49-Mile Scenic Drive

Scenic drives occur all over the country. People love to hop in their cars, go on a quick drive or road trip to see everything an area has to offer. Taking a drive in your hometown on a lazy Sunday afternoon is just as miraculous as taking a longer drive, maybe down the coast of California. It’s hard to resist the lure of the open road wherever you are. No matter where you come from, when coming to San Francisco, a large condensed city, the twisted, entwining road is just as appealing. The city has so much to offer, but even better it can all be seen while taking a nice drive. “One of the most beautiful drives in California is inside city limits: San Francisco’s 49-Mile Scenic Drive. (Ludwig)” Unlike most scenic drives which spread along long open roads, passing through multiple towns and cities, this drive starts and ends within the city limits. The idea that a drive was created just for this city, to highlight the largest attractions in San Francisco and it’s historic structures is very significant. As I live very near to another large city back home, Seattle, Washington, I understand that most cities don’t have a drive as such. Both locals and tourists alike, are lucky to be able to experience such an amazing beautiful drive, which meanders though the cities streets. However, there is still much room for improvement for this drive in order make it more popular in the city. The drive is the best tool for seeing everything San Francisco has to offer, as there are so many things to do and see in the city. 49- Mile Scenic Drive gives people a taste of the largest attractions in an mapped out route. According to Bloomberg Business Week, “San Francisco is 2012’s best city in America.” Business week agrees that San Francisco has so much to offer, including the leisure attributes- the restaurants, bars, libraries, parks, historical attractions, environmental quality, lifestyle and people (Konrad). These types of things, the things that come together to make our city the best in the country, can all be taken in from the comfort of ones car while blasting your favorite music and the air conditioning.  The 49- Mile Scenic Drive is one of the most intriguing road trips in Northern California. 

The 49- Mile Scenic Drive opened on September 14th, 1938, as a promotion for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. The exposition was a world fair that mainly celebrated the newly built Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge. The city, and the rest of the country was coming out of the financial hardship of the Depression at the time, thus the exposition acted as a blessing to the local and even the state economy. The exposition was held at Treasure Island, which is a completely artificial island, attached to Yerba Buena island.  Treasure Island, located where the Oakland and San Francisco span of the Bay Bridge join together, was built just for this exposition. Following the exposition, Treasure Island was turned into a Naval Base, occupied from 1941 to 1997. The exposition occurred in 1939 to 1940, which coincided with the beginning of the automobile rave in the United States.  Cars became more than a means of getting from point A to point B; they became a trend that has only grown larger and larger. In order to highlight the cultures new obsession with cars, the city decided to establish a sideshow attraction. Interestingly, the first motorist to drive the route was President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in July of 1938. In the same year the creator of the Wrong-Way sign, Douglas Corrigan, officially inaugurated the drive. Corrigan was an intrepid aviator who became famous when he took a solo flight from New York to California, but instead took a wrong turn and ended in Ireland. He became a well known, famous person to the U.S. public, so bringing him to inaugurate the drive brought a lot of attention to the exposition. But he didn’t just cut a rope with giant scissors, or give a speech to all of San Francisco, instead he inaugurated the route by driving the entire drive backwards. Many people suggested he should drive the entire route in reverse, however he decided driving it backwards would be a better option. Interestingly, the route, soon after, became a one- way route after Corrigan’s drive. Corrigan claimed he was following the wrong end of the compass arrow, which provided much needed humor to the nation during the depression.

The blue and white “49-Mile Scenic Drive” signs, featuring a white seagull is also a very recognized sign, especially with locals and tourists in San Francisco. Originally, when the drive was created, the signs were marked by blue and gold triangles. San Francisco’s Downtown Association held a competition to design a new sign. In 1955, a local artist, Rex May won the competition with his, now famous, seagull sign. May had to beat out 100 other contestants, but it payed off as his logo is recognized all over the world. An example of this is with an artist named Annie Galvin. The iconic sign created by May, became the inspiration of this artist and her work. Galvin created a exposition titled “49 Reasons Why I Love You,” which opened in 2008. The local artist creates paintings based on Rex May’s 49 Mile Scenic Drive sign, which has been her inspiration, on top of other San Francisco's icons, since she moved to the city from Ireland. She sells her paintings of the sign in a variety of colors. Some of her paintings are a resemblance to the original sign, but in other paintings of hers, she has added different things to the background of the sign, the text or the seagull to make the design different. Galvin is not the only artist to have appropriated May’s work.

Signage is really important to our culture and a major part of a persons everyday life. “A sign is an object or idea or combination of the two that refers to something besides itself, and it depends on others to recognize that it’s a sign... There are traffic signs, signs telling whether something is open or closed, signs in your classroom telling you not to smoke or cheat or where the exit (Silverman and Rader 1-27).” We can recognize signs of all shapes and sizes, a red octagon as a stop sign, a yellow diamond as a  yield sign and rectangular green signs as major street signs. Signs can be right in front of you, up high or on the ground, or on a moving vehicle, such as a bus. Through signs, people gain an understanding of their surroundings, as well as direction and interest. Most importantly, signs tell us directions; they tell us how to maneuver around an area in order to reach a destination. As we know what the signs symbolize, people driving the route know that seeing the sign means that they are driving in the right direction. The signs don’t need to say “keep following these signs,” or something along those lines because if you are familiar with the 49- Mile Scenic Drive or are actually driving it, you interpret the signs to know you are following the right route. Without signs, people would not know how to get around the drive, and would not be able to see San Francisco’s major attractions. What makes a sign appealing to people? It’s a complex blend of color, size and design of the sign that combines to catch a person’s eye. The color of the back drop, a light blue color is visually appealing, is not to bright so that the sign is the only thing you can pick out in a crowd and not to light, so that a persons eye is appealed to it. The size of the sign is just as well the perfect proportion. Finally the design of the sign, with the white seagull and bubbly writing make the sign iconic. Everything combined, the design and color, expresses the feeling of California.

It has been many decades since the 49-Mile Drive has opened. Over the years, minor problems have arisen with it. First, the route of the drive has had to be changed. Treasure Island, as it was the home of the International Exposition, was originally a part of the route. However, when it became a naval base, it was removed as a destination for the drivers to visit. Another problem, a larger issue, is that some of the signs have gone missing over time. The loss of signs is presumably due to theft. The loss of these signs poses a problem as sometimes the route is hard to follow with signs missing at major intersections. For tourists that come to drive the route, not seeing signs pointing to the next destination is a major problem, as they’re not familiar with the streets. The San Francisco Department of Parking and Theft tries to replace the signs if they go missing, but sometimes they can’t be replaced fast enough or the department forgets. Another way the city is trying to accommodate the theft is at San Francisco Visitor Information Center, at Powell Street and Market Street, which distributes free maps for people that need help getting around the Scenic Drive. It might be advantageous for all drivers to grab a map, in case the missing signs pose as a problem, but at the same time getting lost in such a great city isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Another way 49 Mile Scenic Drive could be improved would be by creating an app for smart phones. Most people in society have some sort of smart phone that helps them navigate with a GPS. If an app for the Scenic Drive was created, people would not get as lost while driving the route, and the app could also feature a informational page for every one of the attractions so people can learn about what they are seeing while on the drive. Also, a suggestion for improving the Scenic Drive, would be to provide a tour of the entire route. There are no specific tours, such as a bus tour, for this drive, instead people have to rent a car or use their own car to navigate around. There are a few city tours that highlight portions and major attractions of the Scenic Drive, but not the entire thing. I believe a bus tour would be the best option for providing the views of it to the fullest extent.

“The intention was to highlight the area’s natural beauty and potential for economic growth as a tourist and business destination (Bevk).” The drive does just that, whether you make it through all 49 miles of the route or only make it to different portions. The route is highlighted by a travelers guide, San Francisco Travel. They explain the drive as,

“Marked by blue-white-and-orange seagull signs, the half-day drive through the city’s most accessible scenic and historic points circuits Civic Center, Japantown, Union Square, Chinatown, North Beach and Telegraph Hill. It skirts Fisherman’s Wharf and winds past the Marina and the Palace of Fine Arts. The route passes the southern approach of the Golden Gate Bridge, winds through the Presidio, and doubles back through Golden Gate Park. After vaulting Twin Peaks it dips down to Mission Dolores and back to the bay front for a drive by the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Ferry Building, financial district and Yerba Buena Gardens. (Thouseman).”

Currently the route begins at the intersection of Hayes Street and Van Ness Avenue, which is near City Hall. There are over 41 major points of interest highlighted by the tour. Sometimes within the points of interests, there are other smaller places, to maybe park the car and go visit. An example of this is with Golden Gate Park, a major place highlighted by the drive. Within the park there are amazing museums and memorials, such as the DeYoung Museum and the Japanese Tea Gardens, that could be stopped at on the day trip. The mini-excursion of the scenic drive can easily take longer than a half- day tour, if you decide to take in more of the cities attractions. Maybe taking a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, or having a decadent famous ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli Square, at Fishermans Wharf, is a great addition to the drive a person could ask for. It is relevant to give into the temptation to stop and visit the sites along the way.

While trying to understand this Scenic Drive, I felt it was important to understand how people who had actually experienced the drive felt. After reviewing posts made by tourists and locals alike, I understand personal experiences with taking the drive. There are nothing but amazing reviews about the trip. People say they come from all around to make the Drive, some locals also say that whenever their relatives come into town, the drive is the first thing they take them on.  A visitor, who came to the city in January 2012, who posts by the name of takeahike66, explains that “The 49-mile drive through San Francisco is the best way to understand the diversity of San Francisco. Without doing the 49-mile drive, you will only see some of the major tourist attractions, but not really understand the multi-cultural and the various neighborhoods that make the city what it is. One must take the time to stop and visit the many areas for its views, the feel of the neighborhood, how SF was built around the terrain that makes up SF. Neighborhoods just on each side of the street can be radically different (“Trip Advisor”).” There are over 20 reviews saying relatively the same thing about how excellent it is. No reviewers explain that they regretted the time they wasted on the drive. There were absolutely no negative reviews about the attractions highlighted by the 49- Mile Scenic Drive. These reviews simply don’t exist. However, people do explain troubles they had. The number one thing people repeatedly found difficult was the lack of signage advertising the drive. This is highlighted by another post written by George_Long, who visited in July 2012. He explains you have to,“look sharply. To my taste (and my brother-in-law who was navigating) there are not nearly enough of the "seagull" signs along the route. It's very easy to miss a turn, or in some cases, get misdirected by the signs themselves. Then it's a matter of back tracking and trying to get back on the route. There doesn't seem to be a a lot of printed materials outlining the route so when you get off track, you're lost for a while. The views were good and it was a nice "flavor" of San Francisco. Ironically, after we finished the route (or thought we had) we kept finding signs all around San Francisco on routes we hadn't gone down before, so be wary of keeping look out for the seagull 49 signs! (“Trip Advisor”).” There are a few solutions to these problems, most of which I have already stated. More signs could be created and put all along the route. The travelers could grab a free map provided by the city. But most importantly I think a smart phone app needs to be created for people to download that can lead people around the route and educate them at the same time. 

To be able to have such a historic and fantastic scenic drive in our own backyard is truly fantastic. It is amazing to have something created in 1939/1940 and still have it be a major part of the city today. A large part of this is is due to the fact that the 49- Mile Drive signs, created by Rex May, are still posted around the city today. If these signs were taken down, people would not know or be familiar with the special Scenic Drive. We have signage to thank for sharing with locals and tourists the is beautiful drive that highlights the largest attractions of the city. When going on this drive, people get a systematic sample of the variation of the cities neighborhoods, the best view of the ocean, panoramic views of the whole city on top of hills, and so much more. Wherever you’re on the drive, the 49-Mile Drive is an incredible overview of the greatest city in the country. “The self-guided, 49-Mile Drive is an easy way to orient yourself and to grasp the beauty of San Francisco and its extraordinary location. It's also a flat-out stunning and very worthy excursion (“Frommer’s”).” There must be some work done in order to revive the Scenic Drive to reach a younger audience and make it as big of the cities culture as it was in San Francisco’s history, but I am certain simple solutions could be created to do this, such as the idea for a smart phone app. Many of the places the class visited during our semester of exploring the city, are points of interest on the Drive. I saw signs first hand while visiting places such as Golden Gate Park, North Beach, Chinatown and Union Square. I hope to one day be able to drive the full route in totality, just as it was created to do.