
This means that while San Francisco is by no means the only city in the world to build on land fill (also called infill and reclaimed land), its proximity to several major fault lines makes it one of the more precarious.
Why don’t we use landfill in the Bay Area?
For one, you can’t go very far in the San Francisco Bay Area without being reminded that its wetlands and many of their flora and fauna are endangered. For another, as even the earliest builders discovered, landfill fares much worse in an earthquake than bedrock.
How much did it cost to build San Francisco's trash can prototype?
SAN FRANCISCO -- When San Francisco rolled out its three new trash can prototypes, people gasped at the cost with the price tag for developing just one of the models adding up to tens of thousands of dollars. Now, pictures are circulating of one of those cans, already in sad shape.
How many trash cans does San Francisco have?
In 2018, the city’s department of public works began the process of replacing its more than 3,000 existing public trash cans. Not content with the models already on the market, San Francisco launched what is now a three-and-half-year (and counting), $550,000 project to design bespoke bins for its streets.
Is San Francisco the only city to build on land fill?
This means that while San Francisco is by no means the only city in the world to build on land fill (also called infill and reclaimed land ), its proximity to several major fault lines makes it one of the more precarious.
What was the fastest way to get to the gold fields in San Francisco?
Did the Barbary Coast sank?
About this website

What part of San Francisco is built on landfill?
The northern half of the Marina is a shoreline of the San Francisco Bay, and features the Marina Green, a park adjacent to the municipal boat marina from which the neighborhood takes its name. Much of the Marina is built on former landfill, and is susceptible to soil liquefaction during strong earthquakes.
Is San Francisco built on flat land?
The city of San Francisco is geographically constrained to the tip of a peninsula, measuring appproximately seven miles wide by seven miles long. These physical boundaries are often implicated in conversation about the city's current housing crisis, especially by proponents of vertical expansion.
Is the Millennium Tower built on landfill?
The Millennium Towers in San Francisco is built on landfill. It is the heaviest concrete building built in this seismic zone and, unlike other neighboring buildings, it is not anchored into the bedrock below.
Is San Francisco built on sand?
Before San Francisco was a bustling tech hub, before it was the center of the hippie universe, and before it became known for its lush hills, much of the area was covered in sand dunes.
How deep is the water under the bay bridge?
Want to swim over the deepest part of the bay? Maybe you've already done it and had no idea - you'll find the deepest water in our Golden Gate Bridge race just under the bridge at over 370 feet.
Why is San Francisco so hilly?
Active faulting continues in the San Francisco Bay Area; during the past ~3 million years, the topography of the Bay Area was created. Some of the topography is a direct result of uplift along faults, but in San Francisco itself, most of the topography was created by differential erosion of ancient rocks.
Is there bedrock under San Francisco?
But San Francisco's bedrock is below 300 feet of mud and clay, which is why the engineers for Salesforce Tower had to build a big, shallow, fake rock using concrete and metal.
How far can Millennium Tower lean before it falls?
"I have performed analyses that indicate the building can withstand at least 70 inches of tilt to the west and 30 inches to the north before its ability to resist earthquakes would be compromised.
Will the Millennium Tower be torn down?
Last week's letter from Hamburger stated that the Millennium Tower's homeowners association has approved the new fix, which should be completed in 2022, with sidewalk restoration and access complete in January 2023. Hamburger stated that the building "remains safe and able to resist any likely earthquake."
Why is San Francisco built the way it is?
There were four reasons for this: geography, changing housing patterns, transit lines and disasters like the 1906 earthquake and fire. San Francisco was laid out in a grid pattern imposed on a city of hills built on the end of a peninsula.
Is San Francisco built on boats?
San Francisco's Foundation is Built on Old Ships from the Mid-1800s. Underneath some of the most expensive real estate in the entire world sits hundreds of old wooden ships.
What is under SF?
1:555:21Exploring San Francisco's Hidden Tunnels | Bay Curious - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipIt all goes into the same set of pipes. 200 feet below ground. We find a tunnel board throughMoreIt all goes into the same set of pipes. 200 feet below ground. We find a tunnel board through existing granite rock giving this part of the sewer it's unique cave-like structure.
Why can't San Francisco build more housing?
Strict zoning regulations are a primary cause behind the housing shortage in San Francisco. Historically, zoning regulations were implemented to restrict housing construction in wealthy neighborhoods, as well as prevent people of color from moving into white neighborhoods.
Why are San Francisco houses so close together?
So in most cases, houses were built to take up the entire lot. To build these houses, the walls had to be built first, on the ground, and then lifted into place using a system of levers and pulleys. This still happens.
Does San Francisco have zoning laws?
Every location has zoning laws defining where you can or can't legally operate a business. The San Francisco Planning Department enforces these zoning regulations (called the San Francisco Planning Code), reviews projects and proposals for compliance, and issues certain business and construction permits.
What is the newest building in San Francisco?
The Salesforce Tower, formerly known as the Transbay Tower, is a 1,070-foot (326 m) office skyscraper in the South of Market district of downtown San Francisco, completed in 2018....Salesforce TowerFloor area1,600,000 sq ft (150,000 m2)Lifts/elevators34Design and constructionArchitectPelli Clarke Pelli Architects26 more rows
Which city was a tiny town that would later become San Francisco?
The tiny town of Yerba Buena, which would later become San Francisco, ended up expanding in every direction possible
How wide is San Francisco?
The city of San Francisco is geographically constrained to the tip of a peninsula, measuring appproximately seven miles wide by seven miles long. These physical boundaries are often implicated in conversation about the city’s current housing crisis, especially by proponents of vertical expansion.
What was Mission Bay used for?
Mission Bay was a gulf of water surrounded by uninhabitable marsh, which many used as a dump, some in hopes of drying it out into viable real estate. It hit its tipping point after the catastrophic earthquake of 1906. The quake and subsequent fire had left the city’s infrastructure in ruin, and much of the wreckage went into the bay and surrounding marshland, until there was little enough bay and marshland that the region was suitable for development.
What would happen if the same magnitude earthquake hit San Francisco?
In 2006 -- 100 years after the great quake of 1906 -- a USGS representative stated that if an earthquake of the same magnitude hit the city that day, it would destroy nearly 40% of the city's buildings. The geologist also noted, “All the areas built on fill, such as the Bayfront, Marina district, financial district, and SoMa [south of Market], will be very vulnerable."
Is San Francisco a land fill city?
This means that while San Francisco is by no means the only city in the world to build on land fill (also called infill and reclaimed land ), its proximity to several major fault lines makes it one of the more precarious. USGS liquefaction susceptibility map of San Francisco -- red indicates regions that exhibit "very high susceptibility" ...
Is San Francisco the only city in the world to build on land fill?
For another, as even the earliest builders discovered, landfill fares much worse in an earthquake than bedrock. This means that while San Francisco is by no means the only city in the world to build on land fill (also called infill and reclaimed land ), its proximity to several major fault lines makes it one of the more precarious.
Can land fill be liquefied?
Land fill tends to undergo liquefaction in earthquakes. If you take a bucket of water-saturated sand and press down on it with the flat of your palm it will act like a relatively stable solid. But if you shake the bucket hard enough and long enough, the sand becomes loose and pourable -- like a liquid. In an earthquake, what seems like a solid foundation can turn into quicksand in a matter of seconds. This can damage gas and water mains and electrical lines, dramatically sink or tilt buildings, or cause them to collapse.
What was the fastest way to get to the gold fields in San Francisco?
There weren’t railroads, automobiles, or airplanes during the Gold Rush of 1849 and 1850. The fastest way to get to the gold fields was to travel by boat.
Did the Barbary Coast sank?
Many of these vessels never sailed again. Some rotted away and sank at their moorings. (Herbert Asbury in “The Barbary Coast”) To fill the cove, many of the ships were sunk. A seawall, running roughly along the path, was all the remained of the cove by the late 1860s.
When will San Francisco start making garbage cans?
Here was the plan being described to him, as far as Supervisor Matt Haney could parse it: In late 2018, San Francisco had embarked on a quest to design its own garbage can — from scratch. By the summer of 2021, two-and-a-half years later, an industrial design firm had completed the conceptual drawings for three models. In July, the Board of Supervisors would vote on spending $427,500, much of it to manufacture and test five prototypes of each model. The price tag for each prototype was estimated at between $12,000 to $20,000 apiece.
What is the key to a successful trash can?
However, he warned, “simplicity is the key to a successful (trash) can.”
Which cities have purchased cans from Thompson?
Portland, another city Haney mentioned in the hearings, also purchased cans in 2020 from Thompson. They meet all of San Francisco’s requirements except the sensor. “We are considering adding them to some of our containers to prevent missed collections,” Quintin Bauer, public trash collection program manager for Seattle. But Portland is still assessing different solutions.
Who is the contractor for the Renaissance trash cans?
That company, intriguingly, is under the aegis of former permit expediter and contractor Walter Wong, a longtime Nuru running buddy who has since pleaded guilty to federal fraud and money-laundering charges, and has cooperated with the feds to take down other San Francisco city officials.
Who sells Bearsaver trash bins?
Steve Thompson , director of marketing and sales for BearSaver and Securr, which sells BearSaver trash bins, represented one of the seven companies that attended the 2018 pre-proposal conference meeting with San Francisco Public Works.
Is San Francisco unique?
San Francisco is “obviously very unique, and we weren’t happy with the look of those cans,” said then-interim Director Alaric Degrafinried, referring to the aesthetics of the off-the-shelf models.
Did Public Works change the estimate?
In a subsequent private meeting, Haney said, Public Works changed the estimate. “They told me that, actually, they believe that these can potentially be equal to or even cheaper than the off-the-shelf models,” Haney said when asked about the discrepancy. “I said, that’s not what you said in the committee. And they said, well, actually, that was wrong. We do believe it will be cheaper.”
What are the safety issues in downtown San Francisco?
One of the safety issues of in downtown San Francisco is the welding methods used in the aging buildings , at least that is what engineers are reporting when asked about the new mega-building skyscrapers invading the skyline in recent years. The old brick building were required to retrofit starting back in the 1960s. Only a few grandfathered iconic sign can protrude from the buildings.
When was landfilling of the Bay halted?
To add to Quora User 's answer, noting that landfilling of the Bay was halted under law in the 1960s:
What is the best way to see San Francisco?
Added Recommendation: Don’t drive (in the city) & be a very careful pedestrian; traffic is a bear & parking enforcement is serious business. Walking is the best way to see San Francisco.
Where do you sacrifice centrality for cheaper housing?
Neighborhoods where you sacrifice centrality for cheaper housing include the Sunset, the Richmond, and the Marina.
Is San Francisco a good place to live?
San Francisco overall is a beautiful place, with many parks & a bay or ocean view around every corner, well worth a visit. But, like any city, it has problem areas & a very visible homeless population (sometimes frightening to those unaccustomed to urban life, but rarely a source of violence). What’s different, compared to most American cities, is that San Francisco is quite small (7 miles from one side to the other); nothing is very far from anything else. With 900,000 residents, 200,000 weekday commuters, & 25Million visitors annually, this little piece of real estate, surrounded by water on
Is Pacific Heights safe?
Very safe neighborhoods include Pacific Heights and the Marina.
Is there bad neighborhoods on the tourist route?
The good news is that there are very few “ bad neighborhoods” on the usual tourist routes, & these are relatively small. Such as:
What was the fastest way to get to the gold fields in San Francisco?
There weren’t railroads, automobiles, or airplanes during the Gold Rush of 1849 and 1850. The fastest way to get to the gold fields was to travel by boat.
Did the Barbary Coast sank?
Many of these vessels never sailed again. Some rotted away and sank at their moorings. (Herbert Asbury in “The Barbary Coast”) To fill the cove, many of the ships were sunk. A seawall, running roughly along the path, was all the remained of the cove by the late 1860s.
