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TheNorth Bay is a subregion of theSan Francisco Bay Area, inCalifornia, United States. The largest city isSanta Rosa, which is the fifth-largest city in the Bay Area. It is the location of theNapa and Sonoma wine regions, and is the least populous and least urbanized part of the Bay Area. It consists ofMarin,Napa,Solano andSonoma counties.
The North Bay is connected toSan Francisco by theGolden Gate Bridge and to theEast Bay by theRichmond–San Rafael Bridge,Carquinez Bridge and theBenicia–Martinez Bridge. Severalferry routes operate between the North Bay and San Francisco, from terminals located inAngel Island,Larkspur,Sausalito,Tiburon andVallejo.
TheSonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART), acommuter rail line fromLarkspur toCloverdale, 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 theSonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit is being provided by its contractedlaw enforcement agencies.[1]
The area was the home ofPomo Native Americans before European invasion. The Russians first settled the area atFort Ross as a fur-trading post, but the area was later settled by the Spanish-MexicanAlta California. TheBear Flag Revolt took place in the town ofSonoma, which is also the location of the last of theCalifornia Missions. GeneralMariano 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 nearbyPetaluma.
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 upscalesuburban 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 SenatorBarbara Boxer was an important figure in the North Bay's open space preservation movement).
The largest city in the North Bay isSanta Rosa, with a population of 175,000.
Other major cities include:(sorted by population)
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