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San Francisco has always been a magnet for pioneers—from Gold Rush fortune seekers to free-loving hippes to farm-to-table foodies, from gay-rights activists to tech geniuses. There's a progressive, entrepreneurial spirit here that's infectious. "If you're interested in ideas and innovations, San Francisco is the Renaissance Florence of our time," says hometown booster Trevor Traina, founder of IfOnly, which sells rare experiences to benefit charities.

The legendarily scenic city is now in the midst of what many are calling a new Gold Rush, and hopefuls from around the world are arriving here looking to strike it rich with a start-up or a hot venture-capital fund. Meanwhile, those who have already hit it big are bringing ideas, energy, and financial resources to the cultural landscape, helping to ignite dynamic new projects in art, design, and architecture.

"San Francisco has some really amazing contemporary architecture now," Traina says, citing the Renzo Piano–designed California Academy of Sciences and Herzog & de Meuron's de Young art museum, both built in the past decade. And when it debuts in 2017, the Salesforce Tower, by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, will be the tallest building on the West Coast. Next up, however, is the much-anticipated spring 2016 reopening of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, featuring a ten-story, 235,000-square-foot addition by the architecture firm Snøhetta. The renovation will more than double the amount of space to display art, including the newly loaned 1,100-piece collection of Gap cofounders Doris Fisher and her late husband, Donald. "SFMOMA is doing two things simultaneously," says AD100 designer Steven Volpe, who co-owns Hedge Gallery in North Beach. "It's adding a very serious piece of architecture to the city as well as positioning itself as an important institution."

San Francisco's increasingly sophisticated contemporary art scene now boasts a true destination fair, FOG Design+Art, held in January at the Fort Mason Center—drawing influential residents like designer Yves Béhar, philanthropist Vanessa Getty, and film producer Todd Traina (Trevor's brother). Major galleries from other cities are eagerly signing up to exhibit. "Given the prominence of the Bay Area tech community, the desire to participate is extraordinary," says Jessica Silverman, a top local gallerist who is on the fair's dealer committee. "It's attracting great collectors and curators."

Photo: Mir and Snøhetta/Courtesy of SFMOMA

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A rendering of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's expansion by architecture firm Snøhetta.

SoMa, the area south of Market Street—the formerly industrial neighborhood where SFMOMA and its compatriot, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, are situated—is a big tech hub, with Uber, Square, Pinterest, and others headquartered there. Many of the firms' employees live nearby and frequent hot spots like Hotel Zetta's the Cavalier, a gastropub designed by decorator Ken Fulk, with a private backroom called Marianne's (after 1960s icon Marianne Faithfull).