2023....Downtown San Francisco boost! With #LetsGlowSF art illuminations, this is where you want to be each evening Dec 1-10. A Holiday spectacular for free. Each venue (Ferry Building Clock Tower, Hobart Building, old Pacific Stock Exchange, Leidsdorf Landing/Commercial St @Montgonery or One Bush Plaza) is a showpiece for international artists from companies in France, Belgium and the USA. read more

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The Sephora, Banana Republic are quiet. So if you hate crowds, I would suggest come to this side of town to shop. It was nice to see a few people walking around. But some how it kind of feels eerie still. read more

Nothing's changed. Anything new and exciting has happened south of the slot so I'll focus on that. The Financial District is so much more vibrant than it was 15, 20+ years ago: More people, more energy, more sky high buildings. San Francisco's downtown used to feel like a quaint outpost of the country, mellow like its spirit and oddly quiet. And boom, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and SFMOMA opened moments after I arrived and then quickly development began to push forward with a downtown ballpark, development past the Third Street Bridge with the budding of Mission Bay and seemingly overnight, South Beach and the T line. Building pushed north with new towers at Rincon Hill and now Salesforce Tower which is truly beautiful and the new Transbay Terminal whose lacy visage I've only seen from my car. The city has a new energy but with it, a nervousness of these tall towers in earthquake country. Millennium Tower is a lesson in hubris. Really, developers thought they could build multimillion dollar condos in an edifice anchored on pounded sand, too cheap to anchor it into the bedrock below? Living in San Francisco takes a sort of madness: Taxes, earthquakes and the high cost of living. Live anywhere else? Maybe not. It's hard to beat the picturesque views, perfect weather, proximity to mountains, wine country and the beautiful California Coast in both directions. read more

Financial District - Beautiful SalesForce Tower, now the tallest building in the city - Local Flavor Near Me

An area that's literally a bag of money! San Fran's Wall Street is a neighborhood with financial institutions filling nearly every square inch. There's also much more to offer for those conducting business, closing deals, passing through, even vacationing. Tons of eateries, shopping & drinking establishments to entertain. Easily accessible via public transpo. Be patient this area is very crowded and can take some time getting through if your in a hurry. ~Christy read more

The Financial District is pretty exclusive. I mean, it's not that easy to get a Financial District job in SF, so plan wisely when you go to college. I mean, I have worked for some businesses and they were mostly run by a small group of men anyway whether it was financial management or a fun restaurant. The Financial District involves many white collar job office buildings. People are in professional clothes in the FiDi. We go downtown to eat at some of the restaurants like Tadich Grill. Powell, New Montgomery, and Embarcadero Muni stops define the section of town. The area is dead at night after work. When people are going to work during the day it's busy and vibrant. Otherwise, at night, it's quiet and a ghost town. FiDi workers need places to grab lunch downtown. San Francisco would not be what it is if the Financial District wasn't so vibrant. The 20th-century office building architecture still stands. It's Old San Francisco, but modern, clean, and connected to the rest of the city. People go home to other parts of town after work. People do live in some highrise buildings downtown. The FiDi buildings are very tall office buildings and there's always new construction. The Transamerica Pyramid and the Salesforce Tower define the FiDi. The FiDi is compact and dynamic. It's full of energy and capitalist flavor. Here's the to white-collar FiDi workers who make San Francisco a rich city! read more

The Financial District is rich in architectural history. I don't think there was one building I didn't find interesting or just simply awe struck at the designs in general. I was told there is a great architectural walking tour that used to start at the Galleria Park Hotel but I didn't stay long enough to confirm and take it. It's definitely on my 'must do' for my next visit though! Another interesting tidbit is that since it IS the 'Financial District', many of the businesses (restaurants, cafes, etc.) pretty much adhere to 'bankers' hours'. So even the Walgreens across from my hotel closed at 8 and opened for only a few hours on Saturday. Of course, one of the exceptions would be the bars like Topsy's. My initial introduction to the Financial District was met by walking through the indoor farmer's market at the Crocker Galleria. Absolutely gorgeous and reminded me a little bit of a super small, very intimate version of Naha Mall in Okinawa which I adored. The vendors were really friendly and the aroma from nearby cafes made for a lot of induced tummy-growling! read more

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Lots of banks, lots of bank and lots of banks. Nice architectural building here. It is somewhat a tourist area I guess. I just like roaming around here and taking pictures. Well its ok to come here if you are coming by train. Parking may be difficult to find on weekdays. Very interesting and artsy to just look up. I value the heritage building and looks here. Cool. read more

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Busy, busy, busy. Obviously. It's gonna be one of the neighborhoods that's has fancy heels and sharp dressed men everywhere. Clearly it's safer than a lot of other areas of SF, but it's due to the fact it's mostly office buildings here. Gorgeous buildings and cafes to enjoy a fast lunch is the base of the FiDi. Don't forget about the Punchline comedy club...located in the area as well...!! read more

I enjoy walking through this area. It's quiet, some of the people here are nicer and polite. The environment here is also clean and calm. Bus stops, cable car stops and subway station entrances are visible. Traveling between here and other parts of the city is easy. After 5 pm or 6 pm, dining options do become limited. Some of them are closed during weekends and holidays. This area is another hot spot for the development of photography innovation and inspiration. Overall, this area is very clean and peaceful. read more

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This part of town has some great buildings and public art. Often though it feels oddly empty when I walk through. Tip look at the little plaques at odd places on the sides of the buildings. This area is on land fill and the plaques tell about things like there is a boat under you. I like the Trans America Pyramid, but I like a lot of the old bank buildings just as much. They are gorgeous lots of gilding and symbolism. The old stock exchange is also amazing. This is all in the area. Tip take a tour or so from the San Francisco City Guides. They are free (but pass and envelope at the end) I have taken a couple of tours in the Financial District. They are interesting and show things I would never have found on my own. The guides are volunteers with an interest in the area. I try and take at least one tour from them somewhere when ever I am in town. read more

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I'm going to share a little secret with you: The location of my work is what keeps me coming back, every single day. ...I need to take a hike. You see, I discovered FiDi a little over a year ago. I can't remember how, or why, but I do remember it being love at first sight. The diagonal crosswalk lights and beautiful buildings called out to me. It was fate! How many people get to choose where they work? Not very many. I was privileged. Proximity and frequency are important in relationships, you know. So here I am six days a week, talking to angry tourists, running errands, and hopping back on BART late at dusk. The organic lunch selections and friendly people (and handsome men in European-fitted suits) who smile and greet you as you walk by makes me feel like a giddy business girl. It's like New York with friendly people! Swoooon. The only thing that saddens me is the fact that everything closes at approximately 3pm. By the time I'm out of work, I'm only left with a few (decent) options: Wexler's, Wayfare Tavern, and Tadich Grill. If I feel like hiking, I'll reach BIX and perhaps Cotogna and Quince. Working evening shifts in FiDi will make you poor. Sadface. If you're not one who worries about your paper or plastic, you'll be a happy lad (or lass!). It's a small price to pay for a quality work environment. A girl deserves all the best in life, right? (; Come and work here, you can just shop for your clothes in the next district over! Did I mention how clean the sidewalks are? They're washed every night! No litter to kick or aged gum to trip your walks. Security is superb (and running 24/7) in buildings. No questionable characters. No hoards of pesky homeless people. Lots of bakeries and macarons everywhere, waiting to fill spacious tummies. YAY! 143, FiDi! read more

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#1000 definitely has special meaning to me! I love this place too much to shy away from it..I guess unless the right job comes along further down the road. But for now I think I'm staying put. Suit and ties, some of which are so nice to look at it, and others, no thanks! Spread out enough but still small enough to run into people from the past (ex bfs, ex bootycalls, ex employers, you get my drift). Beautiful tall buildings, lots of eateries, accessible by BART, Muni, Ferry and other buses. It's also so close to everything - shopping in downtown, Chinatown, The Ferry Building and other good eats, and not too far from the ballpark. And there's a few nice rooftop decks on some of the high rise office buildings. The buildings are beautiful the photo opps of California Street and even at times Market Street when it's dark at night are amazing. The FiDi is where my heart is for sure and has been for several years. I don't even mind the homeless people, smell of pee and the occasional poop on the street, because the FiDi is still awesome. read more

Love working at the FIDI area. so many people around. Lots of tall building. Great food places. Ferry building just down the street. LOVE love it down here. read more

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Local Insider Tip: If it's after 5 PM, your dining options become severely limited. Dining after 10 PM is a trick to find. The financial district is what it is - a place for business people to go to work. It's not a tourist destination. It's not a place to find kid friendly anything. It's office building after office building... and wild parrots. The architecture is interesting and it's a neat place to walk around at night (don't do it alone) because it's so quiet. Other than that, you can skip this if you're on vacation - just walk up the street to China Town or North Beach. read more

FiDi is filled with eccentric tall buildings, hustling-business people, less eateries after a certain time, non kid-friendly environment, clean streets when it's washed down during the late evening, less bustling when all the top earned workers leave for work, etc. Reasons why it's 4 stars? BEST place to capture tons of photos if you have a keen eye for camera shots based on lightings, textures, quick art in any direction, super photogenic friendly, and the peacefulness is serene during the evening after all the workers have gone home. The district boasts infinite number of camera angles. I guess I'm a nerd for loving tall buildings and architecture. Believe me, I'd know. You'll get a few by-passers here and there or the monotonous police sirens driving up and down the streets going to and from other directions, etc. I can't argue about the area, because it has its own individual flair. I can sweetly enjoy taking photos here and there at any given time of the day...well if I had an awesome camera! FiDi reminds me a bit like a neighborhood of Times Square but on the quieter side. read more

Sometimes I put on my headphones and play no music at all. I just want to listen, without people knowing that I'm listening. I get to listen to the conversations that walk by. You can tune into a conversation about five paces in front of you, then about five paces after it walks by. Depending on the pace of speech, that's sometimes longer than a talk with people I know. It's only great if they don't know you're listening. It's the candid sound of San Francisco. I can tell you most of the sounds on Montgomery sound about the same. The time of the day has no effect, surprisingly. The words are different, more vulgar, but even after happy hour they're the same. It's last weekend, next weekend, or a problem with a colleague. It sounds boring and superficial, but weekend plans can be inspiring and I'd be lying if I said gossip isn't fun. I like Kearny. It's one block away from tourist Chinatown so the mood shifts. There are folks who pass through who aren't office folks. They're less likely to watch what they have to say, so the things they say are inevitably less generic and more interesting. Once a group of kids walked by talking about going to Niketown for a spin. One of the kids said they had no money what's the point. Who cares let's just go look and think about which pair we'll buy if we had money. It wasn't yet 4pm and one of them wore Adidas. I played All American Rejects and stopped listening and I am so happy for those kids. I don't think people will appreciate me if they knew I was listening. If they were really mad at me, I would argue that they didn't fully think about what it is that made them angry. I am just lending a free ear, after all. And I promise I think about things that I listen to. Why does she think that way? I wonder if that's the truth. I think I can relate. At any time I can take off my headphones and chime into all these conversations But I don't. I just listen. read more

I worked here for 4 years and loved coming here. Great eateries, close to the water and great energy.

I came here often as a child because of the ferry, and had no idea it is the Financial District, aka "FiDi." It is my favorite part of Downtown. The streets are cleaned every day. There aren't questionable characters running amok as in other parts of San Francisco. The buildings are beautiful, such as the Transamerica Pyramid. read more

If you have to travel someplace for work there could definitely be worse. The financial district in San Francisco is a compound of many banks and financial institutions. There are a ton of lunch and coffee spots. Some are very well hidden so take your time and wander! BART stops pop up everywhere throughout the area making it a convenient spot to get in and out of. You are very close to the ferry building also in case you are coming from across the bay. Love coming here for work! read more

Since the bulk of my time in San Francisco was doing business in this area, this was basically my idea of San Francisco and I liked it. There is great people watching. People actually walk instead of drive ten feet like back home. It's not as go-go-get-the-hell-out-of-my-way as the corporatey parts of NYC I have been in as an adult, near the Empire State Building. The architecture is interesting. Plenty of restaurant choices. Near SFMOMA, which is super important. I like it. I would love to live here one day. read more

Worked in the area for a while and it reminded me of home. Not quite as busy but much hillier than London. There's something about the hubub when going to work. Helps separate the work life from the non-work life. Plenty of good food places round here and Chinatown is a short hike away for budget eats. There's always something going on outside one of the banks, you just need to look hard enough! read more

Working in the financial district is great, living there... not so great. Having an office in the financial district is having everything at hand. You're near BART, Market and the ferry building, there are tons of places to grab lunch at and the Staples on California street has all the office supplies you need. However, if like me you're here for business and only in the city for a few months, there are better places to be than FiDi for going out or doing anything whatsoever at night. I have to admit it's easy to live only 5 minutes from where my office is nice, but on the other hand, all the bars and restaurants close horribly early and it gets very quiet at night or during the weekends. read more

Financial District is the more glamorous area of Downtown. Theres plenty of high end shopping and restaurants around. Every year I enjoy coming down to see the Tree lighting near Macys. I wouldn't recommend if you don't like big crowds however. perfect place to take family that are visiting from out of the area. read more

I'm a fan of the FiDi. When I'm in it I really feel like I'm in "a city"-- businessmen and women hurrying to and from tall buildings...lobbies, Starbucks, elevators, briefcases, breakfast stands...For some that may sound horrific, but to me, it kind of reminds me of New York (or at least a small fraction of it). There are a ton of truly great restaurants, some of the city's best, located in this part of SF. It's relatively clean, safe, and, while I wouldn't want to live there since it doesn't have much neighborhood charm, it's a nice area. A lot of people say it's devoid of any soul, and I'd agree. But in a city that certainly does not lack charm or character, I really can't complain about the Financial District. read more

I know this area very well. Is a Business area, packed from Monday to Friday, desert during the weekend. But this is the right place for an happy hour or a quick lunch read more

Citizens and visitors of SF: if you're gonna jaywalk, do it with authority and not like you are stepping on coals or stomping on some ants. Spend some time in the East Coast, and you'll know how to perform this simple task. Haha four stars. read more

If you are committed to a walking lifestyle, this is one of a few great places to be consider on the West coast. FiDi has hundreds of places to see, fine, experience and much more. If you want to walk to work, home and hundreds of other fun places, FiDi is worth the ludicrous price(s). read more

I love working in the financial district. Nice views and a lot of convenient cafes for lunch. One of my favorite parts of SF.

The Financial District should have places to eat on weekends and after 10 PM other than Quizno's.

This is the first time that I'm writing a review for something that's not a business...but I feel like I have to write a review for the place that I've spent the last 2+ years of my life in--the FiDi!! I've spent many days and arduous OT nights here, slaving away like the inconsequential corporate underling that I am. Every morning begins with getting blasted by a putrid odor of old piss when I come up from the Embarcadero Bart station. What a great way to begin my day!! Then I drag myself to work, wondering if I could be doing something better and if this is how the rest of my life will be like. Then I go into the office and spend the rest of the morning contemplating what I should get for lunch. Soup, salad, a sandwich, a gyro, or Thai??? And everything is $10+ too! SO MANY CHOICES SO LITTLE TIME!! If I'm brave enough that day, I might even wait in line for Sushirrito or go up to Chinatown for some pho. Then I go right back into the office and wait for the day to end. At the end of the day, either I dart out of the office to get the out of the FiDi, get extra OT (YAY), or go out to the bar to drink my workplace frustrations away. Regardless, I am greeted again by the odor of old piss when I step onto Market Street to remind me that I am STILL in the FiDi. However, this is where all the moolah is so I just can't seem to escape it. I would like to say that I'd gladly trade my job for a location next to the beach, but this is the core of San Francisco's financial, legal, and tech industry. I'll go wherever the $$$ takes me. Until then, I will just have to tolerate the daily piss odor, panhandlers, trash, overpriced food establishments, and rude pedestrians who walk into you. Hmmm... read more

I like FiDi mostly because it's one of the few places in SF where you generally feel like you are completely safe. Although I hear it turns into a Ghosttown on the weekends. I've never been, but on the weekdays, it's literally a flurry of activity almost everywhere you go. People are wearing suits, you hear business talk over the restaurants in the area, etc. It's also a pretty clean area and really near a ton of great restaurants and other districts. A generally solid place. read more

Financial District is the Financial DIstrict. Plenty of people work here at the office buildings and such. There are a lot of coffee shops and restaurants with moderate prices here so I wouldn't recommend eating here if you're just visiting. There are much better places in S.F. to eat and that are open past 6PM unlike in the Financial District. You'll probably find Market Street flooded with MUNI buses when you're around too. read more

FiDi is beautiful. Transcontinental building, the embarcadero, and more. Other than random poop all over the place, it's not overly crowded, the choices of restaurants are great, and you can just hop on the cable car! read more

The selection of places to visit/eat is okay, but you're usually limited on time. The neighborhood is mostly dead by 3pm. I wish places would stay open for take-out at least till 6pm to catch the early dinner shift. But you can't always get what you want. At least there are some public spaces where you can enjoy the sunshine scattered around the area, but most of them are also only open till an early hour. (Check out SF City Guides' City Scapes and Public Places tour for more details: http://www.sfcityguides.org/desc.html?tour=11) read more

The financial district in San Francisco is very high end, with a lot of early closing business (usually 5pm) that are usually banks, finance office, etc. The financial district is not packed by people ESPECIALLY ON Saturday and Sunday. Many businesses are CLOSED on Saturday and Sunday so be aware! During the day, there are some people with places not crowded at all, but like I said, they close rather earlier than shops and businesses in Union Square. As far as transportation, you are right next to the Ferry Building which has access to all the Ferrys and Fisherman's Wharf (about 7 mins away via F Muni) you are next to the major markets and streets and very close to Union Square. The Bart is also not that far (about a 10 minute walk). The Financial District has access to all major pharmacies, restaurants, diners, and markets. Even though it's not central in SF, it's definitely central to everything. read more

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4 stars to work. 1.5 stars to live. Basically where i currently live and go to school. To work here, to go to shool here- not so bad. To live here, another story. It's nice to go to school and work in such a diverse nice city with lots of businessy type things all around. However if you live here you'll get tired of the hotels, tourists, the homeless people that follow them. No offense, but i have to look really carefuly where i step, and 80% of the time it's not because of all the dogs that live in Frisco...not going to dwell into details...i get tired of smelling piss at every corner and dodging the same sad souls begging everyday. Maybe the aren't all completely crazy, but they definitley could not hold a job even if they wanted to by the way they are. It's a downer, and constantly worries me that i could end up in their shoes. Plus the latest places around here stay open are 8pm, and most close at 6. So places will be closing at 5 or earlier. Some places only stay open till 2pm or 3- basically after the business workers lunch-rush hours are over. Ill be moving out of this district next year and i cannot wait. Love going to shool over here, but i want to live where actual people do. Not where the hotels and homeless live. read more

Cost effective location to stay when visiting San Francisco, while still close to all the places tourists like to visit.

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This district is one busy place located in the downtown area. You won't miss out on shopping and dining here; there are plenty of choices that will make your head spin! read more