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A Unique California City

A Unique California City

The combination of a location surrounded by the Pacific, the charm of Victorian architecture and a thriving cosmopolitan metropolis make the city of San Francisco a popular tourist destination. Located in northern California where the mild Mediterranean climate draws hundreds of visitors all year, the San Francisco Bay area is famous for the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf. Summers may be cool and foggy and winters mild with occasional rain but many days are sunny and perfect for exploring the distinct regions that encompass the City by the Bay.

Public transportation from the airport includes a modern rail system, BART, that drops passengers into the mid city regions. From the financial district and Union Square, Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, Nob Hill and other districts can be reached either on foot or by bus or cable car. San Francisco is a great city for walking if moderate hill climbing is not an issue and the breathtaking views at the hilltops provide the reward.

Much of San Francisco developed during the 1849 gold rush period where wealthy miners brought their winnings to town. The quaint Victorian era row homes are stacked up and down the streets and feature bay windows, a signature local style. Cable cars travel through these steep neighborhoods taking riders from Union Square to Fisherman’s Wharf and Chinatown. The most curving street in the U.S., Lombard Street, can be seen at the top of a cable car stop.

Hundreds of Chinese people came to work on the railroads during the 1800’s. Today, Chinatown ranks as one of the highest Asian populations in the U.S. and stretches through several densely packed city blocks. The fragrant aroma of Chinese food, the dozens of import shops, herb and food markets make this unique region a tourist’s delight.

On level land, Fisherman’s Wharf runs along the harbor for several miles. Numerous restaurants offer oysters and fresh seafood to go or a chance to sit down to an elegant meal. A large sourdough bread factory creates the favorite staple of the 49’rs. Souvenir shops line the Embarcadero and also at an outdoor mini-mall known as Pier 39. Visitors watch piles of black seals lying on the docks and hear the sea gulls overhead. From the harbor, several cruise excursions take tourists around the bay. The island of Alcatraz, once a forbidding prison, makes an interesting half-day trip.

No visit to San Francisco would be complete without a look at the famous Golden Gate Bridge that spans from the city to Marin County. The expansive Golden Gate Park (larger than New York’s Central Park) contains walking paths, botanical gardens, flower conservatories and museums.

The city is known for exquisite cuisine and each district has a unique ethnic focus. In North Beach Italian restaurants line Columbus Street and offer everything from pizza, veal parmesan and tiramisu. Along with sourdough bread, Ghirardelli chocolate is a S.F. favorite and the landmark factory and shops are at Ghirardelli Square near Fisherman’s Wharf. On the north side of town, many contemporary French and California style restaurants are found in the Pacific Heights district.

For more information on San Francisco, visit http://sanfranciscodeals.travel.

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Enjoy Encinitas Beaches in California

Enjoy Encinitas Beaches in California

The town of Encinitas, located in San Diego, offers over 6 miles of beautiful beaches. You can do anything in Encinitas, such as running, jogging, playing volleyball, swimming or surfing.

 

If you’re into fitness, you’ll get a great workout at Stone Steps Beach. The author ran these stairs 5 times every morning when visiting and was in the best shape of his life. These awesome leg-building stairs lead down from the bluffs to the ocean offer fantastic views to enjoy while you work out. At high tide the ocean laps the bottom of the stairs, at low tide, the beach is up to 300 feet wide with lots of room for volleyball.

 

Swami’s Surfing Beach was put on the map by the Beach Boys song Surfin USA. It’s only four blocks from Moonlight Beach. You can walk the beach to Swami’s or drive down old historic Highway 101. The best surfers in the world still surf Swami’s every day – it’s almost a right of passage for surfers. You can also often scuba divers just offshore from Swamis at the Encinitas Marine Life Refuge, our own underwater park.

 

Moonlight Beach is only a three minute walk from the my favorite place to stay when I visit: the Inn at Moonlight Beach. Stone Steps Beach, Beacon’s and Grandview beaches are not far from the Inn, all within walking distance or a brief drive up Neptune Avenue.

 

Anyone can learn to surf by taking surfing classes with world-famous Kahuna Bob, an icon in Encinitas. You can find him by Googling Kahuna Bob Surfing.

 

Moonlight Beach is my favorite beach in Encinitas because it has lifeguards, a big playground, easy-to-use parking lots, safe play areas for the kids, fire-rings (popular year-round), showers, clean restrooms, extensive beach rentals, a snack bar and, one of the best sandy beaches in all of Southern California.

 

Carlos Hunnefeld travels regularly to southern California. His preferred Encinitas lodging is the Inn at Moonlight Beach. The Inn’s hosts wrote their own Encinitas Restaurant Reviews located on the Inn’s website containing personal ratings of the great dining in the little town.

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Southern California – Ideal area to travel

Southern California – Ideal area to travel

Southern California, also known as So Cal, consists of the south land in California of the Tehachapi Mountains. It has a population of about 24 million, a majority of which is located in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego. Southern California borders Mexico in the South, the Pacific Ocean on the West, and Arizona and Nevada make up the area’s eastern border. Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and San Diego, which are counties within Southern California, are among the 15 most populous counties in the United States.

 

Southern California is home to several different industries. The Tech Coast is made up of the Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Ventura counties. The Tech Coast consists of Universities, research institutes and multi-technology companies. Major Universities in the region include: The University of Southern California, The University of California, Los Angeles and The California Institute of Technology. There is a long list of distinguished technology corporations within the Tech Coast, two of the most well know corporations are Google and Yahoo!. The Tech Coast is also home to the following research institutes: The Aerospace Corporation, Beckman Research Institute, Jet Propulsion Laboratory and many more.

 

In addition to the Tech Coast, Southern California is the capital of the entertainment industry: Hollywood, Sony Pictures, MGM, 20th Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company are a few notable destinations and companies located in Southern California. Southern California also plays host to a long line of surf and skateboard clothing companies. Companies like O’Neil, Sector 9, Quicksilver and Volcom help maintain the robust Southern California economy.

 

Southern California is made up of 12 counties. South of San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains: Imperial, San Diego, Riverside, Ventura, Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino. North of San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains: Northern Los Angeles (San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita), Northern San Bernardino (Mohave Desert), Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern.

 

Real estate in Southern California is often considered overvalued and many areas in Southern California are home to the most expensive real estate in the world. However, developing areas such as the San Bernardino County and Riverside County are providing many home buyers with affordable new home options. Although new homes in big Southern California cities like Los Angeles and San Diego are often expensive, these cities offer world class design options, amenities and quick access to seek after destinations. The lack of available real estate near the downtown areas of these large cities leaves home buyers with little detached new home opportunities.

 

Search home builders southern california, home builder blog and California new homes!

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California Environmental and Toxic Tort Law

California Environmental and Toxic Tort Law

Environmental and Toxic Tort Law cases in California are often one and the same. In an age when the carelessness of large corporations seems endless and the public has awoken to environmental dangers such as global warming and pollution of groundwater, such cases can not only provide a measure of redress to injured plaintiffs but also assist in the fight against what some entities would do to our planet in the name of profit.


Individuals in their homes, at work, in school and during leisure or recreational activities are exposed to toxic chemicals, drugs, and mercury from the places they live, work, or elsewhere spend time and what they eat and drink and the cosmetics they use.


They can be damaged by exposure to asbestos, lead, mercury, zinc, chromium, TCE, PCBs, arsenic, benzene, beryllium, pesticides, silica, manganese, formaldehyde and other toxins from places and things they would never have expected. Examples include lead-paint covered toys, toxic chemicals not only in the groundwater and the tap water used by companies to fill bottled water.


But pollution can come from the air, from the water, from the soil, and from other sources one often doesn’t consider. Pollution also comes from electro-magnetic fields, cigarette smoke, and mold in the home or at work.


Air pollution includes unhealthy levels in the air quality index, acid rain, indoor air quality, and particulate pollution from construction. Smog and haze aren’t just depressing, they can also be deadly when filled with types of pollution that is of particular risk to the elderly. Carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and chlorofluorocarbons are just some of the chemicals one faces in every day life. Too much of any of these can cause severe problems including cancer and even death to most anyone, not to mention other damage to the ecosystem.


Water pollution can come from wastewater, surface runoff, sewage, waterborne diseases, water quality, oil spills, ship pollution, and ocean acidification, just to name a few sources. Soil pollution can come from herbicides, pesticides and even from invasive species. Among those soil contaminants people should be most concerned with, are MTBE, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and chlorinated hydrocarbons.


Because it happened thirty years ago, many today are unfamiliar with or have forgotten the groundwater pollution case known as Love Canal. In the late 1970s, residents in the Love Canal area of New York were suffering from high rates of cancer and birth defects. The cause was traced to chemicals that had infiltrated into the groundwater and water supply from an industrial landfill. Hundreds of families were reimbursed for their damages but had to move from the area.


Radioactive contamination is becoming more and more of a problem. There is already plutonium in the environment, radium in the environment, uranium in the environment and other environmental radioactivity. Soon we will be hearing more about alpha emitters and actinides.


Recently there has been much publicity about the increase in bed bugs in hotels, schools and homes. When one goes on vacation, one must also worry about lice, ticks and other bugs that can be carried home. When one goes to the hospital or to the doctor, one can return with a more dangerous infection or virus than the problem the patient was originally concerned about.


While not a health risk, there is also visual pollution such as that caused from billboards, to the recent addition of advertising at the gas pump, in elevators and in public restrooms, as well as light pollution.


In the health field, pollution can come in the form of contamination of blood, from the environment of the hospital, the medications, thimerosal (a preservative used to prevent spoiling in vaccines) surgical implants, the beds or from other patients.


If you think a toxic material has caused or contributed to your injury call your toxic tort lawyer today

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How to Adopt Your Stepchild in California

How to Adopt Your Stepchild in California

In the state of California adoption is actually a rather simple process. Once you have determined that you want to adopt your stepchild, you will need to take specific legal steps to do so. This article will explain what to consider during the adoption process, how to get the documents needed for free, and what to expect from the process.


First, adoption is a very serious thing to consider before acting. You do not want to make a rash decision that could have a long term effect on a child’s welfare. If you are sincere in your wishes to adopt your stepchild, then you should not rush into it. Take some time to consider the long term importance of taking responsibility for this child the same as you would your biological children.


It is also important to make certain that you talk with the child and make sure that they want the adoption as well. This is a very big step for a child, and they should be afforded plenty of time to consider every option. Letting go of your biological parents is a very scary thing for a child, even if they did not know their parents that well. It is like letting go of a part of themselves.


Fortunately, there is also joy in adopting a child. You can expect to have a very unique bond with this child for a lifetime. Assuming you have decided to adopt, you are now ready to move on to the next step in adopting your stepchild.


Filling out the correct legal forms for your adoption is very important and doing so correctly will help speed things along when you go to the courthouse. You will need three forms to get the process started:


Adopt-200

Adopt-210

Adopt-215


You can get these forms on line right here for absolutely no cost. This is also a great resource to use if you are wanting to download any kinds of legal forms.


Adopt-200 is a formal adoption request. This gives the judge information needed about you and your stepchild. This form should be filled out completely. It is full of things that the judge will need to know.


Adopt-210 is a formal adoption agreement. This is the form that will tell the judge that you and the child wants to do the adoption. Fill this out completely but do not sign until the judge says to do so.


Adopt-215 is the actual adoption order ?This is the form the judge will sign if he agrees to the adoption.


Once you have acquired these legal forms and filled them out, then you take the papers to the courthouse. The County Clerk will charge you a filing fee. After this, a social worker will come and visit and speak with the child. This is mandatory for all adoptions and it gives the courts an independent source to use when determining if an adoption is safe and the right solution for the child. Fill out those forms for the social worker and then wait for you to receive your copy of the social worker’s report.


Once you receive this, you should ask the clerk of court for a court date. On your court date, you will need to bring all of your legal forms, the child being adopted, and any friends or family that may want to attend. Many adoptions are like celebrations.


This process is not that complicated and it is a wonderful way to ensure a child is well taken care of. If your stepchild is in the situation where they need adopting, regardless of the reason, you now have the knowledge of how to do so.

Anna K. manages Free Legal Forms website and is very passionate about anything related to Free Legal Forms.

If you are also interested in Free Legal Forms and Downloads than do check my site, http://www.legalforms.name

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