Portal:San Francisco Bay Area

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The San Francisco Bay Area Portal

California Bay Area county map
SF Bay area USGS.jpg

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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LLNL Aerial View.jpg
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federal research facility in Livermore, California, founded by the University of California in 1952. A Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), it is primarily funded by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and managed and operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS), a partnership of the University of California, Bechtel, Babcock & Wilcox, URS, and Battelle Memorial Institute in affiliation with the Texas A&M University System. The laboratory was honored in 2012 by having the synthetic chemical element livermorium named after it. (more...)

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Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 August 11, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, film producer, and screenwriter. Starting as a stand-up comedian in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the mid 1970s, he is credited with leading San Francisco's comedy renaissance. After rising to fame as Mork in the TV series Mork & Mindy (197882), Williams went on to establish a career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting.

His film career included acclaimed work such as Popeye (1980), The World According to Garp (1982), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990), The Fisher King (1991), and Good Will Hunting (1997), as well as financial successes such as Hook (1991), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Night at the Museum (2006), and Happy Feet (2006). He appeared in the music video for Bobby McFerrin's song "Don't Worry, Be Happy".

Williams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as therapist Dr. Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. He received two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and five Grammy Awards. TV producer George Schlatter, who first saw Williams doing stand-up comedy in 1977, gave him his first TV spot in Laugh-In, certain that Williams would become an important force in the entertainment industry. Terry Gilliam, who directed Williams in two films, was impressed by the breadth of his acting range, stating that Williams was a unique actor.

On August 11, 2014, Williams died of an apparent suicide by hanging at his home in Paradise Cay, California. (more...)

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SanBruno.jpg
San Bruno is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, incorporated in 1914. The population was 41,114 at the 2010 census.

San Bruno is located at 373731N 1222531W / 37.625288N 122.425266W / 37.625288; -122.425266. 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...)

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Recently in the Bay Area

2017
Warm Springs BART station on opening day
The United States of America, Arthur Szyk (1945)
Robert Taylor in 2008
Customers waiting to purchase the Tesla 3 in Walnut Creek, California
Satellite image of smoke from California wildfires

The Bay Area by year

1986
924 Gilman
Nude woman at Baker Beach, evoking Burning Man

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Did you know...

Emiko Omori and Victor Wong
Tim Stearns
The Oceanic, 1871
Ghost Ship warehouse interior

  ... that filmmaker Emiko Omori (pictured, left, with Victor Wong) began her career in 1968 at KQED, becoming one of the first camerawomen to work in news documentaries?
  ... that Fisher Creek is tributary to the largest freshwater wetland in Santa Clara County, Laguna Seca, a seasonal lake important to groundwater recharge and migratory birds?
  ... that San Francisco based architect Jack Hillmer is known for his meticulously hand-crafted Modernist homes built from redwood, and was an exponent of what Lewis Mumford called the "Bay Region style"?
  ... that Stanford University Department of Biology chairman Tim Stearns (pictured), together with his wife, medical researcher Susan Cleveland, tend a fruit tree orchard at their home in Redwood City?
  ... that the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company's flagship, the Oceanic (pictured), set a Pacific crossing record of 16 days and 10 hours, 8 days less than the ships of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company?
  ... that the building consumed in the 2016 Oakland warehouse fire had at least ten complaints filed on it since 1998? (interior damage pictured)
  ... that after Agnes Fay Morgan conducted a nutritional study with foxes, she presented her data wearing a stole made from the fur of her subjects?

Previous Did you know...

Oakland City Hall

October 2009

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Dean Karnazes at Napa Valley Marathon 2008

The San Francisco Marathon is a series of USATF certified road running events held each June, July or August in San Francisco that include a full marathon, two half marathons, and a 5K. Except for in 1988, the marathon has been held annually since 1977. The current marathon course forms a loop that starts and finishes on the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building. The course runs past many notable landmarks in San Francisco including Fisherman's Wharf, Aquatic Park, the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, and AT&T Park. (2009 host Dean Karnazes, at the 2008 Napa Valley Marathon, pictured)

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~ Herb Caen

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GoldenGateBridge-001.jpg You are invited to participate in the San Francisco Bay Area task force, a task force dedicated to developing and improving articles about the San Francisco Bay Area.

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