City for Sale: The Transformation of San Francisco

SF is my adopted hometown and I love walking around the city, noticing little odds and ends. How come the prime real estate on top of Moscone Center is occupied by a Merry-go-Around and a (mostly deserted) playground? How come BART does not stop anywhere people in SF actually live (except for a lucky few in the Mission). What did SoMa look like 30 years ago? Hartman covers San Francisco's urban development history from the relocation of the produce market (to make room for Golden Gateway apartments), the development of South-of-Market (and the resistance), Harvey Milk's and George Moscone's assasination, up to the (now completed) redevelopment of the Presidio's Letterman complex into ILM studios. Reading this book gave me a new perspective on SF. It's possible that the book is not thorough enough for someone who studied urban planning or architecture, but for an interested local resident like me it provided a plenty of detail and insight.