Sfyoungplaywrights.org

San Francisco offers a wide variety of attractions for the locals, visitors and tourists. The possibility of things to do in the city seems to be endless. However, the “Top Things to do” in San Francisco involves visits at the waterfront, around town, and on the city’s ocean and bay fronts.

One spectacular sight at the Waterfront of San Francisco is the “Golden Gate Bridge” the most photographed sight in the world. It stretches 4,200 feet with a towering height compared to a 65 story building. A walk at the bridge is one of the most enjoyable things to do.

Another popular sight of San Francisco’s Waterfront is the Alcatraz, a former prison for the notorious criminals. The interesting part to do at this place is the self-walking guided tour through the aid of headphones that narrates the whole story of about Alcatraz.

Half a dozen blocks along the Waterfront are the Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier39, and Ghirardelli Square. Simply walking along the streets, your attention will be caught by some entertaining performers. The street also has plenty of tempting souvenir shops and great seafood restaurants.

Around the town of San Francisco is Union Square – the third largest shopping area in the United States. It is a fabulous place to shop for clothes, art works and items for your home – but make sure that you have enough money because prices are quite expensive.

A must see attraction in San Francisco is the “Crookedest Street in the World” or simply Lombard Street. Watching the vehicles make their curves as they go down the crooked street is a great a attraction and a marvel to the eye. Others have said that it is much more interesting to experience the crooked section of the street by riding or driving a car.

San Francisco also has many places for antiques that you can visit. One of these places is the Cliff House where you can find the Camera Obscura that was invented by Leonardo Da Vinci. The Cliff House is also a very nice place for a drink because it offers excellent views of the Pacific Ocean and Seal Rock.

The place in San Francisco where there’s always something to do is at North Beach. North Beach is full of activities, but most involve eating. The area has tons of cafe’s, restaurants, delicatessens, and bakeries for you to choose from.

There are other plenty of things that you can do in San Francisco…the possibilities here are truly endless.

One of the most vibrant and picturesque cities in the United States, San Francisco attracts a lot of tourists every year. San Francisco offers a significant number of cultural attractions and world famous landmarks, all in the surroundings of impressive natural beauty.

The first settlement here was built in the end of the XVI century by the Spanish conquers and received its name in honor of Saint Francisc.

Now San Francisco is called the pearl of the Western Coast. It’s a unique mix of the old architecture (of the Victorian period) and the modern buildings. The city lies on the hills surrounding the ocean. San Francisco is on of the most poetic cites in the United States, the city of bohemia with its special fleur and atmosphere. The city has its nickname – Frisco.

San Francisco is known for its wonderful food, intensive nightlife and its glorious views. Golden Gate Bridge is one of the world-known symbols of San Francisco and the view of the sunset is the best here. The bridge is 210m high.

Every month of the year there is something interesting happening in San Francisco – festivals and different cultural events are carried out throughout the year. As for climate and weather, of course, summer months are the best choice for visiting this city, but you won’t mistake if you choose another season for traveling. San Francisco isn’t a cold city anyway. The closest in time events – Holiday Festival: Great Dickens Christmas Fair, Celebration of Craftswomen, Holiday Festival of Lights, Marin Art and Garden Center and Macy’s Union Square Tree Lighting Ceremony. All they take place in December.

So, what else is worth to see in San Francisco?

Except the above-mentioned Golden Gate Bridge another world famous symbol of the city is Alcatraz. It’s the rock with the former prison, which can be called the best-known prison on earth. This prison is situated on an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Now it’s a museum exhibiting objects made by notorious inmates, historic photographs and documents, escape materials and inmate artwork; items used by officers including correctional materials when Alcatraz was a federal penitentiary from 1934-1963; military prison period materials from 1859-1934; and the American Indian occupation of 1969 -1971.
Aquarium of the Bay is also a very interesting place for visit in San Francisco. It was opened in 1996. Now it’s a unique educational and entertainment facility dedicated to the rich and diverse aquatic life of the San Francisco Bay and its surrounding waters.

One of San Francisco’s main retail and cultural centers is Union Square. Set aside as a park in 1850 and named before the start of the Civil War as a tribute to the frequent demonstrations in support of the Union troop, the park got a major renovation and restoration in 2002.

Another sightseeing in San Francisco is Coit Tower. It’s 210ft (60m) high and crowns the top of Telegraph Hill. The tower was built as a monument to the firefighters of San Francisco.

To confirm the reputation of the intellectual city it’s enough to name Berkeley – one of the most prestigious Universities of USA is located near San Francisco.
So, there is enough to see and to take part in San Francisco – just don’t miss it!

In 2003, a committee was created with members appointed from the city Board of Supervisors and the Board of Education. In the beginning, the committee was used to discuss joint concerns on issues, such as affordable housing for teachers, student nutrition, and graffiti in the San Francisco schools. Unfortunately, the structure of the joint committee was a matter of contention from the committee’s inception with an imbalance of power.

The Board of Supervisors control the forum. They decide what issues are put on the meeting agendas for discussion. They have the right to make inquiries of the San Francisco schools’ officials, who are expected to respond to all inquiries. Unfortunately, this is a one-way power structure.

The San Francisco schools are funded by the state and not accountable to city or county governments. The structure of the committee makes the San Francisco schools’ officials accountable to the city’s Board of Supervisors and doomed from the beginning. Thus, the committee has met rarely in the past couple of years.

Though the San Francisco schools’ officials and city supervisors were scheduled to meet twice monthly in 2006, it did not happen, according to Jill Wynns, a veteran San Francisco schools’ board member. Unfortunately, 2006 was a year the committee was most needed. There were several San Francisco schools issues in the forefront last year that caused undue tensions within the San Francisco schools and the community. There were several closures of San Francisco schools, for example, as well as decisions on the use of voter-approved enrichment funds (from the city) for San Francisco schools’ expenditures.

A new committee chairman has been appointed to help bring the committee back to life. Chairman Bevan Dufty, a member of the Board of Supervisors, is promising a more mutual relationship within the committee to build more and better communication between the two leaderships.

In order to breath new life into the committee, Dufty plans to approach the forum as equal partners between the city supervisors and the San Francisco schools’ officials, beginning with agenda items. San Francisco schools’ officials now will be able to submit requests to put issues on meeting agendas. Though Dufty still has final say on the agenda items and there has been no commitment to two-way inquiries, this is a major first step toward positive change.

Other members of the committee include veteran supervisor Sophie Maxwell, newly appointed supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, veteran San Francisco schools’ official Jill Wynns, and newly-elected San Francisco schools’ officials Jane Kim and Mydra Mendoza.

It is hoped that the infusion of new people, especially the new chairman, will energize the committee into a partnership for positive change within the San Francisco schools.