Going to Downtown?
...ection to downtown or simply give you the street that runs through it. Many cities use names like Broadway, Market, or simply Main Street to name their “main” street of the city. San Francisco’s downtown is the busiest part of the city on any given day, but not as busy as New York City’s downtown, which is Time Square, where it is busy all day and night. Time Square compared with San Francisco’s downtown is relatively small because of all the big name stores they got in Time Square and the population is very dense in that part of the city. The main street in San Francisco is Market Street. This street that run diagonally across most of the city from the waterfront to the center of San Francisco has become the most well known street in the city. Market Street has become the starting and ending point of many other streets that branches out towards other parts of the city, which creates a lot of streets leading towards downtown. Market Street is also where most of the city’s Muni lines end up. Market Street has the most lines running on this street than any other street in the city simply by looking at all the lines that goes through Market Street on the Muni map. Every mean of transportation can be seen on this street from railroad cars to people on horses. Without Market Street, there won’t be a downtown in San Francisco. Having growing up in San Francisco myself, I have lost count on how many times I’ve been to or passed by downtown. Having to go to Downtown almost once a week, I have notice very little change that have occurred. Most of the changes that do occur are usually store closures or grand openings, other than that no significant features have been added or deleted. It seems like a place I go whenever I need to buy something because you can find almost any store you need on Market Street. The story that stands out for me the most in downtown is Old Navy on 4th and Market. I’ve waited and watched that store get put together years before it officially opened. It has become a symbol for downtown San Francisco. Some people would like to avoid the crowds in downtown and find ways to go shopping. Market Street also happens to be the main parade route from almost all of the parades that is held in San Francisco annually. Market Street unfortunately is also the main route for many protests that occur throughout the year. People usually march from the start of Market Street, which is where the ferry building is and ends at Civic Center near City Hall. The craziest and chaotic day of my life in downtown was when I saw thousands of people flooded Market Street to protest the beginning of the War in Iraq in March of 2003. This is a story I can tell the next generation. Protesters that day virtually shut down the entire Market Street by blocking major intersections allow no traffic to pass. Protestors are using their rights as well to assemble and voice their opinions against war. Their message was clear and simply, “ We could not live in a peaceful world like this when people half way around the world is dying. We want to stop the war now! “ Protestors sat in the middle of the intersection because they want to draw attention. Holding everyone else back and stopping traffic seems to be their idea. The protestors had one problem getting in their way, which were the police. The police weren’t on either side, but their job was to clear the streets in order for the traffic to flow. This created ang...