San Francisco County Information

The historical, cultural, and economic center of the San Francisco Bay Area, the City and County of San Francisco has always been a prime location not only in the Bay Area, but also in the whole state of California as well.  The 4th most populous city in California and the 14th in the whole United States, San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a chartered city and a chartered county.  This has been its status since 1856 and is the only consolidated city-county in the State of California.

Its relatively small land area of 47 square miles has been more than just home for its 739,426 inhabitants.  It has also been their source of livelihood and recreation.  San Francisco is one of the most densely populated area in the whole United States with an estimated 16,634.4 residents per square mile of land (2nd most densely populated city in the US, after New York City).  With a majority of its populace living in multi-unit housing structures, single-family detached homes has been a prized possession of its 32.3% real estate owners.

San Francisco’s rapid growth can be traced back during the 1848 California Gold Rush.  The city has been the gateway for most of the gold rushers flooding the West.  Further growth stemmed from the 1859 Comstock Lode and silver mining boom.  During that period, railroad, banking, and mining industries became the major economic forces.  Banking remains a major economic force, earning San Francisco the title of “Banking Capital of the West.” Other major industries at present include tourism, biotechnology, biomedicine, and entrepreneurship.  San Francisco is the 3rd most visited city in the U, after New York and Los Angeles, according to the Department of Commerce.  It consistently ranks among the top 10 tourist destinations in the US and among the top 50 in the world.

Real estate growth in San Francisco is well chronicled.  Aside from the 1848 and 1859 population boom, another wave arrived when the city became more accessible after the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, which opened in 1936 and 1937, respectively.  Urban planning became necessary in the 1950s to address the housing problem of the city.  Neighborhoods were torn down and redeveloped.  Major freeways were also introduced.

San Francisco Real Estate

Although San Francisco real estate has remained one of the most expensive in California through the years, the demand for it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.  Entire neighborhoods of the city such as the Marina and Hunters Point were created atop a landfill (made of mud, sand, and rubble) and other reclamation projects when flatland became scarce.  Some hills like Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, and Telegraph Hill were likewise transformed into neighborhoods.

San Francisco population is very diverse that neighborhoods and communities of different ethnic backgrounds are sprawled all-over the city.  The Chinatown and Japantown are both among the largest and oldest in the US.  There is a Vietnamese community; Filipinos in Crocker-Amazon and South of Market; an Italian community in North Beach; a French Quarter; and Irish, Chinese, and Russian communities in the Richmond District.

Current land use expansion is concentrated in the east and south of the city.  New real estate developments are underway in the South of Market and Rincon Hill.  These real estate developments would take the form of high rises that aim to rival Los Angeles for the title of the tallest building in the West Coast.

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San Francisco California Real Estate by county