Golden Gate Park most-visited city park in the United States after Central Park in New York City, Lincoln Park in Chicago, and Balboa and Mission Bay Parks in San Diego. In the 1860s, San Franciscans began to feel the need for a spacious public park similar to Central Park, which was then taking shape in New York City. Golden Gate Park was carved out of unpromising sand and shore dunes that were known as the Outside Lands, in an unincorporated area west of San Francisco's then-current borders. Conceived ostensibly for recreation, the underlying purpose of the park was housing development and the westward
Golden Gate Park main green providers and is greatly responsible for the city's plant life. There are approximately 7,500 homeless people living in San Francisco. Due to high housing costs that have seen a rise since the mid-'70s, a significant portion of the homeless find residence in Golden Gate Park. Around 40 to 200 of these 7,000 people reside in the park. Around half of the homeless population in Golden Gate Park are short-term residents that leave after a certain amount of time, and the other half are more long-term residents. Short-term residents tend to be younger, while permanent residents tend to be