San Francisco's Unique Geography

• Mon, 07:45: Tourists visiting San Francisco should note; The longer you go in one direction without making a turn, the less progress you will make.
• Mon, 08:05: Seems to me that the IRS examining the records of anti-tax organizations is kinda like... Profiling.

San Francisco's city grid was initially planned by one guy, and then as the city expanded into what is now SOMA, they asked a Philadelphian (Jasper O'Farrell) to come in and expand the city. (Which is why some of the street names mirror those of West Philadelphia, Sansom, and Market, etc.) O'Farrell had the novel idea of a central thoroughfare, but the proposed street ended up cutting diagonally through the existing grid. The new lots of land were laid out at a 45 degree angle from the first, with few streets that carried through from one grid to the other. Thanks.

You can read more about this fiasco here:

http://www.sfweekly.com/2005-06-29/news/the-streets-of-san-francisco/

As a result, it's impossible to actually traverse the city in a straight-ish line from one end to another without making a sharp turn at least once.