Subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States
The
North Bay
is a subregion of the
San Francisco Bay Area
, in
California
, United States. The largest city is
Santa Rosa
, which is the fifth-largest city in the Bay Area. It is the location of the
Napa and Sonoma wine regions
, and is the least populous and least urbanized part of the Bay Area. It consists of
Marin
,
Napa
,
Solano
and
Sonoma
counties.
Transportation
[
edit
]
The North Bay is connected to
San Francisco
by the
Golden Gate Bridge
and to the
East Bay
by the
Richmond?San Rafael Bridge
,
Carquinez Bridge
and the
Benicia?Martinez Bridge
. Several
ferry
routes operate between the North Bay and San Francisco, from terminals located in
Angel Island
,
Larkspur
,
Sausalito
,
Tiburon
and
Vallejo
.
The
Sonoma?Marin Area Rail Transit
(
SMART
), a
commuter rail
line from
Larkspur
to
Cloverdale
, was approved by voters in November 2008. Passenger service began between the Sonoma County Airport station and San Rafael in August 2017 and was completed as far south as Larkspur in 2019.
Law enforcement
[
edit
]
The law enforcement in the
Sonoma?Marin Area Rail Transit
is being provided by its contracted
law enforcement agencies
.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
The area was the home of
Pomo
Native Americans before European invasion. The Russians first settled the area at
Fort Ross
as a fur-trading post, but the area was later settled by the Spanish-Mexican
Alta California
. The
Bear Flag Revolt
took place in the town of
Sonoma
, which is also the location of the last of the
California Missions
. General
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo
, the last secretary to the Governor of California before its annexation to the United States, kept his home in Sonoma; his ranch, now a National Historic Landmark, was in nearby
Petaluma
.
The North Bay remained isolated and rural well into the 20th Century. The opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1930s transformed Marin County from a dairy farming region into an upscale
suburban
area. Until the 1990s, the region's growth was at a gradual pace, with significant restrictions on development being imposed in Marin and Napa Counties in the 1970s (future Senator
Barbara Boxer
was an important figure in the North Bay's open space preservation movement).
Major cities
[
edit
]
The largest city in the North Bay is
Santa Rosa
, with a population of 175,000.
Other major cities include:
(sorted by population)
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
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Bodies of
water
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Counties
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Cities
and
towns
| Major cities
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100k?250k
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50k?100k
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25k?50k
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10k?25k
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Under 10k
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CDPs
over 10k
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Sub-regions
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Other
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38°18′N
122°30′W
/
38.3°N 122.5°W
/
38.3; -122.5