I grew up in San Francisco and although we lived well away from the water and were much higher in elevation than the Golden Gate Bridge, I remember listening to the Golden Gate Bridge foghorn many a time from my house. The current foghorn was installed sometime in the 80's and I don't particularly like it. The original fog horn was the stereotypical sound we think of--a deep, baritone high-then-low blast. For me, besides the tinkling sound of a cable car bell, that old foghorn is the "sound" of San Francisco to me.