With more than 60 foreign banks which maintain offices here, and home to a Federal Reserve Bank and a United States Mint, San Francisco is, indeed, the Wall Street of the West.
A symbol of it: the Transamerica Pyramid, at 600 Montgomery Street. This steel and concrete futuristic office building, also known as the Spire, was designed by William Pereira as a 260 meters skyscraper. With more than 3,000 windows and 48 floors it offers breathtaking views of the Bay from the Virtual Observation Deck where it has four cameras and monitors broadcasting 24 hours a day.