In the late 80s, San Francisco's Embarcadero Freeway carried 100,000 vehicles per day as a sort of traffic sewer, blocking the city from the expansive waterfront. But in 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake rocked the freeway beyond repair, giving planners and engineers no choice but to distribute all that traffic to surface streets. The results... The local streets absorbed the traffic, transit ridership shot up, housing soared, new jobs opened, and various redevelopment projects transformed the waterfront. Think about that. After part of a downtown freeway collapsed, the area began to thrive and turned into a highly sought after destination.