# What area do you think of when someone refers to "the Bay Area"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148 "2015-09-06T04:15:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/21 "2015-09-06T16:14:41Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I’ve had an online conversation like the following: > > Me: Where are you from? > Them: The South Bay. > Me: California? I’m from the East Bay. > Them: Cool! > (Lots of conversation later) > Me: Err… you’re not from anywhere near San Jose, are you? > > It was either LA or San Diego, but that doesn’t scan with me. San Diego has a South Bay, but not a Bay Area. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/22 "2015-09-06T16:19:57Z")
San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley, for God’s sake. I live in Brooklyn. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/23 "2015-09-06T16:45:02Z")
1. San Francisco 2. I’d have to look up Biscayne Bay to see where it is. 3. Why is the poll public? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/24 "2015-09-06T17:08:09Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > San Diego has a South Bay, but not a Bay Area. Yes, and maybe I’m being provincial, but I assume if you say North, East, or South Bay, you mean the SF Bay. And if you say West Bay, you mean some other bay or else you’re a space alien. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/25 "2015-09-06T17:13:51Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Yes, and maybe I’m being provincial, but I assume if you say North, East, or South Bay, you mean the SF Bay. And if you say West Bay, you mean some other bay or else you’re a space alien. I wouldn’t assume that, but absent any other context it’s strange to say “I’m from the South Bay” and expect people to know what you mean. Wikipedia lists the three in Calfornia with SF, LA, and SD in that order, and Boston; the others seem to need qualification, be independent cities, or be past / future place names. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/26 "2015-09-06T18:24:33Z")
San Fran - always. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard any of the others referred to as “the Bay Area”. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/27 "2015-09-06T19:22:19Z")
I voted for San Francisco, which is weird because I live in Maryland. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/28 "2015-09-06T19:49:30Z")
San Francisco. It’s where my mom lived after she escaped from Ohio. However, I was born in Torrance and lived for a while in the Hollywood Riviera, so South Bay is the area inland from the north side of the Palos Verdes peninsula. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/29 "2015-09-06T20:02:38Z")
From a non - US perspective: SF. I wasn’t even aware there were other ‘bay areas’. I suspect movies have a lot of influence over that, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/30 "2015-09-06T20:19:02Z")
OK, now “South Bay” I wouldn’t have a clue about. If I heard it from someone around here, I’d assume they meant the southern portion of Bay Village (a Cleveland suburb), near the Westlake border. Even then it wouldn’t make much sense, though, since Bay Village mostly extends east-west. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/31 "2015-09-06T20:30:32Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I spent the first 16 years of my life living near or in the DelMarVa penninsula. “The Bay Area” makes me think of San Francisco. I’ve seen “DMV” used for the Chesapeake Bay region. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/32 "2015-09-06T21:19:55Z")
I live in Arkansas, but still San Francisco. In fact, I thought you were going to be asking about what cities qualified or something. I didn’t even realize there were other areas commonly referred to in that manner. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/33 "2015-09-06T21:21:34Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > While it is the SF area, I don’t know what area of and around SF it refers to. The city and the surrounding areas that touch the Bay, including Oakland? or a much more limited area similar to how Manhattan is divided into sub area such as SoHo,Tribeca, Upper East/West Side, etc. I assume it is a larger area just because it is such a popular term, so many people seem to reference it plus I don’t recall any other subdivision for SF used. So more like a term used for the NYC metro area which goes well into NJ and CT (and a good chunk outside the city limits in NY.) Within the city of SF itself, there are numerous neighborhoods with their own local names, such as the Sunset District, the Mission District, SoMa (South of Market Street), etc. “Bay Area” definitely refers to the larger region surrounding the bay for some distance in all directions. One quasi-“official” definition might be: all of the counties that have any part of their perimeter on the bay, of which there are nine(\*). These counties have an association called the Association of Bay Area Governments, or ABAG, that works to address region-wide matters, like area environment issues, etc. (The association may also include the city governments too, I’m not sure.) So one can think of “Bay Area” as being all of those counties. Although, to be sure, some of those counties extend far enough away from the bay that at their farther reaches, you’re far away from anything that has the “feel” of being “Bay Area”. A more informal, but perhaps more intuitive, definition would be: all of the region surrounding the bay that has the “feel” of “Bay Area”, whatever that might mean to you. In this sense, I think of it as being all the areas where you can actually see some part of the bay (or could if you climbed any nearby hill or tall building), or feel or smell the bay breeze, or see anything that seems to suggest maritime economy or culture nearby, or anywhere within a fairly short drive of any such place. ETA: (\*) San Francisco (city and county); Marin; Sonoma; Napa; Solano; Contra Costa; Alameda; Santa Clara; San Mateo. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/34 "2015-09-06T21:23:22Z")
I’ve never lived by SF, but that’s the only “Bay area” I think of. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/35 "2015-09-06T21:39:13Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Yes, and maybe I’m being provincial, but I assume if you say North, East, or South Bay, you mean the SF Bay. And if you say West Bay, you mean some other bay or else you’re a space alien. Locally, the entire “west bay” area, south of SF down to Palo Alto or so, is known as “the Peninsula”. The eastern side of this area borders on the bay and consists of a chain of small-to-medium size cities that have pretty much all grown together so you can drive the entire distance (about 40 miles) without ever being “out in the country”. There is a mountain range running up the middle of the Peninsula. On the west side of that, the area is mostly rural with a few smallish-to-verysmall communities along the Pacific coast. State Route 1 runs along this stretch of coast, and (hint for all you Bay-Area-bound tourists) it is a fabulously beautiful drive from, say, Santa Cruz up to SF, and all the more so if you also drive Rt. 1 north from SF all the way up into Sonoma County or beyond. ETA: And if you drive along Skyline, the road running along the summit of that mountain, there are some vista points where you can have a majestic view of both the bay and the Pacific Ocean. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/36 "2015-09-06T21:40:17Z")
Green Bay. Or maybe Saginaw bay. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/37 "2015-09-06T21:45:45Z")
Having lived most of my life in the San Francisco area, I was very confused when I moved to the Los Angeles area and started hearing people talk about “The South Bay”. To me, the South Bay was San Jose. But no, in Los Angeles, the South Bay is El Segundo, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, the southern part of Santa Monica Bay. I never even heard of Santa Monica Bay before I moved there. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/38 "2015-09-06T21:56:27Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > (Isn’t the Boston area sometimes called the “bay area” as well, or did I make that up?) There’s an area called The Back Bay in Boston. It’s the part along the Charles River mostly it was landfill quite some time back. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/39 "2015-09-06T21:57:45Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Around here, we may refer to Chesapeake as “the Bay,” but there’s no phrase “the Bay Area” applied to here. Instead we call various parts of it the Washington-Baltimore area, the Eastern Shore, the Northern Neck, etc. I don’t think there’s any single name for the whole circum-Chesapeake region. It’s too large for that and it comprises a number of regions. Ditto. Lived in the region for 14 years and it was “the Chesapeake”, “the Shore”, etc. not a “Bay Area”. Lots of places are “the Bay” with variations on upper/lower, north/shouth, etc., but only SanFran gets “The Bay Area” in my frame of reference. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/40 "2015-09-06T22:09:32Z")
Depends on “the bay”. There’s a Lot more than just One bay in the US & locals have their own pride. I don’t think I’m the one to strip it from them, do you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148.md?page=3)