Here where I live, in the San Francisco Bay* area, people for many miles around say they live in “The Bay Area”. Even on the other side of some pretty respectable mountains. Many of these communities are quite far from the bay*. We got the East Bay, the North Bay, and the South bay. The west bay is probably the City of San Francisco.
How about other bays, I’m wondering. Do those of you who live in some proximity to a bay lay claim to that bay? Even though the actual water might be quite distant.
I’ve heard that some people even claim lakes as bays. Great! 
So there’s my question. Please, no jealous slaps.
*The bay, not the city.
Peace,
mangeorge
I live and work quite close to Narragansett Bay.
Off of Narragansett Bay, we also have Greenwich Bay (surrounded mostly by Warwick, RI) and Mount Hope Bay (bordered by greater Fall River, MA, and Bristol, RI).
Anywhere 'round these parts if you mention “the Bay,” people mostly think you’re talking about Narragansett Bay, though.
Galvestion County just south of Houston, is considered the Bay area. I think there’s even a Bay Area newspaper.
The Tampa/St. Petersburg metropolitan area is referred to as the “Bay Area” by that region’s local media.
The Bay that always gets me when I hear someone use the term is the “West Bay” What’s that? The Farralon Inslands?
'Round here they refer to Massachusetts as “the Bay State” after Massachusetts Bay, roughly bounded by Cape Ann and Cape Cod.
I’ve lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1959, and I’ve never heard anyone use the term “West Bay.” Sort of like saying Frisco. And the Bay Area is also in reference to the metro area. Like when people say they live in LA, even though they’re seventy five miles from City Hall.
And take another look at the map of the San Francisco Bay Area. It seems that all or part of the Bay Area counties (even the ones behind the mountains) touch either San Francisco and San Pablo Bay.
Likewise. I’ve only been here (Eastbay) since '84, but I’ve only ever heard the west side of the bay referred to as the peninsula.
For the curious, the term “Peninsula” (for S.F. and south) or “Marin” (for Marin County) is used in the San Francisco Bay Area.
kevja, Santa Cruz County (the only one often called ‘Bay Area’ that’s behind mountains) doesn’t touch the SF Bay at all. Though I personally don’t consider it part of the “Bay Area” anyway, unless that’s “Monterey Bay Area”.
Here around DC/Balt (The Chesapeake Bay region) we have ‘The Bay’ but not the ‘Bay Area’. One can live on the bay but not in the area per se (at least as far as I’ve ever heard.
People west of the bay might live ‘near the water’. And folks on the east side of the bay either live on ‘The Eastern Shore’ or ‘The Delmarva Peninsula’.
I agree. I too consider it a part of the Monterey Bay Area.
The “West Bay” comment was meant to be a little joke. Huh huh huh. 
That’s why it’s separated from the rest.
When the people of Benicia say they’re in the bay area, they’re thinking of SF, not San Pablo Bay. I know, I got people there.
Anyway, the point of my question is that it seems that people who live anywhere near a body of water will develop an emotional attachment to that water. More so than for mountains or deserts. I wonder if my assumption is valid. is all. Next I’ll wonder why, and try to learn the answer to that question, which would be an IMHO.
BTW; I’m pretty sure the bay was named before the city. And the “Golden Gate” refers to the inlet between SF and Marin, not the reddish bridge.
Santa Cruz IS a part of the Monterey Bay Area. I don’t think even Santa Cruzans would consider it a part of the SF Bay Area. Although cultural influence here is more “San Francisco Bay area” and a lot of residents here commute there for work. I think some analyst group decided that Monterey was economically a part of the SF Bay Area, but i’m not sure.
Here around the Monterey Bay Area, it includes the communities of:
Santa Cruz, Aptos, Watsonville, Capitola, Pajaro, Salinas, Castroville, Marina, Seaside, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel (which has its own bay, Carmel Bay), Moss Landing, Prunedale.
These all are either on the bay, or within a few miles of it. Salinas and Prunedale are probably the most inland of the communities.
Cities further inland are usually considered a part of their respective Valleys (Salinas is a bit bipolar here, since it’s either in “The Salinas Valley” or “The monterey Bay Area”), Such as Chualar, which is to the east of Salinas and a part of the “Salinas Valley”, but not the Monterey Bay Area (to me at least, and probably most people here).
We also never call this area the “Bay Area”, we always refer to it as “The Monterey Bay Area”, because we call the SF Bay Area, just “The Bay Area”.