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Wikipedia

San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California centered around the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun estuaries in Northern California.[8] The Association of Bay Area Governments defines the Bay Area as including the nine counties that border the aforementioned estuaries: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, and San Francisco. Other definitions may be either smaller or larger, and may include neighboring counties that do not border the aforementioned estuaries, such as the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey, or the Central Valley counties of San Joaquin, Merced, and Stanislaus.[9]

San Francisco Bay Area
Location of the Bay Area within California.
  The nine-county Bay Area.
  Additional counties in the larger thirteen-county combined statistical area.
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
Subregions
Counties
Core citiesOakland
San Francisco
San Jose
Other municipalities
Area
 • Nine-county6,966 sq mi (18,040 km2)
 • San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland (CSA)10,191 sq mi (26,390 km2)
Highest elevation4,360 ft (1,330 m)
Lowest elevation−13 ft (−4 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Nine-county
7.76 million[4]
 • San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland (CSA)
9.71 million[4]
GDP
 • Nine-county$729.105 billion (2022)
 • San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland (CSA)$1.383 trillion (2022)
Time zoneUTC−08:00 (Pacific)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−07:00 (PDT)
Area codes408/669, 415/628, 510/341, 650, 707, 925[7]
Websitebayareametro.gov

The Bay Area is known for its natural beauty, progressive politics, prominent universities, technology companies, and affluence. The Bay Area contains many cities, towns, airports, and associated regional, state, and national parks, connected by a complex multimodal transportation network. The most populous cities of the Bay Area are Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, the latter of which in 2022 had population of 971,233, making it the third-most populous city in California, after Los Angeles and San Diego, and the 12th-most populous in the United States.[10][11]

The nine-county Bay Area is home to approximately 7.52 million people.[12] The larger federal classification, the combined statistical area of the region which includes 13 counties,[9] is the second-largest in California—after the Greater Los Angeles area—and the fifth-largest in the United States, with over 9 million people.[13] The Bay Area's population is ethnically diverse: roughly three-fifths of the region's residents are Hispanic, Asian, African American, or Pacific Islander, all of whom have a significant presence throughout the region. Most of the remaining two-fifths of the population is non-Hispanic White American. As of 2022, 70,717 residents of the nine-county Bay Area and 100,325 residents of the thirteen-county Bay Area—approximately 1% of the population of both—identify as Native American.[14]

The earliest archaeological evidence of human settlements in the Bay Area dates back to 8000–10,000 BC from shell mounds in the Coyote Hills. The oral tradition of the Ohlone and Miwok people suggests they have been living in the Bay Area for several hundreds if not thousands of years.[15][16] Anthropological evidence suggests Ohlone ethnogenesis occurred around 700 CE following a wave of migration from the Central Valley.[17]

Despite being unaware of its existence, the Spanish empire claimed the Bay Area beginning in the early period of Spanish colonization of the Americas. In 1535, the empire established kingdom of New Spain which inherited the empire's claims to much of what is now the western United States, including the Bay Area. However despite its claims, the region remained a distant frontier land, largely outside of the kingdom's control for centuries. The earliest Spanish exploration of the Bay Area took place in 1769, and the earliest European settlements in the area date this time period. The Mexican government controlled the area from 1821—following the Mexican War of Independence—until the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican–American War.

Coincidentally also in 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold in nearby mountains, resulting in explosive immigration to the area and the precipitous decline of the Native population. The California Gold Rush brought rapid growth to San Francisco specifically, transforming it from an unimportant hamlet into a busy port and the largest city on the West Coast at the time. The city's population grew from 200 in 1846 to about 35,000 in 1852 and about 150,000 in 1870. From 1870 to 1900, approximately one quarter of California's population resided in the city proper.[18] California was admitted as the 31st state in 1850, and during the early years of statehood, state legislative business was briefly conducted in the Bay Area cities of San José, Vallejo, and Benicia, before being permanently relocated to Sacramento in 1854. San Francisco served as the temporary capital during the Great Flood of 1862. A major earthquake and fire leveled much of San Francisco in 1906, but the city was quickly rebuilt in time to host the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition.

During World War II, the Bay Area played a major role in America's war effort in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, with the San Francisco Port of Embarkation, of which Fort Mason was one of 14 installations and location of the headquarters, acting as a primary embarkation point for American forces. In 1945, the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco, establishing the United Nations before permanently relocating to Manhattan, and in 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers. Since then, the Bay Area has experienced numerous political, cultural, and artistic movements, developing unique local genres in music and art and establishing itself as a hotbed of progressive politics. Economically, the post-war Bay Area saw large growth in the financial and technology industries, creating an economy with a gross domestic product of over $700 billion. In 2018 it was home to the third-highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States.[19][20]

Despite its urban character, the San Francisco Bay is one of California's most ecologically sensitive habitats, providing important ecosystem services such as filtering the pollutants and sediments from rivers and supporting a number of endangered species. In addition, the Bay Area is known for its stands of coast redwoods, many of which are protected in state and county parks. The region is additionally known for the complexity of its landforms, the result of millions of years of tectonic plate movements. Because the Bay Area is crossed by 6 major earthquake faults, the region is particularly exposed to hazards presented by large earthquakes. The climate is temperate and conducive to outdoor recreational and athletic activities such as hiking, running, and cycling. The Bay Area is host to 6 professional sports teams and is a cultural center for music, theater, and the arts. It is also host to numerous higher education institutions, including research universities such as Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. Home to 101 municipalities and 9 counties, governance in the Bay Area involves numerous local and regional jurisdictions, often with broad and overlapping responsibilities.

History edit

 
The Ohlone, an indigenous Californian people, have lived in the Bay Area for thousands of years.

The Coyote Hills Shell Mound, the earliest known archaeological evidence of human habitation of the Bay Area estuaries, dates to around 10,000 BCE, with evidence pointing to even earlier settlement in Point Reyes in Marin County.[21] It has been conjectured that the people living in the Bay Area at the time of first European contact were descended from Siberian tribes who arrived at around 1,000 BCE by sailing over the Arctic Ocean and following the salmon migration.[22] However the current academic consensus is compatible with the oral tradition of the Ohlone and Miwok peoples, which suggests they have been living in the Bay Area for several hundreds if not thousands of years.[15][16]

At the time of colonization, the Ohlone peoples in the Bay Area primarily lived on the San Francisco Peninsula, in the South Bay and in the East Bay, and the Miwok primarily lived in the North Bay, northern East Bay, and Central Valley. Ohlone villages were spread across the Peninsula, East Bay, South Bay, as well as further south into the Monterey Bay area.[23] There were eight major divisions of Ohlone people, four of which were based in the Bay Area: the Karkin of the Carquinez Strait, the Chochenyo of the East Bay, the Ramaytush of the San Francisco Peninsula, and the Tamien of the South Bay. The Miwok had two major groups in the Bay Area: the Bay Miwok of Contra Costa and the Coast Miwok of Marin and Sonoma.

In 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo explored the Pacific coast near the Bay Area though the expedition did not see the Golden Gate or the estuaries, likely due to the San Francisco fog. The Ohlone people may have met this expedition as they explored the Monterey Bay, which is separated from the Bay Area estuaries by the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Sir Francis Drake became the first European to land in the area and claim it in June 1579, when he landed at Drakes Bay near Point Reyes. Even though he claimed the region for Queen Elizabeth I as Nova Albion or New Albion, the English made no immediate follow up to the claim.[24][25][26]

In 1595, Philip II of Spain tasked Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho with mapping the west coast of the Americas. Soromenho set sail on Manila Galleon San Agustin on July 5, 1595 and in early November they reached land between Point St. George and Trinidad Head, north of the Bay Area, in the Lost Coast. The expedition followed the coast southward and on November 7 the San Agustin anchored in Drakes Bay, and claimed the region as Puerto y Bahía de San Francisco.[27][28][29] In late November, a storm sank the San Agustin and killed between 7 and 12 people. On December 8, 80 remaining crew members set sail on the San Buenaventura, a launch which was partially constructed en route from the Philippines. Seeking the fastest route south, the expedition sailed past the Golden Gate, arriving at Puerto de Chacala, Mexico on January 17, 1596.[30]

 
In 1776, Francisco Palóu founded Mission San Francisco de Asís, the first Spanish settlement in the Bay Area.
 
General Vallejo reviewing Californio troops in Sonoma, during the U.S. Conquest of California in 1846

The Bay Area estuaries remained unknown to Europeans until members of the Portolá expedition, while trekking along the California coast, encountered it in 1769 when the Golden Gate blocked their continued journey north.[31] Several missions were founded in the Bay Area during this period. In 1806, a Spanish expedition led by Gabriel Moraga began at the Presidio, traveled south of the bay, and then east to explore the San Joaquin Valley.[32]

In 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain and the Bay Area became part of the Mexican province of Alta California, a period characterized by ranch life and visiting American trappers.[33] Mexico's control of the territory would be short-lived, however, and in 1846 a party of settlers occupied Sonoma Plaza and proclaimed the independence of the new Republic of California.[33] That same year, the Mexican–American War began, and American captain John Berrien Montgomery sailed the USS Portsmouth into the bay and seized San Francisco, which was then known as Yerba Buena, and raised the American flag for the first time over Portsmouth Square.[34]

 
The Port of San Francisco during the California Gold Rush

In 1848, James W. Marshall's discovery of gold in the American River sparked the California Gold Rush, and within half a year 4,000 men were panning for gold along the river and finding $50,000 per day.[35] The promise of fabulous riches quickly led to a stampede of wealth-seekers descending on Sutter's Mill. The Bay Area's population quickly emptied out as laborers, clerks, waiters, and servants joined the rush to find gold, and California's first newspaper, The Californian, was forced to announce a temporary freeze in new issues due to labor shortages.[35] By the end of 1849, news had spread across the world and newcomers flooded into the Bay Area at a rate of one thousand per week on their way to California's interior,[35] including the first large influx of Chinese immigrants to the U.S.[36] The rush was so great that vessels were abandoned by the hundreds in San Francisco's ports as crews rushed to the goldfields.[37] The unprecedented influx of new arrivals spread the nascent government authorities thin, and the military was unable to prevent desertions. As a result, numerous vigilante groups formed to provide order, but many tasked themselves with forcibly moving or killing local Native Americans, and by the end of the Gold Rush, two thirds of the indigenous population had been killed.[38]

 
San Jose served as the first state capitol following the California's Admission to the Union in 1850.

During this same time, a constitutional convention was called to determine California's application for statehood into the United States. After statehood was granted, the capital city moved between three cities in the Bay Area: San Jose (1849–1851), Vallejo (1851–1852), and Benicia (1852–1853) before permanently settling in Sacramento in 1854.[39] As the Gold Rush subsided, wealth generated from the endeavor led to the establishment of Wells Fargo Bank and the Bank of California, and immigrant laborers attracted by the promise of wealth transformed the demographic makeup of the region. Construction of the First transcontinental railroad from the Oakland Long Wharf attracted so many laborers from China that by 1870, eight percent of San Francisco's population was of Asian origin.[40] The completion of the railroad connected the Bay Area with the rest of the United States, established a truly national marketplace for the trade of goods, and accelerated the urbanization of the region.[41]

 
Damaged buildings in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

In the early morning of April 18, 1906, a large earthquake with an epicenter near the city of San Francisco hit the region.[42] Immediate casualty estimates by the U.S. Army's relief operations were 498 deaths in San Francisco, 64 deaths in Santa Rosa, and 102 in or near San Jose, for a total of about 700. More recent studies estimate the total death count to be over 3,000, with over 28,000 buildings destroyed.[43] Rebuilding efforts began immediately. Amadeo Peter Giannini, owner of the Bank of Italy (now known as the Bank of America), had managed to retrieve the money from his bank's vaults before fires broke out through the city and was the only bank with liquid funds readily available and was instrumental in loaning out funds for rebuilding efforts.[44] Congress immediately approved plans for a reservoir in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, a plan they had denied a few years earlier, which now provides drinking water for 2.4 million people in the Bay Area. By 1915, the city had been sufficiently rebuilt and advertised itself to the world during the Panama Pacific Exposition that year, although the effects of the quake hastened the loss of the region's dominant status in California to the Los Angeles metropolitan area.[44]

 
The United Nations was created in San Francisco in 1945, when the United Nations Charter was signed at the San Francisco Conference.

During the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent economic depression, not a single San Francisco-based bank failed,[45] while the region attempted to spur job growth by simultaneously undertaking two large infrastructure projects: construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, which would connect San Francisco with Marin County,[46] and the Bay Bridge, which would connect San Francisco with Oakland and the East Bay.[47] After the United States joined World War II in 1941, the Bay Area became a major domestic military and naval hub, with large shipyards constructed in Sausalito and across the East Bay to build ships for the war effort.[48] The Army's San Francisco Port of Embarkation was the primary origin for Army forces shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations.[49][50] That command consisted of fourteen installations including Fort Mason, the Oakland Army Base, Camp Stoneman and Fort McDowell in San Francisco Bay and the sub port of Los Angeles.[51]

After World War II, the United Nations was chartered in San Francisco to help prevent the kind of devastation that had occurred over the prior decade,[52] and in September 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco to re-establish peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers was signed in San Francisco, entering into force a year later.[53] In the years immediately following the war, the Bay Area saw a huge wave of immigration as populations increased across the region. Between 1950 and 1960, San Francisco welcomed over 100,000 new residents, inland suburbs in the East Bay saw their populations double, Daly City's population quadrupled, and Santa Clara's population quintupled.[48]

 
Vietnam War draft evasion march in Oakland, led by David Harris in 1967.

By the early 1960s, the Bay Area and the rest of Northern California became the center of the counterculture movement. Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley and the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco were seen as centers of activity,[54] with the hit American pop song San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) further enticing like-minded individuals to join the movement in the Bay Area and leading to the Summer of Love.[55] In the proceeding decades, the Bay Area would cement itself as a hotbed of New Left activism, student activism, opposition to the Vietnam War and other anti-war movements, the black power movement, and the gay rights movement.[54] At the same time, parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties began to rapidly develop from an agrarian economy into a hotbed of the high-tech industry.[56] Fred Terman, the director of a top-secret research project at Harvard University during World War II, joined the faculty at Stanford University in order to reshape the university's engineering department. His students, including David Packard and William Hewlett, would later help usher in the region's high-tech revolution.[48] In 1955, Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory opened for business in Mountain View near Stanford, and although the business venture was a financial failure, it was the first semiconductor company in the Bay Area, and the talent that it attracted to the region eventually led to a high-tech cluster of companies later known as Silicon Valley.[57]

 
The assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk in 1978 led to the White Night riots and the abolition of diminished responsibility as a criminal defense in California.

In 1989, in the middle of a World Series game between two Bay Area baseball teams, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck and caused widespread infrastructural damage, including the failure of the Bay Bridge, a major link between San Francisco and Oakland.[58] Even so, the Bay Area's technology industry continued to expand and growth in Silicon Valley accelerated: the United States census confirmed that year that San Jose had overtaken San Francisco in terms of population.[59] The commercialization of the Internet in the middle of the decade rapidly created a speculative bubble in the high-tech economy known as the dot-com bubble. This bubble began collapsing in the early 2000s and the industry continued contracting for the next few years, nearly wiping out the market. Companies like Amazon.com and Google managed to weather the crash however, and following the industry's return to normalcy, their market value increased significantly.[60]

Even as the growth of the technology sector transformed the region's economy, progressive politics continued to guide the region's political environment. By the turn of the millennium, non-Hispanic whites, the largest ethnic group in the United States, were only half of the population in the Bay Area as immigration among minority groups accelerated.[61] During this time, the Bay Area was the center of the LGBT rights movement: in 2004, San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a first in the United States,[62] and four years later a majority of voters in the Bay Area rejected California Proposition 8, which sought to constitutionally restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples but ultimately passed statewide.[63]

 
Black Lives Matter/George Floyd protests in San Jose in 2020

The Bay Area was also the center of contentious protests concerning racial and economic inequality. In 2009, an African-American man named Oscar Grant was fatally shot by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officers, precipitating widespread protests across the region and even riots in Oakland.[64] His name was symbolically tied to the Occupy Oakland protests two years later that sought to fight against social and economic inequality.[65]


Geography edit

Boundaries edit

 
A map of the Bay Area and its sub-regions, divided by counties:

The borders of the San Francisco Bay Area are not officially delineated, and the unique development patterns influenced by the region's topography, as well as unusual commute patterns caused by the presence of three central cities and employment centers located in various suburban locales, has led to considerable disagreement between local and federal definitions of the area.[66] Because of this, professor of geography at the University of California, Berkeley Richard Walker claimed that "no other U.S. city-region is as definitionally challenged [as the Bay Area]."[66]

When the region began to rapidly develop during and immediately after World War II, local planners settled on a nine-county definition for the Bay Area, consisting of the counties that directly border the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun estuaries: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties.[67] Today, this definition is accepted by most local governmental agencies including San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board,[68] Bay Area Air Quality Management District,[69] the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority,[70] the Metropolitan Transportation Commission,[71] and the Association of Bay Area Governments,[72] the latter two of which partner to deliver a Bay Area Census using the nine-county definition.[73]

Various U.S. Federal government agencies use definitions that differ from their local counterparts' nine-county definition. For example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which regulates broadcast, cable, and satellite transmissions, includes nearby Colusa, Lake and Mendocino counties in their "San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose" media market, but excludes eastern Solano county.[74] On the other hand, the United States Office of Management and Budget, which designates metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and combined statistical areas (CSA) for populated regions across the country, has five MSAs which include, wholly or partially, areas within the nine-county definition, and one CSA which includes eight Bay Area counties (excluding Sonoma), but including neighboring San Benito, Santa Cruz, San Joaquin, Merced, and Stanislaus counties.[9]

The Association of Bay Area Health Officers (ABAHO), an organization that has fought local outbreaks of HIV/AIDS in 1980s and with COVID-19 pandemic and Deltacron hybrid variant (2020-22), consists of the public health officers of 9 Bay Area counties, in addition to the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey and the city of Berkeley.

Counties in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area[75]
County 2022 estimate 2020–22
change
2020 Population 2010 Population 2010–20
change
2020 Density (per sq mi) MSA
Alameda 1,628,997 -3.2% 1,682,353 1,510,271 +11.4% 2,281.3 San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley
Contra Costa 1,156,966 -0.8% 1,165,927 1,049,025 +11.1% 1,626.3
Marin 256,018 -2.4% 262,321 252,409 +3.9% 504.1
San Francisco 808,437 -7.5% 873,965 805,235 +8.5% 18,629.1
San Mateo 729,181 -4.6% 764,442 718,451 +6.4% 1,704.0
San Benito 67,579 +5.3% 64,209 55,269 +16.2% 46.2 San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara
Santa Clara 1,870,945 -3.4% 1,936,259 1,781,642 +8.7% 1,499.7
Napa 134,300 -2.7% 138,019 136,484 +1.1% 184.4 Napa
Solano 448,747 -1.0% 453,491 413,344 +9.7% 551.8 Vallejo–Fairfield
Sonoma 482,650 -1.3% 488,863 483,878 +1.0% 310.3 Santa Rosa–Petaluma
Merced 290,014 +3.1% 281,202 255,793 +9.9% 145.1 Merced
Santa Cruz 264,370 -2.4% 270,861 262,382 +3.2% 608.5 Santa Cruz–Watsonville
San Joaquin 793,229 +1.3% 779,233 685,306 +13.7% 559.6 Stockton–Lodi
Stanislaus 551,275 -0.3% 552,878 514,453 +7.5% 369.6 Modesto
  Bay Area counties colored red
†Sonoma County was separated from the CSA in 2023.[9]

Subregions edit

Among locals, the nine-county Bay Area can be further divided into five sub-regions: the East Bay, North Bay, Peninsula, city of San Francisco, and South Bay.

The "East Bay" is the densest region of the Bay Area outside of San Francisco and includes cities and towns in Alameda and Contra Costa counties centered around Oakland. As one of the larger subregions, the East Bay includes a variety of enclaves, including the suburban Tri-Valley area and the highly urban western part of the subregion that runs alongside the bay, including Oakland.[76]

The "North Bay" includes Marin, Sonoma, Napa, and Solano counties, and is the largest and least populated subregion. The western counties of Marin and Sonoma are encased by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the bay on the east and are characterized by their mountainous and woody terrain. Sonoma and Napa counties are known internationally for their grape vineyards and wineries, and Solano County to the east, centered around Vallejo, is the fastest growing region in the Bay Area.[77]

The "Peninsula" subregion includes the cities and towns on the San Francisco Peninsula, excluding the titular city of San Francisco. Its eastern half, which runs alongside the Bay, is highly populated, while its less populated western coast traces the coastline of the Pacific Ocean and is known for its open space and hiking trails. Roughly coinciding with the borders of San Mateo County, it also includes the northwestern Santa Clara County cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos.[78]

Although geographically located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, the city of San Francisco is not considered part of the "Peninsula" subregion, but as a separate entity.[79][80]

The term "South Bay" has different meanings to different groups: Writing in 1959 for the Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Department of Commerce defined the South Bay as comprising five counties, corresponding to their two-way division of the bay into north and south regions.[81] In 1989, the federal Environmental Protection Agency defined the South Bay as the northern part of Santa Clara County and the southeastern part of San Mateo County.[82] This latter definition corresponds to common usage.[83]

Climate edit

 
The North Coast near Muir Beach

The Bay Area is located in the warm-summer Mediterranean climate zone (Köppen Csb) that is a characteristic of California's coast, featuring mild to cool winters with occasional rainfall, and warm to hot, dry summers.[84] It is largely influenced by the cold California Current, which penetrates the natural mountainous barrier along the coast by traveling through various gaps.[85] In terms of precipitation, this means that the Bay Area has pronounced seasons. The winter season, which roughly runs between November and March, is the source of about 82% of annual precipitation in the area. In the South Bay and further inland, while the winter season is cool and mild, the summer season is characterized by warm sunny days,[85] while in San Francisco and areas closer to the Golden Gate strait, the summer season is periodically affected by fog.[86]

 
View of Mount Diablo beyond Lafayette Reservoir

Due to the Bay Area's diverse topographic relief (itself the result of the clashing tectonic plates), the region is home to numerous microclimates that lead to pronounced differences in climate and temperature over short distances.[84][87] Within the city of San Francisco, natural and artificial topographical features direct the movement of wind and fog, resulting in startlingly varied climates between city blocks. Along the Golden Gate Strait, oceanic wind and fog from the Pacific Ocean are able to penetrate the mountain barriers inland into the Bay Area.[87]

During the summer, rising hot air in California's interior valleys creates a low pressure area that draws winds from the North Pacific High through the Golden Gate, which creates the city's characteristic cool winds and fog.[86] The microclimate phenomenon is most pronounced during this time, when fog penetration is at its maximum in areas near the Golden Gate strait,[87] while the South Bay and areas further inland are sunny and dry.[85]

 
San Bruno Mountain divides San Francisco from San Mateo County.

Along the San Francisco peninsula, gaps in the Santa Cruz Mountains, one south of San Bruno Mountain and another in Crystal Springs, allow oceanic weather into the interior, causing a cooling effect for cities along the Peninsula and even as far south as San Jose. This weather pattern is also the source for delays at San Francisco International Airport. In Marin county north of the Golden Gate strait, two gaps north of Muir Woods bring cold air across the Marin Headlands, with the cooling effect reaching as far north as Santa Rosa.[87] Further inland, the East Bay receives oceanic weather that travels through the Golden Gate strait, and further diffuses that air through the Berkeley Hills, Niles Canyon and the Hayward Pass into the Livermore Valley and Altamont Pass. Here, the resulting breeze is so strong that it is home to one of the world's largest array of wind turbines. Further north, the Carquinez Strait funnels the ocean weather into the San Joaquin River Delta, causing a cooling effect in Stockton and Sacramento, so that these cities are also cooler than their Central Valley counterparts in the south.[87]

Average daily high and low temperatures in °F (°C) for selected locations in the Bay Area,
colored and sortable by average monthly temperature
City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Fairfield[88] 55 / 39
(13 / 4)
61 / 42
(16 / 6)
66 / 45
(19 / 7)
71 / 47
(22 / 8)
78 / 52
(26 / 11)
85 / 56
(29 / 13)
90 / 58
(32 / 14)
89 / 57
(32 / 14)
86 / 56
(30 / 13)
78 / 51
(26 / 11)
65 / 44
(18 / 7)
55 / 39
(13 / 4)
Oakland[89] 58 / 44
(14 / 7)
67 / 47
(19 / 8)
64 / 49
(18 / 9)
66 / 50
(19 / 10)
69 / 53
(21 / 12)
72 / 55
(22 / 13)
72 / 56
(22 / 13)
73 / 58
(23 / 14)
74 / 57
(23 / 14)
72 / 54
(22 / 12)
65 / 49
(18 / 9)
58 / 45
(14 / 7)
San Francisco[90] 57 / 46
(14 / 8)
60 / 48
(16 / 9)
62 / 49
(17 / 9)
63 / 49
(17 / 9)
64 / 51
(18 / 11)
66 / 53
(19 / 12)
66 / 54
(19 / 12)
68 / 55
(20 / 13)
70 / 55
(21 / 13)
69 / 54
(21 / 12)
63 / 50
(17 / 10)
57 / 46
(14 / 8)
San Jose[91] 58 / 42
(14 / 6)
62 / 45
(17 / 7)
66 / 47
(19 / 8)
69 / 49
(21 / 9)
74 / 52
(23 / 11)
79 / 56
(26 / 13)
82 / 58
(28 / 14)
82 / 58
(28 / 14)
80 / 57
(27 / 14)
74 / 53
(23 / 12)
64 / 46
(18 / 8)
58 / 42
(14 / 6)
Santa Rosa[92] 59 / 39
(15 / 4)
63 / 41
(17 / 5)
67 / 43
(19 / 6)
70 / 45
(21 / 7)
75 / 48
(24 / 9)
80 / 52
(27 / 11)
82 / 52
(28 / 11)
83 / 53
(28 / 12)
83 / 52
(28 / 11)
78 / 48
(26 / 9)
67 / 43
(19 / 6)
59 / 39
(15 / 4)

Ecology edit

 
Coyote in the Arastradero Preserve

Marine wildlife edit

The Bay Area is home to a diverse array of wildlife and, along with the connected San Joaquin River Delta represents one of California's most important ecological habitats.[93] California's Dungeness crab, Pacific halibut, and the California scorpionfish are all significant components of the bay's fisheries.[94] The bay's salt marshes now represent most of California's remaining salt marsh and support a number of endangered species and provide key ecosystem services such as filtering pollutants and sediments from the rivers.[95] Most famously, the bay is a key link in the Pacific Flyway and with millions of shorebirds annually visiting the bay shallows as a refuge, is the most important component of the flyway south of Alaska.[96] Many endangered species of birds are also found here: the California least tern, the California clapper rail, the snowy egret, and the black crowned night heron.[97]

 
River otters sunning on rocks in the Inner Harbor of Richmond

There is also a significant diversity of salmonids present in the bay. Steelhead populations in California have dramatically declined due to human and natural causes; in the Bay Area, all naturally spawned anadromous steelhead populations below natural and manmade impassable barriers in California streams from the Russian River to Aptos Creek, and the drainages of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bays are listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act.[98] The Central California Coast coho salmon population is the most endangered of the many troubled salmon populations on the west coast of the United States, including populations residing in tributaries to the San Francisco Bay.[99] California Coast Chinook salmon were historically native to the Guadalupe River in San Francisco Bay, and Chinook salmon runs persist today in the Guadalupe River, Coyote Creek, Napa River, and Walnut Creek.[100] Industrial, mining, and other uses of mercury have resulted in a widespread distribution of that poisonous metal in the bay, with uptake in the bay's phytoplankton and contamination of its sportfish.[101]

 
Martinez beaver in Alhambra Creek

Aquatic mammals are also present in the bay. Before 1825, Spanish, French, English, Russians and Americans were drawn to the Bay Area to harvest prodigious quantities of beaver, river otter, marten, fisher, mink, fox, weasel, harbor and fur seals and sea otter. This early fur trade, known as the California Fur Rush, was more than any other single factor, responsible for opening up the West and the San Francisco Bay Area, in particular, to world trade.[102] By 1817 sea otter in the area were practically eliminated.[103] Since then, the California golden beaver re-established a presence in Alhambra Creek, followed by the Napa River and Sonoma Creek in the north, and the Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek in the south.[104] The North American river otter which was first reported in Redwood Creek at Muir Beach in 1996,[105] has since been spotted in the North Bay's Corte Madera Creek, the South Bay's Coyote Creek,[106] as well as in 2010 in San Francisco Bay itself at the Richmond Marina. Other mammals include the internationally famous sea lions who began inhabiting San Francisco's Pier 39 after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake[107] and the locally famous Humphrey the Whale, a humpback whale who entered San Francisco Bay twice on errant migrations in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[108] Bottlenose dolphins and harbor porpoises have recently returned to the bay, having been absent for many decades. Historically, this was the northern extent of their warm-water species range.[109]

Birds edit

 
Black-necked stilts in flight at the Baylands Nature Preserve

In addition to the many species of marine birds that can be seen in the Bay Area, many other species of birds make the Bay Area their home, making the region a popular destination for birdwatching.[110] Many birds, including many described in the following paragraphs, are listed as endangered species despite once being common in the region, due to human and other factors.

Western burrowing owls were originally listed as a species of special concern by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1979. California's population declined 60% from the 1980s to the early 1990s, and continues to decline at roughly 8% per year.[111] A 1992–93 survey reported little to no breeding burrowing owls in most of the western counties in the Bay Area, leaving only Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties as remnants of a once large breeding range.[112]

 
A burrowing owl in Antioch

Bald eagles were once common in the Bay Area, but habitat destruction and thinning of eggs from DDT poisoning reduced the California state population to 35 nesting pairs. Bald eagles disappeared from the Bay Area in 1915, and only began returning in recent years.[113] In the 1980s an effort to re-introduce the species to the area began with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group and the San Francisco Zoo importing birds and eggs from Vancouver Island and northeastern California,[114] and there are now nineteen nesting couples in eight of the Bay Area's nine counties.[113] Other once absent species that have returned to the Bay Area include Swainson's hawk, white tailed kite, and the osprey.[113]

 
Heermann's gulls with a double crested cormorant and a Western gull at Point Reyes National Seashore

In 1927, zoologist Joseph Grinnell wrote that osprey were only rare visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area, although he noted records of one or two used nests in the broken tops of redwood trees along the Russian River.[115] In 1989, the southern breeding range of the osprey in the Bay Area was Kent Lake, although osprey were noted to be extending their range further south in the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada.[116] In 2014, a Bay Area-wide survey found osprey had extended their breeding range southward with nesting sites as far south as Hunters Point in San Francisco on the west side and Hayward on the east side, while further studies have found nesting sites as far south as the Los Gatos Creek watershed, indicating that the nesting range now includes the entire length of San Francisco Bay.[117] Most nests were built on man-made structures close to areas of human disturbance, likely due to lack of mature trees near the Bay.[118] The wild turkey population was introduced in the 1960s by state game officials, and by 2015 have become a common sight in East Bay communities.[119]

Geology and landforms edit

 
Satellite photo of the Bay Area taken in March 2019. The gray areas are signs of urbanization and represent the most populated areas.

The Bay Area is well known for the complexity of its landforms that are the result of the forces of plate tectonics acting over of millions of years, since the region is located in the middle of a meeting point between two plates.[120] Nine out of eleven distinct assemblages have been identified in a single county, Alameda.[121] Diverse assemblages adjoin in complex arrangements due to offsets along the many faults (both active and stable) in the area. As a consequence, many types of rock and soil are found in the region. The oldest rocks are metamorphic rocks that are associated with granite in the Salinian Block west of the San Andreas fault. These were formed from sedimentary rocks of sandstone, limestone, and shale in uplifted seabeds.[122] Volcanic deposits also exist in the Bay Area, left behind by the movement of the San Andreas fault, whose movement sliced a subduction plate and allowed magma to briefly flow to the surface.[123]

The region has considerable vertical relief in its landscapes that are not in the alluvial plains leading to the bay or in inland valleys. The topography, and geologic history, of the Bay Area can largely be attributed to the compressive forces between the Pacific Plate and the North American plate.[124]

 
A map displaying each of the seven major fault lines in the Bay Area and the probability of an M6.7 or higher earthquake occurring between 2003 and 2032

The three major ridge structures in the Bay Area, part of the Pacific Coast Range, are all roughly parallel to the major faults. The Santa Cruz Mountains along the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Hills in Marin County follow the San Andreas fault, The Berkeley Hills, San Leandro Hills and their southern ridgeline extension through Mission Peak roughly follow the Hayward fault, and the Diablo Range, which includes Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton and runs along the Calaveras fault.[125]

In total, the Bay Area is traversed by seven major fault systems with hundreds of related faults, all of which are stressed by the relative motion between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate or by compressive stresses between these plates. The fault systems include the Hayward Fault Zone, Concord-Green Valley Fault, Calaveras Fault, Clayton-Marsh Creek-Greenville Fault, Rodgers Creek Fault, and the San Gregorio Fault.[126] Significant blind thrust faults (faults with near vertical motion and no surface ruptures) are associated with portions of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the northern reaches of the Diablo Range and Mount Diablo. These "hidden" faults, which are not as well known, pose a significant earthquake hazard.[127] Among the more well-understood faults, as of 2014, scientists estimate a 72% probability of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurring along either the Hayward, Rogers Creek, or San Andreas fault, with an earthquake more likely to occur in the East Bay's Hayward Fault.[128] Two of the largest earthquakes in recent history were the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

Hydrography edit

 
A map of the water features in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the bay and adjacent marshes, ponds, and tributaries

The Bay Area is home to a complex network of watersheds, marshes, rivers, creeks, reservoirs, and bays that predominantly drain into the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean. The largest bodies of water in the Bay Area are the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun estuaries. Major rivers of the North Bay include the Napa River, the Petaluma River, the Gualala River, and the Russian River; the former two drain into San Pablo Bay, the latter two into the Pacific Ocean. In the South Bay, the Guadalupe River drains into San Francisco Bay near Alviso.[129] There are also several lakes present in the Bay Area, including man-made lakes like Lake Berryessa[130] and natural albeit heavily modified lakes like Lake Merritt.[131]

Prior to the introduction of European agricultural methods, the shores of San Francisco Bay consisted mostly of tidal marshes.[132] Today, the bay has been significantly altered heavily re-engineered to accommodate the needs of water delivery, shipping, agriculture, and urban development, with side effects including the loss of wetlands and the introduction of contaminants and invasive species.[133] Approximately 85% of those marshes have been lost or destroyed, but about 50 marshes and marsh fragments remain.[132] Huge tracts of the marshes were originally destroyed by farmers for agricultural purposes, then repurposed to serve as salt evaporation ponds to produce salt for food and other purposes.[134] Today, regulations limit the destruction of tidal marshes, and large portions are currently being rehabilitated to their natural state.[132]

Over time, droughts and wildfires have increased in frequency and become less seasonal and more year-round, further straining the region's water security.[135][136][137]

Demographics edit

Historical population
CensusPop.Note
1860114,074
1870265,808133.0%
1880422,12858.8%
1890547,61829.7%
1900658,11120.2%
1910925,70840.7%
19201,182,91127.8%
19301,578,00933.4%
19401,734,3089.9%
19502,681,32254.6%
19603,638,93935.7%
19704,628,19927.2%
19805,179,78411.9%
19906,023,57716.3%
20006,783,76012.6%
20107,150,7395.4%
20207,765,6408.6%
Note: Nine-County Population Totals[61]
 
Ethnic origins in the Bay Area

According to the 2010 United States Census, the population of the nine-county Bay Area was 7.15 million, with 49.6% male and 50.4% female.[61] Of these, approximately 2.3 million (32%) are foreign born.[138] In 2010 the racial makeup of the nine-county Bay Area was 52.5% White (42.4% were non-Hispanic and 10.1% were Hispanic), 23.3% Asian, 6.7% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.7% Native American or Alaska Native, 0.6% Pacific Islander, 5.4% from two or more races and 10.8% from other races.[139] Hispanic or Latino residents of any race formed 23.5% of the population.

The Bay Area cities of Vallejo, Suisun City, Oakland, San Leandro, Fairfield, and Richmond are among the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States.[140]

Non-Hispanic whites form majorities of the population in Marin, Napa, and Sonoma counties.[61] Whites also make up the majority in the eastern regions of the East Bay centered around the Lamorinda and Tri-Valley areas.[61] San Francisco's North Beach district is considered the Little Italy of the city, and was once home to a significant Italian-American community. San Francisco, Marin County[141] and the Lamorinda area[142] all have substantial Jewish communities.

The Latino population is spread throughout the Bay Area, but among the nine counties, the greatest number live in Santa Clara County, while Contra Costa County has seen the highest growth rate.[143] The largest Hispanic or Latino groups were those of Mexican (17.9%), Salvadoran (1.3%), Guatemalan (0.6%), Puerto Rican (0.6%) and Nicaraguan (0.5%) ancestry. Mexican Americans make up the largest share of Hispanic residents in Napa county,[144] while Central Americans make up the largest share in San Francisco, many of whom live in the Mission District which is home to many residents of Salvadoran and Guatemalan descent.[145]

Maps of racial distribution according to 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, or Other (yellow)
 
San Francisco and Oakland
 
San Jose

The Asian-American population in the Bay Area is one of the largest in North America. Asian-Americans make up the plurality in two major counties in the Bay Area: Santa Clara County and Alameda County.[146] The largest Asian-American groups were those of Chinese (7.9%), Filipino (5.1%), Indian (3.3%), Vietnamese (2.5%), and Japanese (0.9%) heritage. Asian Americans also constitute a majority in Cupertino, Fremont, Milpitas, Union City and significant populations in Dublin, Foster City, Hercules, Millbrae, San Ramon, Saratoga, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. The cities of San Jose and San Francisco had the third and fourth most Asian-American residents in the United States.[147] In San Francisco, Chinese Americans constitute 21.4% of the population and constitute the single largest ethnic group in the city.[148] The Bay Area is home to over 382,950 Filipino Americans, one of the largest communities of Filipino people outside of the Philippines with the largest proportion of Filipino Americans concentrating themselves within American Canyon, Daly City, Fairfield, Hercules, South San Francisco, Union City and Vallejo.[149] Santa Clara county, and increasingly the East Bay, house a significant Indian American community.[150] There are more than 100,000 people of Vietnamese ancestry residing within San Jose city limits, the largest Vietnamese population of any city in the world outside of Vietnam.[151] In addition, there is a sizable community of Korean Americans in Santa Clara county, where San Jose is located.[152] East Bay cities such as Richmond and Oakland, and the North Bay city of Santa Rosa, have plentiful populations of Laotian and Cambodians in certain neighborhoods.[153]

Pacific Islanders such as Samoans and Tongans have the largest presence in East Palo Alto, where they constitute over 7% of the population.[154]

The African-American population of San Francisco was formerly substantial, had a thriving jazz scene and was known as "Harlem of the West." While black residents formed one-seventh of the city's population in 1970, today they have mostly moved to parts of the East Bay and North Bay, including Antioch,[155] Fairfield and out of the Bay Area entirely.[156] The South Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa was once home to a primarily black community until the 1980s, when many Latino immigrants settled in the area.[157] Other cities with large numbers of African Americans include Vallejo (28%),[158] Richmond (26%),[159] East Palo Alto (17%)[154] and the CDP of Marin City (38%).[160]

Since the economy of the Bay Area heavily relies on innovation and high-tech skills, a relatively educated population exists in the region. Roughly 87.4% of Bay Area residents have attained a high school degree or higher,[161] while 46% of adults in the Bay Area have earned a post-secondary degree or higher.[162]


Affluence edit

The Bay Area is the wealthiest region per capita in the United States, due, primarily, to the economic power engines of San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland. The Bay Area city of Pleasanton has the second-highest household income in the country after New Canaan, Connecticut. However, discretionary income is very comparable with the rest of the country, primarily because the higher cost of living offsets the increased income.[163]

There are 285,000 millionaires living in the region, the third-highest amongst the world's metropolitan areas after New York City and Tokyo as of 2022.[164] The amount of wealth held by Bay Area residents is about $2.6 trillion, the second-highest in the world after New York City, and just ahead of Tokyo as of 2021.[165]

By 2014, the Bay Area's wealth gap was considerable: the top ten percent of income-earners took home over eleven times as much as the bottom ten percent,[166] and a Brookings Institution study found the San Francisco metro area, which excludes four Bay Area counties, to be the third most unequal urban area in the country.[167] Among the wealthy, forty-seven Bay Area residents made the Forbes magazine's 400 richest Americans list, published in 2007. Thirteen lived in San Francisco proper, placing it seventh among cities in the world.

Crime edit

Statistics regarding crime rates in the Bay Area generally fall into two categories: violent crime and property crime. Historically, violent crime has been concentrated in a few cities in the East Bay, namely Oakland, Richmond, and Antioch, but also East Palo Alto in the Peninsula, Vallejo in the North Bay, and San Francisco.[168] Nationally, Oakland's murder rate ranked 18th among cities with over 100,000 residents, and third for violent crimes per capita.[169] According to a 2015 Federal Bureau of Investigation report, Oakland was also the source of the most violent crime in the Bay Area, with 16.9 reported incidents per thousand people. Vallejo came in second, at 8.7 incidents per thousand people, while San Pablo, Antioch, and San Francisco rounded out the top five. East Palo Alto, which used to have the Bay Area's highest murder rate, saw violent crime incidents drop 65% between 2013 and 2014, while Oakland saw violent crime incidents drop 15%.[168] Meanwhile, San Jose, which was one of the safest large cities in the United States in the early 2000s, has seen its violent crime rates trend upwards.[170] Cities with the lowest rate of violent crime include the Peninsula cities of Los Altos and Foster City, East Bay cities of San Ramon and Danville, and southern foothill cities of Saratoga and Cupertino. In 2015, 45 Bay Area cities counted zero homicides, the largest of which was Daly City.[168]

In 2015, Oakland also saw the highest rates of property crime in the Bay Area, at 59.4 incidents per thousand residents, with San Francisco following close behind at 53 incidents per thousand residents. The East Bay cities Pleasant Hill, Berkeley, and San Leandro rounded out the top five. Saratoga and Windsor saw the least rates of property crime.[168] Additionally, San Francisco saw the most reports of arson.[169]

Several street gangs operate in the Bay Area, including the Sureños and Norteños in San Francisco's Mission District.[171] African-American street gangs familiar in other cities, including the Crips, have struggled to establish footholds in the city,[172] although gangs with shotcallers in China, including Triad groups such as the Wo Hop To, have been reported active.[173] In 1977, an ongoing rivalry between two Chinese gangs led to a shooting attack at the Golden Dragon restaurant in Chinatown, which left five people dead and eleven wounded. Five members of the Joe Boys gang were arrested and convicted of the crime.[174] Oakland, which also sees organized gang violence, implemented Operation Ceasefire in 2012 in an effort to reduce the violence.[175]

Economy edit

 
Silicon Valley is the largest tech hub in the world and home to Big Tech companies like Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Intel, Netflix, Uber, Nvidia, AMD, HP Inc., X Corp., Yahoo!, and many more.

The three principal cities of the Bay Area represent separate employment clusters and are dominated by different but commingled industries. San Francisco is home to the region's tourism, financial industry, and is host to numerous conventions. The East Bay, centered around Oakland, is home to heavy industry, metalworking, oil, and shipping, while San Jose is the heart of Silicon Valley where a major pole of economic activity around the technology industry resides. Furthermore, the North Bay is a major player in the country's agriculture and wine industry.[66] In all, the Bay Area is home to the second highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies, second only to the New York metropolitan area, with thirty such companies based throughout the region.[176]

 
San Francisco's Financial District, despite its declining importance,[177] is still considered the Wall Street of the West.

In 2019, the greater fourteen-county statistical area had a GDP of $1.086 trillion, the third-highest among combined statistical areas.[178] The smaller nine-county Bay Area had a GDP of $995 billion in the same year, which nonetheless would rank it fifth among U.S. states and 17th among countries.[178] However, as of 2022, COVID-19 and Deltacron hybrid variant are both accelerated the exodus of business from the downtown core of San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland.[179][180] In 2023, the Hoover Institution in California, in addition to various media organizations, warned of a uniquely severe long-term economic doom loop impending for San Francisco.[181] Attributed factors advanced explaining an indefinite decline in the Bay Area's economic status range from crime, narcotics and other drugs, and homelessness, to the West Coast's and particularly the Bay Area's challenge to remain relevant as a major commercial and financial center given its physical barriers and relative geographic isolation from other North American commercial centers in a era of increasingly ubiquitous e-commerce.[182][183] Additionally noted is the Bay Area's steadily decreasing lead in the geographically dispersing high technology field.[184][185]

 
The Port of Oakland is one of the busiest ports in the United States.

Despite this, Bay Area is still the home to four of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization; and several major corporations are still headquartered in the Bay Area, including Google, Facebook, Apple Inc., Clorox, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Adobe Inc., Applied Materials, eBay, Cisco Systems, Symantec, Netflix, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Electronic Arts, and Salesforce; energy companies Chevron and PG&E; financial service companies Visa Inc. and Wells Fargo; apparel retailers Gap Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., and Ross Stores; aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin; local grocer Safeway; and biotechnology companies Genentech and Gilead Sciences.[183][186] The largest manufacturers include Tesla Inc., Lam Research, Bayer, Chevron, and Coca-Cola.[187] The Port of Oakland is the fifth-largest container shipping port in the United States, and Oakland is also a major rail terminus.[188] In research, NASA's Ames Research Center and the federal research facility Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are based in Mountain View and Livermore respectively. In the North Bay, Napa and Sonoma counties are well known for their wineries, including Fantesca Estate & Winery, Domaine Chandon California, and D'Agostini Winery.[189]

 
California's Wine Country, centered around Napa and Sonoma, is a world renowned wine-growing region.

In spite of the San Francisco Bay Area's industries contributing to the aforementioned economic growth, there is a significant level of poverty in the region. Rising housing prices and gentrification in the San Francisco Bay Area are often framed as symptomatic of high-income tech workers moving in to previously low-income, underserved neighborhoods.[190] Two notable policy strategies to prevent eviction due to rising rents include rent control and subsidies such as Section 8 and Shelter Plus Care.[191] Moreover, in 2002, then San Francisco Supervisor Gavin Newsom introduced the "Care Not Cash" initiative, diverting funds away from cash handouts (which he argued encouraged drug use) to housing. This proved controversial, with some suggesting his rhetoric criminalized poverty, while others supporting the prioritizing of housing as a solution.[192] To this day, the effectiveness of Care Not Cash continues to be debated.

 
Sausalito, in the North Bay, is a popular tourist destination.

Contrary to historical patterns of low incomes within the inner city, poverty rates in the Bay Area are shifting such that they are increasing more rapidly in suburban areas than in urban areas.[193] It is not yet clear whether the suburbanization of poverty is due to the relocation of poor populations or shifting income levels in the respective regions. However, the mid-2000s housing boom encouraged city dwellers to move into the newly cheap houses in suburbs outside of the city, and these suburban housing developments were then most affected by the 2008 housing bubble burst. As such, people in poverty experience decreased access to transportation due to underdeveloped public transport infrastructure in suburban areas. Suburban poverty is most prevalent among Hispanics and Blacks, and affects native-born people more significantly than foreign-born.[193][194]

As greater proportions of their incomes are spent on rent, many impoverished populations in the San Francisco Bay Area also face food insecurity and health setbacks.[195][196]

Housing edit

 
High density urbanism in northeastern San Francisco

The Bay Area is the most expensive location to live in the United States outside of Manhattan.[197] Strong economic growth has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs, but coupled with severe zoning restrictions on building new housing units,[198] has resulted in an extreme housing shortage. For example, from 2012 to 2017, the San Francisco metropolitan area added 400,000 new jobs, but only 60,000 new housing units.[199] As of 2016, the entire Bay Area had 3.6 M jobs, and 2.6 M housing units, for a ratio of 1.4 jobs per housing unit,[200] significantly above the ratio for the US as a whole, which stands at 1.1 jobs per housing unit. (152M jobs, 136M housing units[201][202])

As of 2017, the average income needed in order to purchase a house in the region was $179,390, while the median price for a house was $895,000 and the average cost of a home in the Bay Area being $440,000 - more than twice the national average, while the average monthly rent is $1,240 - 50 percent more than the national average.[203][204] In 2018, a Bay Area household income of $117,000 was classified as "low income" by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.[205]

 
Homeless encampment in Oakland

With high costs of living, many Bay Area residents allocate large amounts of their income towards housing. 20 percent of Bay Area homeowners spend more than half their income on housing, while roughly 25 percent of renters in the Bay Area spend more than half of their incomes on rent.[206] Expending an average of more than $28,000 per year on housing in addition to roughly $13,400 on transportation, Bay Area residents spend around $41,420 per year to live in the region. This combined total of housing and transportation signifies 59 percent of the Bay Area's median household income, conveying the extreme costs of living.[206]

 
Carolands mansion in Hillsborough

The high rate of homelessness in the Bay Area can be attributed to the high cost of living.[207] No approximate number of homeless people living in the Bay Area can be determined due to the difficulty of tracking homeless residents.[207] However, according to San Francisco's Department of Public Health, the number of homeless people in San Francisco alone is 9,975.[208] Additionally, San Francisco was revealed to have the most unsheltered homeless people in the country.[208]

Because of the high cost of housing, many workers in the Bay Area live far from their place of employment, contributing to one of the highest percentages of extreme commuters in the United States, or commutes that take over ninety minutes in one direction. For example, about 50,000 people commute from neighboring San Joaquin County into the nine-county Bay Area daily,[209] and more extremely, some workers commute semimonthly by flying.[210]

Education edit

Colleges and universities edit

 
San José State University is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University.

The Bay Area is home to a large number of colleges and universities. The first institution of higher education in the Bay Area, Santa Clara University, was founded by Jesuits in 1851,[211] who also founded the University of San Francisco in 1855.[212] San Jose State University was founded in 1857 and is the oldest public college on the West Coast of the United States.[213] According to the Brookings Institution, 45% of residents of the two-county San Jose metro area have a college degree and 43% of residents in the five-county San Francisco metro area have a college degree, the second and fourth-highest ranked metro areas in the country for higher educational attainment.[214]

Rankings compiled by U.S. News & World Report feature several Bay Area universities in prominent spots. Stanford University is one of the world’s preeminent research universities, ranked #1 in the world for its business school and law school.[215] The University of California, Berkeley has been the highest-ranked public university in the country for the past nineteen years. Additionally, San Jose State University and Sonoma State University were respectively ranked sixth and tenth among public colleges in the West Coast.[216]

 
 
Stanford University (top) and University of California, Berkeley (top) are widely considered two of the most prestigious universities in the world.

The city of San Francisco is host to two additional University of California schools, neither of which confer undergraduate degrees. The University of California, San Francisco is entirely dedicated to graduate education in health and biomedical sciences. It is ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States[217] and operates the UCSF Medical Center, which is the highest-ranked hospital in California.[218] The University of California, College of the Law, founded in Civic Center in 1878, is the oldest law school in California and claims more judges on the state bench than any other institution.[219] The city is also host to a California State University school, San Francisco State University.[220] Additional campuses of the California State University system in the Bay Area are Cal State East Bay in Hayward and Cal Maritime in Vallejo.

California Community Colleges System also operates a number of community colleges in the Bay Area. According to CNNMoney, the Bay Area community college with the highest "success" rate is De Anza College in Cupertino, which is also the tenth-highest ranked in the nation. Other relatively well-ranked Bay Area community colleges include Foothill College, City College of San Francisco, West Valley College, Diablo Valley College, and Las Positas College.[221]

Many scholars have pointed out the overlap of education and the economy within the Bay Area. According to multiple reports, research universities such as Stanford University, University of California - Santa Cruz and University of California - Berkeley, are essential to the culture and economy in the area.[162] These universities also provide countless, public programs for people to learn and enhance skills relevant to the local economies. These opportunities not only provide educational services to the community, but also generate significant amounts of revenue.[162]

Primary and secondary schools edit

 
The Galileo Academy of Science & Technology, an SFUSD public school

Public primary and secondary education in the Bay Area is provided through school districts organized through three structures (elementary school districts, high school districts, or unified school districts) and are governed by an elected board. In addition, many Bay Area counties and the city of San Francisco operate "special service schools" that are geared towards providing education to students with handicaps or special needs.[222]

An alternative public educational setting is offered by charter schools, which may be established with a renewable charter of up to five years by third parties. The mechanism for charter schools in the Bay Area is governed by the California Charter Schools Act of 1992.[223]

 
Bellarmine College Preparatory is one of the oldest schools in California.

According to rankings compiled by U.S. News & World Report, the highest-ranked high school in California is the Pacific Collegiate School, located in Santa Cruz and part of the greater Bay Area. Within the traditional nine-county boundaries, the highest ranked high school is KIPP San Jose Collegiate in San Jose. Among the top twenty high schools in California include Lowell High School in San Francisco, Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, Lynbrook High School in San Jose, the University Preparatory Academy in San Jose, Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, Oakland Charter High School in Oakland, Henry M. Gunn High School in Palo Alto, Gilroy Early College Academy in Gilroy, and Saratoga High School in Saratoga.[224]

Transportation edit

 
The Bay Area is served by a variety of rail transit systems, including ACE, Amtrak, BART, Caltrain, Muni Metro, SMART, and VTA.

Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area is reliant on a complex multimodal infrastructure consisting of roads, bridges, highways, rail, tunnels, airports, ferries, and bike and pedestrian paths. The development, maintenance, and operation of these different modes of transportation are overseen by various agencies, including the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.[225] These and other organizations collectively manage several interstate highways and state routes, two subway networks, three commuter rail agencies, eight trans-bay bridges, transbay ferry service, local bus service,[226] three international airports (San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland),[227] and an extensive network of roads, tunnels, and paths such as the San Francisco Bay Trail.[228]

The Bay Area hosts an extensive freeway and highway system that is particularly prone to traffic congestion, with one study by Inrix concluding that the Bay Area's traffic was the fourth worst in the world.[229] There are some city streets in San Francisco where gaps occur in the freeway system, partly the result of the Freeway Revolt, which prevented a freeway-only thoroughfare through San Francisco between the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, the western terminus of Interstate 80, and the southern terminus of the Golden Gate Bridge (U.S. Route 101).[230] Additional damage that occurred in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake resulted in freeway segments being removed instead of being reinforced or rebuilt, leading to the revitalization of neighborhoods such as San Francisco's Embarcadero and Hayes Valley.[231] The greater Bay Area contains the three principal north–south highways in California: Interstate 5, U.S. Route 101, and California State Route 1. U.S. 101 and State Route 1 directly serve the traditional nine-county region, while Interstate 5 bypasses to the east in San Joaquin County to provide a more direct Los AngelesSacramento route. Additional local highways connect the various subregions of the Bay Area together.[232]

 
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) serves 50 stations across the region, excluding the North Bay counties.

There are over two dozen public transit agencies in the Bay Area with overlapping service areas that utilize different modes, with designated connection points between the various operators. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), a heavy rail/metro system, operates in five counties and connects San Francisco and Oakland via the Transbay Tube. Other commuter rail systems link San Francisco with the Peninsula and San Jose (Caltrain), San Jose with the Tri-Valley Area and San Joaquin County (ACE), and Sonoma with Marin County (SMART).[226]

In addition, Amtrak provides frequent commuter service between San Jose and the East Bay with Sacramento, and long-distance service to other parts of the United States.[233] Muni Metro operates a hybrid streetcar/subway system within the city of San Francisco, and VTA operates a light rail system in Santa Clara County. These rail systems are supplemented by numerous bus agencies and transbay ferries such as Golden Gate Ferry and the San Francisco Bay Ferry. Most of these agencies accept the Clipper Card, a reloadable contactless smart card, as a universal electronic payment system.[226]

Government and politics edit

 
The Government of San Francisco is based at San Francisco City Hall.

Government in the San Francisco Bay Area consists of multiple actors, including 101 city and nine county governments, a dozen regional agencies, and a large number of single-purpose special districts such as municipal utility districts and transit districts.[234] Incorporated cities are responsible for providing police service, zoning, issuing building permits, and maintaining public streets among other duties.[235] County governments are responsible for elections and voter registration, vital records, property assessment and records, tax collection, public health, agricultural regulations, and building inspections, among other duties.[236][237] Public education is provided by independent school districts, which may be organized as elementary districts, high school districts, unified school districts combining elementary and high school grades, or community college districts, and are managed by an elected school board.[222] A variety of special districts also exist and provide a single purpose, such as delivering public transit in the case of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District,[238] or monitoring air quality levels in the case of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.[69]

 
The Government of San Jose is based at San Jose City Hall.

Politics in the Bay Area is widely regarded as one of the most liberal in California and in the United States.[239][240] Since the late 1960s, the Bay Area has cemented its role as the most liberal region in California politics, giving greater support for the center-left Democratic Party's candidates than any other region of the state, even as California trended towards the Democratic Party over time.[241] According to research by the Public Policy Institute of California, the Bay Area and the North Coast counties of Humboldt and Mendocino were the most consistently and strongly liberal areas in California.[241]

According to the California Secretary of State, the Democratic Party holds a voter registration advantage in every congressional district, State Senate district, State Assembly district, State Board of Equalization district, all nine counties, and all of the 101 incorporated municipalities in the Bay Area. On the other hand, the center-right Republican Party holds a voter registration advantage in only one State Assembly sub-district (the portion of the 4th in Solano County).[242] According to the Cook Partisan Voting Index (CPVI), the Bay Area's districts tend to favor Democratic candidates by roughly 40 to 50 percentage points, considerably above the mean for California and the nation overall.[243]

 
Oakland City Hall

In U.S. Presidential elections since 1960, the nine-county Bay Area voted for Republican candidates only two times, in both cases voting for a Californian: in 1972 for Richard Nixon and again in 1980 for Ronald Reagan. The last county to vote for a Republican presidential candidate was Napa county in 1988 for George H. W. Bush. Since then, all nine Bay Area counties have voted consistently for the Democratic candidate.[246] Currently, both of California's U.S. Senators are Democrats, and all twelve U.S. congressional districts located wholly or partially in the Bay Area are represented by a Democratic representative. Additionally, every Bay Area member of the California State Senate and the California State Assembly is a registered Democrat.

The Bay Area's association with progressive politics has led to the term "San Francisco values" being used by conservative commentators in a pejorative sense to describe the secular progressive culture in the area.[247]

Regional governance edit

The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is the principal metropolitan planning organization for the Bay Area. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is the region's transportation planning agency, which has functionally merged with ABAG through staff consolidation. ABAG and MTC developed Plan Bay Area, which is the area's regional transportation plan, in 2013 and with its goal date for 2040.

Other regional governance agencies include the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Bay Area Toll Authority, Bay Restoration Authority, and the Bay Conservation & Development Commission.

Culture edit

Arts edit

 
Cantor Arts Center in Stanford

The Bay Area was a hub of the Abstract Expressionism movement of painting. It is associated with the works of Clyfford Still, who began teaching at the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute) in 1946, leaving a lasting influence on the artistic styles of Bay Area painters up to the present day.[248] A few years later, Abstract Expressionist painter David Park painted Kids on Bikes in 1950, which retained many aspects of abstract expressionism but with original distinguishing features that would later lead to the Bay Area Figurative Movement.[249]

 
The California Palace of the Legion of Honor of Fine Arts Museums SF

While both the Figurative Movement and the Abstract Expressionism movement arose from art schools, Funk art would later rise out of the region's underground and was characterized by informal sharing of technique among groups of friends and art showcases in "cooperative" galleries instead of formal museums. Later, the Bay Area art movement would be heavily influenced by the counterculture movement in the 1960s, and art produced during this time reflected the political environment.[250]

 
Oakland Museum of California

The San Francisco Renaissance was an era of poetic activity centered on San Francisco and poets such as Gary Snyder, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetry avant-garde in the 1950s. The movement, which often included visual and performing arts, was heavily influenced by cross-cultural interests, particularly Buddhism, Taoism, and a general interest in East Asian cultures.[251]

The Bay Area is presently home to a thriving computer animation industry[252] led by Pixar Animation Studios and Industrial Light & Magic. Pixar, based in Emeryville, produced the first fully computer animated feature film, Toy Story, with software it designed in-house and whose computer animation films have since garnered 26 Academy Awards and critical acclaim.[253] Industrial Light & Magic, which is based in the Presidio in San Francisco, was created in 1975 to help create visual effects for the Star Wars series has since been involved with creating visual effects for over three hundred Hollywood films.[254]

Music edit

 
Baile folklórico at the 240th anniversary of the founding of San Jose at the Gonzales-Peralta Adobe

Throughout its recent history, the Bay Area has been home to several musical movements that left lasting influences on the genres they affected. San Francisco, in particular, was the center of the counterculture movement in the 1960s, which directly led to the rise of several notable musical acts: The Grateful Dead, which formed in 1965, and Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin; all three would be closely associated with the 1967 Summer of Love.[255] Jimi Hendrix also had strong connections to the movement and the Bay Area, as he lived in Berkeley for a brief time as a child and played in many local venues in that decade.[256][255] By the 1970s, San Francisco had developed a vibrant jazz scene, earning the moniker, "Harlem of the West".[155] The Vietnam War was being fought at the time, and Bay Area bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival of El Cerrito became known for their political and socially-conscious lyrics against the conflict.[257] Carlos Santana rose to fame in the early 1970s with his Santana band and would later be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[258] Two former members of Santana, Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie would later lead the formation of the band Journey.[259]

 
The San Francisco Symphony at the Davies Symphony Hall

During the 1980s and early 1990s, the Bay Area became home to heavy metal and hard rock bands, including Ludicra,[260] and also to one of the largest and most influential thrash metal scenes in the world, with contributions from Exodus, Testament, Death Angel, Forbidden, Vio-lence, Lȧȧz Rockit, Possessed and Blind Illusion, in addition to three of the "Big Four" (Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth); although Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth were all technically from Los Angeles, those bands are often credited for popularizing and contributing to the Bay Area thrash metal scene during the 1980s by frequently playing shows there, especially early in their careers and/or before they were signed to a record label.[261][262]

 
Mountain Winery is a concert venue and vineyard in Saratoga.

The post-grunge era in the 1990s featured prominent Bay Area bands Third Eye Blind of San Francisco, Counting Crows of Berkeley, and Smash Mouth of San Jose, and later pop punk rock bands like Green Day.[256]

The 1990s also saw the emergence of the influential hyphy movement in hip hop, derived from the Oakland slang for "hyperactive", and pioneered by Bay Area rappers Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks, Mistah Fab, and E-40.[263] Other notable rappers from the Bay Area include Lil B,[264] Tupac Shakur, MC Hammer, Too $hort, and G-Eazy.[265] Today, much of the rap coming out of Oakland and the East Bay is "conscious rap", which concerns itself with social issues and awareness.[265]

The Bay Area is also home to hundreds of classical music ensembles, from community choirs to professional orchestras, such as the San Francisco Symphony, California Symphony, Fremont Symphony Orchestra, Oakland Symphony and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra.[266]

Theater edit

 
Fox Theatre in Redwood City

According to the regional theater service organization Theatre Bay Area, the San Francisco Bay Area is the third largest center of activity for theater companies and actors in the United States, after the New York City and Chicago metropolitan areas, with 400 companies spread throughout the region.[267] The organization was founded in 1976 by the Magic Theatre and American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco and the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley.[268] The latter two, along with the San Francisco Mime Troupe and Palo Alto-based Theatreworks, have since gone on to win one Regional Theatre Tony Award each.[269][270]

 
War Memorial Opera House is the home of the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet.

Several famous actors have arisen from the Bay Area's theatre community, including Daveed Diggs from Hamilton and Darren Criss from Hedwig, A Very Potter Musical, and Glee.[271] Locally, well-regarded actors include James Carpenter, a stage actor who has performed at the ACT, Berkeley Repertory, and San Jose Repertory Theatre among others, Rod Gnapp of the Magic Theatre Company, Sean San Jose, one of the founders of the Campo Santo theater, and Campo Santo member Margo Hall.[272]

The Bay Area also has an active youth theater scene. ACT and the Berkeley Repertory both run classes and camps for young actors, as do the Peninsula Youth Theater and Willow Glen Children's Theatre in the Peninsula and South Bay, Bay Area Children's Theater and Danville Children's Musical Theater in the East Bay, and Marin Shakespeare in the North Bay, among many others.[273][274]

Media edit

 
Sutro Tower is a broadcast tower and local landmark.

The San Francisco Bay Area is the tenth-largest television market[275] and the fourth-largest radio market[276] in the U.S. The Bay Area's oldest radio station, KCBS (AM), began as an experimental station in San Jose in 1909, before the beginning of commercial broadcasting.[277] KALW was the Bay Area's first FM radio station, and first radio station to begin commercial broadcasting west of the Mississippi River when it signed on the air in 1941.[278] KPIX, which began broadcasting in 1948, was the first television station to air in the Bay Area and Northern California.[279]

All major U.S. television networks have affiliates serving the region, including KTVU 2 (FOX), KRON-TV 4 (The CW/MyNetwork), KPIX 5 (CBS), KGO-TV 7 (ABC), KQED-TV 9 (PBS), KNTV 11 (NBC), KICU-TV 36 (Independent), KPYX 44 (Independent), KQEH 54 (PBS), and KKPX 65 (Ion). Bloomberg West, a show that focuses on topics pertaining to technology and business, was launched in 2011 from a studio in and continues to broadcast from San Francisco.[280]

Public broadcasting outlets include both a television station and a radio station, both broadcasting under the call letters KQED from a facility near the Potrero Hill neighborhood. KQED-FM is the most-listened-to National Public Radio affiliate in the country.[281] Another local broadcaster, KPOO, is an independent, African-American owned and operated noncommercial radio station established in 1971.[282]

 
Pixar headquarters in Emeryville

The largest newspapers in the Bay Area are the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News, the highest and second-highest most widely circulated newspaper in Northern California.[283] The Chronicle is most famous for a former columnist, the late Herb Caen, whose daily musings attracted critical acclaim and represented the "voice of San Francisco". The San Francisco Examiner, once the cornerstone of William Randolph Hearst's media empire and the home of Ambrose Bierce, declined in circulation over the years and now takes the form of a free daily tabloid, under new ownership.[284][285] Most of the Bay Area's local regions and municipalities also have their own newspapers, such as the East Bay Times and San Mateo Daily Journal. The national newsmagazine Mother Jones is also based in San Francisco.[286] Non-English-language newspapers include several Chinese-language papers such as Sing Tao Daily, the largest in the Bay Area by circulation,[287] and El Mundo, a free Spanish-language weekly distributed by the Mercury News.[288]

Sports and recreation edit

 
Oracle Park, home of the SF Giants of Major League Baseball

The Bay Area is home to six professional major league sports franchises: The San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) in American football, the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS).

In football, the 49ers play in Levi's Stadium[289] and have won five Super Bowls (XVI,[290] XIX,[291] XXIII,[292] XXIV,[293] XXIX[294]) and lost two (XLVII[295] and LIV[296]).

In baseball, the Giants, who play at Oracle Park,[297] have won eight World Series titles, three since relocating to San Francisco (2010, 2012, and 2014) from New York in 1958.[298] The Athletics, who play at the Oakland Coliseum,[299] have won nine World Series titles, four since relocating to Oakland (1972, 1973, 1974, and 1989) from Kansas City in 1968.[298]

 
PayPal Park, home of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer

In basketball, the Warriors play at the Chase Center and have won seven NBA Finals, five since relocating to the Bay Area (1975, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022) from Philadelphia in 1962.[300]

In hockey, the Sharks play at the SAP Center. They made their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2016 but have not won the Stanley Cup.

In soccer, the Earthquakes play at PayPal Park[301] and have won the MLS Cup twice in 2001 and 2003. The Bay Area hosted matches during the 1994 FIFA World Cup at Stanford Stadium and will host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Levi's Stadium. [302] The Bay Area hosted some of the soccer competition during the 1984 Summer Olympics and will do so again during the 2028 Summer Olympics. [303] [304]

 
Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League

Outside of major league sports, the Bay Area is home to three minor league franchises. In hockey, the San Jose Barracuda play in the American Hockey League (AHL) and are the top affiliate of the San Jose Sharks, sharing the same rink at the SAP Center in San Jose.[305] In baseball, the San Jose Giants in the California League of Minor League Baseball (MiLB) are the Low-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, playing out of the San Jose Municipal Stadium.[306] In soccer, the Oakland Roots in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer, currently play at Laney Field at Laney College.[307]

In terms of collegiate sports, six Bay Area universities are members of NCAA Division I, the highest level of college sports in the country.[308] All three football-playing schools in the Bay Area are in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of NCAA college football. The California Golden Bears and Stanford Cardinal compete in the Pac-12 Conference, and the San Jose State Spartans compete in the Mountain West Conference.[309] The Cardinal and Golden Bears are intense rivals, with their football teams competing annually in the Big Game for the Stanford Axe.[310] One of the most famous games in the rivalry occurred in 1982, when the Golden Bears defeated the Cardinal on a last-second return kickoff known as "The Play".[311]

 
The Tour of California in Morgan Hill

The Bay Area has an ideal climate for outdoor recreation, such that activities like hiking, cycling and jogging are popular among locals.[312][313] There are more than 200 mi (320 km) of bicycle paths, lanes and bike routes just within San Francisco,[314] and the Embarcadero and Marina Green are favored sites for skateboarding. Extensive public tennis facilities are available in Golden Gate Park and Dolores Park, as well as at smaller neighborhood courts throughout the city. Boating, sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing are among the popular activities on San Francisco Bay, and the city maintains a yacht harbor in the Marina District. The St. Francis Yacht Club and Golden Gate Yacht Club are located in the Marina Harbor,[315][316] while the South Beach Yacht Club is located next to Oracle Park.[317] The Bay Area was host to the 2013 America's Cup. Other Bay Area yacht clubs include the Alameda Yacht Club,[318] Berkeley Yacht Club,[319] Corinthian Yacht Club[320] in Tiburon, Oakland Yacht Club,[321] Presidio Yacht Club,[322] Sausalito Yacht Club and Sequoia Yacht Club[323] in Redwood City.

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francisco, area, area, redirects, here, other, uses, area, disambiguation, commonly, known, area, region, california, centered, around, francisco, pablo, suisun, estuaries, northern, california, association, area, governments, defines, area, including, nine, c. Bay Area redirects here For other uses see Bay Area disambiguation The San Francisco Bay Area commonly known as the Bay Area is a region of California centered around the San Francisco San Pablo and Suisun estuaries in Northern California 8 The Association of Bay Area Governments defines the Bay Area as including the nine counties that border the aforementioned estuaries Alameda Contra Costa Marin Napa San Mateo Santa Clara Solano Sonoma and San Francisco Other definitions may be either smaller or larger and may include neighboring counties that do not border the aforementioned estuaries such as the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz San Benito and Monterey or the Central Valley counties of San Joaquin Merced and Stanislaus 9 San Francisco Bay AreaRegionGolden Gate BridgeAlamo SquareWine CountryPoint ReyesSan JoseOaklandMount DiabloLocation of the Bay Area within California The nine county Bay Area Additional counties in the larger thirteen county combined statistical area CountryUnited StatesStateCaliforniaSubregionsEast Bay North Bay Peninsula San Francisco South BayCountiesList AlamedaContra CostaMarinNapaSan MateoSanta ClaraSolanoSonomaSan FranciscoCore citiesOaklandSan Francisco San JoseOther municipalitiesList FremontSanta RosaHaywardSunnyvaleConcordSanta ClaraVallejoBerkeleyFairfieldAntiochRichmondDaly CitySan MateoVacavilleArea 1 Nine county6 966 sq mi 18 040 km2 San Jose San Francisco Oakland CSA 10 191 sq mi 26 390 km2 Highest elevation 2 Copernicus Peak4 360 ft 1 330 m Lowest elevation 3 Alviso 13 ft 4 m Population 2020 Nine county7 76 million 4 San Jose San Francisco Oakland CSA 9 71 million 4 GDP 5 6 Nine county 729 105 billion 2022 San Jose San Francisco Oakland CSA 1 383 trillion 2022 Time zoneUTC 08 00 Pacific Summer DST UTC 07 00 PDT Area codes408 669 415 628 510 341 650 707 925 7 Websitebayareametro wbr govThe Bay Area is known for its natural beauty progressive politics prominent universities technology companies and affluence The Bay Area contains many cities towns airports and associated regional state and national parks connected by a complex multimodal transportation network The most populous cities of the Bay Area are Oakland San Francisco and San Jose the latter of which in 2022 had population of 971 233 making it the third most populous city in California after Los Angeles and San Diego and the 12th most populous in the United States 10 11 The nine county Bay Area is home to approximately 7 52 million people 12 The larger federal classification the combined statistical area of the region which includes 13 counties 9 is the second largest in California after the Greater Los Angeles area and the fifth largest in the United States with over 9 million people 13 The Bay Area s population is ethnically diverse roughly three fifths of the region s residents are Hispanic Asian African American or Pacific Islander all of whom have a significant presence throughout the region Most of the remaining two fifths of the population is non Hispanic White American As of 2022 70 717 residents of the nine county Bay Area and 100 325 residents of the thirteen county Bay Area approximately 1 of the population of both identify as Native American 14 The earliest archaeological evidence of human settlements in the Bay Area dates back to 8000 10 000 BC from shell mounds in the Coyote Hills The oral tradition of the Ohlone and Miwok people suggests they have been living in the Bay Area for several hundreds if not thousands of years 15 16 Anthropological evidence suggests Ohlone ethnogenesis occurred around 700 CE following a wave of migration from the Central Valley 17 Despite being unaware of its existence the Spanish empire claimed the Bay Area beginning in the early period of Spanish colonization of the Americas In 1535 the empire established kingdom of New Spain which inherited the empire s claims to much of what is now the western United States including the Bay Area However despite its claims the region remained a distant frontier land largely outside of the kingdom s control for centuries The earliest Spanish exploration of the Bay Area took place in 1769 and the earliest European settlements in the area date this time period The Mexican government controlled the area from 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence until the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican American War Coincidentally also in 1848 James W Marshall discovered gold in nearby mountains resulting in explosive immigration to the area and the precipitous decline of the Native population The California Gold Rush brought rapid growth to San Francisco specifically transforming it from an unimportant hamlet into a busy port and the largest city on the West Coast at the time The city s population grew from 200 in 1846 to about 35 000 in 1852 and about 150 000 in 1870 From 1870 to 1900 approximately one quarter of California s population resided in the city proper 18 California was admitted as the 31st state in 1850 and during the early years of statehood state legislative business was briefly conducted in the Bay Area cities of San Jose Vallejo and Benicia before being permanently relocated to Sacramento in 1854 San Francisco served as the temporary capital during the Great Flood of 1862 A major earthquake and fire leveled much of San Francisco in 1906 but the city was quickly rebuilt in time to host the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition During World War II the Bay Area played a major role in America s war effort in the Asiatic Pacific Theater with the San Francisco Port of Embarkation of which Fort Mason was one of 14 installations and location of the headquarters acting as a primary embarkation point for American forces In 1945 the United Nations Charter was signed in San Francisco establishing the United Nations before permanently relocating to Manhattan and in 1951 the Treaty of San Francisco re established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers Since then the Bay Area has experienced numerous political cultural and artistic movements developing unique local genres in music and art and establishing itself as a hotbed of progressive politics Economically the post war Bay Area saw large growth in the financial and technology industries creating an economy with a gross domestic product of over 700 billion In 2018 it was home to the third highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the United States 19 20 Despite its urban character the San Francisco Bay is one of California s most ecologically sensitive habitats providing important ecosystem services such as filtering the pollutants and sediments from rivers and supporting a number of endangered species In addition the Bay Area is known for its stands of coast redwoods many of which are protected in state and county parks The region is additionally known for the complexity of its landforms the result of millions of years of tectonic plate movements Because the Bay Area is crossed by 6 major earthquake faults the region is particularly exposed to hazards presented by large earthquakes The climate is temperate and conducive to outdoor recreational and athletic activities such as hiking running and cycling The Bay Area is host to 6 professional sports teams and is a cultural center for music theater and the arts It is also host to numerous higher education institutions including research universities such as Stanford University and the University of California Berkeley Home to 101 municipalities and 9 counties governance in the Bay Area involves numerous local and regional jurisdictions often with broad and overlapping responsibilities Contents 1 History 2 Geography 2 1 Boundaries 2 2 Subregions 2 3 Climate 2 4 Ecology 2 4 1 Marine wildlife 2 4 2 Birds 2 5 Geology and landforms 2 6 Hydrography 3 Demographics 3 1 Affluence 3 2 Crime 4 Economy 5 Housing 6 Education 6 1 Colleges and universities 6 2 Primary and secondary schools 7 Transportation 8 Government and politics 8 1 Regional governance 9 Culture 9 1 Arts 9 2 Music 9 3 Theater 10 Media 11 Sports and recreation 12 See also 13 References 14 External linksHistory editFor a chronological guide see Timeline of the San Francisco Bay Area nbsp The Ohlone an indigenous Californian people have lived in the Bay Area for thousands of years The Coyote Hills Shell Mound the earliest known archaeological evidence of human habitation of the Bay Area estuaries dates to around 10 000 BCE with evidence pointing to even earlier settlement in Point Reyes in Marin County 21 It has been conjectured that the people living in the Bay Area at the time of first European contact were descended from Siberian tribes who arrived at around 1 000 BCE by sailing over the Arctic Ocean and following the salmon migration 22 However the current academic consensus is compatible with the oral tradition of the Ohlone and Miwok peoples which suggests they have been living in the Bay Area for several hundreds if not thousands of years 15 16 At the time of colonization the Ohlone peoples in the Bay Area primarily lived on the San Francisco Peninsula in the South Bay and in the East Bay and the Miwok primarily lived in the North Bay northern East Bay and Central Valley Ohlone villages were spread across the Peninsula East Bay South Bay as well as further south into the Monterey Bay area 23 There were eight major divisions of Ohlone people four of which were based in the Bay Area the Karkin of the Carquinez Strait the Chochenyo of the East Bay the Ramaytush of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Tamien of the South Bay The Miwok had two major groups in the Bay Area the Bay Miwok of Contra Costa and the Coast Miwok of Marin and Sonoma In 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo explored the Pacific coast near the Bay Area though the expedition did not see the Golden Gate or the estuaries likely due to the San Francisco fog The Ohlone people may have met this expedition as they explored the Monterey Bay which is separated from the Bay Area estuaries by the Santa Cruz Mountains Sir Francis Drake became the first European to land in the area and claim it in June 1579 when he landed at Drakes Bay near Point Reyes Even though he claimed the region for Queen Elizabeth I as Nova Albion or New Albion the English made no immediate follow up to the claim 24 25 26 In 1595 Philip II of Spain tasked Sebastiao Rodrigues Soromenho with mapping the west coast of the Americas Soromenho set sail on Manila Galleon San Agustin on July 5 1595 and in early November they reached land between Point St George and Trinidad Head north of the Bay Area in the Lost Coast The expedition followed the coast southward and on November 7 the San Agustin anchored in Drakes Bay and claimed the region as Puerto y Bahia de San Francisco 27 28 29 In late November a storm sank the San Agustin and killed between 7 and 12 people On December 8 80 remaining crew members set sail on the San Buenaventura a launch which was partially constructed en route from the Philippines Seeking the fastest route south the expedition sailed past the Golden Gate arriving at Puerto de Chacala Mexico on January 17 1596 30 nbsp In 1776 Francisco Palou founded Mission San Francisco de Asis the first Spanish settlement in the Bay Area nbsp General Vallejo reviewing Californio troops in Sonoma during the U S Conquest of California in 1846The Bay Area estuaries remained unknown to Europeans until members of the Portola expedition while trekking along the California coast encountered it in 1769 when the Golden Gate blocked their continued journey north 31 Several missions were founded in the Bay Area during this period In 1806 a Spanish expedition led by Gabriel Moraga began at the Presidio traveled south of the bay and then east to explore the San Joaquin Valley 32 In 1821 Mexico gained its independence from Spain and the Bay Area became part of the Mexican province of Alta California a period characterized by ranch life and visiting American trappers 33 Mexico s control of the territory would be short lived however and in 1846 a party of settlers occupied Sonoma Plaza and proclaimed the independence of the new Republic of California 33 That same year the Mexican American War began and American captain John Berrien Montgomery sailed the USS Portsmouth into the bay and seized San Francisco which was then known as Yerba Buena and raised the American flag for the first time over Portsmouth Square 34 nbsp The Port of San Francisco during the California Gold RushIn 1848 James W Marshall s discovery of gold in the American River sparked the California Gold Rush and within half a year 4 000 men were panning for gold along the river and finding 50 000 per day 35 The promise of fabulous riches quickly led to a stampede of wealth seekers descending on Sutter s Mill The Bay Area s population quickly emptied out as laborers clerks waiters and servants joined the rush to find gold and California s first newspaper The Californian was forced to announce a temporary freeze in new issues due to labor shortages 35 By the end of 1849 news had spread across the world and newcomers flooded into the Bay Area at a rate of one thousand per week on their way to California s interior 35 including the first large influx of Chinese immigrants to the U S 36 The rush was so great that vessels were abandoned by the hundreds in San Francisco s ports as crews rushed to the goldfields 37 The unprecedented influx of new arrivals spread the nascent government authorities thin and the military was unable to prevent desertions As a result numerous vigilante groups formed to provide order but many tasked themselves with forcibly moving or killing local Native Americans and by the end of the Gold Rush two thirds of the indigenous population had been killed 38 nbsp San Jose served as the first state capitol following the California s Admission to the Union in 1850 During this same time a constitutional convention was called to determine California s application for statehood into the United States After statehood was granted the capital city moved between three cities in the Bay Area San Jose 1849 1851 Vallejo 1851 1852 and Benicia 1852 1853 before permanently settling in Sacramento in 1854 39 As the Gold Rush subsided wealth generated from the endeavor led to the establishment of Wells Fargo Bank and the Bank of California and immigrant laborers attracted by the promise of wealth transformed the demographic makeup of the region Construction of the First transcontinental railroad from the Oakland Long Wharf attracted so many laborers from China that by 1870 eight percent of San Francisco s population was of Asian origin 40 The completion of the railroad connected the Bay Area with the rest of the United States established a truly national marketplace for the trade of goods and accelerated the urbanization of the region 41 nbsp Damaged buildings in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquakeIn the early morning of April 18 1906 a large earthquake with an epicenter near the city of San Francisco hit the region 42 Immediate casualty estimates by the U S Army s relief operations were 498 deaths in San Francisco 64 deaths in Santa Rosa and 102 in or near San Jose for a total of about 700 More recent studies estimate the total death count to be over 3 000 with over 28 000 buildings destroyed 43 Rebuilding efforts began immediately Amadeo Peter Giannini owner of the Bank of Italy now known as the Bank of America had managed to retrieve the money from his bank s vaults before fires broke out through the city and was the only bank with liquid funds readily available and was instrumental in loaning out funds for rebuilding efforts 44 Congress immediately approved plans for a reservoir in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park a plan they had denied a few years earlier which now provides drinking water for 2 4 million people in the Bay Area By 1915 the city had been sufficiently rebuilt and advertised itself to the world during the Panama Pacific Exposition that year although the effects of the quake hastened the loss of the region s dominant status in California to the Los Angeles metropolitan area 44 nbsp The United Nations was created in San Francisco in 1945 when the United Nations Charter was signed at the San Francisco Conference During the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent economic depression not a single San Francisco based bank failed 45 while the region attempted to spur job growth by simultaneously undertaking two large infrastructure projects construction of the Golden Gate Bridge which would connect San Francisco with Marin County 46 and the Bay Bridge which would connect San Francisco with Oakland and the East Bay 47 After the United States joined World War II in 1941 the Bay Area became a major domestic military and naval hub with large shipyards constructed in Sausalito and across the East Bay to build ships for the war effort 48 The Army s San Francisco Port of Embarkation was the primary origin for Army forces shipping out to the Pacific Theater of Operations 49 50 That command consisted of fourteen installations including Fort Mason the Oakland Army Base Camp Stoneman and Fort McDowell in San Francisco Bay and the sub port of Los Angeles 51 After World War II the United Nations was chartered in San Francisco to help prevent the kind of devastation that had occurred over the prior decade 52 and in September 1951 the Treaty of San Francisco to re establish peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers was signed in San Francisco entering into force a year later 53 In the years immediately following the war the Bay Area saw a huge wave of immigration as populations increased across the region Between 1950 and 1960 San Francisco welcomed over 100 000 new residents inland suburbs in the East Bay saw their populations double Daly City s population quadrupled and Santa Clara s population quintupled 48 nbsp Vietnam War draft evasion march in Oakland led by David Harris in 1967 By the early 1960s the Bay Area and the rest of Northern California became the center of the counterculture movement Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley and the Haight Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco were seen as centers of activity 54 with the hit American pop song San Francisco Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair further enticing like minded individuals to join the movement in the Bay Area and leading to the Summer of Love 55 In the proceeding decades the Bay Area would cement itself as a hotbed of New Left activism student activism opposition to the Vietnam War and other anti war movements the black power movement and the gay rights movement 54 At the same time parts of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties began to rapidly develop from an agrarian economy into a hotbed of the high tech industry 56 Fred Terman the director of a top secret research project at Harvard University during World War II joined the faculty at Stanford University in order to reshape the university s engineering department His students including David Packard and William Hewlett would later help usher in the region s high tech revolution 48 In 1955 Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory opened for business in Mountain View near Stanford and although the business venture was a financial failure it was the first semiconductor company in the Bay Area and the talent that it attracted to the region eventually led to a high tech cluster of companies later known as Silicon Valley 57 nbsp The assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk in 1978 led to the White Night riots and the abolition of diminished responsibility as a criminal defense in California In 1989 in the middle of a World Series game between two Bay Area baseball teams the Loma Prieta earthquake struck and caused widespread infrastructural damage including the failure of the Bay Bridge a major link between San Francisco and Oakland 58 Even so the Bay Area s technology industry continued to expand and growth in Silicon Valley accelerated the United States census confirmed that year that San Jose had overtaken San Francisco in terms of population 59 The commercialization of the Internet in the middle of the decade rapidly created a speculative bubble in the high tech economy known as the dot com bubble This bubble began collapsing in the early 2000s and the industry continued contracting for the next few years nearly wiping out the market Companies like Amazon com and Google managed to weather the crash however and following the industry s return to normalcy their market value increased significantly 60 Even as the growth of the technology sector transformed the region s economy progressive politics continued to guide the region s political environment By the turn of the millennium non Hispanic whites the largest ethnic group in the United States were only half of the population in the Bay Area as immigration among minority groups accelerated 61 During this time the Bay Area was the center of the LGBT rights movement in 2004 San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples a first in the United States 62 and four years later a majority of voters in the Bay Area rejected California Proposition 8 which sought to constitutionally restrict marriage to opposite sex couples but ultimately passed statewide 63 nbsp Black Lives Matter George Floyd protests in San Jose in 2020The Bay Area was also the center of contentious protests concerning racial and economic inequality In 2009 an African American man named Oscar Grant was fatally shot by Bay Area Rapid Transit police officers precipitating widespread protests across the region and even riots in Oakland 64 His name was symbolically tied to the Occupy Oakland protests two years later that sought to fight against social and economic inequality 65 Geography editBoundaries edit nbsp A map of the Bay Area and its sub regions divided by counties North Bay San Francisco San Francisco Peninsula South Bay Santa Clara Valley East BayThe borders of the San Francisco Bay Area are not officially delineated and the unique development patterns influenced by the region s topography as well as unusual commute patterns caused by the presence of three central cities and employment centers located in various suburban locales has led to considerable disagreement between local and federal definitions of the area 66 Because of this professor of geography at the University of California Berkeley Richard Walker claimed that no other U S city region is as definitionally challenged as the Bay Area 66 When the region began to rapidly develop during and immediately after World War II local planners settled on a nine county definition for the Bay Area consisting of the counties that directly border the San Francisco San Pablo and Suisun estuaries Alameda Contra Costa Marin Napa San Francisco San Mateo Santa Clara Solano and Sonoma counties 67 Today this definition is accepted by most local governmental agencies including San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board 68 Bay Area Air Quality Management District 69 the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority 70 the Metropolitan Transportation Commission 71 and the Association of Bay Area Governments 72 the latter two of which partner to deliver a Bay Area Census using the nine county definition 73 Various U S Federal government agencies use definitions that differ from their local counterparts nine county definition For example the Federal Communications Commission FCC which regulates broadcast cable and satellite transmissions includes nearby Colusa Lake and Mendocino counties in their San Francisco Oakland San Jose media market but excludes eastern Solano county 74 On the other hand the United States Office of Management and Budget which designates metropolitan statistical areas MSAs and combined statistical areas CSA for populated regions across the country has five MSAs which include wholly or partially areas within the nine county definition and one CSA which includes eight Bay Area counties excluding Sonoma but including neighboring San Benito Santa Cruz San Joaquin Merced and Stanislaus counties 9 The Association of Bay Area Health Officers ABAHO an organization that has fought local outbreaks of HIV AIDS in 1980s and with COVID 19 pandemic and Deltacron hybrid variant 2020 22 consists of the public health officers of 9 Bay Area counties in addition to the Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz San Benito and Monterey and the city of Berkeley Counties in the San Jose San Francisco Oakland Combined Statistical Area 75 County 2022 estimate 2020 22change 2020 Population 2010 Population 2010 20change 2020 Density per sq mi MSAAlameda 1 628 997 3 2 1 682 353 1 510 271 11 4 2 281 3 San Francisco Oakland BerkeleyContra Costa 1 156 966 0 8 1 165 927 1 049 025 11 1 1 626 3Marin 256 018 2 4 262 321 252 409 3 9 504 1San Francisco 808 437 7 5 873 965 805 235 8 5 18 629 1San Mateo 729 181 4 6 764 442 718 451 6 4 1 704 0San Benito 67 579 5 3 64 209 55 269 16 2 46 2 San Jose Sunnyvale Santa ClaraSanta Clara 1 870 945 3 4 1 936 259 1 781 642 8 7 1 499 7Napa 134 300 2 7 138 019 136 484 1 1 184 4 NapaSolano 448 747 1 0 453 491 413 344 9 7 551 8 Vallejo FairfieldSonoma 482 650 1 3 488 863 483 878 1 0 310 3 Santa Rosa PetalumaMerced 290 014 3 1 281 202 255 793 9 9 145 1 MercedSanta Cruz 264 370 2 4 270 861 262 382 3 2 608 5 Santa Cruz WatsonvilleSan Joaquin 793 229 1 3 779 233 685 306 13 7 559 6 Stockton LodiStanislaus 551 275 0 3 552 878 514 453 7 5 369 6 Modesto Bay Area counties colored red Sonoma County was separated from the CSA in 2023 9 Subregions edit Among locals the nine county Bay Area can be further divided into five sub regions the East Bay North Bay Peninsula city of San Francisco and South Bay The East Bay is the densest region of the Bay Area outside of San Francisco and includes cities and towns in Alameda and Contra Costa counties centered around Oakland As one of the larger subregions the East Bay includes a variety of enclaves including the suburban Tri Valley area and the highly urban western part of the subregion that runs alongside the bay including Oakland 76 The North Bay includes Marin Sonoma Napa and Solano counties and is the largest and least populated subregion The western counties of Marin and Sonoma are encased by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the bay on the east and are characterized by their mountainous and woody terrain Sonoma and Napa counties are known internationally for their grape vineyards and wineries and Solano County to the east centered around Vallejo is the fastest growing region in the Bay Area 77 Regions of the Bay Area nbsp East Bay nbsp South Bay nbsp North Bay nbsp PeninsulaThe Peninsula subregion includes the cities and towns on the San Francisco Peninsula excluding the titular city of San Francisco Its eastern half which runs alongside the Bay is highly populated while its less populated western coast traces the coastline of the Pacific Ocean and is known for its open space and hiking trails Roughly coinciding with the borders of San Mateo County it also includes the northwestern Santa Clara County cities of Palo Alto Mountain View and Los Altos 78 Although geographically located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula the city of San Francisco is not considered part of the Peninsula subregion but as a separate entity 79 80 The term South Bay has different meanings to different groups Writing in 1959 for the Army Corps of Engineers the United States Department of Commerce defined the South Bay as comprising five counties corresponding to their two way division of the bay into north and south regions 81 In 1989 the federal Environmental Protection Agency defined the South Bay as the northern part of Santa Clara County and the southeastern part of San Mateo County 82 This latter definition corresponds to common usage 83 Climate edit See also Climate of California nbsp The North Coast near Muir BeachThe Bay Area is located in the warm summer Mediterranean climate zone Koppen Csb that is a characteristic of California s coast featuring mild to cool winters with occasional rainfall and warm to hot dry summers 84 It is largely influenced by the cold California Current which penetrates the natural mountainous barrier along the coast by traveling through various gaps 85 In terms of precipitation this means that the Bay Area has pronounced seasons The winter season which roughly runs between November and March is the source of about 82 of annual precipitation in the area In the South Bay and further inland while the winter season is cool and mild the summer season is characterized by warm sunny days 85 while in San Francisco and areas closer to the Golden Gate strait the summer season is periodically affected by fog 86 nbsp View of Mount Diablo beyond Lafayette ReservoirDue to the Bay Area s diverse topographic relief itself the result of the clashing tectonic plates the region is home to numerous microclimates that lead to pronounced differences in climate and temperature over short distances 84 87 Within the city of San Francisco natural and artificial topographical features direct the movement of wind and fog resulting in startlingly varied climates between city blocks Along the Golden Gate Strait oceanic wind and fog from the Pacific Ocean are able to penetrate the mountain barriers inland into the Bay Area 87 During the summer rising hot air in California s interior valleys creates a low pressure area that draws winds from the North Pacific High through the Golden Gate which creates the city s characteristic cool winds and fog 86 The microclimate phenomenon is most pronounced during this time when fog penetration is at its maximum in areas near the Golden Gate strait 87 while the South Bay and areas further inland are sunny and dry 85 nbsp San Bruno Mountain divides San Francisco from San Mateo County Along the San Francisco peninsula gaps in the Santa Cruz Mountains one south of San Bruno Mountain and another in Crystal Springs allow oceanic weather into the interior causing a cooling effect for cities along the Peninsula and even as far south as San Jose This weather pattern is also the source for delays at San Francisco International Airport In Marin county north of the Golden Gate strait two gaps north of Muir Woods bring cold air across the Marin Headlands with the cooling effect reaching as far north as Santa Rosa 87 Further inland the East Bay receives oceanic weather that travels through the Golden Gate strait and further diffuses that air through the Berkeley Hills Niles Canyon and the Hayward Pass into the Livermore Valley and Altamont Pass Here the resulting breeze is so strong that it is home to one of the world s largest array of wind turbines Further north the Carquinez Strait funnels the ocean weather into the San Joaquin River Delta causing a cooling effect in Stockton and Sacramento so that these cities are also cooler than their Central Valley counterparts in the south 87 Average daily high and low temperatures in F C for selected locations in the Bay Area colored and sortable by average monthly temperature City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov DecFairfield 88 55 39 13 4 61 42 16 6 66 45 19 7 71 47 22 8 78 52 26 11 85 56 29 13 90 58 32 14 89 57 32 14 86 56 30 13 78 51 26 11 65 44 18 7 55 39 13 4 Oakland 89 58 44 14 7 67 47 19 8 64 49 18 9 66 50 19 10 69 53 21 12 72 55 22 13 72 56 22 13 73 58 23 14 74 57 23 14 72 54 22 12 65 49 18 9 58 45 14 7 San Francisco 90 57 46 14 8 60 48 16 9 62 49 17 9 63 49 17 9 64 51 18 11 66 53 19 12 66 54 19 12 68 55 20 13 70 55 21 13 69 54 21 12 63 50 17 10 57 46 14 8 San Jose 91 58 42 14 6 62 45 17 7 66 47 19 8 69 49 21 9 74 52 23 11 79 56 26 13 82 58 28 14 82 58 28 14 80 57 27 14 74 53 23 12 64 46 18 8 58 42 14 6 Santa Rosa 92 59 39 15 4 63 41 17 5 67 43 19 6 70 45 21 7 75 48 24 9 80 52 27 11 82 52 28 11 83 53 28 12 83 52 28 11 78 48 26 9 67 43 19 6 59 39 15 4 Ecology edit Main article Ecology of the San Francisco Estuary See also List of species endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area nbsp Coyote in the Arastradero PreserveMarine wildlife edit The Bay Area is home to a diverse array of wildlife and along with the connected San Joaquin River Delta represents one of California s most important ecological habitats 93 California s Dungeness crab Pacific halibut and the California scorpionfish are all significant components of the bay s fisheries 94 The bay s salt marshes now represent most of California s remaining salt marsh and support a number of endangered species and provide key ecosystem services such as filtering pollutants and sediments from the rivers 95 Most famously the bay is a key link in the Pacific Flyway and with millions of shorebirds annually visiting the bay shallows as a refuge is the most important component of the flyway south of Alaska 96 Many endangered species of birds are also found here the California least tern the California clapper rail the snowy egret and the black crowned night heron 97 nbsp River otters sunning on rocks in the Inner Harbor of RichmondThere is also a significant diversity of salmonids present in the bay Steelhead populations in California have dramatically declined due to human and natural causes in the Bay Area all naturally spawned anadromous steelhead populations below natural and manmade impassable barriers in California streams from the Russian River to Aptos Creek and the drainages of San Francisco San Pablo and Suisun Bays are listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act 98 The Central California Coast coho salmon population is the most endangered of the many troubled salmon populations on the west coast of the United States including populations residing in tributaries to the San Francisco Bay 99 California Coast Chinook salmon were historically native to the Guadalupe River in San Francisco Bay and Chinook salmon runs persist today in the Guadalupe River Coyote Creek Napa River and Walnut Creek 100 Industrial mining and other uses of mercury have resulted in a widespread distribution of that poisonous metal in the bay with uptake in the bay s phytoplankton and contamination of its sportfish 101 nbsp Martinez beaver in Alhambra CreekAquatic mammals are also present in the bay Before 1825 Spanish French English Russians and Americans were drawn to the Bay Area to harvest prodigious quantities of beaver river otter marten fisher mink fox weasel harbor and fur seals and sea otter This early fur trade known as the California Fur Rush was more than any other single factor responsible for opening up the West and the San Francisco Bay Area in particular to world trade 102 By 1817 sea otter in the area were practically eliminated 103 Since then the California golden beaver re established a presence in Alhambra Creek followed by the Napa River and Sonoma Creek in the north and the Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek in the south 104 The North American river otter which was first reported in Redwood Creek at Muir Beach in 1996 105 has since been spotted in the North Bay s Corte Madera Creek the South Bay s Coyote Creek 106 as well as in 2010 in San Francisco Bay itself at the Richmond Marina Other mammals include the internationally famous sea lions who began inhabiting San Francisco s Pier 39 after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake 107 and the locally famous Humphrey the Whale a humpback whale who entered San Francisco Bay twice on errant migrations in the late 1980s and early 1990s 108 Bottlenose dolphins and harbor porpoises have recently returned to the bay having been absent for many decades Historically this was the northern extent of their warm water species range 109 Birds edit nbsp Black necked stilts in flight at the Baylands Nature PreserveIn addition to the many species of marine birds that can be seen in the Bay Area many other species of birds make the Bay Area their home making the region a popular destination for birdwatching 110 Many birds including many described in the following paragraphs are listed as endangered species despite once being common in the region due to human and other factors Western burrowing owls were originally listed as a species of special concern by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1979 California s population declined 60 from the 1980s to the early 1990s and continues to decline at roughly 8 per year 111 A 1992 93 survey reported little to no breeding burrowing owls in most of the western counties in the Bay Area leaving only Alameda Contra Costa and Solano counties as remnants of a once large breeding range 112 nbsp A burrowing owl in AntiochBald eagles were once common in the Bay Area but habitat destruction and thinning of eggs from DDT poisoning reduced the California state population to 35 nesting pairs Bald eagles disappeared from the Bay Area in 1915 and only began returning in recent years 113 In the 1980s an effort to re introduce the species to the area began with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group and the San Francisco Zoo importing birds and eggs from Vancouver Island and northeastern California 114 and there are now nineteen nesting couples in eight of the Bay Area s nine counties 113 Other once absent species that have returned to the Bay Area include Swainson s hawk white tailed kite and the osprey 113 nbsp Heermann s gulls with a double crested cormorant and a Western gull at Point Reyes National SeashoreIn 1927 zoologist Joseph Grinnell wrote that osprey were only rare visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area although he noted records of one or two used nests in the broken tops of redwood trees along the Russian River 115 In 1989 the southern breeding range of the osprey in the Bay Area was Kent Lake although osprey were noted to be extending their range further south in the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada 116 In 2014 a Bay Area wide survey found osprey had extended their breeding range southward with nesting sites as far south as Hunters Point in San Francisco on the west side and Hayward on the east side while further studies have found nesting sites as far south as the Los Gatos Creek watershed indicating that the nesting range now includes the entire length of San Francisco Bay 117 Most nests were built on man made structures close to areas of human disturbance likely due to lack of mature trees near the Bay 118 The wild turkey population was introduced in the 1960s by state game officials and by 2015 have become a common sight in East Bay communities 119 Geology and landforms edit nbsp Satellite photo of the Bay Area taken in March 2019 The gray areas are signs of urbanization and represent the most populated areas The Bay Area is well known for the complexity of its landforms that are the result of the forces of plate tectonics acting over of millions of years since the region is located in the middle of a meeting point between two plates 120 Nine out of eleven distinct assemblages have been identified in a single county Alameda 121 Diverse assemblages adjoin in complex arrangements due to offsets along the many faults both active and stable in the area As a consequence many types of rock and soil are found in the region The oldest rocks are metamorphic rocks that are associated with granite in the Salinian Block west of the San Andreas fault These were formed from sedimentary rocks of sandstone limestone and shale in uplifted seabeds 122 Volcanic deposits also exist in the Bay Area left behind by the movement of the San Andreas fault whose movement sliced a subduction plate and allowed magma to briefly flow to the surface 123 The region has considerable vertical relief in its landscapes that are not in the alluvial plains leading to the bay or in inland valleys The topography and geologic history of the Bay Area can largely be attributed to the compressive forces between the Pacific Plate and the North American plate 124 nbsp A map displaying each of the seven major fault lines in the Bay Area and the probability of an M6 7 or higher earthquake occurring between 2003 and 2032The three major ridge structures in the Bay Area part of the Pacific Coast Range are all roughly parallel to the major faults The Santa Cruz Mountains along the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Hills in Marin County follow the San Andreas fault The Berkeley Hills San Leandro Hills and their southern ridgeline extension through Mission Peak roughly follow the Hayward fault and the Diablo Range which includes Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton and runs along the Calaveras fault 125 In total the Bay Area is traversed by seven major fault systems with hundreds of related faults all of which are stressed by the relative motion between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate or by compressive stresses between these plates The fault systems include the Hayward Fault Zone Concord Green Valley Fault Calaveras Fault Clayton Marsh Creek Greenville Fault Rodgers Creek Fault and the San Gregorio Fault 126 Significant blind thrust faults faults with near vertical motion and no surface ruptures are associated with portions of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the northern reaches of the Diablo Range and Mount Diablo These hidden faults which are not as well known pose a significant earthquake hazard 127 Among the more well understood faults as of 2014 scientists estimate a 72 probability of a magnitude 6 7 earthquake occurring along either the Hayward Rogers Creek or San Andreas fault with an earthquake more likely to occur in the East Bay s Hayward Fault 128 Two of the largest earthquakes in recent history were the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake Hydrography edit Main article Hydrography of the San Francisco Bay Area nbsp A map of the water features in the San Francisco Bay Area including the bay and adjacent marshes ponds and tributariesThe Bay Area is home to a complex network of watersheds marshes rivers creeks reservoirs and bays that predominantly drain into the San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean The largest bodies of water in the Bay Area are the San Francisco San Pablo and Suisun estuaries Major rivers of the North Bay include the Napa River the Petaluma River the Gualala River and the Russian River the former two drain into San Pablo Bay the latter two into the Pacific Ocean In the South Bay the Guadalupe River drains into San Francisco Bay near Alviso 129 There are also several lakes present in the Bay Area including man made lakes like Lake Berryessa 130 and natural albeit heavily modified lakes like Lake Merritt 131 Prior to the introduction of European agricultural methods the shores of San Francisco Bay consisted mostly of tidal marshes 132 Today the bay has been significantly altered heavily re engineered to accommodate the needs of water delivery shipping agriculture and urban development with side effects including the loss of wetlands and the introduction of contaminants and invasive species 133 Approximately 85 of those marshes have been lost or destroyed but about 50 marshes and marsh fragments remain 132 Huge tracts of the marshes were originally destroyed by farmers for agricultural purposes then repurposed to serve as salt evaporation ponds to produce salt for food and other purposes 134 Today regulations limit the destruction of tidal marshes and large portions are currently being rehabilitated to their natural state 132 Over time droughts and wildfires have increased in frequency and become less seasonal and more year round further straining the region s water security 135 136 137 Demographics editHistorical population CensusPop Note 1860114 074 1870265 808133 0 1880422 12858 8 1890547 61829 7 1900658 11120 2 1910925 70840 7 19201 182 91127 8 19301 578 00933 4 19401 734 3089 9 19502 681 32254 6 19603 638 93935 7 19704 628 19927 2 19805 179 78411 9 19906 023 57716 3 20006 783 76012 6 20107 150 7395 4 20207 765 6408 6 Note Nine County Population Totals 61 nbsp Ethnic origins in the Bay AreaAccording to the 2010 United States Census the population of the nine county Bay Area was 7 15 million with 49 6 male and 50 4 female 61 Of these approximately 2 3 million 32 are foreign born 138 In 2010 the racial makeup of the nine county Bay Area was 52 5 White 42 4 were non Hispanic and 10 1 were Hispanic 23 3 Asian 6 7 non Hispanic Black or African American 0 7 Native American or Alaska Native 0 6 Pacific Islander 5 4 from two or more races and 10 8 from other races 139 Hispanic or Latino residents of any race formed 23 5 of the population The Bay Area cities of Vallejo Suisun City Oakland San Leandro Fairfield and Richmond are among the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States 140 Non Hispanic whites form majorities of the population in Marin Napa and Sonoma counties 61 Whites also make up the majority in the eastern regions of the East Bay centered around the Lamorinda and Tri Valley areas 61 San Francisco s North Beach district is considered the Little Italy of the city and was once home to a significant Italian American community San Francisco Marin County 141 and the Lamorinda area 142 all have substantial Jewish communities The Latino population is spread throughout the Bay Area but among the nine counties the greatest number live in Santa Clara County while Contra Costa County has seen the highest growth rate 143 The largest Hispanic or Latino groups were those of Mexican 17 9 Salvadoran 1 3 Guatemalan 0 6 Puerto Rican 0 6 and Nicaraguan 0 5 ancestry Mexican Americans make up the largest share of Hispanic residents in Napa county 144 while Central Americans make up the largest share in San Francisco many of whom live in the Mission District which is home to many residents of Salvadoran and Guatemalan descent 145 Maps of racial distribution according to 2010 U S Census Each dot is 25 people White Black Asian Hispanic or Other yellow nbsp San Francisco and Oakland nbsp San Jose The Asian American population in the Bay Area is one of the largest in North America Asian Americans make up the plurality in two major counties in the Bay Area Santa Clara County and Alameda County 146 The largest Asian American groups were those of Chinese 7 9 Filipino 5 1 Indian 3 3 Vietnamese 2 5 and Japanese 0 9 heritage Asian Americans also constitute a majority in Cupertino Fremont Milpitas Union City and significant populations in Dublin Foster City Hercules Millbrae San Ramon Saratoga Sunnyvale and Santa Clara The cities of San Jose and San Francisco had the third and fourth most Asian American residents in the United States 147 In San Francisco Chinese Americans constitute 21 4 of the population and constitute the single largest ethnic group in the city 148 The Bay Area is home to over 382 950 Filipino Americans one of the largest communities of Filipino people outside of the Philippines with the largest proportion of Filipino Americans concentrating themselves within American Canyon Daly City Fairfield Hercules South San Francisco Union City and Vallejo 149 Santa Clara county and increasingly the East Bay house a significant Indian American community 150 There are more than 100 000 people of Vietnamese ancestry residing within San Jose city limits the largest Vietnamese population of any city in the world outside of Vietnam 151 In addition there is a sizable community of Korean Americans in Santa Clara county where San Jose is located 152 East Bay cities such as Richmond and Oakland and the North Bay city of Santa Rosa have plentiful populations of Laotian and Cambodians in certain neighborhoods 153 Pacific Islanders such as Samoans and Tongans have the largest presence in East Palo Alto where they constitute over 7 of the population 154 The African American population of San Francisco was formerly substantial had a thriving jazz scene and was known as Harlem of the West While black residents formed one seventh of the city s population in 1970 today they have mostly moved to parts of the East Bay and North Bay including Antioch 155 Fairfield and out of the Bay Area entirely 156 The South Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa was once home to a primarily black community until the 1980s when many Latino immigrants settled in the area 157 Other cities with large numbers of African Americans include Vallejo 28 158 Richmond 26 159 East Palo Alto 17 154 and the CDP of Marin City 38 160 Since the economy of the Bay Area heavily relies on innovation and high tech skills a relatively educated population exists in the region Roughly 87 4 of Bay Area residents have attained a high school degree or higher 161 while 46 of adults in the Bay Area have earned a post secondary degree or higher 162 Counties by population and ethnicityCounty Type Population White Other Asian African Native HispanicAlameda County 1 494 876 46 2 13 8 26 2 12 5 1 3 22 2 Contra Costa County 1 037 817 63 2 12 5 14 3 9 1 0 5 23 9 Marin County 250 666 79 9 11 0 5 6 3 0 0 2 14 0 Napa County 135 377 81 3 8 9 6 8 2 0 0 3 31 5 San Francisco City and county 870 887 48 5 11 3 33 3 6 1 0 9 15 1 San Mateo County 711 622 59 6 11 1 24 6 2 9 1 8 24 9 Santa Clara County 1 762 754 50 9 13 8 31 8 2 6 0 4 26 6 Solano County 411 620 52 1 17 6 14 4 14 6 1 4 23 6 Sonoma County 478 551 81 6 11 3 4 0 1 2 1 5 24 3 Counties by population and incomeCounty Type Population Per capita income Median household income Median family incomeAlameda County 1 494 876 34 937 70 821 87 012Contra Costa County 1 037 817 38 141 79 135 93 437Marin County 250 666 54 605 89 605 113 826Napa County 135 377 35 309 68 641 79 884San Francisco City and county 870 887 46 777 72 947 87 329San Mateo County 711 622 45 346 87 633 104 370Santa Clara County 1 762 754 40 698 89 064 103 255Solano County 411 620 29 367 69 914 79 316Sonoma County 478 551 33 119 64 343 78 227Affluence edit The Bay Area is the wealthiest region per capita in the United States due primarily to the economic power engines of San Jose San Francisco and Oakland The Bay Area city of Pleasanton has the second highest household income in the country after New Canaan Connecticut However discretionary income is very comparable with the rest of the country primarily because the higher cost of living offsets the increased income 163 There are 285 000 millionaires living in the region the third highest amongst the world s metropolitan areas after New York City and Tokyo as of 2022 164 The amount of wealth held by Bay Area residents is about 2 6 trillion the second highest in the world after New York City and just ahead of Tokyo as of 2021 165 By 2014 the Bay Area s wealth gap was considerable the top ten percent of income earners took home over eleven times as much as the bottom ten percent 166 and a Brookings Institution study found the San Francisco metro area which excludes four Bay Area counties to be the third most unequal urban area in the country 167 Among the wealthy forty seven Bay Area residents made the Forbes magazine s 400 richest Americans list published in 2007 Thirteen lived in San Francisco proper placing it seventh among cities in the world Crime edit Statistics regarding crime rates in the Bay Area generally fall into two categories violent crime and property crime Historically violent crime has been concentrated in a few cities in the East Bay namely Oakland Richmond and Antioch but also East Palo Alto in the Peninsula Vallejo in the North Bay and San Francisco 168 Nationally Oakland s murder rate ranked 18th among cities with over 100 000 residents and third for violent crimes per capita 169 According to a 2015 Federal Bureau of Investigation report Oakland was also the source of the most violent crime in the Bay Area with 16 9 reported incidents per thousand people Vallejo came in second at 8 7 incidents per thousand people while San Pablo Antioch and San Francisco rounded out the top five East Palo Alto which used to have the Bay Area s highest murder rate saw violent crime incidents drop 65 between 2013 and 2014 while Oakland saw violent crime incidents drop 15 168 Meanwhile San Jose which was one of the safest large cities in the United States in the early 2000s has seen its violent crime rates trend upwards 170 Cities with the lowest rate of violent crime include the Peninsula cities of Los Altos and Foster City East Bay cities of San Ramon and Danville and southern foothill cities of Saratoga and Cupertino In 2015 45 Bay Area cities counted zero homicides the largest of which was Daly City 168 In 2015 Oakland also saw the highest rates of property crime in the Bay Area at 59 4 incidents per thousand residents with San Francisco following close behind at 53 incidents per thousand residents The East Bay cities Pleasant Hill Berkeley and San Leandro rounded out the top five Saratoga and Windsor saw the least rates of property crime 168 Additionally San Francisco saw the most reports of arson 169 Several street gangs operate in the Bay Area including the Surenos and Nortenos in San Francisco s Mission District 171 African American street gangs familiar in other cities including the Crips have struggled to establish footholds in the city 172 although gangs with shotcallers in China including Triad groups such as the Wo Hop To have been reported active 173 In 1977 an ongoing rivalry between two Chinese gangs led to a shooting attack at the Golden Dragon restaurant in Chinatown which left five people dead and eleven wounded Five members of the Joe Boys gang were arrested and convicted of the crime 174 Oakland which also sees organized gang violence implemented Operation Ceasefire in 2012 in an effort to reduce the violence 175 Economy edit nbsp Silicon Valley is the largest tech hub in the world and home to Big Tech companies like Apple Alphabet Meta Intel Netflix Uber Nvidia AMD HP Inc X Corp Yahoo and many more The three principal cities of the Bay Area represent separate employment clusters and are dominated by different but commingled industries San Francisco is home to the region s tourism financial industry and is host to numerous conventions The East Bay centered around Oakland is home to heavy industry metalworking oil and shipping while San Jose is the heart of Silicon Valley where a major pole of economic activity around the technology industry resides Furthermore the North Bay is a major player in the country s agriculture and wine industry 66 In all the Bay Area is home to the second highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies second only to the New York metropolitan area with thirty such companies based throughout the region 176 nbsp San Francisco s Financial District despite its declining importance 177 is still considered the Wall Street of the West In 2019 the greater fourteen county statistical area had a GDP of 1 086 trillion the third highest among combined statistical areas 178 The smaller nine county Bay Area had a GDP of 995 billion in the same year which nonetheless would rank it fifth among U S states and 17th among countries 178 However as of 2022 COVID 19 and Deltacron hybrid variant are both accelerated the exodus of business from the downtown core of San Francisco San Jose and Oakland 179 180 In 2023 the Hoover Institution in California in addition to various media organizations warned of a uniquely severe long term economic doom loop impending for San Francisco 181 Attributed factors advanced explaining an indefinite decline in the Bay Area s economic status range from crime narcotics and other drugs and homelessness to the West Coast s and particularly the Bay Area s challenge to remain relevant as a major commercial and financial center given its physical barriers and relative geographic isolation from other North American commercial centers in a era of increasingly ubiquitous e commerce 182 183 Additionally noted is the Bay Area s steadily decreasing lead in the geographically dispersing high technology field 184 185 nbsp The Port of Oakland is one of the busiest ports in the United States Despite this Bay Area is still the home to four of the world s ten largest companies by market capitalization and several major corporations are still headquartered in the Bay Area including Google Facebook Apple Inc Clorox Hewlett Packard Intel Adobe Inc Applied Materials eBay Cisco Systems Symantec Netflix Sony Interactive Entertainment Electronic Arts and Salesforce energy companies Chevron and PG amp E financial service companies Visa Inc and Wells Fargo apparel retailers Gap Inc Levi Strauss amp Co and Ross Stores aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin local grocer Safeway and biotechnology companies Genentech and Gilead Sciences 183 186 The largest manufacturers include Tesla Inc Lam Research Bayer Chevron and Coca Cola 187 The Port of Oakland is the fifth largest container shipping port in the United States and Oakland is also a major rail terminus 188 In research NASA s Ames Research Center and the federal research facility Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are based in Mountain View and Livermore respectively In the North Bay Napa and Sonoma counties are well known for their wineries including Fantesca Estate amp Winery Domaine Chandon California and D Agostini Winery 189 nbsp California s Wine Country centered around Napa and Sonoma is a world renowned wine growing region In spite of the San Francisco Bay Area s industries contributing to the aforementioned economic growth there is a significant level of poverty in the region Rising housing prices and gentrification in the San Francisco Bay Area are often framed as symptomatic of high income tech workers moving in to previously low income underserved neighborhoods 190 Two notable policy strategies to prevent eviction due to rising rents include rent control and subsidies such as Section 8 and Shelter Plus Care 191 Moreover in 2002 then San Francisco Supervisor Gavin Newsom introduced the Care Not Cash initiative diverting funds away from cash handouts which he argued encouraged drug use to housing This proved controversial with some suggesting his rhetoric criminalized poverty while others supporting the prioritizing of housing as a solution 192 To this day the effectiveness of Care Not Cash continues to be debated nbsp Sausalito in the North Bay is a popular tourist destination Contrary to historical patterns of low incomes within the inner city poverty rates in the Bay Area are shifting such that they are increasing more rapidly in suburban areas than in urban areas 193 It is not yet clear whether the suburbanization of poverty is due to the relocation of poor populations or shifting income levels in the respective regions However the mid 2000s housing boom encouraged city dwellers to move into the newly cheap houses in suburbs outside of the city and these suburban housing developments were then most affected by the 2008 housing bubble burst As such people in poverty experience decreased access to transportation due to underdeveloped public transport infrastructure in suburban areas Suburban poverty is most prevalent among Hispanics and Blacks and affects native born people more significantly than foreign born 193 194 As greater proportions of their incomes are spent on rent many impoverished populations in the San Francisco Bay Area also face food insecurity and health setbacks 195 196 Housing edit nbsp High density urbanism in northeastern San FranciscoThe Bay Area is the most expensive location to live in the United States outside of Manhattan 197 Strong economic growth has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs but coupled with severe zoning restrictions on building new housing units 198 has resulted in an extreme housing shortage For example from 2012 to 2017 the San Francisco metropolitan area added 400 000 new jobs but only 60 000 new housing units 199 As of 2016 the entire Bay Area had 3 6 M jobs and 2 6 M housing units for a ratio of 1 4 jobs per housing unit 200 significantly above the ratio for the US as a whole which stands at 1 1 jobs per housing unit 152M jobs 136M housing units 201 202 As of 2017 the average income needed in order to purchase a house in the region was 179 390 while the median price for a house was 895 000 and the average cost of a home in the Bay Area being 440 000 more than twice the national average while the average monthly rent is 1 240 50 percent more than the national average 203 204 In 2018 a Bay Area household income of 117 000 was classified as low income by the Department of Housing and Urban Development 205 nbsp Homeless encampment in OaklandWith high costs of living many Bay Area residents allocate large amounts of their income towards housing 20 percent of Bay Area homeowners spend more than half their income on housing while roughly 25 percent of renters in the Bay Area spend more than half of their incomes on rent 206 Expending an average of more than 28 000 per year on housing in addition to roughly 13 400 on transportation Bay Area residents spend around 41 420 per year to live in the region This combined total of housing and transportation signifies 59 percent of the Bay Area s median household income conveying the extreme costs of living 206 nbsp Carolands mansion in HillsboroughThe high rate of homelessness in the Bay Area can be attributed to the high cost of living 207 No approximate number of homeless people living in the Bay Area can be determined due to the difficulty of tracking homeless residents 207 However according to San Francisco s Department of Public Health the number of homeless people in San Francisco alone is 9 975 208 Additionally San Francisco was revealed to have the most unsheltered homeless people in the country 208 Because of the high cost of housing many workers in the Bay Area live far from their place of employment contributing to one of the highest percentages of extreme commuters in the United States or commutes that take over ninety minutes in one direction For example about 50 000 people commute from neighboring San Joaquin County into the nine county Bay Area daily 209 and more extremely some workers commute semimonthly by flying 210 Education editColleges and universities edit See also List of colleges and universities in the San Francisco Bay Area nbsp San Jose State University is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University The Bay Area is home to a large number of colleges and universities The first institution of higher education in the Bay Area Santa Clara University was founded by Jesuits in 1851 211 who also founded the University of San Francisco in 1855 212 San Jose State University was founded in 1857 and is the oldest public college on the West Coast of the United States 213 According to the Brookings Institution 45 of residents of the two county San Jose metro area have a college degree and 43 of residents in the five county San Francisco metro area have a college degree the second and fourth highest ranked metro areas in the country for higher educational attainment 214 Rankings compiled by U S News amp World Report feature several Bay Area universities in prominent spots Stanford University is one of the world s preeminent research universities ranked 1 in the world for its business school and law school 215 The University of California Berkeley has been the highest ranked public university in the country for the past nineteen years Additionally San Jose State University and Sonoma State University were respectively ranked sixth and tenth among public colleges in the West Coast 216 nbsp nbsp Stanford University top and University of California Berkeley top are widely considered two of the most prestigious universities in the world The city of San Francisco is host to two additional University of California schools neither of which confer undergraduate degrees The University of California San Francisco is entirely dedicated to graduate education in health and biomedical sciences It is ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States 217 and operates the UCSF Medical Center which is the highest ranked hospital in California 218 The University of California College of the Law founded in Civic Center in 1878 is the oldest law school in California and claims more judges on the state bench than any other institution 219 The city is also host to a California State University school San Francisco State University 220 Additional campuses of the California State University system in the Bay Area are Cal State East Bay in Hayward and Cal Maritime in Vallejo California Community Colleges System also operates a number of community colleges in the Bay Area According to CNNMoney the Bay Area community college with the highest success rate is De Anza College in Cupertino which is also the tenth highest ranked in the nation Other relatively well ranked Bay Area community colleges include Foothill College City College of San Francisco West Valley College Diablo Valley College and Las Positas College 221 Many scholars have pointed out the overlap of education and the economy within the Bay Area According to multiple reports research universities such as Stanford University University of California Santa Cruz and University of California Berkeley are essential to the culture and economy in the area 162 These universities also provide countless public programs for people to learn and enhance skills relevant to the local economies These opportunities not only provide educational services to the community but also generate significant amounts of revenue 162 Primary and secondary schools edit See also List of high schools in California nbsp The Galileo Academy of Science amp Technology an SFUSD public schoolPublic primary and secondary education in the Bay Area is provided through school districts organized through three structures elementary school districts high school districts or unified school districts and are governed by an elected board In addition many Bay Area counties and the city of San Francisco operate special service schools that are geared towards providing education to students with handicaps or special needs 222 An alternative public educational setting is offered by charter schools which may be established with a renewable charter of up to five years by third parties The mechanism for charter schools in the Bay Area is governed by the California Charter Schools Act of 1992 223 nbsp Bellarmine College Preparatory is one of the oldest schools in California According to rankings compiled by U S News amp World Report the highest ranked high school in California is the Pacific Collegiate School located in Santa Cruz and part of the greater Bay Area Within the traditional nine county boundaries the highest ranked high school is KIPP San Jose Collegiate in San Jose Among the top twenty high schools in California include Lowell High School in San Francisco Monta Vista High School in Cupertino Lynbrook High School in San Jose the University Preparatory Academy in San Jose Mission San Jose High School in Fremont Oakland Charter High School in Oakland Henry M Gunn High School in Palo Alto Gilroy Early College Academy in Gilroy and Saratoga High School in Saratoga 224 Transportation editMain article Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area nbsp The Bay Area is served by a variety of rail transit systems including ACE Amtrak BART Caltrain Muni Metro SMART and VTA Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area is reliant on a complex multimodal infrastructure consisting of roads bridges highways rail tunnels airports ferries and bike and pedestrian paths The development maintenance and operation of these different modes of transportation are overseen by various agencies including the California Department of Transportation Caltrans San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission 225 These and other organizations collectively manage several interstate highways and state routes two subway networks three commuter rail agencies eight trans bay bridges transbay ferry service local bus service 226 three international airports San Francisco San Jose and Oakland 227 and an extensive network of roads tunnels and paths such as the San Francisco Bay Trail 228 The Bay Area hosts an extensive freeway and highway system that is particularly prone to traffic congestion with one study by Inrix concluding that the Bay Area s traffic was the fourth worst in the world 229 There are some city streets in San Francisco where gaps occur in the freeway system partly the result of the Freeway Revolt which prevented a freeway only thoroughfare through San Francisco between the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge the western terminus of Interstate 80 and the southern terminus of the Golden Gate Bridge U S Route 101 230 Additional damage that occurred in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake resulted in freeway segments being removed instead of being reinforced or rebuilt leading to the revitalization of neighborhoods such as San Francisco s Embarcadero and Hayes Valley 231 The greater Bay Area contains the three principal north south highways in California Interstate 5 U S Route 101 and California State Route 1 U S 101 and State Route 1 directly serve the traditional nine county region while Interstate 5 bypasses to the east in San Joaquin County to provide a more direct Los Angeles Sacramento route Additional local highways connect the various subregions of the Bay Area together 232 nbsp Bay Area Rapid Transit BART serves 50 stations across the region excluding the North Bay counties There are over two dozen public transit agencies in the Bay Area with overlapping service areas that utilize different modes with designated connection points between the various operators Bay Area Rapid Transit BART a heavy rail metro system operates in five counties and connects San Francisco and Oakland via the Transbay Tube Other commuter rail systems link San Francisco with the Peninsula and San Jose Caltrain San Jose with the Tri Valley Area and San Joaquin County ACE and Sonoma with Marin County SMART 226 In addition Amtrak provides frequent commuter service between San Jose and the East Bay with Sacramento and long distance service to other parts of the United States 233 Muni Metro operates a hybrid streetcar subway system within the city of San Francisco and VTA operates a light rail system in Santa Clara County These rail systems are supplemented by numerous bus agencies and transbay ferries such as Golden Gate Ferry and the San Francisco Bay Ferry Most of these agencies accept the Clipper Card a reloadable contactless smart card as a universal electronic payment system 226 Government and politics editMain article Politics in the San Francisco Bay Area See also List of cities and towns in the San Francisco Bay Area nbsp The Government of San Francisco is based at San Francisco City Hall Government in the San Francisco Bay Area consists of multiple actors including 101 city and nine county governments a dozen regional agencies and a large number of single purpose special districts such as municipal utility districts and transit districts 234 Incorporated cities are responsible for providing police service zoning issuing building permits and maintaining public streets among other duties 235 County governments are responsible for elections and voter registration vital records property assessment and records tax collection public health agricultural regulations and building inspections among other duties 236 237 Public education is provided by independent school districts which may be organized as elementary districts high school districts unified school districts combining elementary and high school grades or community college districts and are managed by an elected school board 222 A variety of special districts also exist and provide a single purpose such as delivering public transit in the case of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District 238 or monitoring air quality levels in the case of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District 69 nbsp The Government of San Jose is based at San Jose City Hall Politics in the Bay Area is widely regarded as one of the most liberal in California and in the United States 239 240 Since the late 1960s the Bay Area has cemented its role as the most liberal region in California politics giving greater support for the center left Democratic Party s candidates than any other region of the state even as California trended towards the Democratic Party over time 241 According to research by the Public Policy Institute of California the Bay Area and the North Coast counties of Humboldt and Mendocino were the most consistently and strongly liberal areas in California 241 According to the California Secretary of State the Democratic Party holds a voter registration advantage in every congressional district State Senate district State Assembly district State Board of Equalization district all nine counties and all of the 101 incorporated municipalities in the Bay Area On the other hand the center right Republican Party holds a voter registration advantage in only one State Assembly sub district the portion of the 4th in Solano County 242 According to the Cook Partisan Voting Index CPVI the Bay Area s districts tend to favor Democratic candidates by roughly 40 to 50 percentage points considerably above the mean for California and the nation overall 243 Bay Area counties by population and voter registration County Population 244 Registered voters 245 Democratic 245 Republican 245 D R spread 245 AmericanIndependent 245 Green 245 Libertarian 245 Peace andFreedom 245 AmericansElect 245 Other 245 No party preference 245 Alameda 1 494 876 87 97 60 03 10 93 49 1 2 16 0 56 0 64 0 4 0 0 0 60 24 67 Contra Costa 1 037 817 93 24 53 26 18 51 34 75 3 2 0 4 0 86 0 39 0 0 0 4 22 6 Marin 250 666 97 66 61 42 12 63 48 79 2 66 0 6 0 78 0 2 0 0 0 48 20 95 Napa 135 377 94 51 50 02 21 39 28 63 3 59 0 57 1 15 0 38 0 0 0 68 21 78 San Francisco 870 887 78 56 62 67 6 74 55 94 1 71 0 54 0 58 0 34 0 0 0 3 25 92 San Mateo 711 622 88 59 55 54 14 12 41 42 2 43 0 39 0 72 0 31 0 0 0 58 25 34 Santa Clara 1 762 754 85 68 50 44 16 64 33 81 2 41 0 36 0 81 0 39 0 0 0 29 28 63 Solano 411 620 89 5 48 59 22 09 26 5 3 56 0 39 1 04 0 5 0 0 0 62 22 88 Sonoma 478 551 91 4 56 56 17 57 38 99 3 08 0 73 1 11 0 35 0 0 0 52 19 4 nbsp Oakland City HallIn U S Presidential elections since 1960 the nine county Bay Area voted for Republican candidates only two times in both cases voting for a Californian in 1972 for Richard Nixon and again in 1980 for Ronald Reagan The last county to vote for a Republican presidential candidate was Napa county in 1988 for George H W Bush Since then all nine Bay Area counties have voted consistently for the Democratic candidate 246 Currently both of California s U S Senators are Democrats and all twelve U S congressional districts located wholly or partially in the Bay Area are represented by a Democratic representative Additionally every Bay Area member of the California State Senate and the California State Assembly is a registered Democrat The Bay Area s association with progressive politics has led to the term San Francisco values being used by conservative commentators in a pejorative sense to describe the secular progressive culture in the area 247 Regional governance edit The Association of Bay Area Governments ABAG is the principal metropolitan planning organization for the Bay Area The Metropolitan Transportation Commission MTC is the region s transportation planning agency which has functionally merged with ABAG through staff consolidation ABAG and MTC developed Plan Bay Area which is the area s regional transportation plan in 2013 and with its goal date for 2040 Other regional governance agencies include the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Bay Area Toll Authority Bay Restoration Authority and the Bay Conservation amp Development Commission Culture editArts edit Main article Art in the San Francisco Bay Area nbsp Cantor Arts Center in StanfordThe Bay Area was a hub of the Abstract Expressionism movement of painting It is associated with the works of Clyfford Still who began teaching at the California School of Fine Arts now the San Francisco Art Institute in 1946 leaving a lasting influence on the artistic styles of Bay Area painters up to the present day 248 A few years later Abstract Expressionist painter David Park painted Kids on Bikes in 1950 which retained many aspects of abstract expressionism but with original distinguishing features that would later lead to the Bay Area Figurative Movement 249 nbsp The California Palace of the Legion of Honor of Fine Arts Museums SFWhile both the Figurative Movement and the Abstract Expressionism movement arose from art schools Funk art would later rise out of the region s underground and was characterized by informal sharing of technique among groups of friends and art showcases in cooperative galleries instead of formal museums Later the Bay Area art movement would be heavily influenced by the counterculture movement in the 1960s and art produced during this time reflected the political environment 250 nbsp Oakland Museum of CaliforniaThe San Francisco Renaissance was an era of poetic activity centered on San Francisco and poets such as Gary Snyder Allen Ginsberg Lawrence Ferlinghetti which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetry avant garde in the 1950s The movement which often included visual and performing arts was heavily influenced by cross cultural interests particularly Buddhism Taoism and a general interest in East Asian cultures 251 The Bay Area is presently home to a thriving computer animation industry 252 led by Pixar Animation Studios and Industrial Light amp Magic Pixar based in Emeryville produced the first fully computer animated feature film Toy Story with software it designed in house and whose computer animation films have since garnered 26 Academy Awards and critical acclaim 253 Industrial Light amp Magic which is based in the Presidio in San Francisco was created in 1975 to help create visual effects for the Star Wars series has since been involved with creating visual effects for over three hundred Hollywood films 254 Music edit See also List of bands from the San Francisco Bay Area nbsp Baile folklorico at the 240th anniversary of the founding of San Jose at the Gonzales Peralta AdobeThroughout its recent history the Bay Area has been home to several musical movements that left lasting influences on the genres they affected San Francisco in particular was the center of the counterculture movement in the 1960s which directly led to the rise of several notable musical acts The Grateful Dead which formed in 1965 and Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin all three would be closely associated with the 1967 Summer of Love 255 Jimi Hendrix also had strong connections to the movement and the Bay Area as he lived in Berkeley for a brief time as a child and played in many local venues in that decade 256 255 By the 1970s San Francisco had developed a vibrant jazz scene earning the moniker Harlem of the West 155 The Vietnam War was being fought at the time and Bay Area bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival of El Cerrito became known for their political and socially conscious lyrics against the conflict 257 Carlos Santana rose to fame in the early 1970s with his Santana band and would later be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 258 Two former members of Santana Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie would later lead the formation of the band Journey 259 nbsp The San Francisco Symphony at the Davies Symphony HallDuring the 1980s and early 1990s the Bay Area became home to heavy metal and hard rock bands including Ludicra 260 and also to one of the largest and most influential thrash metal scenes in the world with contributions from Exodus Testament Death Angel Forbidden Vio lence Lȧȧz Rockit Possessed and Blind Illusion in addition to three of the Big Four Metallica Slayer and Megadeth although Metallica Slayer and Megadeth were all technically from Los Angeles those bands are often credited for popularizing and contributing to the Bay Area thrash metal scene during the 1980s by frequently playing shows there especially early in their careers and or before they were signed to a record label 261 262 nbsp Mountain Winery is a concert venue and vineyard in Saratoga The post grunge era in the 1990s featured prominent Bay Area bands Third Eye Blind of San Francisco Counting Crows of Berkeley and Smash Mouth of San Jose and later pop punk rock bands like Green Day 256 The 1990s also saw the emergence of the influential hyphy movement in hip hop derived from the Oakland slang for hyperactive and pioneered by Bay Area rappers Andre Mac Dre Hicks Mistah Fab and E 40 263 Other notable rappers from the Bay Area include Lil B 264 Tupac Shakur MC Hammer Too hort and G Eazy 265 Today much of the rap coming out of Oakland and the East Bay is conscious rap which concerns itself with social issues and awareness 265 The Bay Area is also home to hundreds of classical music ensembles from community choirs to professional orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony California Symphony Fremont Symphony Orchestra Oakland Symphony and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra 266 Theater edit nbsp Fox Theatre in Redwood CityAccording to the regional theater service organization Theatre Bay Area the San Francisco Bay Area is the third largest center of activity for theater companies and actors in the United States after the New York City and Chicago metropolitan areas with 400 companies spread throughout the region 267 The organization was founded in 1976 by the Magic Theatre and American Conservatory Theater ACT in San Francisco and the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley 268 The latter two along with the San Francisco Mime Troupe and Palo Alto based Theatreworks have since gone on to win one Regional Theatre Tony Award each 269 270 nbsp War Memorial Opera House is the home of the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Ballet Several famous actors have arisen from the Bay Area s theatre community including Daveed Diggs from Hamilton and Darren Criss from Hedwig A Very Potter Musical and Glee 271 Locally well regarded actors include James Carpenter a stage actor who has performed at the ACT Berkeley Repertory and San Jose Repertory Theatre among others Rod Gnapp of the Magic Theatre Company Sean San Jose one of the founders of the Campo Santo theater and Campo Santo member Margo Hall 272 The Bay Area also has an active youth theater scene ACT and the Berkeley Repertory both run classes and camps for young actors as do the Peninsula Youth Theater and Willow Glen Children s Theatre in the Peninsula and South Bay Bay Area Children s Theater and Danville Children s Musical Theater in the East Bay and Marin Shakespeare in the North Bay among many others 273 274 Media editMain article Media in the San Francisco Bay Area nbsp Sutro Tower is a broadcast tower and local landmark The San Francisco Bay Area is the tenth largest television market 275 and the fourth largest radio market 276 in the U S The Bay Area s oldest radio station KCBS AM began as an experimental station in San Jose in 1909 before the beginning of commercial broadcasting 277 KALW was the Bay Area s first FM radio station and first radio station to begin commercial broadcasting west of the Mississippi River when it signed on the air in 1941 278 KPIX which began broadcasting in 1948 was the first television station to air in the Bay Area and Northern California 279 All major U S television networks have affiliates serving the region including KTVU 2 FOX KRON TV 4 The CW MyNetwork KPIX 5 CBS KGO TV 7 ABC KQED TV 9 PBS KNTV 11 NBC KICU TV 36 Independent KPYX 44 Independent KQEH 54 PBS and KKPX 65 Ion Bloomberg West a show that focuses on topics pertaining to technology and business was launched in 2011 from a studio in and continues to broadcast from San Francisco 280 Public broadcasting outlets include both a television station and a radio station both broadcasting under the call letters KQED from a facility near the Potrero Hill neighborhood KQED FM is the most listened to National Public Radio affiliate in the country 281 Another local broadcaster KPOO is an independent African American owned and operated noncommercial radio station established in 1971 282 nbsp Pixar headquarters in EmeryvilleThe largest newspapers in the Bay Area are the San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury News the highest and second highest most widely circulated newspaper in Northern California 283 The Chronicle is most famous for a former columnist the late Herb Caen whose daily musings attracted critical acclaim and represented the voice of San Francisco The San Francisco Examiner once the cornerstone of William Randolph Hearst s media empire and the home of Ambrose Bierce declined in circulation over the years and now takes the form of a free daily tabloid under new ownership 284 285 Most of the Bay Area s local regions and municipalities also have their own newspapers such as the East Bay Times and San Mateo Daily Journal The national newsmagazine Mother Jones is also based in San Francisco 286 Non English language newspapers include several Chinese language papers such as Sing Tao Daily the largest in the Bay Area by circulation 287 and El Mundo a free Spanish language weekly distributed by the Mercury News 288 Sports and recreation editMain article Sports in the San Francisco Bay Area nbsp Oracle Park home of the SF Giants of Major League BaseballThe Bay Area is home to six professional major league sports franchises The San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League NFL in American football the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball MLB the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association NBA the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League NHL and the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer MLS In football the 49ers play in Levi s Stadium 289 and have won five Super Bowls XVI 290 XIX 291 XXIII 292 XXIV 293 XXIX 294 and lost two XLVII 295 and LIV 296 In baseball the Giants who play at Oracle Park 297 have won eight World Series titles three since relocating to San Francisco 2010 2012 and 2014 from New York in 1958 298 The Athletics who play at the Oakland Coliseum 299 have won nine World Series titles four since relocating to Oakland 1972 1973 1974 and 1989 from Kansas City in 1968 298 nbsp PayPal Park home of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League SoccerIn basketball the Warriors play at the Chase Center and have won seven NBA Finals five since relocating to the Bay Area 1975 2015 2017 2018 and 2022 from Philadelphia in 1962 300 In hockey the Sharks play at the SAP Center They made their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2016 but have not won the Stanley Cup In soccer the Earthquakes play at PayPal Park 301 and have won the MLS Cup twice in 2001 and 2003 The Bay Area hosted matches during the 1994 FIFA World Cup at Stanford Stadium and will host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Levi s Stadium 302 The Bay Area hosted some of the soccer competition during the 1984 Summer Olympics and will do so again during the 2028 Summer Olympics 303 304 nbsp Levi s Stadium in Santa Clara home of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football LeagueOutside of major league sports the Bay Area is home to three minor league franchises In hockey the San Jose Barracuda play in the American Hockey League AHL and are the top affiliate of the San Jose Sharks sharing the same rink at the SAP Center in San Jose 305 In baseball the San Jose Giants in the California League of Minor League Baseball MiLB are the Low A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants playing out of the San Jose Municipal Stadium 306 In soccer the Oakland Roots in the USL Championship the second division of American soccer currently play at Laney Field at Laney College 307 In terms of collegiate sports six Bay Area universities are members of NCAA Division I the highest level of college sports in the country 308 All three football playing schools in the Bay Area are in the Football Bowl Subdivision the highest level of NCAA college football The California Golden Bears and Stanford Cardinal compete in the Pac 12 Conference and the San Jose State Spartans compete in the Mountain West Conference 309 The Cardinal and Golden Bears are intense rivals with their football teams competing annually in the Big Game for the Stanford Axe 310 One of the most famous games in the rivalry occurred in 1982 when the Golden Bears defeated the Cardinal on a last second return kickoff known as The Play 311 nbsp The Tour of California in Morgan HillThe Bay Area has an ideal climate for outdoor recreation such that activities like hiking cycling and jogging are popular among locals 312 313 There are more than 200 mi 320 km of bicycle paths lanes and bike routes just within San Francisco 314 and the Embarcadero and Marina Green are favored sites for skateboarding Extensive public tennis facilities are available in Golden Gate Park and Dolores Park as well as at smaller neighborhood courts throughout the city Boating sailing windsurfing and kitesurfing are among the popular activities on San Francisco Bay and the city maintains a yacht harbor in the Marina District The St Francis Yacht Club and Golden Gate Yacht Club are located in the Marina Harbor 315 316 while the South Beach Yacht Club is located next to Oracle Park 317 The Bay Area was host to the 2013 America s Cup Other Bay Area yacht clubs include the Alameda Yacht Club 318 Berkeley Yacht Club 319 Corinthian Yacht Club 320 in Tiburon Oakland Yacht Club 321 Presidio Yacht Club 322 Sausalito Yacht Club and Sequoia Yacht Club 323 in Redwood City See also edit nbsp San Francisco Bay Area portal nbsp California portalLists of San Francisco Bay Area topics Timeline of the San Francisco Bay Area List of regions of California List of metropolitan areas of the United StatesReferences edit Square Mileage by County California States Association of Counties Archived from the original on February 27 2019 Retrieved September 21 2017 Hinrichs Scott September 28 2006 Mt Hamilton Lick Observatory Archived from the original on August 20 2010 Retrieved September 21 2017 Kurhi Eric December 11 2014 San Jose Overwhelmed pumps led to Alviso flooding residents say it s a wake up call San Jose Mercury News Archived from the original on March 3 2016 Retrieved September 21 2017 a b 2020 Population and Housing State Data United States Census Bureau Retrieved August 19 2021 GDP by county in 2022 PDF www unc edu Gross Domestic Product by County and Metropolitan Area fred stlouisfed org Area Code Map for Northern California Bay Area White Pages Archived from the original on September 24 2017 Retrieved September 21 2017 Scott Mel 1985 The San Francisco Bay Area A Metropolis in Perspective 2 ed University of California Press p ix ISBN 9780520055124 a b c d Office of Management and Budget July 21 2023 OMB Bulletin 23 01 PDF Retrieved October 11 2023 U S Census website U S Census Bureau Archived from the original on August 7 2022 Retrieved December 3 2019 San Jose no longer in Top 10 of most populous U S cities The Mercury News May 18 2023 Retrieved May 20 2023 It s Official A Quarter Million People Fled the Bay Area Since 2020 The San Francisco Standard March 31 2023 Retrieved December 18 2023 Bureau US Census Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Population Totals 2020 2022 Census gov Retrieved December 18 2023 Explore Census Data data census gov Retrieved December 18 2023 a b The Association of Ramaytush Ohlone The Association of Ramaytush Ohlone Retrieved December 14 2023 a b ThemeZaa Muwekma Ohlone Tribe American Indian Native American Tribes Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Retrieved December 14 2023 For origin arrival and displacement based on linguistic evidence in 500 CE per Levy 1978 486 also Bean 1994 xxi cites Levy 1978 For Shell Mound dating F M Stanger 1968 4 IPUMS NHGIS National Historical Geographic Information System www nhgis org Retrieved December 8 2023 Home Bay Area Council Archived from the original on August 31 2019 Retrieved September 7 2019 2019 Sacramento Economic Forecast PDF Bay Area Council Archived PDF from the original on October 26 2019 Stewart Suzanne B November 2003 Archaeological Research Issues For The Point Reyes National Seashore Golden Gate National Recreation Area PDF Sonoma State University Anthropological Studies Center p 11 Archived PDF from the original on June 24 2008 Retrieved September 22 2017 Billiter Bill January 1 1985 3 000 Year Old Connection Claimed Siberia Tie to California Tribes Cited Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Archived from the original on November 28 2014 Retrieved September 22 2017 Visitors San Francisco Historical Information City and County of San Francisco Archived from the original on March 1 2006 Retrieved June 10 2008 Sugden John 2006 Sir Francis Drake London Pimlico pp 130 136 137 ISBN 978 1 844 13762 6 Turner Michael 2006 In Drake s Wake Volume 2 The World Voyage United Kingdom Paul Mould Publishing p 173 ISBN 978 1 904959 28 1 Davis Loren et al November 2013 Inventory and Analysis of Coastal and Submerged Archaeological Site Occurrence on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf U S Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Wagner Henry R April 1924 The Voyage to California of Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno in 1595 California Historical Society Quarterly 3 1 Spate O H K 1979 The Pacific Since Magellan The Spanish Lake London Croom Helm p 110 ISBN 9780816608829 Kuwayama George 1997 Chinese Ceramics in Colonial Mexico Honolulu University of Hawaii Press p 20 ISBN 0 87587 179 8 Aker 1965 Rawls James Bean Walton 2003 California An Interpretive 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