Culture and Contemporary Life at San Francisco

San Francisco has been characterized by a highnational touring productions of Broadway theatre
standard of living. The downtown has seen ashows in a number of year 1920s-era venues in
renaissance driven by redevelopment of thethe "Theater District" including the "Curran",
Embarcadero, with the strong neighborhoods"Orpheum", and in "Golden Gate Theatres".
South Beach and Mission Bay. Boutiques alongMuseums
Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights are centralized byThe San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
commerce and shopping districts downtown, with(SFMOMA) has 20th Century contemporary
the Financial District and the area around Unionpieces. It moved to iconic building in South of
Square, are very well-known.Market during 1995 and attracted 600,000 people
Performing artsannually. The "Palace of the Legion of Honor" has
San Francisco's "War Memorial" and theprimary works done by Europeans. The "De
"Performing Arts Center" features some of theYoung Museum" and the "Asian Art Museum"
longest running and performing arts companieshave a significant anthropological and non-European
throughout the United States. The "War Memorialholding.
Opera House" houses the "San Francisco Opera"The "Palace of Fine Arts", was originally built for
and "San Francisco Ballet", where as the "Santhe 1915 "Panama-Pacific Exposition", now houses
Francisco Symphony" is played in Daviesthe "Exploratorium", a popular science museum
Symphony Hall. The "Herbst Theatre stages" andevoted to teaching through hands-on-hands
eclectic mix of real music performances, plusinteraction. The "California Academy of Sciences"
public radio's "City Arts & Lectures".is a natural history museum, which hosts the
The "Fillmore" is a music venue located in the"Morrison Planetarium" and "Steinhart Aquarium".
Western Addition. It is the second incarnation of aThe "San Francisco Zoo" cares for about 250
venue that gained fame in the 1960s. Beachanimal pet's species out of which 39 have been
"Blanket Babylon" is a zany musical revue and alsodeemed endangered or threatened.
a civic institution. San Francisco often hosts