FREE . . .
Departs nearly every Saturday, 9am-11:30, from the downtown American Youth Hostel at 312 Mason St. (near O'Farrell). Arrive on time, ready to walk, and dressed for whatever weather San Francisco puts up.
Description
So Henry George had a big idea. "What's that got to do with me?" you may ask. Fair enough. San Francisco is all about real estate. Big buildings, smart penthouses, but also the homeless and gentrification. On this walk we reveal the wicked and wonderful and nasty things people have done (and are still doing) to get land in San Francisco.
We introduce you to art deco buildings and back alleys with filthy rich stories. We tell you about the Mormons, the Gold Rush, Jim Jones, Sun Yat-sen and the woman who led the way to equal pay for women. Then there's Jose Rizal and the Philippine Revolution, the San Francisco Giants (baseball team), and the Queer community. Amongst them are heroes and villains, but always the goal has been control of land . . . in order to control people.
By journey's end you'll have the economy in your hand and San Francisco's Big Idea in your head.
And loads of stories . . . about Chinatown, sugar fortunes, Abraham Lincoln, the Emperor of the United States, and school funding in San Francisco.
Whether you live here and are interested in the price of apartments, or have come from far away and wonder at sky-scraper next to empty lot, this walk will astonish and touch you like no other the world over.
Architecture. Literary anecdotes. San Francisco personalities. And plenty more.
Along the way we consider The Black Panthers, the Latter Day Saints, est, the '60s back-to-the-land movement, Jim Jones, LGBT, Hebraism, and Sun Yat-sen.