The Excelsior District traditionally has not been among San Francisco's "spotlight" neighborhoods, yet this area is an important residential and commercial zone that is home to some 30,000 residents. These rolling hills south of San Francisco's better-known districts are now covered with row upon row of houses, streets, and apartments. But places like the Excelsior were once sparsely populated, agrarian, and even rural. This volume of vintage photographs chronicles the Excelsior's intriguing journey from rugged swamp and farmland to the busy cosmopolitan neighborhood we know today. It is a tale of determined immigrant families putting down roots in a challenging locale and overcoming adversity to stake out a permanent enclave in this famed city. It is also a story of large-scale construction and reclamation to tame the rugged outskirts of San Francisco.

The Excelsior District traditionally has not been among San Francisco's "spotlight" neighborhoods, yet this area is an important residential and commercial zone that is home to some 30,000 residents. These rolling hills south of San Francisco's better-known districts are now covered with row upon row of houses, streets, and apartments. But places like the Excelsior were once sparsely populated, agrarian, and even rural. This volume of vintage photographs chronicles the Excelsior's intriguing journey from rugged swamp and farmland to the busy cosmopolitan neighborhood we know today. It is a tale of determined immigrant families putting down roots in a challenging locale and overcoming adversity to stake out a permanent enclave in this famed city. It is also a story of large-scale construction and reclamation to tame the rugged outskirts of San Francisco.

Mike Sullivan loves his adopted city of San Francisco, and he loves trees. In The Trees of San Francisco he has combined his passions, offering a striking and handy compendium of botanical information, historical tidbits, cultivation hints, and more. Sullivan's introduction details the history of trees in the city, a fairly recent phenomenon. The text then piques the reader's interest with discussions of 71 city trees. Each tree is illustrated with a photograph--with its common and scientific names prominently displayed--and its specific location within San Francisco, along with other sites; frequently a close-up shot of the tree is included. Sprinkled throughout are 13 sidelights relating to trees; among the topics are the city's wild parrots and the trees they love; an overview of the objectives of the Friends of the Urban Forest; and discussions about the link between Australia's trees and those in the city, such as the eucalyptus. The second part of the book gets the reader up and about, walking the city to see its trees. Full-page color maps accompany the seven detailed tours, outlining the routes; interesting factoids are interspersed throughout the directions. A two-page color map of San Francisco then highlights 25 selected neighborhoods ideal for viewing trees, leading into a checklist of the neighborhoods and their trees.

The last half century witnessed a dramatic change in the geographic, ethnographic, and socioeconomic structure of Asian American communities. While traditional enclaves were strengthened by waves of recent immigrants, native-born Asian Americans also created new urban and suburban areas. Asian America is the first comprehensive look at post-1960s Asian American communities in the United States and Canada. From Chinese Americans in Chicagoland to Vietnamese Americans in Orange County, this multi-disciplinary collection spans a wide comparative and panoramic scope. Contributors from an array of academic fields focus on global views of Asian American communities as well as on territorial and cultural boundaries. Presenting groundbreaking perspectives, Asian America revises worn assumptions and examines current challenges Asian American communities face in the twenty-first century.

Written for cyclists of all stripes, Best Bike Rides books offer a diverse array of scenic tours in and around some of America’s largest urban destinations. Road rides, rail trails, bike paths, and single-track mountain bike rides all get included. Most rides are in the 5 to 30 mile range, allowing for great afternoon outings and family adventures. Each book features 35-40 rides with color photos, maps, and point-by-point miles and directions.

The bestselling book from two prizewinning, critically acclaimed contemporary chroniclers of San Francisco-a rich, illustrated, idiosyncratic portrait of this great city. In Spirits of San Francisco, #1 bestselling Cool Gray City of Love author Gary Kamiya joins forces with celebrated, bestselling artist Paul Madonna to take a fresh look at this one-of-a-kind city. Marrying image and text in a way no book about this city has done before, Kamiya's illuminating narratives accompany Madonna's masterful pen-and-ink drawings, breathing life into San Francisco sites both iconic and obscure. Paul Madonna's atmospheric images will awe: his wide-angle drawings offer a new perspective on the “crookedest street in the world” and vistas across the city. And Kamiya's engaging prose, accompanying each image, offers striking vignettes of this incredible city: witness his story of “Dumpville,” the bizarre community that sprang up in the 19th century on top of a massive garbage dump. Handsome and irresistible-much like the city it chronicles-Spirits of San Francisco is both a visual feast and a detailed, personal, loving, informed portrait of a beloved city.