These are a few updates of pictures I’ve done in the past, and a few new ones that I worked on in December, 2021. (Thumbnail images)
Where California Street comes into Market Street in 1941, and a rainy December, 2021: The Hyatt Regency blocks the view of the Ferry Building from here today.
The pedestrian island on Market Street in front of the old Emporium Store during the 1970s: “Don’t crowd! There’s another one right behind me, and another one right behind that one, and another one……”
A rainy day on the Embarcadero at Pier 7 in the 1950s and a rainy December day in 2021: Pier 7 was demolished and was to the left of the foremost Pier 5 seen in my picture. (Phil Palmer)
Another cable car heading up California Street from Market Street in 1961 and December of 2021: The old Southern Pacific Building is in the background of both pictures. (San Francisco Pictures Blog)
In Front of the St. Francis Hotel in 1954: The more things change…….. You know the rest of it. They’ve replaced, what looks to me like the flag of Argentina, with the flag of the United States. The vintage photo is by Charles Cushman.
California Street approaching Powell Street during the 1920s: The old Crest Garage, demolished in 2018, is on the right in the vintage picture. (Shorpy Archives)
San Francisco Film Locations Then & Now 
It is still gratifying to see that, while San Jose develops in such a horrid manner, San Francisco continued to evolve graciously. I know it is not perfect, but it absorbs the unpleasantries better than San Jose does.
That’s about as nice of a complement about San Francisco that I’ve read, Tony; although, I have family in San Jose and I always enjoy going there.
Well, the two are very different cities. San Francisco is the only old city in the West that is comparable to eastern cities. San Jose, although my favorite city in the World, is relatively cheap and new. Much of it is no older than I am. Most of the million people who live here are only here for work, and would rather be somewhere else. Yet, they pay millions of dollars to live in a place that they do not care much about.