Civic Center, San Francisco, California

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San Francisco's Civic Center is an area of a few blocks north of the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that contains many of the city's largest government and cultural institutions. It has two large plazas (Civic Center Plaza and United Nations Plaza) and a number of buildings in classical architectural style. Its beauty is marred, however, by a reputation for being one of the more popular parts of the city for the homeless and the drug addicted. In recent years the homeless have been pushed out of the central part and now congregate mainly at its Market Street edge.^{[citation needed]} It is the locale of many rallies, demonstrations, and festivals.

United Nations Plaza was created in 1975, when the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway was constructed under Market Street. The 2.6 acre pedestrian mall was designed by Lawrence Halprin.^[1] It commemorates the signing of the United Nations Charter at the Herbst Theater in 1945.

Contents 1 Notable buildings 2 Transportation 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Notable buildings

• City Hall
• Supreme Court of California
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• San Francisco Public Library
• War Memorial Opera House, where the U.N. Charter was signed in 1945 and the Treaty of San Francisco was signed in 1951.
• Davies Symphony Hall
• Herbst Theater
• Asian Art Museum, opened in 2004 in the former building of the San Francisco Library.
• Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
• University of California, Hastings College of the Law

[edit] Transportation

Civic Center Station is a subway stop for both BART and the Muni Metro. The F Market historic streetcar line and many Muni bus lines run nearby.

[edit] See also

• 49-Mile Scenic Drive

[edit] References

1. ^ 2.6 acres, 1975, part of BART construction, Halprin as designer: [1]

[edit] External links

• Photo tour of Civic Center A photo tour of Civic Center complete with narrative text.

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 37.7795° -122.4176°
  • Satellite image from WikiMapia, Google Maps or Windows Live Local
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image from TerraServer-USA