The San Francisco Bay Area, known simply as the Bay Area, surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. And also, of course, wine country.
The Bay Area includes the major cities and metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, 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.
Over 7 million people live in the Bay Area. (Holy smokes!) This includes cities, towns, airports, and every kind of park imaginable. The area is connected by roads, highways, railroads, bridges, ferries, tunnels and commuter rail. The combined urban area of San Jose and San Francisco is the 53rd largest urban area in the world. That’s right… The world. It sure doesn’t feel like it. Maybe the sheer beauty is a distraction.
The United States Census Bureau also includes Santa Cruz and San Benito counties in the Bay Area. More wine country… We’ll take them!
The San Francisco Bay Area is renowned for its natural beauty, liberal politics, and diversity. The area is affluent and includes two of the top 25 wealthiest counties in the United States.
We believe the wealth is in her land and her people. Everything else is icing on the cake.
Writer: Meredith Blevins, featured travel writer for the Authentic Wine Country. Join her at www.blevinswordworx.com for wine-country mysteries, classes, and the untamed west.
