South San Francisco offers its citizens a city in which to live comfortably in fine residential areas; a place of recreation in parks, swimming pools, and marina; a place to work in more than 2,800 firms and businesses including many biotech companies such as Genentech which gives the city the title of "Birthplace of Biotechnology". Most of the valley faces adjacent San Francisco Bay, affording sweeping vistas, from higher levels and a definite sense of identification with the Bay. South San Francisco has mild winters and dry cool summers. The hills to the west shield the city from much of the fog that prevails in neighboring areas.