San Francisco Bay Area

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont,
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara

Common name: San Francisco Bay Area or Bay Area
Largest city	- San Jose
Other cities	- San Francisco  - Oakland  - Fremont  - Santa Rosa  - Concord  - Redwood City  - Richmond  - Fairfield  - San Rafael  - Vallejo  - Napa
Population	Ranked 12th and 31st in the U.S.
- Total	San Francisco MSA: 4,317,853 San Jose MSA: 1,839,700[1]
- Density	840/sq. mi.  320/km²
Area	8,757 sq. mi. 22,681 km²
State(s)	California
Elevation
- Highest point	Mount Hamilton 4,360 feet (1,329 m)
- Lowest point	Sea level 0 feet (0 m)

Aerial view of the Bay Area facing east from Golden Gate.

Location of the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CSA and its component Metropolitan Statistical Areas:      San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont      San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara      Santa Rosa-Petaluma      Vallejo-Fairfield      Santa Cruz-Watsonville      Napa

The San Francisco Bay Area, known locally as the Bay Area or the Bay, is an extensive, mostly urbanized region that primarily surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is generally considered to consist of the nine counties which have coastline along the San Francisco Bay and several, smaller bays closer to the Sacramento River delta.^[2][3] This area encompasses the metropolitan areas of San Francisco and San Jose, as well as four other smaller metropolitan areas.^[4] The region is well known for its wealth and high cost of living,^[5] and includes the five wealthiest counties in California. It is home to many cities, towns, military bases, airports, and associated regional, state, and national parks, and is interconnected by a massive network of roads, highways, railroads, bridges, tunnels and commuter rail that form the Pacific coastal hub of transportation for the northern two-thirds of California. The San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which includes all of the Bay Area and also all of San Benito and Santa Cruz counties has 7.4 million people.^[6] The combined San Francisco-San Jose urban area is the 50th largest urban area in the world.

The Bay Area is home to many well-known cities and landmarks. San Francisco is the cultural and financial center of the Bay Area, and has the second highest population density of any major city in North America after New York City.^[7] It is internationally famous for its unique landmarks, steep hills, and vibrant cultural history. The Bay Area is also home to the Silicon Valley, the premier high technology region of the world. Ranging from Redwood City in the north to San Jose, the self-proclaimed "Capital of Silicon Valley," in the south, Silicon Valley is home to many of the industry leaders in technology, including Google, Apple, and Hewlett-Packard. Largely due to Silicon Valley's influence, the Bay Area ranks second to only the larger New York City region in concentration of Fortune 500 companies.^[8] On the east side of the Bay, the city of Oakland has the fifth largest container shipping port in the United States and is a major rail terminus.^[9] The region's northern counties also encompass California's famous Wine Country, home to hundreds of vineyards and wineries. The region is known for leading the sustainable agriculture, organic farming, and sustainable energy movements and for being a leading producer of high quality food, wine, and innovation in the culinary arts. The Bay Area is renowned for its natural beauty, affluence, diversity, and progressive thinking new age reputation.^[10][11]

Subregions

East Bay

The eastern side of the bay, consisting of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is known locally as the East Bay. The East Bay is split into two regions, the inner East Bay, which sits on the Bay shoreline, and the outer East Bay, consisting of inland valleys separated from the inner East Bay by hills and mountains.

• The inner East Bay includes the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, including the cities of Oakland, Hayward, Fremont, Berkeley, and Richmond, as well as many smaller suburbs such as Alameda, Castro Valley, Newark, Union City, Emeryville, Albany, San Leandro, San Pablo, El Sobrante, Pinole, San Lorenzo, Hercules, Rodeo, Piedmont, and El Cerrito. The inner East Bay is more urban, more densely populated, has a much older building stock (built before World War II) and a more ethnically diverse population. Oakland hosts the region's largest seaport and professional sports franchises in basketball, football, and baseball. As with many inner urban areas, the Inner East Bay also features a high incidence of crime as well as other socio-economic problems. According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, more than 50% of all homicides in the Bay Area in 2002 occurred within the city limits of Oakland and Richmond. The homicide rates have steadily increased, as 2005 had the highest homicide rates for both Richmond and Oakland in many years.

A panorama of Downtown Oakland

• The outer East Bay consists of the eastern portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties and is divided into 5 distinct areas: Lamorinda, Central Contra Costa County, East Contra Costa County, the San Ramon Valley, and the Livermore-Amador Valley. The word Lamorinda was coined by combining the names of the cities it includes: Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda. Walnut Creek is situated east of Lamorinda and north of the San Ramon Valley and, together with Concord, Martinez, and Pleasant Hill comprises Central Contra Costa County. The cities of Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley and the unincorporated areas surrounding them comprise East Contra Costa County. The cities of Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore, comprise the Livermore-Amador Valley (sometimes joined with the San Ramon Valley and called the Tri-Valley), or more popularly referred to as the Livermore Valley because Livermore is the largest city in the valley. The San Ramon Valley consists of Alamo, Danville, Diablo and its namesake, San Ramon to the south. The outer East Bay is connected to the inner East Bay by BART, Interstates 80, 580, and 680, and State Route 24 via the Caldecott Tunnel. The outer East Bay is particularly rural in Livermore , while being part suburban in Pleasanton-Dublin, and its infrastructure was mostly built up after World War II. This area remains largely white demographically, although the Hispanic and Filipino populations have grown significantly over the past 2-3 decades, particularly in the Concord area.

North Bay

Napa Valley is most famous for its wine.

The region north of the Golden Gate Bridge is known locally as the North Bay. This area encompasses Marin County, Sonoma County, Napa County and extends eastward into Solano County. The city of Fairfield, being part of Solano County, is often considered the eastern most city of the North Bay, though due to a stronger cultural and socioeconomic similarity to many East Bay cities, it is also often considered the northern most city of the East Bay.

With few exceptions, this region is quite affluent: Marin County is ranked as the wealthiest in the state. The North Bay is comparatively rural to the remainder of the Bay Area, with many areas of undeveloped open space, farmland and vineyards. Santa Rosa in Sonoma County is the North Bay's largest city, with a population of 157,985 and a Metropolitan Statistical Area population of 466,891, making it the fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The North Bay is the only section of the Bay Area that is not currently served by a commuter rail service. The lack of transportation services is mainly because of the lack of population mass in the North Bay, and the fact that it is separated completely from the rest of the Bay Area by water, the only access points being the Golden Gate Bridge leading to San Francisco, the Richmond-San Rafael and Carquinez Bridges leading to Richmond, and the Benicia-Martinez Bridge leading to Martinez.

Peninsula

View of Colma, California, looking down from San Bruno Mountain

The area from San Francisco to the Silicon Valley, geographically part of the San Francisco Peninsula, is known locally as the Peninsula. This area consists of a series of cities and suburban communities in San Mateo County and the northwestern part of Santa Clara County, as well as various towns along the Pacific coast, such as Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. This area is extremely diverse, although it contains significant populations of affluent family households with the exception of East Palo Alto and some parts of Redwood City. Many of the cities and towns had originally been centers of rural life until the post-World War II era when large numbers of middle and upper class Bay Area residents moved in and developed the small villages. Since the 1980s the area has seen a large growth rate of middle and upper class families who have settled in cities like Palo Alto, Woodside, Portola Valley, and Atherton as part of the technology boom of Silicon Valley. Many of these families are of foreign background and have significantly contributed to the diversity of the area. The Peninsula is also home to what used to be one of the deadliest cities in the United States, East Palo Alto. Peninsula cities include: Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Palo Alto, Pacifica, Portola Valley, Redwood City, Redwood Shores, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, South San Francisco and Woodside.

San Francisco

San Francisco panorama from Twin Peaks.

San Francisco is surrounded by water on three sides; the north, east, and west. The city squeezes approximately 845,000 people in only 46.7 square miles, making it the second most densely populated major city in North America after New York City.^[12] On any given day, there can be as many as 1.2 million people in the city because of the commuting population and tourism. San Francisco has the largest commuter population of any city in the Bay Area. The limitations of land area make continued population growth challenging, and has resulted in increased real estate prices. Though San Francisco is located at the tip of the Peninsula, when the Peninsula is discussed it always refers to the communities and geographic locations located south of "the City."

South Bay

A panorama over Downtown San Jose

The communities at the southern region of the Bay Area, are primarily located in what is known as the Santa Clara Valley. These include the major city of San Jose, and its suburbs, including the high-tech hubs of Santa Clara, Milpitas, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Mountain View as well as many other cities like Los Altos, Saratoga, Campbell, Los Gatos and the exurbs of Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Some Peninsula and East Bay towns are sometimes recognized as being in the Santa Clara Valley. Generally, the term South Bay refers to Santa Clara County, but the northwest portion of the county (Palo Alto and Mountain View) is often considered part of the Peninsula (even though these cities are in Santa Clara County).

The South Bay was primarily an agricultural center from the time of California's founding until World War II. During and after the war, working and middle class families migrated to the area to settle and work in the burgeoning aerospace and electronics industries. The South Bay Area experienced rapid growth as agriculture was gradually replaced by high-technology. During this period, the Santa Clara Valley became the stereotypical suburban region. Today, the growth continues, fueled primarily by technology jobs, the weather, and immigrant labor. Urbanization is gradually replacing suburbanization as the population density of the valley increases. This trend has resulted in a huge increase in property values, forcing many middle class families out of the area or into lower income neighborhoods in older sections of the region.

The South Bay is also known as Silicon Valley, the premier technology center of the United States. Some notable tech companies headquartered in the South Bay are AMD, Intel, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Google, eBay, and Yahoo!. As a consequence of the rapid growth of these and other companies, the Silicon Valley has gained increasing political and economic influence within California, the U.S., and throughout the world.

San Jose, the tenth largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the Bay Area, is the financial and cultural center of the Santa Clara Valley. It contains many neighborhoods and a large and diverse demographic comparable to San Francisco. San Jose prides itself in being an environmentally conscious city. It recycles a greater percentage of its waste than any other large American city.

Over the past several decades, the South Bay Area has experienced rapid growth. To limit the effects of urban sprawl, planned communities were laid out to control growth. Urban growth boundaries have been established to protect remaining open space (primarily in the surrounding hills and southern border) from development. Most new growth has been urban infill in the form of high density housing, further increasing the population density. The growth rate has slowed, but the area continues to be one of the fastest growing regions in the United States.

San Jose and the South Bay have a Mediterranean Climate. The South Bay hosts many outdoor events throughout the year as a result, including concerts, sporting events, and other outdoor activities. San Jose is home to many sports teams both amateur and professional, such as the San Jose Sharks of the NHL, and the San Jose Earthquakes of the MLS.

The South Bay has a large transportation infrastructure comprised of many freeways, VTA bus service and light rail, Amtrak, and commuter rail such as Caltrain. The San Jose International Airport serves air traffic in the South Bay Area and is conveniently located just north of downtown in the center of Silicon Valley. The height of buildings in Downtown is limited (due to FAA regulations and city ordinance) because it is situated directly under the flight path. The South Bay is poised to have a more efficient transportation network with the completion of the BART system to Silicon Valley extension and the California High-Speed Rail system.^[13][14]

Santa Cruz and San Benito

The regional governments in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Association of Bay Area Governments, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board include only the nine counties above in their boundaries or membership. (The BAAQMD includes all of the nine counties except the northern portions of Sonoma and Solano; the RWQCB includes all of San Francisco and the portions of the other eight counties that drain to San Francisco Bay or to the Pacific Ocean.)^[15] However, the United States Census Bureau defines the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Consolidated Statistical Area as an eleven-county region, including the nine counties above plus Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties. Meanwhile, the California State Parks Department defines the Bay Area as including ten counties,^[16] including Santa Cruz but excluding San Benito. On the other hand, Santa Cruz and San Benito along with Monterey County are part of a different regional government organization called the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.

Some residents of the Santa Cruz Mountains (Boulder Creek, Brookdale, Ben Lomond, Felton, Scotts Valley) do not usually consider themselves to be residents of the Bay Area, rather just of the Santa Cruz Mountains themselves. The Santa Cruz Mountains run along the spine of the San Francisco Peninsula, beginning in San Francisco and continuing down to their terminus near the City of Gilroy, effectively creating the Santa Clara Valley.

The city of Santa Cruz is geographically isolated from the rest of the Bay Area, and is usually considered a part of the Monterey Bay area since the city lies on the north end of the Monterey Bay. The city is also sometimes regarded as the northernmost point of the California Central Coast, which extends along the state's coastline to Santa Barbara.

This partial inclusion of these two counties in the Bay Area is one manifestation of a "spillover" where, because of high housing prices in the Bay Area proper, people with Bay Area jobs purchase homes in outlying areas and endure long commutes. This blurs the outer borders of the Bay Area, which now can be said to spillover not only to the south (Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey counties) but to the Central Valley counties of Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Yolo.

Demographics

According to the 2007 American Community Survey, the Bay Area's population was 6.958 million, up from 6.784 million in 2000. In 2000 the racial makeup of the 9 County Bay Area was 58.10% white, 19.01% Asian, 0.54% Pacific Islander, 7.53% black, 0.64% Native American, 9.24% from other races, and 4.93% from two or more races. 19.39% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. 27.36% of the population was foreign born; of this, 51.31% from Asia, 32.46% came from Latin America, 11.39% from Europe, 4.84% from other parts of the world.

In 2007 the population density was 1,057 people per square mile. There were 2,499,702 housing units with an average family size of 3.3. Of the 2,499,702 households, approximately one-third were renter occupied housing units, while two-thirds were owner occupied housing units. 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 11.6% of households had someone 65 years of age or older, and 27.4% of households were non-families.^[17]

Among the 114 Combined Statistical Areas in the United States, San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland has the second highest educational-attainment in both bachelor’s and master's degree attainment, and the second highest median household income after Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia.^[18][19]

Political views

The Bay Area is renowned as being among the most liberal areas in the country. According to the Cook Partisan Voting Index (CPVI), congressional districts the Bay Area tends to favor Democratic candidates by roughly 40 to 50 percentage points, considerably above the mean for California and the nation overall. All congressional districts in the region voted for Democrat Barack Obama over Republican John McCain in the 2008 Presidential Election. Over the last four and a half decades the 9-county Bay Area voted for Republican candidates only twice, once in 1972 for Richard Nixon and again in 1980 for Ronald Reagan, both Californians. The last county to vote for a Republican Presidential candidate was Napa county in 1988 for George H. W. Bush.

Affluence

The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the wealthiest regions in the U.S, due, primarily, to the economic power engines of San Francisco and San Jose. The Bay Area has approximately 123,621 millionaire households.^[22] Among medium-sized cities, Pleasanton has the highest household income in the country, and Livermore the third highest. However, disposable income is very comparable with the rest of the country, primarily because the higher cost of living offsets the increased income.^[23]

While only 26% of households nationwide boast incomes of over $75,000 a year, 48% of households in the Bay Area enjoy such incomes.^[24] The percentage of households with incomes exceeding the $100,000 mark in the Bay Area was double the nationwide percentage. Roughly one third (31%) of households in the Bay Area had a six figure income, versus less than 16% at the nationwide level.^[25] In June 2003, a study by Stanford University reviewing US Census Bureau statistics determined the median household income in the Bay Area to be roughly 60% above national average.^[24] Overall the largest income bracket in the Bay Area were households making between $100,000 and $150,000 annually, who constituted roughly 18% of households.^[24] On a national level the largest income bracket were households with incomes between $30,000 and $40,000 who constituted 13% of all households nationwide.^[25]

This graph compares the income distribution among Bay Area households to the national level.^[24][25]

Six of the top ten California places with the highest per capita income are in the Bay Area (Belvedere, Atherton, Woodside, Portola Valley, Diablo). Of the 100 highest income counties by per capita income in the United States, six are in the San Francisco Bay Area (Marin, San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Alameda). According to Forbes Magazine, published in 2005, 12 of the top 50 most expensive Zip Codes are in the Bay Area (Atherton, Ross, Diablo, Belvedere-Tiburon, Nicasio, Portola Valley, Los Altos-Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos-Monte Sereno, the Cow Hollow-Marina District of San Francisco, Alamo, and Burlingame-Hillsborough).^[26]

Forty-seven Bay Area residents made the Forbes magazine's 400 richest Americans list, published in 2007.^[27] Thirteen live within San Francisco proper, placing it seventh among cities in the world. Among the forty-two were several well-known names such as Steve Jobs, George Lucas, and Charles Schwab. The highest-ranking resident is Larry Ellison of Oracle at No. 4. He is worth $19.5 billion. Additionally, a Forbes Magazine survey of the super wealthy concluded that the Bay Area had the highest concentration of the super wealthy relative to other locations such as New York City and Dallas. "America's Greediest Cities". http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/30/greediest-cities-billionaires-forbeslife-cx_ee_1203greed.html.  (Forbes Magazine, 12/03/07)

A study by Claritas indicates that in 2004, 5% of all households within the San Francisco and San Jose metropolitan areas held $1 million in investable assets.^[28]

As of 2007, there were approximately 80 public companies with annual revenues of over $1 billion a year, and 5-10 more private companies. Nearly 2/3 of these are in the Silicon Valley section of the Bay Area. According to the May 2009 Fortune Magazine analysis of the US "Fortune 500" companies, the combined San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan region ranks second nationally (along with metro Chicago and Houston) with 29 companies. (May 4, Fortune Magazine) Additionally, when the combined total revenue of the Fortune 500 list companies is considered, the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland region again ranks second nationally after New York with $884 billion. (May 4, Fortune Magazine) As of 2010, the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland region ranks second only to New York City (and ahead of Chicago and Houston) as the number of Fortune 500 companies has increased to 31 companies. (April 2010 Fortune Magazine)

Weather

Rain is rare in the San Francisco Bay Area during the summer months. As a result, the surrounding hills quickly become dry and golden-hued in grassy areas.

Skyline Boulevard stretches through the Santa Cruz Mountains, here near Palo Alto, California. During winter and spring, the hills surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area are lush and green.

Because the hills, mountains, and large bodies of water produce such vast geographic diversity within this region, the San Francisco Bay Area offers a significant variety of microclimates. The areas near the Pacific Ocean are generally characterized by relatively small temperature variations during the year, with cool foggy summers and mild rainy winters. Inland areas, especially those separated from the ocean by hills or mountains, have hotter summers and colder overnight temperatures during the winter. Few residential areas ever experience snow, but peaks over 2,000 feet (610 m) (including Mount St. Helena, Mount Hamilton, Mission Peak, Mount Diablo, and Mount Tamalpais) occasionally receive snow. San Jose at the south end of the Bay averages fewer than 15 inches (380 mm) of rain annually, while Napa at the north end of the Bay averages over 30 and parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains just a few miles west of San Jose get over 55. In the summer, inland regions can be over 40 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius) warmer than the coast. This large temperature contrast induces a strong pressure gradient, which results in brisk coastal winds which help keep the coastal climate cool and typically, foggy during the summer. Additionally, strong winds are produced through gaps in the coastal ranges such as the Golden Gate, the Carquinez Strait, and the Altamont Pass, the latter the site of extensive wind farms. During the fall and winter seasons, when not stormy, a high pressure area is usually present inland, leading to an offshore flow. While negatively impacting air quality, this also clears fog away from the Pacific shore, and so the best weather in San Francisco can usually be found from mid September through mid October. Winter storms are typically wet and mild in temperature during this time of year, being caused by cold fronts sweeping the eastern Pacific and originating from low pressure systems in the Gulf of Alaska. During November into mid March, winter storms are usually several days in length, wet and cool, with severely damaging storms rare. Occasionally during the Summer, spells of warm humid weather will drift over the Bay Area from the Southwest Monsoon or from the residue of Western Pacific hurricanes near Mexico, usually bringing high variable clouds as well, and more rarely, high-based thunderstorms.

"The California Fur Rush"

Yearling Beaver in Alhambra Creek, downtown Martinez

Before 1825, Spanish, French, English, Russians and Americans were drawn to the Bay Area to harvest prodigious quantities of beaver (Castor canadensis), river otter, marten, fisher, mink, fox, weasel, harbor and fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) and sea otter (Enhydra lutris). It was California's early fur trade, more than any other single factor, that opened up the West, and the Bay Area in particular, to world trade.^[29] The Russian-American Company's Ivan Kuskov sailed into Bodega Bay in 1809 on the Kodiak and returned to Novo Arkhangelsk, Alaska, with beaver skins and 1,160 sea otter pelts.^[30] Before establishing a southern colony at Fort Ross, the Russian-American Company contracted with American ships beginning in 1810, providing them with Aleuts and their baidarkas (kayaks) to hunt otter on the coast of Spanish California.^[31] From 1810 to 1812 Americans contracted to the Russians snuck Aleuts into San Francisco Bay multiple times, despite the Spanish capturing or shooting them while they hunted otter in the estuaries of San Jose, San Mateo, San Bruno and around Angel Island.^[31] By 1817 sea otter in the area were practically eliminated.^[32] The Russians maintained a sealing station in the Farallon Islands from 1812 to 1840, taking 1,200 to 1,500 fur seals annually, though American ships had already exploited the islands.^[33] By 1818 the seals diminished rapidly until only about 500 could be taken annually and within the next few years, the fur seal was extirpated from the islands until they began to recolonize the islands in 1996.^[34]

As the oceanic fur industry began to decline, the focus shifted to California's inland fur resources.^[29] The founding of permanent British and American Settlements on the Pacific Coast, took place as part of this inland, rather than coastal fur trade.^[35] After merging with the North West Company in 1821, the British-owned Hudson's Bay Company sent parties out annually from Fort Astoria and Fort Vancouver into the Sacramento and the San Joaquin valleys as far south as French Camp on the San Joaquin River, with the goal of denuding the lands of modern day Oregon and California of all fur bearers, so that the Americans would "have no inducement to proceed thither".^[36]

California Golden Beaver family on upper Los Gatos Creek

Although twentieth century naturalists were skeptical that beaver were historically extant in coastal streams or the Bay itself,^[37] earlier records show that the California Golden beaver (Castor canadensis ssp. subauratus) was one of the most valued of the animals taken, and apparently was found in great abundance.^[29] Thomas McKay reported that in one year the Hudson's Bay Company took 4,000 beaver skins on the shores of San Francisco Bay. At the time, these pelts sold for $2.50 a pound or about $4 each. Historical evidence of Bay Area beaver includes reference by Captain John Sutter who around 1840 recorded that 1,500 beaver pelts were sold "at a trifling value" by the Indians to Mission San José, the latter only 25 miles from the town of Los Gatos.^[38] In addition, in 1828 fur trapper Michel La Framboise travelled from the Bonaventura River to San Francisco and then the missions of San José, San Francisco Solano and San Rafael Arcángel. La Framboise stated that "the Bay of San Francisco abounds in beaver", and that he "made his best hunt in the vicinity of the missions".^[39] In the 1840s Kit Carson was granted rights to trap beaver on Alameda Creek in the East Bay where they "abounded...from the mouth of its canyon to the broad delta on the bay".^[40][41] Physical proof of Golden beaver in south San Francisco Bay tributaries is a Castor canadensis subauratus skull in the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History collected by zoologist James Graham Cooper in Santa Clara, California on Dec. 31, 1855.^[42] Cooper lived in Mountain View, California from October to December, 1855.^[43] Beaver in the Bay Area were likely wiped out by the end of the nineteenth century.

Beaver have recolonized Kirker Creek in the Dow Wetlands of Pittsburg, Fairfield Creek in Cordelia, Alhambra Creek in Martinez, Southampton Creek in Benicia State Recreation Area, the Napa Sonoma Marsh in north San Pablo Bay, the Napa River, and Sonoma Creek. These beaver likely emigrated from the Delta which possibly once sustained the densest beaver populations in North America. In 1840, explorer Captain Thomas Farnham wrote that beaver were very numerous near the mouths of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and on the hundreds of small "rushcovered" islands. Farnham, who had travelled extensively in North America, said: "There is probably no spot of equal extent in the whole continent of America which contains so many of these muchsought animals."^[44] In addition, beaver were re-introduced in the 1930s in Pescadero Creek and sometime before 1993 in Los Gatos Creek where they continue to thrive.

Ecology

San Francisco Bay ca. 1770-1820

Despite its urban and industrial character, San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta remain perhaps California's most important ecological habitats. California's Dungeness crab, Pacific halibut, and Pacific salmon fisheries rely on the bay as a nursery. The few remaining salt marshes now represent most of California's remaining salt marsh, supporting a number of endangered species and providing key ecosystem services such as filtering pollutants and sediments from the rivers. Most famously, the bay is a key link in the Pacific Flyway. Millions of waterfowl annually use the bay shallows as a refuge. Two endangered species of birds are found here: the California least tern and the California clapper rail. Exposed bay muds provide important feeding areas for shorebirds, but underlying layers of bay mud pose geological hazards for structures near many parts of the bay perimeter. San Francisco Bay provided the nation's first wildlife refuge, Oakland's artificial Lake Merritt (constructed in the 1860s) and America's first urban National Wildlife Refuge, the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (SFBNWR) (1972). The Bay is also invaded by non-native species.

Steelhead trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss) populations in California have dramatically declined due to human and natural causes. The Central California Coast distinct population segment (DPS) was listed as threatened under the Federal Endangered Species Act on August 18, 1997; threatened status was reaffirmed on January 5, 2006. This DPS includes 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.^[45][46] The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has a detailed description of threats.

The Central California Coast Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU) population is the most endangered of the many troubled salmon populations on the West Coast.^[47] It was listed as threatened on October 31, 1996 and later downgraded to endangered status on June 28, 2005.^[48] The ESU includes all naturally spawned populations of coho salmon from Punta Gorda in northern California south to and including the San Lorenzo River in central California, as well as populations in tributaries to San Francisco Bay. The National Park Service has made major recent investments in restoring the tidal wetlands at the mouths of Lagunitas Creek and Redwood Creek including levee removal and placement of large woody debris in the creeks, which provide shelter to salmonids during heavy stream flows and flooding. Lagunitas Creek's coho population is especially important, as 80% of the ESU depends on this stream draining the north slope of Mount Tamalpais.^[49] This year's coho count dropped to 64 from an average of 600 in previous years.^[47]

Family of owls evicted in Antioch

Western Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) were listed as a Species of Special Concern (a pre-listing category under the Endangered Species Act) by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1979. California's population declined 60% from the 1980s to the early 90's, and continues to decline at roughly 8% per year.^[50] In 1994, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service nominated the Western Burrowing Owl as a Federal Category 2 candidate for listing as endangered or threatened, but loss of habitat continues due to development of the flat, grassy lands used by the owl. A 1992-93 survey reported no breeding burrowing owls in Napa, Marin, and San Francisco counties, and only a few in San Mateo and Sonoma. The Santa Clara County population is declining and restricted to a few breeding locations, leaving only Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties as the remnant breeding range.^[51] Despite organized protests at Kiper Homes' Blue Ridge property in Antioch, California by Friends of East Bay Owls, one-way doors were installed in the birds' burrows so that the owl families could not return to their nests in early 2010.^[52] In addition, in 2008, Mountain View, California evicted a pair of burrowing owls so that it could sell a parcel of land to Google to build a hotel at Shoreline Boulevard and Charleston Road.^[53] Eviction of the owls is controversial because the birds regularly reuse burrows for years, and there is no requirement that suitable new habitat be found for the owls.

Tellingly, much of the SFBNWR consists of salt evaporation ponds purchased or leased from Leslie Salt Company and its successor, Cargill Corporation. These salt ponds produce salt for a variety of industrial purposes, including chlorine bleach and plastics manufacture, as well as supporting dense populations of brine shrimp, and therefore serving as feeding areas for waterfowl. In 2003, California and Cargill entered one of the largest private land purchases in American history, with the state and federal governments paying about $200 million for 16,000 acres (65 km²) of salt ponds in the south bay. SFBNWR and state biologists hope to restore some of the recently purchased ponds as tidal wetlands.

The seasonal range of water temperature in the Bay is from about 8 °C (46 °F) to about 23 °C (73 °F).

Humphrey the Whale, a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), entered San Francisco Bay twice on errant migrations, and was successfully rescued and redirected each time in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This occurred again with Dawn and Delta a mother and calf in 2007.

Industrial, mining, and other uses of mercury have resulted in a widespread distribution in the bay, with uptake in the bay's phytoplankton and contamination of its sportfish.^[54] In November 2007, a ship named Cosco Busan collided with the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge and spilled over 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel, creating the largest oil spill in the region since 1996.^[55]

Geology and landforms

A portion of the Franciscan Assemblage (former seabed), one of the terrane types

Multiple terrains

The area is well known worldwide for the complexity of its landforms, the region being composed of at least six terranes (continental, seabed, or island arc fragments with distinct characteristics) pushed together over millions of years by the forces of plate tectonics. As a consequence, many types of rock and soil are found in the region. Formations include the sedimentary rocks of sandstone, limestone, and shale in uplifted seabeds, metamorphic serpentine rock, coal deposits, and igneous forms as the basalt flows and ash deposits of extinct volcanos. Pleistocene-era fossils of mammals are abundantly present in some locations.

Vertical relief

The region has considerable vertical relief in its landscapes that are not in the alluvial plains leading to the bay or in inland valleys. In combination with the extensive water regions this has forced the fragmented development of urban and suburban regions and has led to extensive building on poor soils in the limited flatland areas and considerable expense in connecting the various subregions with roads, tunnels, and bridges.

USGS satellite photo of the Bay Area taken in 1999.

Several mountains are associated with some of the many ridge and hill structures created by compressive forces between the Pacific Plate and the North American plate. These provide spectacular views (in appropriate weather) of large portions of the Bay Area and include Marin County's Mount Tamalpais at 2,571 feet (784 m). Contra Costa County's Mount Diablo at 3,849 feet (1,173 m), Alameda County's Mission Peak at 2,517 to 2,604 feet (767 to 776 m), and Santa Clara County's Mount Hamilton at 4,213 ft (1,284 m), the latter with significant astronomical studies performed at its crowning Lick Observatory. Though Tamalpais and Mission Peak are quite lower than the others, Tamalpais has no other peaks and few hills nearby. Mission Peak is coast facing and is an interior mountain (part of the Diablo Range, all of which are interior) and therefore has excellent views of both sides.

The three major ridge structures (part of the Pacific Coast Range) which are all roughly parallel to the major faultlines:

• The various ranges which form the spine of the San Francisco Peninsula and Marin County (San Andreas Fault)
• The Berkeley Hills, San Leandro Hills and their southern ridgeline extension through Mission Peak (Hayward Fault)
• The Diablo Range, which includes Mount Diablo, Mission Ridge, and Mount Hamilton (Calaveras Fault)

Major waterways

• San Joaquin River
• Sacramento River
• Napa River
• Sonoma Creek
• Guadalupe River
• Coyote Creek
• Petaluma River
• San Pablo Creek
• Wildcat Creek
• Oakland Estuary
• Russian River
• San Lorenzo River
• Gulf of the Farallones
• Alameda Creek

Earthquake faults

Map showing some of the major faults in the Bay Area. Numerous minor faults are also capable of generating locally destructive earthquakes.

The region is also traversed by six major slip-strike fault systems with hundreds of related faults, many of which are "sister faults" of the infamous San Andreas Fault, 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. 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.

Natural hazards

Earthquakes

Map showing earthquake amplification due to soil type.

The region is particularly exposed to hazards associated with large earthquakes,^[56][57] owing to a combination of factors:

• Numerous major active faults in the region.
• A combined thirty year probability of a major earthquake in excess of seventy percent.
• Poorly responding native soil conditions in many places near the bay and in inland valleys, soils which amplify shaking as shown in the map to the right.
• Large areas of filled marshlands and bay mud that are significantly urbanized, with most subject to liquefaction, becoming unable to support structures.
• A large inventory of older buildings, many of which are expected to perform poorly in a major earthquake.
• Extensive building in areas subject to landslide, mudslide, and in some locations directly over active fault surface rubble zones.
• Most lowrise construction is not fireproof and water systems are likely to be extensively damaged and so large areas are subject to destruction by fire after a large earthquake.
• The coastal location makes the region vulnerable to Pacific Ocean tsunamis.^[58]

Some of these hazards are being addressed by seismic retrofitting, education in household seismic safety, and even complete replacement of major structures such as the eastern span of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge.

For an article concerning a typical fault in the region and its associated hazards see Hayward Fault Zone. For projected ground movement after selecting a locality and a generating fault see this ABAG web page

Flooding

Some flooding occurs on local drainages under sustained wet conditions when the ground becomes saturated, more frequently in the North Bay area, which tends to receive substantially more rainfall than the South Bay. In one case, the Napa River drainage, floodplain developments are being purchased and removed and natural wetlands restored in the innovative Napa River Flood Project as the previous channelization of insufficient capacity around such developments was causing flooding problems upstream. Many of the local creeks have been channelized, although modern practice and some restoration work includes returning the creeks to a natural state with dry stormwater bypasses constructed to handle flooding. While quite expensive, the restoration of a natural environment is of high priority in the intensively urbanized areas of the region.

Windstorms and wildfires

Typically between late November and early March, a very strong Pacific storm can bring both substantial rainfall (saturating and weakening soil) and strong wind gusts that can cause trees to fall on power lines. Owing to the wide area involved (sometimes hundreds of miles of coast), service can be interrupted for up to several days in some more remote localities, but service is usually restored quickly in urban areas.

In the spring and fall, strong offshore winds periodically develop. These winds are an especially dangerous fire hazard in the fall when vegetation is at its driest, as exemplified historically by the 1923 Berkeley Fire and the 1991 Oakland Firestorm.

Mudslides and landslides

Some geologically unstable areas have been extensively urbanized, and can become mobile due to changes in drainage patterns and grading created for development. These are usually confined to small areas, but there have been larger problems in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Transportation

(1) Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, (2) Golden Gate Bridge, (3) San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, (4) San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, (5) Dumbarton Bridge, (6) Carquinez Bridge, (7) Benicia-Martinez Bridge

The Bay Area is served by many public transportation systems, including three international airports (SFO, OAK, SJC), six major overlapping bus transit agencies (AC Transit, Muni, SamTrans, VTA, Golden Gate Transit, County Connection), in addition to dozens of smaller ones. There are four rapid transit and regional rail systems including BART and CalTrain and two light rail systems (San Francisco Muni Metro and VTA Light-rail). There are also several regional rail lines provided by Amtrak, notable the Capitol Corridor. In addition to rail lines, there are multiple public and private ferry services (notably Golden Gate Ferry and Blue and Gold Fleet), which are being expanded by the San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority. The regional ferry hub is San Francisco Ferry Building. AC Transit and some other agencies provide an extensive network of express "transbay" commuter buses from the suburbs to San Francisco Transbay Terminal.

The freeway and highway system is very extensive; however, many freeways are heavily congested during rush hour, especially the trans-bay bridges (Golden Gate and Bay Bridge). Furthermore there are some large gaps in the highways which run onto city streets in San Francisco, partially due to the Freeway Revolt (SF Board of Supervisors decisions made in 1959, 1964 and 1966), which prevented completion of freeways connecting the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge western terminus (Interstate 80) with the southern terminus of the Golden Gate Bridge, and U.S. 101 through San Francisco, and additionally due to the destruction of several of those very freeway structures that sparked the revolt, which were damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and subsequently removed rather than being reinforced or rebuilt.

Higher education

The region is home to many colleges and seminaries, most notably Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, San Francisco. In addition, the Bay Area is home to two of the twenty-eight Jesuit universities in the United States, Santa Clara University (founded in 1851), and University of San Francisco (1855), which also hold the distinction of being the two oldest institutions of higher learning in the state of California. Saint Mary's College of California, built in 1863 is also a private college and is administered by the Christian Brothers. In 2003, there were approximately 545,000 students enrolled in college or graduate school.^[59] The San Francisco Bay Area population is near the top in the Nation for overall education level with approximately 41 percent of residents aged 25 years and over having a bachelors degree or higher. The San Francisco and San Jose PMSAs rank third and fourth in college graduates, ahead of Boston and behind only Boulder–Longmont, Co PMSA and Stamford–Norwalk, CT PMSA. Santa Cruz PMSA ranks eighth and the Oakland PMSA eleventh.^[60]

Public University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley City College Cabrillo College California Maritime Academy California State University, East Bay (Hayward) Cañada College Chabot College City College of San Francisco College of Alameda College of Marin College of San Mateo Contra Costa College De Anza College Diablo Valley College Evergreen Valley College Foothill College Gavilan College Laney College Las Positas College Lincoln University (California) Los Medanos College Merritt College Mission College Napa Valley College Ohlone College San Jose City College San Francisco State University San Jose State University Santa Rosa Junior College Sonoma State University Skyline College Solano Community College West Valley College University of California, Berkeley University of California, Hastings College of the Law University of California, San Francisco University of California, Santa Cruz Seminaries American Baptist Seminary of the West The Church Divinity School of the Pacific (Episcopal) Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology Franciscan School of Theology Fuller Northern California Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary Graduate Theological Union Institute of Buddhist Studies Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (ELCA, Berkeley) Pacific School of Religion (UCC, Disciples & Methodist) Saint Patrick Seminary San Francisco Theological Seminary (Presbyterian) Starr King School for the Ministry (Unitarian Universalist)

Zaytuna Institute Private Stanford University. Santa Clara University Lone Mountain, University of San Francisco Academy of Art University American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Argosy University The Art Institute of California — San Francisco The Arts Institute International California College of the Arts California Culinary Academy California Institute of Integral Studies Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley Cogswell Polytechnical College Culinary Institute of America at Greystone DeVry University Dominican University Ex'pression College for Digital Arts Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Five Branches Institute Golden Gate University Holy Names University Herguan University www.herguanuniversity.org Institute of Transpersonal Psychology International Technological University John F. Kennedy University Lincoln Law School of San Jose Menlo College Mills College National Hispanic University New College of California Northwestern Polytechnic University Notre Dame de Namur University Palo Alto University (Formerly known as the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology) Pacific Union College Patten University Presidio School of Management Saint Mary's College of California San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Conservatory of Music San Francisco Law School Santa Clara University Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center Silicon Valley University Stanford University Touro University University of Northern California University of Phoenix San Jose Campus University of San Francisco University of Silicon Valley Law School Silicon Valley Technical Institute

Sports

NCAA Division I College Sports

• California Golden Bears
• Saint Mary's College Gaels
• San Francisco Dons
• San Jose State Spartans
• Santa Clara Broncos
• Stanford Cardinal

• In addition to professional and collegiate sports, the Bay Area is also home to the private Christian Brothers De La Salle High School, which holds the record for longest football winning streak in any level. Also, Infineon Raceway is a motorsport track which currently hosts NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar Series races.

Music

Classic rock

San Francisco proper was headquarters for the hippie counterculture of the 1960s and the music scene that became associated with it. One of the area's most notable acts was The Grateful Dead, formed in 1965, who played regularly at the legendary venue The Filmore Auditorium. Other local artists in that movement included Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin; all three would be closely associated with the 1967 Summer of Love. Jimi Hendrix, although born in Seattle and later a resident of London, England, had strong connections to the movement and the metropolitan Bay area, as he lived in Berkeley for a brief time as a child and played many local venues in that decade. Creedence Clearwater Revival (of El Cerrito) would gain traction as an associated band of the anti-Vietnam war movement. Carlos Santana from San Francisco became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his Santana band which pioneered a blend of rock, salsa, and jazz fusion. The Doobie Brothers, from San Jose, had a successful career with several albums earning RIAA gold certification.

Heavy metal

During the 1980s and early 1990s, the Bay Area was home to one of the largest and most influential thrash metal scenes in the world, containing acts like Exodus, Death Angel, Vio-lence, Megadeth, Forbidden, Testament and Metallica (although Metallica had initially formed in Los Angeles, it wasn't until their relocation to El Cerrito in 1983 that Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett joined as bassist and lead guitarist). Many death metal bands had also formed in the area, including Possessed (considered one of the first in the genre), and in the 90's, bands Impaled, Exhumed and Vile.

Sludge and groove metal bands Machine Head, Neurosis and Skinlab formed in Oakland. In the alternative metal and nu-metal scenes worldwide, Faith No More (from San Francisco) and Primus (from El Sobrante, and featuring former Possessed guitarist Larry LaLonde) have been considered progenitors to both subgenres.^[61][62]

Alternative rock

Many bands of the 1990s post-grunge era started and still reside in the Bay Area, including Third Eye Blind (of San Francisco), Counting Crows (of Berkeley) and Smash Mouth (of San Jose), all of whom have received extensive radio play across the world and released multi-platinum records during their career.

Punk

The Bay Area saw a large punk movement from the 70s to the present. Bands such as the Dead Kennedys, The Avengers, Flipper, D.R.I., M.D.C. and Operation Ivy were popular in the '70s and '80s, with later bands such as Rancid, Green Day and AFI all coming out of Berkeley. The Dwarves are residents of San Francisco, and are considered to be pioneers of the punk and hardcore movement. Singer Blag Dahlia is also a solo artist and has dabbled in other genres

Rap and hip hop

The Bay Area is the home of the hyphy movement, which started in the early to mid-'90s. The genre which was pioneered by rappers Andre "Mac Dre" Hicks, Too Short, Keak Da Sneak, Mistah Fab and E-40, is now becoming more popular throughout the world. Hyphy themes such as ghost riding, thizzin' and going dumb are now common in other parts of the country. The Bay Area is also home to rap legend Tupac Shakur who lived in Marin City, about 5 miles north of San Francisco,and even MC Hammer and the Hieroglyphics hip hop crew, which is composed of local artists including the Souls of Mischief and Del tha Funkee Homosapien. The Bay Area gave birth to the "Independent Rap Game" which means unsigned rap artist.

Regional counties, cities and suburbs

An early 20th century German map

Counties

Note: San Benito County and Santa Cruz County are sometimes considered part of the greater Bay Area.

• Alameda County (737 sq. mi., excluding water)
• Contra Costa County (720 sq. mi., excluding water)
• Marin County (520 sq. mi., excluding water)
• Napa County (754 sq. mi., excluding water)
• San Benito County (1389 sq. mi., excluding water)
• San Francisco County (47 sq. mi., excluding water)
• San Mateo County (449 sq. mi., excluding water)
• Santa Clara County (1,291 sq. mi., excluding water)
• Santa Cruz County (445 sq. mi., excluding water)
• Solano County (829 sq. mi., excluding water)
• Sonoma County (1,576 sq. mi., excluding water)

Cities and municipalities

• List of cities and municipalities in the San Francisco Bay Area

See also

• Ecology of the San Francisco Estuary
• List of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Coastal California
• Islands of San Francisco Bay
• List of San Francisco Bay Area festivals and fairs
• List of San Francisco Bay Area wildflowers
• List of San Francisco Bay Area writers
• United States metropolitan area
• List of people from San Jose, California
• List of people from Oakland, California
• List of people from Berkeley, California
• List of companies headquartered in San Francisco and the Greater Bay Area
• List of bands from the San Francisco Bay Area

References

External links

• Bay Area Hiker Bay Area Hiker explores the diverse and wonderful spectrum of hiking in the San Francisco bay area
• sfbaywildlife.info Guide to wildlife-watching in the San Francisco Bay Area
• limuguide.com/sfbay Live Music in San Francisco Bay Area
• Bay Area Experiences.com Community-built site with non-touristy things to do in San Francisco and surrounding areas.
• SF Bay Area hiking WikiSpot Wikis: San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Los Gatos, Berkeley, Albany, Alameda, Vallejo, Vacaville, Napa, Sonoma, Walnut Creek.

Travel

• San Francisco Bay Area travel guide from Wikitravel
• World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary

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