San Francisco Bay Area

From Freepedia

The San Francisco Bay Area, referred to locally as The Bay Area, is the conurbation that surrounds San Francisco Bay in northern California. Home to more than 7 million people, the metropolitan area is composed of cities, towns, villages, military bases, airports, and regional, state, and national parks sprawled over nine counties, connected by a massive network of roads, highways, rail, and commuter rail.

Because San Francisco was the largest city in the region (it was surpassed by San Jose in the 1990 census) and remains the traditional and cultural center, the region is often identified by outsiders with the city of San Francisco proper. However, San Francisco has only 11% of the Bay Area's population. The Bay Area also differs from most other metropolitan areas in that, instead of having a single urban center surrounded by dependent suburbs, its population is distributed across several regional urban and surburban centers. Realising the independent and relatively 'Balkanized' nature of the region, it is referred to as the 'Bay Area' instead by its residents. Ultimately, the city of San Francisco with Oakland and San Jose comprises the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United States, after New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C.-Baltimore.

Contents 1 The region 2 The wealthiest region in the nation 3 Weather 4 Transportation 4.1 Airports 4.2 Public transportation 4.2.1 Bus 4.2.2 Light rail 4.2.3 Mass transit 4.2.4 Ferries 4.3 Freeways and highways 4.4 Bridges 5 Universities & colleges 6 Sports 7 Regional counties, cities and suburbs 7.1 Counties 7.2 Cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants 7.3 Cities with 100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants 7.4 Suburbs with 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants 7.5 Suburbs with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants 7.6 Continued... 8 See also 9 External links

The region

• The City and County of San Francisco is generally placed in a category by itself geographically, mentally, and culturally. It is separated by water from the north and east, and by a county line from its neighbor cities to the South. San Francisco serves as the cultural and financial center of the region, and once was the population and economic center.
• The eastern side of the bay, dominated by the city of Oakland but also including Fremont, Livermore, Hayward and several small cities, is known as the East Bay. The East Bay is split into two regions, the inner East Bay, which sits on the Bay coastline, and the outer East Bay, consisting of inland valleys separated from the inner East Bay by hills and mountains.
  • The inner East Bay consists of Oakland, Hayward, Fremont, Berkeley, and smaller suburbs surrounding or surrounded by these four major cities, such as Emeryville, San Leandro, and Richmond. 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 is the region's chief seaport. The East Bay regional basketball, football, and baseball teams play from Oakland.
  • The outer East Bay consists of the cities of Walnut Creek, Concord, and Antioch, to the north (also referred as Central Contra Costa County) and the cities of Dublin, Livermore, Danville, and San Ramon to the south (sometimes referred to as the Livermore-Amador Valley or the Tri-Valley). They are connected to the inner East Bay by BART and by highways and the Caldecott Tunnel. The outer East Bay is mostly suburban to rural and was mostly built after World War II.
• The communities along the southern edge of the Bay are known as the South Bay and Silicon Valley, although some Peninsula and East Bay towns are sometimes included in the latter. It includes the city of San Jose, and its smaller neighbors including Gilroy and the high-tech hubs of Santa Clara, Cupertino and Sunnyvale, as well as many other suburbs. A booming Silicon Valley has shifted the regional population and economic center away from San Francisco and Oakland and towards the South Bay; San Jose is now the largest city in the region. The technology boom has also brought large numbers of immigrants and driven housing and rent prices to the highest in the nation.
• The area between the South Bay and the City and County of San Francisco is known as the San Francisco Peninsula, locally just as The Peninsula. This area consists of a series of small cities and suburban communities along the Bay such as Palo Alto and Stanford University, San Mateo, and Foster City, as well as various towns along the Pacific coast, such as Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. Because of the influence of Stanford University, lack of space, and high cost of living, Silicon Valley has been slowly creeping up the peninsula.

• The region north of the Golden Gate Bridge is known as the North Bay. This area consists of Marin County and extends northward into Napa and Sonoma counties and eastward to Solano County. With some exceptions, this region is extremely affluent, and is generally the least urbanized part of the Bay Area, with many areas of undeveloped park and farm land. It is the only section of the Bay Area that is not served by a commuter rail transit service, though Sonoma-Marin service has entered the planning phase.

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The wealthiest region in the nation

The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the wealthiest regions in the United States.

According to the United States Census Bureau, of the 280 defined metropolitan areas, the San Francisco Bay Area has the highest median household income in the nation with $62,024. Washington-Baltimore Metro, Anchorage, Alaska, Minneapolis-St. Paul (Twin Cities), and Greater Boston make up the rest of the top 5.

Six of the top ten California places with the highest per capita income are in the San Francisco Bay Area:

• 1. Belvedere, California $113,595
• 3. Atherton, California $112,408
• 5. Woodside, California $104,667
• 6. Portola Valley, California $99,621
• 8. Hillsborough, California $98,643
• 9. Diablo, California $95,419

Of the 100 highest income counties by per capita income in the United States, (richest counties), six are in the San Francisco Bay Area:

• 1. Marin County, California $44,962
• 14. San Mateo County, California $36,045
• 19. San Francisco County, California $34,556
• 25. Santa Clara County, California $32,795
• 45. Contra Costa County, California $30,615
• 96. Alameda County, California $26,680

Of the top highest income counties by personal per capita income, five San Francisco Bay Area Counties made the top 50:

• 3. Marin County, California $67,710
• 7. San Mateo County, California $58,913
• 10. San Francisco County, California $55,735
• 12. Santa Clara County, California $54,188
• 32. Contra Costa County, California $44,484

Of the top 100 highest income counties by median household income, eight California Counties made the list, and half of those are in the San Francisco Bay Area:

• 9. Santa Clara County, California $74,335
• 14. Marin County, California $71,306
• 18. San Mateo County, California $70,819
• 45. Contra Costa County, California $63,675

According to Forbes Magazine, published in 2005, 29 out of the top 50 most expensive Zip Codes are located in California, of which 12 are in the Bay Area. The dollar figures are denoted by median home sale price in 2004:

• 1. 94027 Atherton, CA $2,496,553
• 6. 94957 Ross, CA $1,910,263
• 18. 94528 Diablo, CA $1,452,500
• 19. 94920 Belvedere Tiburon, CA $1,421,336
• 20. 94022 Los Altos, CA $1,392,522
• 23. 94946 Nicasio, CA $1,370,000
• 27. 94028 Portola Valley, CA $1,316,417
• 29. 94024 Los Altos, CA $1,306,432
• 31. 95030 Los Gatos, CA $1,278,645
• 37. 94123 San Francisco, CA $1,183,307
• 40. 94010 San Francisco, CA $1,152,066

Weather

Because the hills, mountains, and large bodies of water produce such vast geographic diversity within this region, the 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, with an occasional snowfall dusting the highest peaks (including Mount St. Helena, Mount Hamilton, Mount Diablo, Mount Tamalpais). The Bay Area is generally subdivided into several smaller subregions.

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Transportation

Airports

• San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

  The largest and oldest airport in the region, and a major international hub airport in California second only to LAX (Los Angeles).

• Oakland International Airport (OAK)

  The second largest airport in the region and a hub for mostly low-cost domestic flights.

• Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC)

  The smallest of the major airports. Undergoing a major expansion and renovation to handle more major flights.

Public transportation

Bus

Numerous and often overlapping bus transit agencies service the area: see Muni, AC Transit, SamTrans, VTA, County Connection and Golden Gate Transit

Light rail

Muni and VTA also operate light rail networks.

Mass transit

The Bay Area is served by a number of mass transit systems:

• Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) - A subway/commuter rail service that serves parts of the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Fremont, and Walnut Creek. It has a direct connection to San Francisco's airport while a direct connection to Oakland's airport is in the planning stages.
• Caltrain - A commuter rail service that connects San Jose and cities along the Peninsula with San Francisco, California, and with the BART system by way of the Millbrae Transit Station.
• Amtrak - There are several Amtrak stations throughout the Bay Area. Major stations in Martinez and Emeryville feature Coast Starlight and California Zephyr service. The Starlight also services Oakland and San Jose. The Capitol Corridor connects Bay Area cities to Sacramento, and features BART transfer stations at Richmond and the Oakland Coliseum.
• ACE - Altamont Commuter Express; a rail service that mainly serves commuters to and from the Central Valley to the Silicon Valley. It travels from Stockton through Pleasanton, Fremont, Santa Clara, and ends at San Jose. It operates only during commute hours on weekdays.

Ferries

Public ferry services cross the bay to serve both commuters and leisure travelers. Operators include Golden Gate Transit, Blue and Gold Fleet, and Red and White.

Freeways and highways

Image:I-80 Eastshore Fwy.jpg The Bay Area possesses an extensive freeway and highway system.

Trans-bay crossings

• Interstate 80 - The western terminus of I-80 is located in San Francisco, just west of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The interstate continues to the east, connecting to Oakland and the north coast of the East Bay, and then on to Sacramento and Reno.
• Interstate 580 - This spur route's western terminus is in Marin County. The Interstate crosses the San Pablo Bay over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, passes through Oakland, then continues to Livermore, through the Altamont Pass to Tracy, where it intersects with Interstate 5.
• California State Route 92 - CA-92's western terminus is in Half Moon Bay. The two-lane highway crosses the Santa Cruz Mountains, connecting to Interstate 280 and U.S. Highway 101, becoming a freeway as it passes through San Mateo before crossing the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge to Hayward.
• California State Route 84 - CA-84 begins at the Pacific Coast near San Gregorio State Beach, and crosses the Santa Cruz Mountains on a scenic route between La Honda and Woodside. It then crosses the Bay over the Dumbarton Bridge from Redwood City to Newark. The route then passes through Fremont, continuing as Niles Canyon Road to Sunol and Livermore.

The Peninsula to the South Bay

• Interstate 280 and U.S. Highway 101 - Eight-lane and, in some parts, 10-lane freeways connecting San Francisco to San Jose, passing through the Peninsula. Highway 101 continues south to Gilroy and Salinas, California, before continuing to Los Angeles. For most of its route I-280 runs along the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and is very scenic, while 101 is highly urban and is locally known as "the world's longest parking lot."
• California State Routes 1 and 35 - Two-lane highways also traveling down the Peninsula, CA-1 along the Pacific coast, and CA-35 near the ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. CA-1 connects to Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, before continuing to Los Angeles.
• California State Routes 17 and 9 - Highways through the Santa Cruz Mountains, connecting the South Bay to Santa Cruz. Part of CA-17 in San Jose is an 8 lane freeway.
• California Routes 237 and 85 - Freeways connecting the west Santa Clara Valley to the east Santa Clara Valley, bypassing Downtown San Jose.
• California State Route 87 - North-south freeway entirely in San Jose, connecting Downtown to the Almaden Valley.
• California State Route 152 - Two-lane highway from Watsonville, crosses the Santa Cruz Mountains to Gilroy, then crosses the Diablo Range through Pacheco Pass to I-5 near Los Banos.
• California State Route 82 - Highway running from San Jose to Interstate 280 in San Francisco. It is designated a State Route, although it is more similar to an inner-city boulevard, and contains either 2, 4, or 6 lanes. Through much of the San Mateo County, it is also known as El Camino Real. It runs from Daly City in the north through the Peninsula and beyond.
• The freeway system in Santa Clara county is augmented by its expressway system.

North Bay

• US-101 and CA-1 - Continue north of San Francisco, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and connecting San Francisco to Marin and Sonoma counties, and eventually to Oregon.
• California State Route 29 - Four-lane expressway connecting Interstate 80 in Vallejo in Solano County to the towns of American Canyon and Napa. North of Napa, SR-29 is a two-lane rural highway through the towns of the Napa Valley, California's Wine Country, to Clear Lake.
• California State Route 37 - Four- and two-lane expressway connecting US-101 in Novato with Interstate 80 in Vallejo, along the northern shore of San Pablo Bay.
• California State Route 12 - A highway connecting Santa Rosa with suburbs to the east and west.

East Bay

• Interstates 880 and 680 travel up the East Bay from San Jose, 880 close to the bay to Oakland, and 680 inland from San Jose north through Fremont, Pleasanton and Concord; then crosses the Benicia-Martinez bridge and ends at Interstate 80 in Fairfield.
• Interstate 980 is entirely in Downtown Oakland and begins at Interstate 880 and travels north to become California State Route 24 at Interstate 580.
• California State Route 13, or the Warren Freeway, is entirely in the Oakland Hills and travels north from Interstate 580 to California State Route 24, where the freeway portion ends. Beyond SR 24, SR 13 is Berkeley's Ashby Avenue.
• California State Route 24 begins at Interstate 580 in Oakland and travels east through the Caldecott Tunnel to Interstate 680 in Walnut Creek.
• California State Route 238/Interstate 238 (Mission Boulevard) is an arterial from Fremont to Hayward, along the base of the hills, then becomes a freeway near Oakland.
• California State Route 4 - Western terminus at Interstate 80 in Hercules, travels east through Martinez, Pittsburg, and Antioch, where the freeway portion ends. The highway continues to Brentwood and east to Stockton.

Bridges

Due to the central location of the San Francisco Bay, several bridges cross the Bay or Bay tributaries.

• The Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San Francisco with Marin County
• The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
• The San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
• The Dumbarton Bridge, connecting Menlo Park in San Mateo County with Fremont in Alameda County
• The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
• The Carquinez Bridge, connecting Vallejo in Solano County with Crockett in Contra Costa County
• The Benicia-Martinez Bridge, connecting Solano and Contra Costa Counties
• The Antioch Bridge, connecting Antioch in Contra Costa County with Sacramento County

Universities & colleges

The region is home to some prestigious universities and seminaries, including the world renowned University of California, Berkeley (or CAL) and Stanford University. Nobel laureates have been attracted to these universities from countries around the world. Most studies rank the San Francisco Bay Area population at or near the top in the Nation for overall education level. (The other two candidates would be Greater Boston and Washington D.C.)

Image:Berkeley glade afternoon.jpg Public University of California, Berkeley University of California, San Francisco University of California, Santa Cruz Hastings College of the Law California Maritime Academy California State University, East Bay (Formerly CSU Hayward) San Francisco State University San Jose State University Sonoma State University Seminaries Fuller Theological Seminary (See also Fuller Northern California.) Graduate Theological Union Saint Patrick Seminary

Image:Stanford campus aerial photo.jpg Private Academy of Art University American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine The Arts Institute International California College of the Arts California Culinary Academy California Institute of Integral Studies Culinary Institute of America at Greystone Golden Gate University Holy Names College John F. Kennedy University Mills College National Hispanic University New College of California Notre Dame de Namur University Saint Mary's College of California San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Conservatory of Music Santa Clara University Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center Silicon Valley College Stanford University University of San Francisco University of the Pacific University of the Pacific, Arthur A.Dugoni School of Dentistry

Sports

Club	Sport	League	Venue	Logo
San Francisco 49ers	NFL	National Football Conference	Monster Park	Image:SanFrancisco49ers 100.png
Oakland Raiders	NFL	American Football Conference	McAfee Coliseum	Image:OaklandRaiders 100.png
San Francisco Giants	Major League Baseball	National League	SBC Park	Image:SanFranciscoGiants 100.png
Oakland Athletics	Major League Baseball	American League	McAfee Coliseum	Image:OaklandAthletics 100.png
Golden State Warriors	Basketball	National Basketball Association	Oakland Arena	Image:GoldenStateWarriors 100.png
San Jose Sharks	Ice Hockey	National Hockey League	HP Pavilion	Image:San Jose Sharks.gif
San Jose Earthquakes	Soccer	Major League Soccer	Spartan Stadium	Image:SJ Earthquakes logo.gif
San Jose SaberCats	Football	Arena Football League	HP Pavilion	Image:SanJoseSaberCats.png

NCAA Division I College Sports Santa Clara University Broncos Stanford Cardinal University of San Francisco Dons University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears St. Mary's College of California Gaels San Jose State Spartans

Regional counties, cities and suburbs

The following lists are based on the ten-county definition of the Bay Area. Cities in bold serve as county seat. Those places listed in italics would be excluded by the nine-county definition that excludes Santa Cruz County.

Counties

Alameda County Contra Costa County Marin County Napa County San Francisco County

San Mateo County Santa Clara County Santa Cruz County Solano County Sonoma County

Cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants

• San Francisco
• San Jose

Cities with 100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants

Antioch Berkeley Concord Daly City Fairfield Fremont Hayward

Oakland Richmond Santa Clara Santa Rosa Sunnyvale Vallejo

Suburbs with 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants

Alameda Alamo Albany American Canyon Ashland Bay Point Belmont Benicia Blackhawk-Camino Tassajara Brentwood Burlingame Campbell Capitola Castro Valley Cherryland Clayton Cupertino Danville Dixon Dublin East Palo Alto El Cerrito El Sobrante Foster City Gilroy Half Moon Bay Healdsburg Hercules Hillsborough Lafayette Larkspur Live Oak Livermore Los Altos Los Gatos Martinez Menlo Park Mill Valley Millbrae (Major airport: near SFO) Milpitas

Moraga Morgan Hill Mountain View, Contra Costa Co. Mountain View, Santa Clara Co. Napa Newark Novato Oakley Orinda Pacifica Palo Alto Petaluma Piedmont Pinole Pittsburg Pleasant Hill Pleasanton Redwood City Rohnert Park San Anselmo San Bruno (Major airport: near SFO) San Carlos San Leandro San Lorenzo San Mateo San Pablo San Rafael San Ramon Santa Cruz Saratoga Scotts Valley South San Francisco Stanford Suisun City Tamalpais-Homestead Valley Union City Vacaville Walnut Creek Watsonville Windsor

Suburbs with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants

A thru La

Amesti Angwin Aptos Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley Atherton Bayview-Montalvin Belvedere Ben Lomond Bethel Island Black Point-Green Point Bodega Bay Bolinas Boulder Creek Boyes Hot Springs Brisbane Broadmoor Buena Vista Burbank Byron Calistoga Cloverdale Clyde Colma Corralitos Corte Madera Cotati Crockett Day Valley Deer Park

Diablo Dillon Beach Discovery Bay East Richmond Heights East Foothills El Granada El Verano Eldridge Elmira Emeryville Fairfax Fairview Felton Fetters Hot Springs-Agua Caliente Forestville Freedom Fruitdale Glen Ellen Graton Green Valley Guerneville Highlands-Baywood Park Interlaken Inverness Kensington Kentfield Knightsen La Honda Lagunitas-Forest Knolls

Continued...

L thru Y

Larkfield-Wikiup Lexington Hills Loma Mar Los Altos Hills Loyola Lucas Valley-Marinwood Montara Monte Rio Monte Sereno Moss Beach Mount Eden Muir Beach Occidental Opal Cliffs Pacheco Pescadero Point Reyes Station Port Costa Portola Valley Rio del Mar Rio Vista Rodeo Rollingwood Roseland Ross

Saint Helena San Geronimo San Gregorio San Martin Santa Venetia Sausalito Sebastopol Seven Trees Sonoma Soquel Stinson Beach Strawberry Sunol Sunol-Midtown Tara Hills Temelec Tiburon Tomales Twin Lakes Vine Hill Waldon West Menlo Park Woodacre Woodside Yountville

See also

• United States metropolitan area
• List of San Francisco Bay Area writers
• List of San Francisco Bay Area wildflowers

Image:California state flag.png	State of California
Capital	Sacramento
Regions	Antelope Valley | Big Sur | Central Valley | Central Coast | Channel Islands | Coachella Valley | Conejo Valley | Death Valley | Eastern California | Emerald Triangle | Gold Country | Greater Los Angeles | Imperial Valley | Inland Empire | Mojave | Northern California | Owens Valley | Palm Springs Area | Pomona Valley | Sacramento Valley | The Peninsula | Redwood Empire | San Fernando Valley | San Francisco Bay Area | San Gabriel Valley | Santa Clara Valley | Santa Clarita Valley | San Joaquin Valley | Shasta Cascade | Sierra Nevada | Silicon Valley | Southern California | Wine Country
Counties	Alameda | Alpine | Amador | Butte | Calaveras | Colusa | Contra Costa | Del Norte | El Dorado | Fresno | Glenn | Humboldt | Imperial | Inyo | Kern | Kings | Lake | Lassen | Los Angeles | Madera | Marin | Mariposa | Mendocino | Merced | Modoc | Mono | Monterey | Napa | Nevada | Orange | Placer | Plumas | Riverside | Sacramento | San Benito | San Bernardino | San Diego | San Francisco | San Joaquin | San Luis Obispo | San Mateo | Santa Barbara | Santa Clara | Santa Cruz | Shasta | Sierra | Siskiyou | Solano | Sonoma | Stanislaus | Sutter | Tehama | Trinity | Tulare | Tuolumne | Ventura | Yolo | Yuba
Large cities	Bakersfield | Fresno | Los Angeles-Long Beach | Sacramento | San Diego | San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland | Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine
Other significant communities	Berkeley | Burbank | Carmichael | Chula Vista | Citrus Heights | Concord | Elk Grove | Folsom | Fremont | Glendale | Huntington Beach | Lincoln | Modesto | Newport Beach | Ontario | Palmdale | Palo Alto | Pasadena | Rancho Cordova | Roseville | Santa Barbara | Santa Clara | Santa Clarita | Santa Cruz | Simi Valley | Stockton | Sunnyvale | Temecula | Thousand Oaks | Torrance | Ventura | Walnut Creek

External links

• Travel guide to San Francisco Bay Area from Wikitravel

• Bay Area Experiences.com Community-built site with fun, non-touristy things to do in San Francisco and surrounding areas.