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TheSan Francisco Peninsula is apeninsula in theSan Francisco Bay Area that separatesSan Francisco Bay from thePacific Ocean. On its northern tip is theCity and County of San Francisco. Its southern base isPalo Alto,Mountain View,Los Altos andSunnyvale, inSanta Clara County. Most of the Peninsula is occupied bySan Mateo County, which is between San Francisco and Santa Clara counties, and the Peninsula includes the cities and towns ofAtherton,Belmont,Brisbane,Burlingame,Colma,Daly City,East Palo Alto,El Granada,Foster City,Half Moon Bay,Hillsborough,La Honda,Loma Mar,Los Altos,Los Altos Hills,Menlo Park,Millbrae,Mountain View,Pacifica,Palo Alto,Pescadero,Portola Valley,Redwood City,Redwood Shores,San Bruno,San Carlos,San Mateo,South San Francisco,Sunnyvale,West Menlo Park andWoodside.
Whereas the termpeninsula in a geographical sense technically refers to the entire San Francisco Peninsula, in local jargon, "The Peninsula" does not include the city of San Francisco.[1]
In 1795, GovernorDiego de Borica gaveJosé Darío Argüello aSpanish land grant known asRancho de las Pulgas.[2] This rancho was the largest grant on the peninsula consisting of 35,260 acres (142.7 km2).[2]
As a local geographic term, the area referred to as "the Peninsula" is distinct from that denoted by "the City", and refers to the portion south of San Francisco. The appellation may date to the period prior to 1856, when the City of San Francisco and the County of San Francisco were separate entities, the latter then coextensive with contemporary San Mateo County and San Francisco City-County. The City-County owns several disjunct properties along the whole of the Peninsula (mostly water pumping stations connected to theHetch Hetchy Valley on which San Francisco has a permanent leasehold) – thus, most of the larger communities in San Mateo County arede facto suburbs of San Francisco, with the neighboring communities of Pacifica, Daly City, Broadmoor, Colma, South San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, San Bruno, and Brisbane being immediate suburbs. The remaining suburban area of the Peninsula is on the east side of theSanta Cruz Mountains, alongSan Francisco Bay; the west and south-central portions of the Peninsula are mostly rural, unincorporated, and unorganized areas.
A substantial portion ofSilicon Valley is located on the peninsula. In Silicon Valley are the headquarters of some of the largest tech companies in the world, such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and Apple. Since 2010,droughts andwildfires have increased in frequency and become less seasonal and more year-round, further straining the region'swater security.[3][4][5]
Along the center line of the Peninsula is the northern half of theSanta Cruz Mountains, formed by the action ofplate tectonics along theSan Andreas Fault. In the middle of the Peninsula along the fault is theCrystal Springs Reservoir. Just north of the Crystal Springs reservoir isSan Andreas Lake, after which thegeologic fault was originally named.[6]
The east side of the peninsula is a densely populated and largely urban and suburban area that includes portions of Silicon Valley. It forms a commuter area between San Francisco to the north andSan Jose to the south.
The bridges in the Peninsula include theDumbarton Bridge, theGolden Gate Bridge, theSan Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge, and theSan Mateo–Hayward Bridge.
A number of major thoroughfares run north-south:El Camino Real (SR 82) andUS 101 on the east side along the bay,Interstate 280 down the center,Skyline Boulevard (SR 35) along the crest of theSanta Cruz Mountains, andSR 1 on the west along the Pacific, andSR 85 which forms the southern end of the Peninsula.
Caltrain is the primary passenger rail transit in the peninsula, serving much of the eastern urbanized areas of the peninsula between Mountain View (which also connects toVTA light rail) and San Francisco's4th and King Street station. In addition, the peninsula has access toBay Area Rapid Transit (BART) northward ofMillbrae, connecting San Mateo County and San Francisco to theEast Bay through a route over and underDaly City,Glen Park,San Francisco's Mission district, and through part ofMarket Street subway.
Bus service is predominantly provided bySamTrans and theSFMTA's Muni buses, which primarily run in San Mateo and San Francisco counties respectively. In addition, southward of Palo Alto, theSanta Clara Valley Transportation Authority operates buses to other parts of Santa Clara County. Most of the peninsula's bus transit to theEast Bay andNorth Bay flowing through San Francisco, as neitherAC Transit norGolden Gate Transit, the primary transit operators for the East and North Bay respectively, serve the peninsula south of San Francisco.[7][8]
The peninsula's largest commercial airport isSan Francisco International Airport, itself connected to US 101 and BART and accessible to Caltrain (via a BART connection at Milbrae station).
San Jose International Airport, is the next largest airport in the region serving and might be a more viable option for the southern peninsula. The airport is connected to US 101 and there is a single connector bus,VTA Line 60, that links to Caltrain (at Santa Clara Transit Center) and to eastern lines of BART (Milpitas).[9]
Oakland International Airport, located in theEast Bay, is the smallest of the three and is also accessible directly via BART.
The San Francisco Peninsula contains a variety of habitats includingestuarine, marine,oak woodland, redwood forest, coastal scrub and oaksavanna. There are numerous species of wildlife present, especially along theSan Francisco Bayestuarineshoreline,San Bruno Mountain,Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and theforests on theMontara Mountain block.
The area is home to several endangered species including theSan Francisco garter snake, theMission blue butterfly and theSan Bruno elfin butterfly, all of which are endemic toSan Mateo County. TheendangeredCalifornia clapper rail is also found on the shores ofSan Francisco Bay, in the cities ofBelmont andSan Mateo.
Althoughtule elk, an elk subspecies found only in California, were historically native to the San Francisco Peninsula, they were hunted to extinction by 1850.[10] Expansion of Diablo Range elk to westernSanta Clara County, andSan Mateo andSanta Cruz Counties has been blocked byU.S. Highway 101 inCoyote Valley south ofSan Jose, California.[11]
A number of noteworthy parks and nature preserves are found on the San Francisco Peninsula, including:
There are a number of well-known structures and complexes on the San Francisco Peninsula:
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37°35′00″N122°24′04″W / 37.58333°N 122.40111°W /37.58333; -122.40111
