberate today [[note]]([[FriendlyNeighborhoodChinatown Chinatown]] was rebuilt further west in its present location, and many refugees were resettled in nearby small towns which contributed to their development as suburbs)[[/note]]; each year, bells are still rung on April 18th at 5:12 am to commemorate the disaster. The most recent quake to have a significant effect on the city was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake the Loma Prieta earthquake]][[note]](aka the "World Series Quake", since it happened at 5:04 pm, a half-hour before the scheduled start of [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's]]. This likely saved many lives because people left work early to watch the game and consequentially weren't caught in rush hour traffic when buildings and roads started collapsing; as it was, the quake caused 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries)[[/note]] of October 17, 1989. Having water on three sides makes the weather wildly unpredictable and generates the famous fog that rolls across half the city at any given time (the fog even has its own Website/{{Twitter}} account. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Really]]). Though not as large as other major metropolitan centers, San Francisco is a city of diverse and occasionally clashing neighborhoods, from the famous gay hub in the Castro to the always-trendy Mission District to the uber-rich perched on Nob Hill or the down and dirty poor in the Tenderloin. Some neighborhoods consist of only a few blocks but manage to create their own distinct flavor within that little world. And neighborhoods are often changing: [=SoMa=] (South of Market Area, Market being the city's most prominent street) used to be a grungy skid row but in recent decades has gentrified into a trendy business district (although, intriguingly, the area's vogue for BDSM-themed bars and shops remains...).

It's worth noting that popular candidates for [[Film/{{Vertigo}} the best film ever made]] and [[Film/TheRoom the worst film ever made]] were both set and filmed here.

* ''Film/TheRoom''. We know it's set here because we're shown StockFootage of San Francisco [[ViewersAreGoldfish every 5 minutes.]]

* MLB's Oakland A's, a historically strong team in the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, their payroll has been cut, but efforts to make the most of a low budget (famously described in the book and movie ''Film/{{Moneyball}}'') have often shown good results.
* The NFL's Las Vegas Raiders played in Oakland from 1960-1981 and 1995-2019, and the fandom for them still runs deep in some areas.

* ''Creator/{{Chaosium}}'' expanded it's ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' setting to this city with a sourcebook, ''[[TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhuSecretsOfSanFrancisco Secrets of San Francisco]]''.

* Mike Myers' ''Film/SoIMarriedAnAxeMurderer'' is set largely in San Francisco. They even manage to fit in a tour of Alcatraz.

* ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'' was set and mostly filmed here.

* Both Stanford and UC Berkeley are known to field excellent teams in multiple sports; Stanford holds the NCAA record for most Division 1 championships across all sports, while Berkeley is at #11 on the same list. The annual football game between Stanford and Berkeley is known as "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Game_(American_football) The Big Game]]", and is one of the oldest rivalries in college sports, with 2020's game being the 114th.

* ''Film/FortyEightHrs'' and the sequel ''Another48Hrs''.

* ''Film/FortyEightHours'' and the sequel ''Another 48 Hours''.

If you're visiting, for God's sake, [[BerserkButton do not call the city "Frisco"]] and please don't forget your heart ([[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration or your head]]) when you leave.

* Parts of ''Literature/Timeline191'' are set in San Francisco, notably in the first book, ''How Few Remain'', where Creator/SamuelLanghorneClemens is a viewpoint character living there.

* ''Film/{{Zodiac}}'' is set in San Francisco and its outlying communities.

* ''Film/TheGame''

Geographically, San Francisco is rather small for a city of its prominence, since it sits on the end of a peninsula and has no room to grow. The term "Bay Area" refers to the constellation of counties surrounding the San Francisco Bay and their related cities. zusefulNotes/{{Oakland}}, the city on the eastern shore of the Bay, has always been San Francisco's unofficial sister city, these days something of a troubled, hardscrabble town that nevertheless keeps alive the blue collar heritage that the city has lost a bit. Just to the north of Oakland is Berkeley, seat of the region's radical political reputation and home to one of its two most prestigious universities (UC Berkeley). The North Bay, on the other end of the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge is characterized by the homes of the ultra-rich and the sprawling "wine country" that produces most of California's most notable vintages. And in recent years the South Bay and the Peninsula have come into their own as the seat of Silicon Valley and the engine behind the region's enormous economic boom, driven by social media and software startups of all stripes. Many of those startups were founded by alumni of the Bay Area's other ultra-prestigious university, Stanford (located on the Peninsula).

In almost any film or TV show, the cable cars will be made to seem almost everywhere, with the stock establishing shot a cable car cresting over a hill lined with Victorian houses while the Golden Gate bridge is framed in the background. Car chases are frequent in TV and film thanks to the hilly streets and neato views (often making a point of going down the famously-winding [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombard_Street_%28San_Francisco%29 Lombard Street]]). The city is famous for its liberal politics, association with countercultural movements (the [[{{Beatnik}} beats]] and the [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippies]] followed on each other's heels in the mid-20th century), prominent gay population, longtime history as a hub for Chinese immigration, and its reputation for attracting colorful eccentrics who become tolerated or even celebrated in a way they probably wouldn't be anywhere else in America.

Geographically, San Francisco is rather small for a city of its prominence, since it sits on the end of a peninsula and has no room to grow. The term "Bay Area" refers to the constellation of counties surrounding the San Francisco Bay and their related cities. Oakland, the city on the eastern shore of the Bay, has always been San Francisco's unofficial sister city, these days something of a troubled, hardscrabble town that nevertheless keeps alive the blue collar heritage that the city has lost a bit. Just to the north of Oakland is Berkeley, seat of the region's radical political reputation and home to one of its two most prestigious universities (UC Berkeley). The North Bay, on the other end of the world famous Golden Gate Bridge is characterized by the homes of the ultra rich and the sprawling "wine country" that produces most of California's most notable vintages. And in recent years the South Bay and the Peninsula have come into their own as the seat of Silicon Valley and the engine behind the region's enormous economic boom, driven by social media and software startups of all stripes. Many of those startups were founded by alumni of the Bay Area's other ultra-prestigious university, Stanford (located on the Peninsula).

San Francisco sits right on top of the San Andreas Fault, and there are numerous smaller (but no less dangerous) faults in the surrounding area; earthquakes are inevitable, and jaded long-term residents will often wave off a smaller one as an UnusuallyUninterestingSight. The largest earthquake in city history was the Great Quake of 1906, which killed over 3,000 people, destroyed most of the city due to the shaking and subsequent uncontrollable fires, and caused changes that still reverberate today [[note]]([[FriendlyNeighborhoodChinatown Chinatown]] was rebuilt further west in its present location, and many refugees were resettled in nearby small towns which contributed to their development as suburbs)[[/note]]; each year, bells are still rung on April 18th at 5:12 am to commemorate the disaster. The most recent quake to have a significant effect on the city was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake the Loma Prieta earthquake]][[note]](aka the "World Series Quake", since it happened at 5:04 pm, a half-hour before the scheduled start of [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's]]. This likely saved many lives because people left work early to watch the game and consequentially weren't caught in rush hour traffic when buildings and roads started collapsing; as it was, the quake caused 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries)[[/note]] of October 17, 1989. Having water on three sides makes the weather wildly unpredictable and generates the famous fog that rolls across half the city at any given time (the fog even has its own Twitter account. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Really]]). Though not as large as other major metropolitan centers, San Francisco is a city of diverse and occasionally clashing neighborhoods, from the famous gay hub in the Castro to the always-trendy Mission District to the uber-rich perched on Nob Hill or the down and dirty poor in the Tenderloin. Some neighborhoods consist of only a few blocks but manage to create their own distinct flavor within that little world. And neighborhoods are often changing: [=SoMa=] (South of Market Area, Market being the city's most prominent street) used to be a grungy skid row but in recent decades has gentrified into a trendy business district (although, intriguingly, the area's vogue for BDSM-themed bars and shops remains...).

The area has vibrant and loyal sports fandoms. Two major sports teams currently play in San Francisco, MLB's San Francisco Giants and the NBA's Golden State Warriors. Both had great success in the 2010s, with the Giants winning three World Series championships in 5 years (2010, 2012, and 2014) and the Warriors (who played in Oakland at the time) winning three NBA championships in 4 years (2015, 2017, 2018). The Warriors moved to their new home at Chase Center, just south of the Giants' field at Oracle Park, in 2019.

One other team carries the name of San Francisco, the NFL's 49ers, who moved down to Santa Clara (about 45 minutes south of SF) in 2014. The Niners had a tremendous dynasty during the 1980s and early 1990s, winning 5 Super Bowls between 1981 and 1994. Since then, they have had sporadic great years, making it to the Super Bowl in 2012 and 2019.

* Since their last revival, the Comicbook/TeenTitans have lived in San Francisco.

** Another comedic version climaxes the Goldie Hawn-Chevy Chase vehicle ''Film/FoulPlay''. ("Far out!")

* The silly-ass ''Film/DrGoldfootAndTheBikiniMachine'', a 1965 comedy staring Vincent Price, has possibly the longest, silliest ([[DrivingADesk rear-projected]]) car chase ever down San Francisco's Lombard Street -- part on location, part green screen, as the antagonists and protagonists switch between on cars, trollies, and even a boat on wheels. Vincent Price makes a great show of looking carsick through it.

* Although most of ''Film/InterviewWithTheVampire'' features flashbacks set in New Orleans and Paris, the FrameStory is set in San Francisco. The SceneryPorn is a little more creative than most, if for no other reason that that it emphasizes the less famous (but far more widely used) Bay Bridge rather than the Golden Gate.

* ''Literature/OneThirdNerd'' is set in the Bay Area. Moses's parents both work for Google.

** In a stroke of irony, there is one famous company that owns a significant amount of property there today: Lucasfilm.

* ''Series/FullHouse'' is based here in the area surrounding Alamo Square park.

* Another Disney Channel original series, ''Series/ANTFarm'', which, like ''That's So Raven'', has a black teen girl as the main character, also takes place in San Francisco.

* The third season of Creator/{{MTV}}'s ''Series/TheRealWorld'' was set in San Francisco. The season is best known for featuring the late AIDS activist Pedro Zamora, who was not only the first gay man of color with HIV to appear on television, but the show also covered his same-sex wedding, another TV first. The season also featured aspiring comic book artist Creator/JuddWinick, who would go on to become an award-winning artist for DC Comics.

* Creator/AllenGinsberg's "Literature/{{Howl}}" has bits of San Francisco in the setting, and the city was home to Howl's famous first performance.

And please don't forget your heart ([[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration or your head]]) when you leave.

San Francisco sits right on top of the San Andreas Fault, and there are numerous smaller (but no less dangerous) faults in the surrounding area; earthquakes are inevitable, and jaded long-term residents will often wave off a smaller one as an UnusuallyUninterestingSight. The largest earthquake in city history was the Great Quake of 1906, which killed over 3,000 people, destroyed most of the city due to the shaking and subsequent uncontrollable fires, and caused changes that still reverberate today [[note]]([[FriendlyNeighborhoodChinatown Chinatown]] was rebuilt further west in its present location, and many refugees were resettled in nearby small towns which contributed to their development as suburbs)[[/note]]; each year, bells are still rung on April 18th at 5:12 am to commemorate the disaster. The most recent quake to have a significant effect on the city was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake the Loma Prieta earthquake]][[note]](aka the "World Series Quake", since it happened at 5:04 pm, a half-hour before the scheduled start of [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's]]. This likely saved many lives because people left work early to watch the game and consequentially weren't caught in rush hour traffic when buildings and roads started collapsing; as it was, the quake caused 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries)[[/note]] of October 17, 1989. Having water on three sides makes the weather wildly unpredictable and generates the famous fog that rolls across half the city at any given time (the fog even has its own Twitter account. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer |Really]]). Though not as large as other major metropolitan centers, San Francisco is a city of diverse and occasionally clashing neighborhoods, from the famous gay hub in the Castro to the always-trendy Mission District to the uber-rich perched on Nob Hill or the down and dirty poor in the Tenderloin. Some neighborhoods consist of only a few blocks but manage to create their own distinct flavor within that little world. And neighborhoods are often changing: [=SoMa=] (South of Market Area, Market being the city's most prominent street) used to be a grungy skid row but in recent decades has gentrified into a trendy business district (although, intriguingly, the area's vogue for BDSM-themed bars and shops remains...).

San Francisco sits right on top of the San Andreas Fault, and there are numerous smaller (but no less dangerous) faults in the surrounding area; earthquakes are inevitable, and jaded long-term residents will often wave off a smaller one as an UnusuallyUninterestingSight. The largest earthquake in city history was the Great Quake of 1906, which killed over 3,000 people, destroyed most of the city due to the shaking and subsequent uncontrollable fires, and caused changes that still reverberate today [[note]]([[FriendlyNeighborhoodChinatown Chinatown]] was rebuilt further west in its present location, and many refugees were resettled in nearby small towns which contributed to their development as suburbs)[[/note]]; each year, bells are still rung on April 18th at 5:12 am to commemorate the disaster. The most recent quake to have a significant effect on the city was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake the Loma Prieta earthquake]][[note]](aka the "World Series Quake", since it happened at 5:04 pm, a half-hour before the scheduled start of [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's]]. This likely saved many lives because people left work early to watch the game and consequentially weren't caught in rush hour traffic when buildings and roads started collapsing; as it was, the quake caused 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries)[[/note]] of October 17, 1989. Having water on three sides makes the weather wildly unpredictable and generates the famous fog that rolls across half the city at any given time (the fog even has its own Twitter account. Really). Though not as large as other major metropolitan centers, San Francisco is a city of diverse and occasionally clashing neighborhoods, from the famous gay hub in the Castro to the always-trendy Mission District to the uber-rich perched on Nob Hill or the down and dirty poor in the Tenderloin. Some neighborhoods consist of only a few blocks but manage to create their own distinct flavor within that little world. And neighborhoods are often changing: [=SoMa=] (South of Market Area, Market being the city's most prominent street) used to be a grungy skid row but in recent decades has gentrified into a trendy business district (although, intriguingly, the area's vogue for BDSM-themed bars and shops remains...).

* ''VideoGame/DriverSanFrancisco''

* ''VideoGame/WatchDogs2'' takes place in the Bay Area.

* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, two of its subseries take place largely in San Francisco. One being ''Ant-Man'' (''Film/AntMan1'' and ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'') and the other being ''Shang-Chi'' (just ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'' so far); with both series including their own SF car chase as noted above. In ''Shang-Chi''[='s=] case, the choice of location is tied to its
Asian immigrant population, as the film features Asian-American culture.

** ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' had one of these, but with cars shrinking and resizing willy-nilly during it all... and then the chase ends down by Fisherman's Wharf with the Blue & Gold Fleet plus a "whale" in the Bay... Also in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, ''Series/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'' has its own version; not quite a car ''chase'', but a fight on a bus damages the brakes and knocks out the driver, leading to a high-speed mess on the streets.

* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, two of its subseries take place largely in San Francisco. One being ''Ant-Man'' (''Film/AntMan1'' and ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'') and the other being ''Shang-Chi'' (just ''Series/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'' so far); with both series including their own SF car chase as noted above. In ''Shang-Chi''[='s=] case, the choice of location is tied to its

** ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' had one of these, but with cars shrinking and resizing willy-nilly during it all... and then the chase ends down by Fisherman's Wharf with the Blue & Gold Fleet plus a "whale" in the Bay...

** This is in continuing a fine tradition of monsters destroying San Franscisco and especially the Golden Gate Bridge, starting with Film/ItCameFromBeneathTheSea in 1955, in which a giant octopus crushes the Golden Gate in its clutches.

* ''Film/AntMan1'' takes place largely in San Francisco. So does its sequel ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' (as previously mentioned in the car-chase section).

* ''Film/TerminatorGenysis'': San Francisco is destroyed by a nuclear missile in the original Judgement Day timeline on August 24, 1997. Notably, the scene of the nuclear destruction shows the [[MonumentalDamage destruction of the city's skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge collapsing to the Bay.]] Due to time travel, Kyle Reece, Sarah Conor, the Guardian, and John Connor travel to San Francisco in alternate 2017 where Judgement Day does not occur.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', is based in the Chinatown neighborhood and the city gets front row seats to some of the magical activities of the main characters and vilians. It almost gets destroyed in the a couple of episodes.

** ''Freebie and the Bean'' has a chase scene that ends with a car flying off the (now-demolished) Embarcadero Freeway and landing in the apartment bedroom of an elderly couple.

* ''Film/FreebieAndTheBean'' is about two cops working for the SFPD Intelligence Squad.