Downtown San Francisco

Credit: Ikonos, Posted on: Thursday, 11 November 2004, 08:15 CST Download full size image

San Francisco is one of the largest cities in the United States. Roughly three quarters of a million people live within the city proper, with about seven million within the broader metropolitian area. The city predates the gold rush of 1849, but as a port city on the way to the California gold fields, San Francisco saw explosive population growth after the first discoveries were announced. By 1869, it was connected to the Eastern cities by railroad, and at that time, it was one of the ten largest cities in the United States despite being a full thousand miles or more west of “the frontier.” It remains a premier city of the United States. IKONOS satellite took this unusual oblique-angle image of the city’s financial district. By aiming its sensors off nadir, IKONOS was able to capture a sense of the city’s tall skyscrapers: a unique perspective on a unique city.

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