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San Francisco Bay Area

Coordinates: 37°45′N 122°17′W / 37.750°N 122.283°W / 37.750; -122.283
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"Bay Area" redirects here. For other uses, see Bay Area (disambiguation).
San Francisco Bay Area or Bay Area
Map
Population
7,427,757[1]
Aerial view of the Bay Area facing east from Golden Gate.
Various Census areas totaling over 7.4 million in population (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, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a metropolitan region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas such as San Francisco-Oakland (12th largest in the country), San Jose (31st largest in the country), along with smaller urban and rural areas. Overall, the Bay Area consists of nine counties, 101 cities, and 7,000 square miles.[3] The nine counties are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma.[3][4]

The United States Census Bureau considers the Bay Area a Combined Statistical Area (CSA) with approximately 7.4 million people, including the nine counties bordering San Francisco Bay as well as Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, making it the sixth largest CSA in the United States.[5] The Bay Area hosts many cities, towns, military bases, airports, and associated regional, state, and national parks, connected by a massive network of roads, highways, railroads, bridges, tunnels and commuter rail. The combined urban area of San Jose and San Francisco is the 50th largest urban area in the world. The Bay Area is also noted for having many of the headquarters to many major corporations either country-wise or globally.

The Bay Area is anchored by three major cities. San Francisco is the cultural and financial center of the metropolitan area and Northern California and is famous for its iconic skyline, steep hills, cable cars and historic streetcars, Fisherman's Wharf, and the Golden Gate Bridge. It has the sixth-highest population density of any city over 500,000 people in North America.[6] The largest city in the Bay Area in terms of both land area and population is San Jose, which is located in the South Bay and is part of the world renowned technology hub known as Silicon Valley. Oakland, the third most populous city, is a central hub for the East Bay, major industrial center and contains the Port of Oakland, the fifth busiest container port in the United States. The region's northern counties encompass California's famous Wine Country, home to hundreds of vineyards and wineries while the region's Pacific Ocean coastline hosts numerous beaches.

The San Francisco Bay Area is renowned for its natural beauty, liberal politics, affluence, diversity, and new age reputation.[7][8]

Sub-regions

East Bay

Main article: East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)

The eastern side of the bay, consisting of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is known locally as the East Bay. The East Bay can be loosely divided 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 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 (East/West) by BART, Interstate 580 to the south, and State Routes State Route 4 to the north, and State Route 24 via the Caldecott Tunnel in the center. The outer East Bay's 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.

North Bay

Main article: North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
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

Main article: San Francisco 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, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Pacifica, Portola Valley, Redwood City, Redwood Shores, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, South San Francisco and Woodside.

San Francisco

Main article: 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 (121 km2), making it the second most densely populated major city in North America after New York City.[9] On any given day, there can be as many as 1 million people in the city because of the commuting population and tourism. San Francisco also has the largest commuter population of the Bay Area cities. The limitations of land area, however, make continued population growth challenging, and also has resulted in increased real estate prices. Though San Francisco is located at the tip of the peninsula, when the peninsula is discussed, it usually refers to the communities and geographic locations south of the city.

South Bay

Main article: South Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
A panorama over Downtown San Jose

The communities at the southern region of the San Francisco 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 as well as many other cities like 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 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, BROCADE, Intel, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Google, eBay, Facebook 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 is the tenth largest city in the United States and the most populous city in the Bay Area. San Jose is the oldest city in California and was its first capital. The city prides itself on 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 try and 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 to increase density rate. The growth rate has slowed, but the area continues to have steady growth.

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 that includes 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 extension of the BART system to San Jose, which would allow elevated/subway travel into San Francisco.[10][11]

Santa Cruz and San Benito

Main articles: Santa Cruz County, California and San Benito County, California

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.)[12] 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,[13] 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. Additionally, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties are considered part of the Bay Area in local media.[14][15][16][17][18]

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 sometimes considered a part of the Monterey Bay area since the city lies on the north end of the Monterey Bay. The city may be regarded as the northernmost point of the California Central Coast, which extends south along the state's coastline to Santa Barbara. Santa Cruz is a major tourist and beach town, home of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, one of the remaining boardwalk seaside amusement parks left on the West Coast. Most of remainder of the county is agricultural and forested except for the seaside towns of Capitola and Watsonville. With its drier climate, San Benito County is primarily agricultural and is home to the Pinnacles National Monument.

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.

Economy

San Jose contains Silicon Valley, a leading high technology region of the world. Silicon Valley covers several cities in the south Bay Area region, and is home to many of the industry leaders in technology such as Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Cisco, Apple, Oracle, and Hewlett-Packard. Major corporations in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and the surrounding cities help make the region second in the nation in concentration of Fortune 500 companies, after New York.[19] The region's northern counties encompass California's famous Wine Country, home to hundreds of vineyards and wineries. The Bay Area is a leader in sustainable agriculture, organic farming, and sustainable energy and for being a leading producer of high quality food, wine, and innovation in the culinary arts. The area is renowned for its natural beauty. It is also known as being one of the most expensive regions to live in the country.[7][8]

Oakland, on the east side of the bay, has the fifth largest container shipping port in the United States. The city is also a major rail terminus.[20]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1900658,111—
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%
2009 (est.)7,427,757

According to the 2007 American Community Survey,[citation needed] 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 58.1% white, 19.0% Asian, 0.5% Pacific Islander, 7.5% black, 0.6% Native American, 9.2% from other races, and 4.9% from two or more races. 19.4% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. 27.4% of the population was foreign born; of this, 51.3% from Asia, 32.5% came from Latin America, 11.4% from Europe, 4.8% 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.[21]

Among the 114 CSAs 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.[22][23] 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. Pleasanton has the second highest household income in the country after New Canaan, CT. However, discretionary income is very comparable with the rest of the country, primarily because the higher cost of living offsets the increased income.[24]

Forty-seven Bay Area residents made the Forbes magazine's 400 richest Americans list, published in 2007.[25] 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.

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, #2 in the United States in percentage behind the New York City metropolitan area.[26]

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)

Politics

The San Francisco Bay Area is widely regarded 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.

Presidential election results
Year Democrat Republican
2008 73.8% 2,172,411 24.4% 717,989
2004 69.2% 1,926,726 29.3% 815,225
2000 64.1% 1,607,695 30.0% 751,832
1996 60.5% 1,417,511 28.3% 662,263
1992 56.2% 1,476,971 25.0% 658,202
1988 57.8% 1,338,533 40.8% 945,802
1984 50.8% 1,157,855 47.9% 1,090,115
1980 40.7% 827,309 44.4% 904,100
1976 49.9% 950,055 45.8% 872,920
1972 48.2% 990,560 49.1 1,007,615
1968 50.8% 890,650 41.3% 725,304
1964 65.7% 1,116,215 34.1% 579,528
1960 52.0% 820,860 47.6% 751,719
District Location Cook PVI % for Obama, 2008[27] Median Household Income[28] Per Capita Income[28]
&066th district Marin County and southern Sonoma County D +23 76.0% $59,115 $33,036
&077th district Richmond, Vallejo, Vacaville, and Pittsburg D +19 71.7% $52,778 $22,016
&088th district City and County of San Francisco D +35 85.4% $52,322 $34,552
&099th district Oakland, Berkeley and Piedmont D +37 88.1% $44,314 $25,201
&1010th district Fairfield, Livermore, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, Concord, and El Cerrito D +11 64.9% $65,245 $31,093
&1111th district Parts of Contra Costa, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties including Morgan Hill, Pleasanton, and San Ramon R +01 53.8% $61,996 $28,420
&1212th district San Francisco Peninsula including most of San Mateo County D +23 74.3% $70,307 $34,448
&1313th district Much of the East Bay, including Fremont, Union City and Hayward D +22 74.4% $62,415 $26,076
&1414th district Silicon Valley, including Redwood City, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Santa Cruz D +21 73.0% $77,985 $43,063
&1515th district City of San Jose (western areas) D +15 68.4% $74,947 $32,617
&1616th district San Jose, Morgan Hill D +16 69.6% $67,689 $25,064
Median Districts: 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th D +21.5 73% $65,052 $32,826

Weather

Skyline Boulevard stretches through the Santa Cruz Mountains, here atop Portola Valley, California. During winter and spring, the hills surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area are lush and green.
The same location during the summer months. Because rain is rare in the San Francisco Bay Area during this time, the surrounding hills quickly become dry and golden-hued in grassy areas

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. 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 often originating 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. There is also recorded snowfall on San Francisco Bay Area peaks, such as Mount St. Helena, Tamalpais, Diablo and Hamilton. Snow levels range every given year from 1000 feet in Sonoma County to 2,000ft in Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties the during the winter. Greater recorded snowfall amounts are generally recorded once every 5 to 10 years. In February 2001, 30 inches (76 cm) of snow fell on Mount Hamilton (4360ft), 17 inches on Mount Tamalpais (2,574ft) and 10 inches on Mount Diablo (3,864 ft). Occasionally during the late Summer or early Autumn, 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.

Ecology

Main article: Ecology of the San Francisco Estuary
File:Sfestuaryhistorical.gif
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.[29][30] 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.[31] It was listed as threatened on October 31, 1996 and later downgraded to endangered status on June 28, 2005.[32] 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.[33] This year's coho count dropped to 64 from an average of 600 in previous years.[31]

Family of owls evicted in Antioch
River Otter sunning on rocks in the Richmond Marina
California Golden Beaver on Alhambra Creek in Martinez, California

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.[34] 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.[35] 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.[36] 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.[37] 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.

Aquatic mammals recently re-colonizing the Bay Area include the California Golden Beaver (Castor canadensis) which is now established on Alhambra Creek in Martinez, Napa River and Sonoma Creek; and North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) which was first reported in Redwood Creek at Muir Beach in 1996[38], and recently in Corte Madera Creek, and in the south Bay on Coyote Creek[39], as well as in 2010 in San Francisco Bay itself at the Richmond Marina. Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) were hunted to extinction in San Francisco Bay by about 1817. Historical records reveal that the Russian-American Company snuck Aleuts into San Francisco Bay multiple times, despite the Spanish capturing or shooting them while hunting sea otters in the estuaries of San Jose, San Mateo, San Bruno and around Angel Island.[40] The founder of Fort Ross, Ivan Kuskov, finding otter scarce on his second voyage to Bodega Bay in 1812, sent Russian ships and hired an American ship to hunt otter in the Bay, catching 1,160 sea otter in three months.[41]

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.

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

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.[42] 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.[43]

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 such as basalt flows, rhyolite outcroppings, granite associated with the Salinian Block west of the San Andreas Fault, 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 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:

Major waterways

Main article: Hydrography of the San Francisco Bay Area

Earthquake faults

File:Flat eq map anotated.png
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

File:ShakeSuseptBayamateMod.gif
Map showing earthquake amplification due to soil type.

The region is particularly exposed to hazards associated with large earthquakes,[44][45] 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.[46]

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. These storms occasionally bring lightning & thunder. More rarely they even spawn tornadoes. For example, during the abnormal hurricane-like storm in early 2010, a funnel cloud sparked an extremely rare Tornado Warning in Morgan Hill.

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

Main article: Transportation in the Bay Area
(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 the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, San Francisco, and Stanford University. 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 2008, there were approximately 588,000 students enrolled in college or graduate school.[47] 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 Primary Metropolitan Statistical Areas 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.[48]

Public

University of California, Berkeley.

Seminaries

Private

Stanford University.
File:Santa Clara Univsity Benjamin Frazier.JPG
Santa Clara University
Lone Mountain, University of San Francisco

Sports

Main article: Sports in the San Francisco Bay Area
Team Sport League Venue
San Francisco 49ers Football National Football League - National Conference Candlestick Park
Oakland Raiders Football National Football League - American Conference Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
San Francisco Giants Baseball Major League Baseball - National League AT&T Park
Oakland Athletics Baseball Major League Baseball - American League Oakland Coliseum
Golden State Warriors Basketball National Basketball Association Oracle Arena
San Jose Sharks Ice hockey National Hockey League HP Pavilion at San Jose
San Jose SaberCats Football Arena Football League HP Pavilion at San Jose
San Jose Wolves Football American Indoor Football League - Western Division Cow Palace & Oracle Arena
San Jose Earthquakes Soccer Major League Soccer Buck Shaw Stadium
San Francisco Nighthawks Soccer Women's Premier Soccer League Kezar Stadium
San Jose Giants Baseball Minor League Baseball - California League San Jose Municipal Stadium
NCAA Division I College Sports

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 Fillmore 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. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend Neil Young has lived in the Bay Area in La Honda, CA for more than 40 years. 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

See also: Bay Area thrash 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, Laaz Rockit, Death Angel, Vio-lence, 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 Autopsy, Possessed (considered one of the first in the genre), and in the 90's, bands Impaled, Exhumed and Vile.

Sludge band Neurosis and groove metal/post-thrash bands Machine Head 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.[49][50]

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

See also: 924 Gilman Street

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

See also: Hyphy movement

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 (8.0 km) north of San Francisco, MC Hammer, and the Hieroglyphics hip hop crew, which is composed of local artists including the Souls of Mischief and Del tha Funkee Homosapien.

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.

Cities and municipalities

See also

References

  1. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Population of Combined Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  2. ^ "Geographic Boundaries, Political Jurisdictions and Infrastructure". United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  3. ^ a b San Francisco Bay Area Vision Project
  4. ^ The Association of Bay Area Governments
  5. ^ http://www.census.gov/popest/metro/tables/2009/CBSA-EST2009-02.xls
  6. ^ http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/largest-cities-density-125.html
  7. ^ a b "US Census Bureau, household and per capita income during the 2000 Census in metro areas". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  8. ^ a b "SF Chronicle, most democratic voting bloc in the state, 2003". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-06-12. Cite error: The named reference "SF Chronicle, most democratic voting bloc in the state, 2003" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ http://www.dof.ca.gov/research/demographic/reports/estimates/e-1/2008-09/documents/E-1_2009%20Press%20Release.pdf
  10. ^ http://www.vta.org/bart/index.html
  11. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nx8rNysZSI&fmt=18
  12. ^ Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region (2) Boundaries. Retrieved 2007-02-20. Archived 2006-12-31 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Find a park - San Francisco Bay Area Region". California State Parks. Retrieved 2006-06-20.
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  17. ^ http://www.ktvu.com/baytrafficmap_southbay/index.html]
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  19. ^ "Fortune 500 2010: Annual ranking of America's largest corporations from Fortune Magazine". CNN. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  20. ^ "North American Container Traffic, 2009 Port Ranking" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-08-11.
  21. ^ http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/bayarea.htm
  22. ^ Raleigh-Durham area ranks third in U.S. for college degrees
  23. ^ CSA Median household income
  24. ^ "Pleasanton tops county in median household income". Inside Bay Area. Retrieved 2006-10-15.
  25. ^ DeBare, Ilana (2008-03-06). "47 Bay Area billionaires on Forbes list". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  26. ^ [5] "Assets".
  27. ^ 2008 California Presidential Election Results by Congressional District
  28. ^ a b "US Census Bureau, 2000 Census income data by congressional district". Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  29. ^ Central California Coast Steelhead DPS (Report). NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Regional Office. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2010. {{cite report}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  30. ^ "Map showing endangered species status of west coast steelhead". Alameda Creek Alliance. Retrieved Feb. 14, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  31. ^ a b Greg Miller (January 2010). "In Central California, Coho Salmon Are on the Brink". Science. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2010. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  32. ^ [ttp://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations/Coho/COCCA.cfm Central California Coast Coho ESU] (Report). NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Regional Office. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2010. {{cite report}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  33. ^ Donna Whitmarsh (Jan. 2010). "California Coho Salmon In Dire Straits". Bay Nature. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  34. ^ Rendon, JIm (Nov.-Dec., 1999). "Owl Be Damned:Developers plow into the homes of the burrowing owl". Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  35. ^ Joe Eaton (Jan. 14, 2010). "Wild Neighbors: Antioch Owls Face Evicition". Berkeley Daily Planet. Retrieved Jan. 14, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  36. ^ Katherine Tam (Jan. 3, 2010). "Owl advocates protest birds relocation". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved Jan. 3, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  37. ^ DeBolt, Daniel (January 10, 2008). "Burrowing Owls vs. Google:Pair of birds found on Google's hotel site will cost city $150,000". Mountain View Voice.
  38. ^ "Get Outside!". San Francisco Chronicle. 1966-04. Retrieved 2011-03-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  39. ^ "Blue Oak Ranch Reserve". University of California. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  40. ^ Adele Ogden (1975). The California sea otter trade, 1784-1848. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 54. ISBN 9780520028067. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
  41. ^ Hubert Howe Bancroft, Alfred Bates, Ivan Petroff, William Nemos (1887). History of Alaska: 1730-1885. San Francisco, California: A. L. Bancroft & company. p. 482. Retrieved 2011-03-06.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  42. ^ Conaway CH, Black FJ, Grieb TM, Roy S, Flegal AR (2008). "Mercury in the San Francisco Estuary". Rev Environ Contam Toxicol. 194: 29–54. PMID 18069645.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  43. ^ Eric Bailey. "Oil oozes in S.F. Bay after ship hits bridge". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved Feb. 15, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  44. ^ http://quake.abag.ca.gov/ - Maps and information about Bay Area threats including earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis.
  45. ^ USGS site with Google Earth KMZ files related to geology and seismic activity
  46. ^ Describes Bay Area damage from 1960 tsunami.
  47. ^ "American Community Survey: 2006-2008 American Community Survey 3-Year Estimates: S1401. School Enrollment: San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland CSA". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  48. ^ 2002 American Community Survey, SELECTED POPULATION CHARACTERISTICIS FOR LARGE METROPOLITAN AREAS. Retrieved November 5, 2007. [dead link]
  49. ^ Essi Berelian (2005), The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal, p. 259, "Faith No More must be counted among the pioneers [of nu metal]"
  50. ^ Joel McIver (2002), NU-METAL- The Next Generation Of Rock & Punk
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