 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2023) |
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.
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.
The law enforcement in the Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit is being provided by its contracted law enforcement agencies. [1]
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).
The largest city in the North Bay is Santa Rosa, with a population of 175,000.
Other major cities include: (sorted by population)
Sonoma County is located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa.
San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California.
Sonoma Valley is a valley located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as the birthplace of the California wine industry, the valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards and wineries in the state, some of which survived the phylloxera epidemic of the 1870s and the impact of prohibition in the early 20th century. Today, the valley's wines are promoted by the U.S. federal government's Sonoma Valley and Carneros AVAs.
Golden Gate Transit (GGT) is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It primarily serves Marin County, Sonoma County, and San Francisco, and also provides limited service to Contra Costa County. In 2022, Golden Gate Transit had a ridership of 1,205,100, or about 4,600 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is a rail line and bicycle-pedestrian pathway project in Sonoma and Marin counties of the U.S. state of California. When completed, the entire system will serve a 70-mile (110 km) corridor between Cloverdale in northern Sonoma County and Larkspur Landing in Marin County. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 474,500, or about 2,700 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District is a special-purpose district that owns and operates three regional transportation assets in the San Francisco Bay Area: the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, the Golden Gate Ferry system and the Golden Gate Transit system. All three assets connect Marin County with San Francisco. In the 1950s and 60s, officials in charge of the Golden Gate Bridge District coordinated to kill the popular BART extension into Marin County in order to preserve their own toll revenues.
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a 271-mile (436 km) mainline railroad from the ferry connections in Sausalito north to Eureka with a connection to the national railroad system at Schellville. The railroad has gone through a history of different ownership and operators but has maintained a generic name of reference as The Northwestern Pacific Railroad, despite no longer being officially named that. Currently, only a 62-mile (100 km) stretch of mainline from Larkspur to the Sonoma County Airport in Windsor and east to Schellville on the “south end” is operated by Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART), which operates both commuter and freight trains with plans for future extension north to Cloverdale. The “north end” from Willits to Eureka is currently out of service, but saved by 2018 legislation to be converted into the Great Redwood Trail.
The North Coast of California is a region in Northern California that lies on the Pacific coast between San Francisco Bay and the Oregon border. It commonly includes Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties and sometimes includes Lake and two counties from the San Francisco Bay area, Marin and Sonoma.
San Francisco Bay in California has been served by ferries of all types for over 150 years. John Reed established a sailboat ferry service in 1826. Although the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge led to the decline in the importance of most ferries, some are still in use today for both commuters and tourists.
California Park is an unincorporated community in Marin County, California, United States, and a suburb of San Rafael. It lies north of San Quentin State Prison. Marin Sanitary Service is the largest tenant in the area.
Golden Gate Ferry is a commuter ferry service operated by the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District in San Francisco Bay, part of the Bay Area of Northern California, United States. Regular service is run to the Ferry Building in San Francisco from Larkspur, Sausalito, Tiburon, and Angel Island in Marin County, with additional service from Larkspur to Oracle Park and Chase Center. The ferry service is funded primarily by passenger fares and Golden Gate Bridge tolls. In 2022, Golden Gate Ferry had a ridership of 1,022,800, or about 5,400 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
The San Rafael Transportation Center is an intermodal transportation center located in downtown San Rafael, California. It is a primary transfer point for several local and regional bus operators, and a commuter rail station on the Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) system.
The Santa Rosa Transit Mall is a major transfer point for several bus routes serving the city of Santa Rosa, California, located in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco, in the United States. From the Transit Mall, passengers can travel throughout Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, plus destinations that connect the city with the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area and the Redwood Empire.
Haystack Landing is a historic property in Sonoma County, California, now owned by Dutra Materials. Haystack Landing was a passenger and freight connection on San Francisco Bay via the Petaluma River and San Pablo Bay. The landing is currently the site of a historic steamer dock, a railroad bridge, and of a planned asphalt production and storage facility. Haystack Landing was featured in then-congressman Frank Riggs' election campaign in the 1996 California First Congressional District race, when his ties to the property drew criticism.
Larkspur station is a Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) station in Larkspur, California. The terminal station opened to revenue service on December 14, 2019. It is located 1⁄3 mile (0.5 km) from the Larkspur Landing ferry terminal, across Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.
Petaluma North station is a planned Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit station in Petaluma, California located at Corona Road and North McDowell Boulevard. The station was planned as an infill station to be constructed after the initial phase of the system's construction had been completed. The site may include a 150-space parking facility. In addition to vehicle and bicycle parking, there will be electric vehicle charging stations available at the station.
The Northwestern Pacific Railroad operated a network of electric interurban lines in Marin County, California from 1903 to 1941. The lines ran to Sausalito at the southern tip of the county, where connecting ferries ran to San Francisco. Trains consisted of electric multiple units powered by third rail electrification. The lines were the first third-rail electrification in California, and the first major railroad to use alternating current signals.
Tubbs Island is an island in San Pablo Bay. It is in Sonoma County, California, and parts of it are managed as part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area. Its coordinates are 38°08′59″N122°25′27″W, and the United States Geological Survey measured its elevation as 0 ft (0 m) in 1981. It, long with Island No. 1, Island No. 2 and Green Island, are labeled on a 1902 USGS map of the area.
The Black Point Railroad Bridge is a truss swing bridge spanning the Petaluma River, located in Black Point-Green Point, California.
| Bodies of water |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Counties | ||
| Major cities | ||
| Cities and towns 100k–250k | ||
| Cities and towns 50k–99k | ||
| Cities and towns 25k–50k | ||
| Cities and towns 10k–25k | ||
| Sub-regions | ||
| Other | ||
