Union Square (San Francisco)
The district Union Square is the central shopping, hotel and theater district of San Francisco in California . Union Square is also the 10,500-square-meter park that is bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton streets. The name Union Square comes from the fact that it was famous for rallies in support of the Union Army during the American Civil War . Nowhere in the western United States is there a higher concentration of large department stores, boutiques, souvenir shops and eateries than in the surrounding streets of the one block park, which makes Union Square a major tourist attraction and a lively, cosmopolitan space in downtown San Francisco has become. Large hotels, small inns and unique theaters make their contribution to the dynamism of this place and fill it with life 24 hours a day.
history
The park, which was laid out in 1850, has undergone significant changes over the years. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake razed most of the surrounding buildings to the ground. A large, underground parking garage was built in the early 1940s, relocating green spaces, bushes and sculptures to the “roof” of the parking garage.
In early 1998 work began on redesigning the park. More paved areas were created that were easier to maintain, with sidewalk cafes and a four-story underground car park. On July 25, 2002, the park, which had cost $ 25 million to renovate, was reopened by then Mayor Willie Brown.
To this day, Union Square retains its role as the cultural center of San Francisco and serves as the venue for many public concerts, impromptu protests, speeches by dignitaries and annually as a space for the Christmas tree and menorah . The upper floors of the surrounding buildings such as the St. Francis Hotel, the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Macy's top floor and the Grand Hyatt Hotel offer a good view of Union Square.
Attractions in the area
Union Square refers not only to the immediate vicinity of the park, but also to the shops, restaurants, and theaters in the surrounding blocks in general. One block west in the direction of Tenderloin are the Geary and Curran theaters in the “Theater District”. Union Square is also home to San Francisco's TIX Bay Area , where tickets for many theater performances that take place on the same day are sold at half price.
At the end of Powell Street two blocks south, where the cable cars at Hallidie contact Plaza, there is a growing shopping area, to the Metreon and Yerba Buena Gardens ranges and its own art and entertainment facilities, other large hotels, the Moscone Center and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art . Also south of Market Street and near Yerba Buena Gardens is the historic United States Mint , built of granite in 1874 and one of the few structures to survive the 1906 earthquake.
Nob Hill, with its large villas, apartment blocks, and hotels, is northwest of Union Square. This area is also home to some of the most exclusive luxury hotels in San Francisco. To the north is Chinatown , one of the largest Chinese communities outside of Asia, and to the northeast is the small, French quarter around Belden Place with French street cafes and restaurants. Every year there is a big celebration on the occasion of the French national holiday in memory of the storming of the Bastille and the beginning of the French Revolution , when Bush Street is temporarily renamed Buisson (French: Busch ).
To the east, the British-looking Maiden Lane, a narrow alley with exclusive shops and cafés, borders Union Square and leads to the Financial District . San Francisco's only building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright is located next to it: 140 Maiden Lane is an early study by his Guggenheim Museum, which was realized almost ten years later in New York .
Shopping
Union Square has become a popular shopping destination with six major department stores: Macy’s , Bloomingdale’s , Barneys New York , Nordstrom , Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus . In addition, there are some well-known, exclusive boutiques on Union Square such as Louis Vuitton , Gucci , Dior , Chanel , Prada , Giorgio Armani , Marc Jacobs and Hermes , and the country's first Goyard boutique on the corner of Powell and Post . More stores have opened in the renovated Westfield San Francisco Center south of Union Square on Market Street. Fashion stores like Abercrombie & Fitch are also just two to three blocks away on Market Street.
Some retail chains such as Hennes & Mauritz , GAP , Zara or Mango are represented several times in Union Square.
