Portal:San Francisco Bay Area

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The San Francisco Bay Area Portal

California Bay Area county map
California Bay Area county map

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...)

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United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that practically everyone born in the United States is a U.S. citizen. This decision established an important precedent in its interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents around 1871, had been denied re-entry to the United States after a trip abroad, under a law restricting Chinese immigration and prohibiting immigrants from China from becoming naturalized U.S. citizens. He challenged the government's refusal to recognize his citizenship, and the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, holding that the citizenship language in the Fourteenth Amendment encompassed essentially everyone born in the U.S.—even the U.S.-born children of foreigners—and could not be limited in its effect by an act of Congress. (more...)

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Henry Edwards (August 27, 1827 – June 9, 1891), known as "Harry", was an English-born stage actor, writer and entomologist who gained fame in Australia, San Francisco and New York City for his theater work.

Edwards was drawn to the theater early in life, and he appeared in amateur productions in London. After sailing to Australia, Edwards appeared professionally in Shakespearean plays and light comedies primarily in Melbourne and Sydney. Throughout his childhood in England and his acting career in Australia, he was greatly interested in collecting insects, and the National Museum of Victoria used the results of his Australian fieldwork as part of the genesis of their collection.

In San Francisco, Edwards was a founding member of the Bohemian Club, and a gathering in Edwards' honor was the spark which began the club's traditional summer encampment at the Bohemian Grove.As well, Edwards cemented his reputation as a preeminent stage actor and theater manager. After writing a series of influential studies on Pacific Coast butterflies and moths he was elected life member of the California Academy of Sciences. (more...)

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Old fire station, Livermore
Old fire station, Livermore
Livermore (formerly Livermores, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County. The estimated population as of 2011 was 82,039. Livermore is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area.

Livermore was founded by William Mendenhall and named after Robert Livermore, his friend and a local rancher who settled in the area in the 1840s. Livermore is the home of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, for which the chemical element livermorium is named (and thus, placing the city's name in the periodic table). Livermore is also the California site of Sandia National Laboratories, which is headquartered in Alburquerque, NM. Its south side is home to local vineyards. The city has also redeveloped its downtown district. The city is considered part of the Tri-Valley area, including Amador, Livermore and San Ramon Valleys. (more...)

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The Bay Area by year

1868
University of California logo
University of California logo
Damage from the Great San Francisco Earthquake, in Haywards area
Damage from the Great San Francisco Earthquake, in Haywards area
1884 Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
1884 Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart

 • An earthquake estimated at 6.8–7.0 on the Richter scale hits the Bay Area, with an epicenter in the East Bay. It causes significant damage throughout the region, and comes to be known as the "Great San Francisco Earthquake". (damage in the Haywards area pictured, right)
 • The Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (pictured, right) in Oakland is established by members of the Sisters of the Holy Names from Canada
 • The University of California (logo pictured, left) is established in Berkeley, along with the first campus in the system, the University of California, Berkeley
 • Santa Rosa in Sonoma County is incorporated
 • Vallejo in Solano County is incorporated
 • Bret Harte begins publishing the Overland Monthly in San Francisco
 • The Guittard Chocolate Company is founded in San Francisco

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Did you know...

San Francisco Bay Salt Ponds
San Francisco Bay Salt Ponds

Previous Did you know...

Crisis hotline sign at the Golden Gate Bridge
Crisis hotline sign at the Golden Gate Bridge
Robot assemblers at the Tesla Factory
Robot assemblers at the Tesla Factory
Panama–Pacific commemorative coins
Panama–Pacific commemorative coins

April 2015

Selected periodic event

bondage knot demonstration at the festival
bondage knot demonstration at the festival

Folsom Street Fair is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair held in September, that caps San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The event started in 1984 and is the world's largest leather event and showcase for BDSM products and culture. The event is organized as a non-profit, with gate entry fees and money from fundraising events going to charity groups. (Bondage knot demonstration pictured)

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~ William Saroyan
*more quotes about San Francisco from Wikiquote

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San Francisco at night
credit: "Editor"

Bay Area regions, geographic features and protected areas

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