Portal:San Francisco Bay Area
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 Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary or United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island (often just referred to as Alcatraz) was a maximum high security Federal prison on Alcatraz Island, off the coast of San Francisco, California, USA, which operated from 1934 to 1963. The main prison building was built in 1910-12 during the time it was a United States Army military prison; Alcatraz was the site of a citadel from the 1860s. The United States Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz was acquired by the United States Department of Justice on October 12, 1933, and the island became a Federal Bureau of Prisons federal prison in August 1934, after the buildings were modernized to meet the requirements of a top-notch security prison. Given this high security and the location of Alcatraz in the cold waters and strong currents of San Francisco Bay, at least a mile off the coast, the prison operators believed Alcatraz to be inescapable and America's strongest prison. (more...) Selected biographyCrews has published a variety of skeptical and rationalist essays, including book reviews and commentary for The New York Review of Books, on a variety of topics including Freud's work and recovered memory therapy, both of which were published as separate collections. Crews has also published several successful handbooks on the English language. (more...) Selected city![]() San Bruno is located at 37°37′31″N 122°25′31″W / 37.625288°N 122.425266°W. The city is located between South San Francisco and Millbrae, adjacent to San Francisco International Airport and Golden Gate National Cemetery, and is approximately 12 miles (19 km) south of downtown San Francisco. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.5 square miles (14 km2), all of it land. The city spreads from the mostly flat lowlands near San Francisco Bay into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, which rise to more than 600 feet (180 m) above sea level in Crestmoor and more than 700 feet (210 m) above sea level in Portola Highlands. San Bruno City Hall sits at an official elevation of 41 feet (12.5 m) above sea level. (more...) Selected image
The Bay Area by year1966
![]() ![]() ![]() • The Love Pageant Rally is held, on the day LSD becomes illegal, in Golden Gate Park, by the creators of the San Francisco Oracle Selected historical image![]() Construction of the San Francisco Mint, 608 Commercial Street, San Francisco (1876) image credit: Eadweard Muybridge, Historic American Buildings Survey
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February 2007 Selected periodic event![]() Bay to Breakers is an annual footrace in San Francisco on the third Sunday of May. The name reflects the fact that the race starts at the The Embarcadero adjacent to San Francisco Bay and finishes at the Great Highway adjacent to Ocean Beach and its "breaking waves". It is well known for many participants wearing costumes, and a few engaging in public nudity. The event was officially the world's largest footrace from 1986 (with 110,000 participants) until it was surpassed in 2010 by City2Surf in Sydney, Australia. Quote
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