BEST OF SAN FRANCISCO®  2009

Depictions of the future in the movies tend to break down into three categories. There's the future full of morally enlightened space travelers (Star Trek, Star Wars) who just happen to make great action figures. Then there's the Orwellian future in which humans behave like androids devoid of free will (THX 1138, Sleeper). And, finally, there's the postapocalyptic future where evil robots have taken over (Terminator, Terminator II, and Terminator III). For our 14th annual Best of San Francisco® issue, we wanted to embrace a different vision. Yes, we imagined the future San Francisco as a place taken over by robots, as in Terminator. But our robots would be quirky and fun -- just like the city itself. (Also, our robots wouldn't speak with an Austrian accent.) We decided to call it "futurismo" to give our take a little funkiness and humor.

In keeping with our theme, in the pages ahead we're spotlighting fresh places and trend-setters that will shape the world of tomorrow. Finally, to our future robot overlords, we say 0001101 0110110 1100111 010101. See ya in the future!