It is without pretense when I say that San Francisco is America's most beautiful city. I don't say that just because I live here and it is my adopted hometown. It truly, really is. I often hear tourists and visitors remark how impressed they are and they even add, "It's so cosmopolitan," referring to the general ambiance. It does have its share of very historical, not to mention literally colorful buildings.

Just this afternoon, I couldn't keep my eyes off an old turn of the century commercial building along Market Street with a view of the steel Federal Building right behind it. It was a quite a sight.