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Photo: Mliu92, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Located in front of the Levi Strauss headquarters, this immaculately kept little park is perhaps the perfect spot for a picnic... especially if you're exhausted after climbing over Telegraph Hill! It has a soothing fountain as its centerpiece. Having said that, ever present security guards at the park can bring you down from your mellow moments here... just don't dip your feet in the water!
Levi Strauss Plaza, also known as Levi Plaza or Levi's Plaza, is an office complex located in North Waterfront district of San Francisco, west of The Embarcadero. It houses the headquarters of Levi Strauss & Co. As of 1998 the company Blue Jeans Equity West is the landlord of the complex. In 1998 the ownership of the company consisted of Equitable Real Estate, Gerson Bakar, Jim Joseph, and Al Wilsey. Steve Ginsberg of the San Francisco Business Times said in 1998 that the complex is "the only true corporate campus" in San Francisco.
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The Filbert Steps are the part of Filbert Street that runs between Battery Street and Telegraph Hill Boulevard in North Beach. The steps end next to Coit Tower, and offer a scenic — though somewhat strenuous — route for visitors of the tower. In fact, following the steps is at times faster than driving to Coit Tower due to the high demand for relatively few parking spots near the site. Visitors of the steps will see public gardens, stylish homes and views of North Beach and the bay; if a path is not gated or specifically signed with "No Trespassing," then it is most likely public. Also, it pays to be adventurous: some of the best gardens and views are off the stairs. Finally, there is more than one way up and down; if you make a round trip you should find a new route for the return leg. Just avoid private property.
This park sits atop Telegraph Hill and surrounds the base of Coit Tower. It has some excellent 360 degree vistas around the city and there are some coin operated binoculars to help you enjoy the view.
Visible from much of San Francisco and the Bay Area, Coit Tower stands atop Telegraph Hill and gives an excellent view of the bay and the rest of the city. The tower was built by the Federal Works Projects Administration in 1933 with money bequeathed by eccentric San Franciscan Lillie Coit. Coit was said to have chased after firefighters as a young girl, and as an older woman sponsored her favorite fire company. A fan of the volunteer city firefighters, and local legend has it that the shape of the tower is supposed to simulate the end of a fire hose — although the architects denied this claim. The first and second floors house beautiful examples of New Deal-era idealist murals, and the top floor (reached by elevator) has featured paintings or other art. Artists put in their own signatures and messages in the murals, which interpretive plaques point out.
One of the original Fire Houses in the city, it used horse-drawn equipment and was built in 1868. It was ironically destroyed by the 1906 fire and was rebuilt in 1909 by architect Newton J. Tharp as a two-story building with large arched entrance. The new architecture was heavily influenced by the "City Beautiful" movement.
Small (one square block), well maintained park/square in the heart of the city, located right beside the Financial District. Tai Chi practitioners exercise here in the early morning hours.
Features quite an extensive collection of exhibits, books and manuscripts that focus on Jack Kerouac and the literary Beat Generation. Plenty of books and T-Shirts for sale here as well.