San Francisco has been characterized
by a high standard of living. The downtown has seen a renaissance driven by
redevelopment of the Embarcadero, with the strong neighborhoods South Beach
and Mission Bay. Boutiques along Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights are centralized
by commerce and shopping districts downtown, with the Financial District and
the area around Union Square, are very well-known.

Performing arts

San Francisco's “War Memorial”
and the “Performing Arts Center” features some of the longest running
and performing arts companies throughout the United States. The “War Memorial
Opera House” houses the “San Francisco Opera” and “San
Francisco Ballet”, where as the “San Francisco Symphony” is
played in Davies Symphony Hall. The “Herbst Theatre stages” an eclectic
mix of real music performances, plus public radio's “City Arts & Lectures”.

The “Fillmore” is a music
venue located in the Western Addition. It is the second incarnation of a venue
that gained fame in the 1960s. Beach “Blanket Babylon” is a zany
musical revue and also a civic institution. San Francisco often hosts national
touring productions of Broadway theatre shows in a number of year 1920s-era
venues in the “Theater District” including the “Curran”,
“Orpheum”, and in “Golden Gate Theatres”.

Museums

The San Francisco Museum of Modern
Art (SFMOMA) has 20th Century contemporary pieces. It moved to iconic building
in South of Market during 1995 and attracted 600,000 people annually. The “Palace
of the Legion of Honor” has primary works done by Europeans. The “De
Young Museum” and the “Asian Art Museum” have a significant
anthropological and non-European holding.

The “Palace of Fine Arts”,
was originally built for the 1915 “Panama-Pacific Exposition”, now
houses the “Exploratorium”, a popular science museum devoted to
teaching through hands-on-hands interaction. The “California Academy of
Sciences” is a natural history museum, which hosts the “Morrison
Planetarium” and “Steinhart Aquarium”. The “San Francisco
Zoo” cares for about 250 animal pet’s species out of which 39 have
been deemed endangered or threatened.