The San Francisco Bay Area PortalThe 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
A Mission burrito (also known as a San Francisco burrito or a Mission-style burrito) is a type of burrito that first became popular during the 1960s in the Mission District of San Francisco, California. It is distinguished from other burritos by its large size and inclusion of extra rice and other ingredients. It has been referred to as one of three major styles of burritos in the United States, following the earlier, simple burrito consisting of beans, rice, and meat and preceding the California burrito containing cheese and potatoes that was developed in the 1980s.
Many taquerías in the Mission and in the greater San Francisco Bay Area specialize in Mission burritos. It is typically served in a piece of aluminum foil around a large flour tortilla which is wrapped and folded around a variety of ingredients. A food critic working for the San Francisco Chronicle counted hundreds of taquerias in the Bay Area, and noted that the question of which taqueria makes the best burrito can "encourage fierce loyalty and ferocious debate". New York-based writer Calvin Trillin said that the burrito in San Francisco "has been refined and embellished in much the same way that the pizza has been refined and embellished in Chicago." Since its commercial availability began in the 1960s, the style has spread widely throughout the United States. (more...) Selected biography
John Coolidge Adams (born February 15, 1947) is an American composer with strong roots in minimalism. His best-known works include Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986), On the Transmigration of Souls (2002), a choral piece commemorating the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks (for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003), and Shaker Loops (1978), a minimalist four-movement work for strings. His well-known operas include Nixon in China (1987), which recounts Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China, and Doctor Atomic (2005), which covers Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project, and the building of the first atomic bomb. He has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1971. (more...)
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Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. Today, Sonoma is a center of the state's wine industry for the Sonoma Valley AVA Appellation. Sonoma's population was 10,648 as of the 2010 census, while the Sonoma urban area had a population of 32,678. (more...)
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The Bay Area by year1860
Selected historical imageTrocadero Inn, Sigmund Stern Grove, San Francisco (1936) image credit: Robert W. Kerrigan, Historic American Buildings Survey
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Previous Did you know... • ... that Joe Heitz of California wine producer Heitz Wine Cellars is considered the first in the U.S. to champion single vineyard designated wine? January/February 2011 Selected periodic eventHardly 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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The San Francisco Giants win game one of the 2010 World Series credit: Voice of America
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