Explore the real places in San Francisco that appear in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include San Francisco Police Department, Conapt Building, Opera House, Museum of Natural History, Animal Pet Shop and 6 more.
Bryant Street — Rick Deckard's workplace
Rick Deckard works as a bounty hunter for the SFPD, tasked with hunting down and 'retiring' escaped Nexus-6 androids. Inspector Bryant assigns him the dangerous mission to track down six rogue androids after his colleague Dave Holden is hospitalized by the android Polokov. The department represents the official authority in Dick's post-apocalyptic world, where the line between human and artificial life has become disturbingly blurred.
The SFPD was established in 1849 during the Gold Rush era. The Hall of Justice on Bryant Street has housed police operations and courts since 1958, serving as the central hub for law enforcement in the city.
The Hall of Justice still operates as SFPD headquarters and houses various courts. The building underwent seismic retrofitting but remains a key part of San Francisco's criminal justice system.
Market Street area — Rick and Iran Deckard's apartment
Rick Deckard lives in a decaying conapt (condominium apartment) building with his wife Iran. Their relationship is strained and artificial, regulated by mood organs that chemically induce emotions. Iran often dials despair on her Penfield mood organ, while Rick struggles with empathy and questions about his own humanity. The building represents the sterile, emotionally hollow urban landscape of Dick's future San Francisco.
Market Street has been San Francisco's main commercial thoroughfare since the city's founding. The area saw massive development of apartment buildings and residential complexes throughout the 20th century.
Market Street remains a major transit corridor lined with office buildings, retail spaces, and residential complexes. The area has undergone significant urban renewal and tech industry development in recent decades.
Van Ness Avenue — Luba Luft's performance venue
Rick Deckard tracks the android Luba Luft to the opera house where she performs as a singer. Luft's artistic abilities and apparent capacity for aesthetic appreciation challenge Deckard's assumptions about androids lacking empathy and creativity. Their encounter at the opera house becomes a pivotal moment in Deckard's growing uncertainty about the moral implications of his work and the nature of consciousness itself.
The San Francisco Opera House opened in 1932 as part of the War Memorial complex. It has been home to the San Francisco Opera and Ballet, establishing the city as a major cultural center on the West Coast.
The War Memorial Opera House continues to host San Francisco Opera and Ballet performances. The building is a designated historic landmark and remains one of the city's premier cultural venues.
Visit: War Memorial Opera House (theater)
Golden Gate Park — Android testing location
Deckard uses the museum as one of the locations to administer the Voigt-Kampff empathy test to suspected androids. The museum's exhibits of extinct animals provide an ironic backdrop to Dick's exploration of what it means to be 'alive' in a world where most animal species have been destroyed by radioactive fallout, making electric animals valuable substitutes for the real thing.
The California Academy of Sciences has been located in Golden Gate Park since 1916, housing natural history specimens, planetarium shows, and scientific research facilities. It became a major educational institution for the Bay Area.
The California Academy of Sciences underwent a complete reconstruction, reopening in 2008 with a LEED Platinum certified building designed by Renzo Piano. It houses an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest dome, and natural history museum.
Visit: California Academy of Sciences (museum)
Mission District — Electric animal dealers
Rick Deckard visits pet shops in his quest to own a real animal, the ultimate status symbol in his post-apocalyptic world. Most animals are electric simulacra due to mass extinction from radioactive fallout. Deckard dreams of owning a real sheep to replace his electric one, reflecting the novel's central theme about the blurring line between authentic and artificial life, and what constitutes genuine empathy versus programmed responses.
The Mission District has been a commercial center since the mid-19th century, with Valencia Street serving as a main retail corridor. Pet shops and small businesses have long been fixtures of the neighborhood's commercial landscape.
The Mission District is now known for its vibrant Latino culture, street art, and gentrification pressures. Valencia Street hosts numerous boutiques, restaurants, and specialty shops, though traditional pet stores are less common.
Financial District — Corporate headquarters
The Rosen Association manufactures the Nexus-6 androids that Deckard hunts. Eldon Rosen and his niece Rachael Rosen attempt to discredit the Voigt-Kampff test by proving it can produce false positives. Rachael herself is revealed to be a Nexus-6 android with implanted memories, leading to Deckard's crisis of conscience about the nature of artificial beings and his growing emotional attachment to her.
San Francisco's Financial District has been the city's business center since the Gold Rush era. Montgomery Street, known as the 'Wall Street of the West,' became home to major banks and corporations by the early 20th century.
The Financial District remains San Francisco's business hub, with high-rise office buildings housing major tech companies, financial institutions, and corporate headquarters. The area has adapted to include tech startups alongside traditional finance.
Tenderloin District — Android hideout
Deckard tracks several androids to an abandoned building in the decaying urban landscape. The androids Roy and Irmgard Baty, along with Pris Stratton, have taken refuge here. The desolate building symbolizes the post-apocalyptic decay of civilization and becomes the site of Deckard's final confrontations with the remaining androids, forcing him to question his role as their executioner.
The Tenderloin has historically been one of San Francisco's most challenging neighborhoods, with a high concentration of low-income housing, single-room occupancy hotels, and social services dating back to the early 1900s.
The Tenderloin remains a dense urban neighborhood with ongoing challenges related to homelessness and urban decay, while also being home to immigrant communities, nonprofit organizations, and recent tech development pressures.
Northern SF — Radioactive wasteland edge
The Presidio area represents the edge of habitable San Francisco in Dick's post-apocalyptic world. Beyond lies the radioactive wasteland that has made most of Earth uninhabitable and driven mass emigration to Mars. The desolation serves as a constant reminder of humanity's destructive capability and the fragile nature of the remaining civilization where androids and humans struggle to coexist.
The Presidio served as a military installation for over 200 years, first under Spanish and Mexican rule, then as a U.S. Army post from 1846 until its closure in 1994. The area provided strategic defense for San Francisco Bay.
The Presidio is now a national park offering hiking trails, museums, and recreational facilities. The Golden Gate Bridge and Crissy Field attract millions of visitors annually, making it one of San Francisco's premier outdoor destinations.
Visit: Presidio of San Francisco (park)
Central SF — Mood organ meditation spot
The elevated areas of San Francisco provide vantage points over the decaying city below. Characters use these locations for reflection and to dial specific moods on their Penfield mood organs while contemplating the bleak landscape. The height offers both physical and metaphorical perspective on the moral ambiguity of hunting androids in a world where empathy itself can be artificially induced or regulated.
Twin Peaks has provided panoramic views of San Francisco since the city's early days. The 922-foot hills were originally called 'Los Pechos de la Chola' by Spanish settlers and became a popular destination for residents and visitors seeking city views.
Twin Peaks remains one of San Francisco's most popular viewpoints, offering 360-degree views of the city and bay. The area features parking, walking paths, and is accessible by car or public transit.
Visit: Twin Peaks Scenic Overlook (landmark)
Embarcadero — Off-world emigration point
The waterfront serves as a departure point for those emigrating to Mars colonies, fleeing Earth's radioactive contamination. The constant advertisements for off-world colonization remind residents of the planet's declining habitability. This location emphasizes the theme of escape versus remaining behind to deal with the moral complexities of a dying world populated by both humans and androids seeking to survive.
The Ferry Building opened in 1898 and served as the transportation hub for Bay Area ferry services until the completion of the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge. It was the second busiest transit terminal in the world during its peak years.
The Ferry Building now houses a gourmet marketplace, restaurants, and offices while still serving some ferry routes. It underwent major renovation in the early 2000s and is a popular destination for food enthusiasts and tourists.
Visit: Ferry Building Marketplace (landmark)
Richmond District — Empathy box location
Followers of Mercerism gather to use empathy boxes, devices that allow users to share the suffering of Wilbur Mercer as he climbs an endless hill while being pelted with stones. This shared empathic experience is supposed to connect all humanity in collective suffering and compassion. However, the revelation that Mercer may be artificial challenges the authenticity of this technologically-mediated empathy, paralleling questions about android consciousness.
The Richmond District developed as a residential neighborhood in the early 20th century, with Geary Boulevard becoming a major commercial corridor. The area has hosted various religious and cultural institutions serving the diverse community.
The Richmond District remains a quiet residential area known for its fog, diverse population, and proximity to Golden Gate Park. Geary Boulevard continues to serve as a commercial strip with restaurants, shops, and services.
More by Philip K. Dick: All Philip K. Dick books
More novels set in San Francisco: Browse all San Francisco books on Map A Story