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San Francisco: Morgage Rates & Living Info
San Francisco is a renowned as one of the most booming centers of real estate in the nation. It boasts wonderful man-made marvels, extensive natural beauty laid over hills and wrapped in fog. This is one of the reasons the sales price of a new home generally ranges from $600,000 to about $900,00. As well, these high prices are reflective of the high standard of living in both San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area. On account of these high prices it has been very popular for homeowners to secure non-traditional financing such as Option Arm and Neg-Am products. These types of loans make San Francisco Morgage payments much more affordable.
The city of San Francisco itself has about 800,000 people and the greater metro area (San Jose-Oakland-San Francisco) houses roughly 7 Million people. This makes it the 5th most populous metro area in the nation. This population is a highly diverse mix of ethnicities composed of approximately 31% Asian American (principally of Chinese descent), as well as sizeable populations of African Amercicans, Hispanics and other immigrant groups (such as Russians). It also contains the highest number of same-sex households in the nation.
In terms of weather San Francisco heavily benefits from Caliornia's Mediterranean climate. However, since it is surrounded on three sides by the Pacific Ocean it is heavily influenced by the ocean's cool currents. Overall, it is a city with a fairly mild climate wih out any significant variation in temperature. One notable constant is Fog. This is because of the proximity of the ocean on all three sides and its interaction with the natural Mediterranean climate of California.
On account of the temperate weather there are many popular outdoor activities---one particular highlight is the Golden Gate Park. This park offers fields, museums, trails, etc. and is named for the famed Golden Gate Bridge (which is a very popular tourist destination in the city).
Another famed sighting in San Francisco is that of the famous cable cars and trolleys. This actually was the natural result of the hilly topography; building freeways was just not very convenient or even plausible. So a culture of public transportation easily came from this... the name BART rings in the ears of any who've visited the place.
Further notable areas include:
Financial District, Union Square, Nob Hill,
Russian Hill, Lombard Street,
Chinatown,
Mission District, Haight-Ashbury, Castro, Ocean Beach, Baker Beach, the Fisherman's Wharf, and Alcatraz Island.
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