# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/61 "2015-09-09T19:27:34Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > BTW, technically San Francisco Bay isn’t really a bay - it’s an estuary formed by the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Isn’t it both? They aren’t mutually exclusive, right? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/62 "2015-09-09T20:15:42Z")
Always San Fran, even though I grew up in the L.A. version of “South Bay” (I actually don’t remember if we ever shortened it to 'the Bay Area")and have live the last 25 years in the Tampa Bay Area. Then again, it depends on context, but just hearing the term, apropos of nothing, it’s San Fran. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/63 "2015-09-09T20:34:27Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Isn’t it both? They aren’t mutually exclusive, right? Not really. A bay is an indentation in a coastline. An estuary is a partly-enclosed body of brackish water where one of more rivers meet the ocean. Monterey Bay, south of San Francisco, is a true bay - it’s full of ocean water, and isn’t formed by rivers flowing into it. For another example of the difference, there’s Drake’s Bay and Drake’s Estero, north of San Francisco. The former is a true bay - that is, it’s an indentation in the coastline. The latter is a true estuary, in that it’s formed by several small rivers, and is full of brackish water that drains into Drake’s Bay. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/64 "2015-09-09T20:49:18Z")
Life time east coaster and I think of San Francisco area. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/65 "2015-09-09T20:55:55Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > What is the first region that comes to your mind when you read or hear the term “Bay Area”? So you’ve had plenty of answers now, what inspired this poll? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/66 "2015-09-09T21:41:20Z")
Massachusetts Bay, of course. Or Hudson Bay. Nah, just kidding. I’ve spent my life in New England, the midwest, and the south, but “the Bay Area” always means San Francisco area unless you’re listening to a local beach report. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/67 "2015-09-09T21:49:30Z")
I live in Maryland but I think of San Fransisco and its environs if someone says Bay Area. Actually, I just think San Fransisco, because I’m pretty hazy on the geography of CA. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148/68 "2015-09-09T23:14:10Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Actually, I just think San Fransisco, because I’m pretty hazy on the geography of CA. Perhaps you should know that the capital of California is [3703 miles from eastern Maryland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_50#/media/File:Rt50_termini_ca_ocmd_sign.jpg) (US 50 terminus in Sacramento). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-area-do-you-think-of-when-someone-refers-to-the-bay-area/730148.md?page=3)