Downtown
San Francisco's densely populated downtown is squeezed into
the hilly northeastern corner of the peninsula. The often
dramatic cityscape came about because the streets were laid
out as if their planners had never so much as glanced at the
city's topography. They simply dropped a grid pattern onto
the steeply undulating terrain, and the result is that
streets often climb or drop at ridiculously steep gradients.
It makes parking hazardous, breeds bicycle messengers of
superhuman strength and provides a hairy setting for car
chase scenes in movies.
