Union Square for Shoppers
Uncategorized No Comments »For browsing and shopping in the downtown area , Union Square makes a more than ideal starting point. You can park your car in a cavernous garage beneath the square..
Stop first at the square itself. On a nice day, its benches will be lined with people relaxing in the sun or feeding the hundreds of pigeons that swirl around and congregate around the feet of anyone offering them a handout. On the sidewalks street artists will be displaying their wares.
Union Square is a hub of activity, hosting fashion shows. rallies and concerts. In spring , Rhodedendron days are celebrated - huge tubes of the of the colorful plants are placed throughout the square. A summer highlight is the Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest. In the center of the square stands a 97 foot granite monument commemorating Admiral Dewey’s victory at Manila Bay during the Spanish-American war.
The fashionable St. Francis Hotel is on the west side of the square , across Powell Street. Many visiting dignitaries stop here - if you see a foreign flag displayed above the entrance , you can assume that it is honoring a very important guest from that country. You will also enjoy browsing through some of the hotel shops. For a good skyline views , ride the tower elevators to the top.
Post, Stockton and Geary streets also border the square. The Children’s Foundation in the plaza of the Hyatt on Union Square deserves a stop. Designed by Ruth Asawa , who also designed the fountain in Ghirardelli Square and Buchanan Mall in Japantown, it takes a whimsical look at the city’s history.
Around Union Square and spreading south toward Market and east toward Kearny Street are some of San Fransisco’s fashionable shops.
On the east side of the square across Stockton is Maiden Lane, a 2 bloc tree lined alley transformed from its bawdy past into a street of intriguing and exotic shops. Of particular interest is a building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright , with an unusual yellow brick front and an interior circular ramp : it houses a boutique.