Streets of San Francisco

What makes the Californian city of San Francisco arguably the most colourful in the United States? Our writer goes in search of some answers.

SPORTING a rakish tilt to his Uncle Sam top hat, and wearing an outrageously bright red suit topped off with white leather shoes, the street entertainer tap dances in front of me while singing, “Smile and the whole world smiles with you.” His exuberance is perfectly in keeping with the joyous mood of the crowd that mills about in San Francisco’s North Beach district on this typical Saturday morning.