San Francisco - Union Square

Union Square is a 2.6-acre (1.1-hectare) public plaza bordered by Geary, Powell, Post and Stockton Streets in downtown San Francisco, California. "Union Square" also refers to the central shopping, hotel, and theater district that surrounds the plaza for several blocks.[citation needed] The area got its name because it was once used for Thomas Starr King rallies and support for the Union Army during the American Civil War, earning its designation as a California Historical Landmark.

 

Today, this one-block plaza and surrounding area is one of the largest collections of department stores, upscale boutiques, gift shops, art galleries, and beauty salons in the United States, making Union Square a major tourist destination and a vital, cosmopolitan gathering place in downtown San Francisco. Grand hotels and small inns, as well as repertory, off-Broadway, and single-act theaters also contribute to the area's dynamic, 24-hour character.

 

The Dewey Monument is located at the center of Union Square. It is a statue of Nike, the ancient Greek Goddess of Victory.

 

History

 

Union Square was originally a tall sand dune, and the square was later set aside to be made into a public park in 1850. Union Square got its name from the pro-Union rallies held there on the eve of the Civil War. The monument itself is also a tribute to the sailors of the United States Navy.

 

Union Square was built and dedicated by San Francisco's first American mayor John Geary in 1850 and is so named for the pro-Union rallies by Thomas Starr King that happened there before and during the United States Civil War. Since then the plaza has undergone many notable changes, one of the most significant happening in 1903 with the dedication of a 97 ft (30 m) tall monument to Admiral George Dewey's victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War. It also commemorates U.S. President William McKinley, who had been recently assassinated. Executed by Robert Aitken, the statue at the top of the monument, "Victory," was modeled after a voluptuous Danish-American stenographer and artist's model, Alma de Bretteville, who eventually married one of San Francisco's richest citizens. Another significant change happened between 1939 and 1941 when a large underground parking garage was built under the square; this meant the plaza's lawns, shrubs and the Dewey monument were now on the garage "roof." Designed by Timothy Pflueger, it was the world's first underground parking garage.

 

This design was to prove problematic in a number of ways. Insertion of the garage raised the square above sidewalks on two of its four sides, creating problematic pedestrian barriers. In addition, designed to be impressive when looking down from adjoining buildings, the layout provided little actual useable space. Lawn areas and planted beds were raised behind 18” granite curbs, and further lined with hedges, making them inaccessible for public use. As social conditions deteriorated, and as the once low hedging grew, the lawn areas became campsites for the homeless who were not as easily deterred. Plant materials were randomly replaced as they died, and the park looked forlorn. At the very heart of the city’s premier retail and hotel zone, it became a place to walk around, not through. And in addition, the waterproofing on the roof deck had failed, pouring water into the garage below.

 

During the late 1970s, and through the 1980s and 1990s, the area became somewhat derelict as the homeless began to camp in the space. San Francisco's rowdy New Year's parties used to happen yearly at the plaza with some sort of civil disruption and rioting happening afterward. In early 1998 city planners began plans to renovate the plaza to create more paved surfaces for easier maintenance, with outdoor cafes, and more levels to the underground garage. Finally in late 2000, the park was partially closed down to renovate the park and the parking garage. On July 25, 2002, the park reopened and a ceremony was held with then Mayor Willie Brown. In 2004 Unwire Now, a company founded by entrepreneur Jaz Banga, launched a free Wi-Fi network in Union Square which was championed by Mayor Gavin Newsom.

 

San Francisco’s population peaked in 1950 and went down for the next fifty years, during which time the city’s budget was stressed, and Union Square began to suffer from under-maintenance and management. In 1995, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), the city’s non-profit good planning and governance group, and the San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), published a report, “Union Square: Managing San Francisco’s Landmark Retail and Visitor District”. (SPUR Newsletter/Calendar. Report 329, May 1995). The report highlighted both the civic and fiscal importance of the district centered on the square itself, and called for establishment of a Business Improvement District. The district was formed in 1999 and continues to manage and maintain the district and Union Square itself.

 

Public art

 

At the center of Union Square stands the Dewey Monument, an 85-foot (26 m) column on which stand a 9-foot (2.7 m) statue of Nike, the ancient Greek Goddess of Victory. The monument is dedicated to Admiral George Dewey, a hero of the Spanish–American War for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898. The monument was dedicated in 1903.

 

As part of the redesign of the Square, the San Francisco Art Commission commissioned two artists to add artworks to the new design: -R.M. (Ron) Fischer designed four Light Sculptures located along the southern edge of the central plaza. -Vicki Saulls designed a series of Glazed Tiles located at two corner entrances to the Square–the corner of Post and Powell, and the corner of Geary and Stockton.

 

Beginning in 2009, painted heart sculptures from the Hearts in San Francisco public art installation have been installed in each of the four corners of the square.

 

Economy

 

The Tiffany Building is an 11-story, 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) building at Union Square.; the bottom two floors contain a Tiffany & Co. store, while the upper floors contain offices. Cathay Pacific maintains its North America regional headquarters on the third floor of the Tiffany Building, The Cathay Pacific North America headquarters moved from Greater Los Angeles and opened in the Tiffany Building in 2005.

 

The only hotel actually located on Union Square is the Westin St. Francis hotel which is celebrated for its historic Magneta Grandfather Clock. It is believed to be the only hotel in the world that offers its guests, as a courtesy, a coin washing service. The process originated in 1938 at a time when high-society ladies wore white gloves that were easily tarnished during the exchange of money. It uses borax soap in an antiquated, manually-operated burnisher.

 

Nearby attractions

 

Union Square has also come to describe not just the plaza itself, but the general shopping, dining, and theater districts within the surrounding blocks. The Geary and Curran theaters one block west on Geary anchor the "theater district" and border the Tenderloin. Union Square is also home to San Francisco's TIX Bay Area, a half-priced ticket booth and Ticketmaster outlet. Run by Theatre Bay Area, tickets for most of San Francisco's performing arts can be purchased the day of the performance at a discounted rate.

 

At the end of Powell Street two blocks south, where the cable cars turn around beside Hallidie Plaza at Market Street, is a growing retail corridor that is connected to the SOMA district. Nob Hill, with its grand mansions, apartment buildings and hotels, stands to the northwest of Union Square. Directly northeast is Chinatown, with its famous dragon gate at Grant Avenue and Bush Street.

 

The city's historic French Quarter northeast of Union Square and centers on the Belden Place alleyway, between Bush and Pine Streets, and Claude Lane off Bush Street. This area has many open-air French Restaurants and Cafes. Every year the area is the site of the boisterous Bastille Day celebration, the nation's largest, and Bush Street is temporarily renamed "Buisson."

 

Directly east of the Square off of Stockton Street is Maiden Lane, a short and narrow alley of exclusive boutiques and cafes that leads to the Financial District and boasts the Xanadu Gallery, San Francisco's only building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright—with its interior most notable for being the predecessor for New York City's Guggenheim Museum. The square is part of the Barbary Coast Trail, linking many San Francisco landmarks.

 

Shopping

 

Over the years, Union Square became a popular shopping destination. Several department stores sit within the three-block radius of Union Square, including Neiman Marcus, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Barneys New York. Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom anchor the nearby Westfield San Francisco Centre, a shopping mall built in 1988 on nearby Market Street.

 

A mix of upscale boutiques and popular retailers occupy many of the buildings surrounding Union Square. Among the luxury retailers that front Union Square are Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Bulgari, Loro Piana, Moncler, and jeweler Tiffany & Co.; while flagship Victoria's Secret, Williams Sonoma, Nike, and Apple stores also occupy buildings surrounding Union Square. Other notable brands in the surrounding area include Chanel, Prada, Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo, Shapur Mozaffarian, Goyard, Dior and Cartier.

 

Gap Inc., which is headquartered less than a mile away on the Embarcadero, operates multiple flagship and full-line stores for The Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy in and around Union Square.

 

Transportation

 

Two cable car lines (Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason) serve Union Square on Powell Street.

 

In addition, Union Square is served by many trolleybus and bus lines and the F Market heritage streetcar. The Muni Metro and BART subway systems both serve the area at nearby Powell Street Station on Market Street. In 2012, Muni began building an extension of its Muni Metro system to connect Union Square and Chinatown with Caltrain and other neighborhoods in San Francisco. After several delays, the extension, known as the Central Subway, is scheduled for completion by 2020, and the new Union Square station will be called Union Square/Market Street.

 

 

In popular culture

 

Scenes of the square and the surrounding neighborhood were featured in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Vertigo (1958) and the opening scene of his The Birds was filmed at the edge of the square—the character Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) looks up and sees hundreds of birds flying in a circular pattern around the column at the center of the square.

Francis Ford Coppola shot numerous scenes of The Conversation (1974) in Union Square, where the bugged conversation which forms the foundation of the movie takes place.

Philip Kaufman's 1978 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers also features scenes of the square.

In Blake Edwards' 1962 film Days of Wine and Roses, Jack Lemmon (as Joe Clay) looks at his reflection in the window of the Union Square Lounge on Maiden Lane and realizes he is an alcoholic "bum."

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Der Stadtteil Union Square ist das zentrale Einkaufs-, Hotel- und Theaterviertel von San Francisco in Kalifornien. Als Union Square wird auch der 10.500 Quadratmeter große Park bezeichnet, der durch die Straßen Geary, Powell, Post und Stockton begrenzt wird. Der Name Union Square stammt daher, dass dieser Platz berühmt für Kundgebungen zur Unterstützung der Union Army während des Amerikanischen Bürgerkriegs gewesen ist. Nirgendwo im Westen der USA befindet sich heute eine höhere Konzentration an großen Kaufhäusern, Boutiquen, Souvenirläden und Lokalen als in den umliegenden Straßen des einen Block großen Parks, wodurch Union Square zu einem Hauptanziehungspunkt für Touristen und ein lebendiger, weltoffener Platz in der Innenstadt San Franciscos geworden ist. Große Hotels, kleine Gasthöfe und einzigartige Theater leisten ihren Beitrag zur Dynamik dieses Ortes und füllen ihn 24 Stunden am Tag mit Leben.

 

Geschichte

 

Der 1850 angelegte Park wurde im Laufe der Zeit einige Male wesentlich verändert. Das Erdbeben in San Francisco 1906 machte die meisten umliegenden Gebäude dem Erdboden gleich. Ein großes, unterirdisches Parkhaus wurde Anfang der 1940er gebaut, wodurch Grünflächen, Büsche und Skulpturen auf das „Dach“ des Parkhauses verlegt wurden.

 

Anfang 1998 wurde damit begonnen, den Park umzugestalten. Es wurden mehr asphaltierte Bereiche angelegt, die leichter instand zu halten waren, mit Straßencafés und einem vierstöckigen, unterirdischen Parkhaus. Am 25. Juli 2002 wurde der Park, dessen Umbau 25 Millionen Dollar gekostet hatte, vom damaligen Bürgermeister Willie Brown wiedereröffnet.

 

Bis heute behält der Union Square seine Rolle als kulturelles Zentrum von San Francisco und dient als Veranstaltungsort für viele öffentliche Konzerte, improvisierte Proteste, Reden von Würdenträgern und jährlich als Platz für Weihnachtsbaum und Menora. Einen guten Blick auf den Union Square bieten die oberen Etagen der umliegenden Gebäude wie das St. Francis Hotel, das Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Macy's oberstes Stockwerk sowie das Grand Hyatt Hotel.

 

Sehenswertes in der Umgebung

 

Union Square bezeichnet nicht nur die unmittelbare Umgebung des Parks, sondern allgemein die Geschäfte, Restaurants und Theater in den umliegenden Blocks. Einen Block westlich in Richtung Tenderloin liegen die Theater Geary und Curran im „Theater District“. In Union Square befindet sich außerdem San Franciscos TIX Bay Area, wo Eintrittskarten vieler Theateraufführungen, die am selben Tag stattfinden, zum halben Preis verkauft werden.

 

Am Ende der Powell Street zwei Blocks südlich, wo die Cable Cars am Hallidie Plaza wenden, befindet sich ein wachsendes Einkaufsviertel, das bis zum Metreon und den Yerba Buena Gardens reicht und über eigene Kunst- und Unterhaltungseinrichtungen, weitere große Hotels, dem Moscone Center und dem San Francisco Museum of Modern Art verfügt. Ebenfalls südlich der Market Street und in der Nähe der Yerba Buena Gardens befindet sich das historische United-States-Mint-Gebäude, das 1874 aus Granit gebaut wurde und eines der wenigen Bauwerke ist, welches das Erdbeben 1906 überstanden hat.

 

Nob Hill mit seinen großen Villen, Appartementhäusern und Hotels befindet sich nordwestlich von Union Square. Dieses Gebiet beheimatet zugleich einige der exklusivsten Luxushotels in San Francisco. Nördlich liegt Chinatown, eine der größten chinesischen Gemeinschaften außerhalb Asiens, und im Nordosten das kleine, französische Viertel um Belden Place mit französischen Straßencafés und Restaurants. Hier findet jedes Jahr eine große Feier anlässlich des Französischen Nationalfeiertags zur Erinnerung an die Erstürmung der Bastille und den Beginn der Französischen Revolution, bei der die Bush Street vorübergehend in Buisson (franz. Busch) umbenannt wird.

 

Östlich grenzt die britisch anmutende Maiden Lane, eine schmale Gasse mit exklusiven Geschäften und Cafés, an den Union Square und führt zum Financial District. An ihr befindet sich San Franciscos einziges von Frank Lloyd Wright entworfenes Gebäude: 140 Maiden Lane ist eine frühe Studie seines knapp zehn Jahre später in New York realisierten Guggenheim Museums.

 

Shopping

 

Union Square hat sich zu einem populären Einkaufsziel entwickelt, das sich mit sechs großen Kaufhäusern rühmen kann: Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Barneys New York, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue und Neiman Marcus. Darüber hinaus gibt es am Union Square einige bekannte, exklusive Boutiquen wie Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Chanel, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs und Hermes, sowie an der Ecke Powell und Post die erste Goyard-Boutique des Landes. Weitere Geschäfte haben sich im renovierten Westfield San Francisco Centre südlich des Union Square an der Market Street niedergelassen. Auch Modegeschäfte wie Abercrombie & Fitch befinden sich nur zwei bis drei Blöcke entfernt an der Market Street.

 

Einige Handelsketten wie Hennes & Mauritz, GAP, Zara oder Mango sind mehrfach in Union Square vertreten.

 

(Wikipedia)

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