A lone Corinthian column surrounded by newly installed palm trees marks SF's mecca for shopaholics. Ringed by Macy's, Saks, Neiman Marcus and Levi's stores along with colorful flower stands and street performers. Surrounding streets feature superstores like Virgin Megastore, FAO Schwarz, Gump's and Britex Fabrics along with boutiques for Coach, Bulgari, Cartier, Thomas Pink, Louis Vuitton, MaxMara, Emporio Armani, Diesel, Prada, Celine, Escada, Gucci, Guess, Hermes, Agnes B., Betsey Johnson and Wilkes Bashford.

San Francisco's sprawling South of Market district (SoMa, in popular parlance) is home to web gurus, urban warriors, offbeat artists, and an unending supply of club kids. This San Francisco neighborhood's industrial, warehouse nature is perfect for the megaclubs and leathermen alike. Dance-hungry hipsters flock to bars like 1015 Folsom and the infamous End Up while risque gay bars like the Eagle, the Stud and the Hole In the Wall draw a more community more diverse than the queens of the Castro. In the daylight hours, look for substantial San Francisco discount shopping, like cheap fabrics, designer labels and furniture.

San Francisco's version of the Red Light District, North Beach at night is a bustling neon home to strip joints, bars, cafes and restaurants. Meander through the narrow streets off Broadway and see why this is San Francisco's "Little Italy." Like is Italian heritage, this San Francisco neighborhood still holds onto its 1950s Beatnik legacy with the bohemian City Lights Bookstore at the corner of Columbus Ave and Jack Kerouac Alley. Don't miss Tai Chi in the nearby Washington Square on weekdays or the North Beach Jazz Festival every August.

Enter at "Dragon's Gate" at Grant Avenue and Bush Street. San Francisco's bustling Chinatown is a tightly packed warren of Chinese restaurants, shops, temples and street vendors. Great for exotic gifts, and fireworks on Chinese New Year.

Popular with tourists and sea lions, Fisherman's Wharf is full of shops, silly museums and family fun. Still a working wharf, its vendors sell thousands of tons of fish and shellfish. Take an early morning walk down "Fish Alley" to see fisherman at work. Later, the Wharf is boardwalk-style family entertainment with decidedly tourist attractions such as Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum, the Red & White Fleet, the Wax Museum, and, of rare interest to local San Franciscans, the Aquarium. For maritime-lovers and WWII buffs, the San Francisco Maritime Musuem is at the foot of Polk St. and massive USS Pampanito is docked right at Pier 45.

With its close proximity to the San Francisco opera, symphony and theatre district, Hayes Valley is ground zero for the downtown socialite. Hayes Street teems with shoe stores, hip boutiques and quirky home furnishing stores. Some of San Francisco's best restaurants surround this once socially decimated San Francisco neighborhood, including Absinthe, Suppenkuche, Zuni Cafe and the Hayes Street Grill.

One of San Francisco's more exclusive neighborhoods, Pacific Heights houses more than its share of mansions and gorgeous parks, with sweeping views of the marina and Bay below. On Fillmore Street, Pacific Heights neighborhood visitors will find upmarket shops and boutiques, like Kiehl's, Betsey Johnson and Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic. Restaurants like the Elite Café, Jackson Fillmore and Vivandi Porta Via keep locals happy with their casual class.

Rising over the west flank of North Beach, Russian Hill has an isolationist, artistic vibe reflective of its history. As late as the 1970s, this tony San Francisco neighborhood was considered rather bohemian (in fact, it served as the backdrop for Armistead Maupin's ribald ÒTales of the CityÓ novels). While it has moved decidedly upscale, Russian Hill's magnificent views, winding staircases and charming café's make it one of our favorite San Francisco neighborhoods.

The chardonnay swilling set trade business cards and napkin'd numbers with each other, making dates and deals simultaneously. Sorority girls gone grown up fraternize with local real estate agents and club promoters. Shopaholics cruise Union Street looking at MAC makeup while young urbane professionals mingle on the Marina Green. This northerly San Francisco neighborhood affords gorgeous views of the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and the mating dances of the upwardly mobile.

What Noe Valley lacks in nightlife, it makes up for in quaint cafes, craft boutiques and coffeehouses. Citydwellers seeking a more relaxed pace flock to this progressive San Francisco neighborhood, where lesbian mothers push strollers and Labradors are more common than Republicans.

The universally agreed Mecca of gay life is San Francisco's Castro District. The affluent North side of Market is home to a predominantly gay and lesbian community, excellent bakeries, boutiques, cafes, restaurants, and of course, gender bending bars. The famed Castro Theatre, the Castro's historic art deco movie palace, screens old and independent films from around the world. On Halloween, the center of San Francisco is the Castro, with crowds in the thousands celebrating in the streets.

The stretch of shops now referred to by San Francisco locals as the Upper Haight was the center of '60s psychedelia. Despite gentrification and proliferation of stores like Ben & Jerry's and The Gap, it still retains its hippie counterculture credentials, and is dotted with Victorian houses, anarchist bookstores, piercing salons and clothing funky shops.

Unlike its hippie-historied sibling, the Lower Haight is more punk than peace. Barflies spill onto the street on weekends, rocking out to metal, reggae, techno or rock, depending from whence they come. In the daylight, the Lower Haight sprawls with organic food shops, riotus hair salons, coffehouses and up and coming boutiques.

The heart of San Francisco's predominantly Latino neighborhood is 24th Street, a colorful collection of authentic restaurants, taquerias, Mexican bakeries, produce markets, specialty shops and murals. Mission Dolores at 16th and Dolores streets is the oldest structure in San Francisco (many of San Francisco's Spanish pioneers are buried on the site) and, two blocks away, on Dolores and 18th St., the palm tree studded Dolores Park (ÒDolores BeachÓ to sunbathers) still has a Spanish flavor.

The Tenderloin, so named for the choice cuts of meat afforded to police officers who worked this once violent 'beat', is indeed still a rag tag San Francisco neighborhood, but not without its charm. While Glide Memorial church attracts large numbers of bohos and hobos alike, bustling Polk Street attracts brunch brats and (in the evening) all manner of debaucher. Not for the faint of heart, but certainly exciting.

The Sunset is one of San Francisco's most family-friendly neighborhoods, with sprawling blocks of quaint single-family abodes. The restaurants and bars at western base of Twin Peaks provide lattes to baby-clad mothers while the surfing community holes up on the cool, fog-laden beachfront huts lining the Great American Highway.