Does San Francisco have different boroughs?

Answer 1

No, San Francisco does not have boroughs.

San Francisco itself is only 7x7 miles square. I'm not up on who named boroughs in NY, but it seems the same as what we here call Districts; North Beach, Financial, Pacific Heights, Marina, Mission, Richmond, Sunset, Forrest Hill, Visitation Valley, Bayview etc. However, the districts of San Francisco have no legal status; they are just informal colloquial designations, unlike the boroughs of New York City. From wherever those started and progressed, realtors seeking to make an area sound far better than it's local reputation have added their own names, and some stick better than others, like SoMa.

If you meet travelers from the San Francisco Bay Area, they often say they're from San Francisco instead of telling you they're from San Jose, or Fremont. Looking at the S.F. Bay Area as a metro area, all of it's suburbs could act like boroughs, except they are not part of S.F., and all have their own government.