The San Francisco Bay Area Portal![]() ![]() The San Francisco Bay Area (referred to locally as the Bay Area) is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses the major cities and metropolitan areas of San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland, along with smaller urban and rural areas. The Bay Area's nine counties are Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. Home to approximately 7.68 million people, the nine-county Bay Area contains many cities, towns, airports, and associated regional, state, and national parks, connected by a network of roads, highways, railroads, bridges, tunnels, and commuter rail. The combined statistical area of the region is the second-largest in California (after the Greater Los Angeles area), the fifth-largest in the United States, and the 43rd-largest urban area in the world with 8.80 million people. The Bay Area has the second-most Fortune 500 companies in the United States, after the New York metropolitan area, and is known for its natural beauty, liberal politics, entrepreneurship, and diversity. The area ranks second in highest density of college graduates, after the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and performs above the state median household income in the 2010 census; it includes the five highest California counties by per capita income and two of the top 25 wealthiest counties in the United States. Based on a 2013 population report from the California Department of Finance, the Bay Area is the only region in California where the rate of people migrating in from other areas in the United States is greater than the rate of those leaving the region, led by Alameda and Contra Costa counties. (more...) Selected article![]() The Frommers travel guide considers the Golden Gate Bridge "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world". It opened in 1937 and had, until 1964, the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,300 m). (more...) Selected biography![]() Serranus Clinton Hastings (November 22, 1814 – February 18, 1893) was a 19th-century politician, rancher and a prominent lawyer in the United States. He studied law as a young man and moved to the Iowa District in 1837 to open a law office. Iowa became a territory a year later, and he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the Iowa Territorial General Assembly. When the territory became the state of Iowa in 1846, he won an election to represent the state in the United States House of Representatives. After his term ended, he became Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court. He resigned after one year in office and moved to California. He was appointed to the California Supreme Court as Chief Justice a few months later. He won an election to be Attorney General of California, and assumed office shortly after his term as Chief Justice ended. He began practicing law again as Attorney General. He earned a small fortune with his law practice and used that fortune to finance his successful real estate venture. In 1878, he founded the University of California, Hastings College of the Law with a donation of US$100,000. (more...) Selected city![]() Money's Best Places to Live, America's best small towns, ranked Cupertino as #27 in 2012, the 2nd highest in California. It was also named as the 7th happiest suburb in the United States, ranking highly in the Income, Safety, Marriage, and Education categories. (more...) Selected image
The Bay Area by year1899
Selected historical imagePalace of Fine Arts and the Lagoon (San Francisco)
1915 painting by Edwin Deakin, from the collection of the Crocker Art Museum image credit: Crocker Art Museum
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Selected periodic event![]() Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (pictured) is held annually, the first week of October, in Golden Gate Park, and originally featured only Bluegrass Music, but now includes related genres. It began in 2001. In 2011, the free festival drew an estimated 750,000 people over the course of the three-day event. Quote![]()
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