California: A Little geograhy and County system in U.S (San Jose: low income, apartments)

[pulp_fiction]

I am doing a small research project on rentals problems people currently facing or potential problems they face while renting/selection.


I am required to do this research on San Francisco. I am studying certain forums with the posts/problems. In these posts, I often find references to Alameda, Oakland and other counties in the bay area.

I looked for definition of counties in U.S.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_%28United_States%29)
"In the United States, a county is a political and geographic subdivision of a state, usually assigned some governmental authority.[1] The term "county" is used in 48 of the 50 U.S. states."

I am confused while studying about San Francisco. Many places describe it as a whole Bay Area. But World Geography states it as a separate city. Are the Okaland and S.F or S.F and Alameda or S.F and many other counties...grouped together as single entity so that I research on both/all while researching(looking for problems that people face while renting and take all the combined problems from all these counties)? Or, S.F is distinct and people in S.F would face different problems as compared to adjacent areas.


Its like intuitively when you say, I am gonna move to Bay Area. So, I am gonna look on CraigList or go there in person to check out apartments. So,go where? All/Any of these counties or a specific one?


Previously I did research on New York. It is distinct. When you say you are looking for an apartment in New York, you are exactly doing that. So, the problems you face while looking for rentals in New York are separate. They might not overlap with the problems people face in Pennsylvania.

What should I do then?


P.S: I am not from the states.

[G Grasshopper]

The Bay Area is unusual in that there is a large body of water (SF Bay) that separates the metropolitan area into distinct areas. "The Bay Area" is not a political designation, but a geographic and social one. There are many counties that have a border on the Bay: San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Solano, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo. These are political designations, with the ability to govern, tax, etc. Within these counties are the cities you are familiar with. The Counties do vary in population, geography, climate, and in all the normal ways that different areas are different. One confusing thing is that the City of San Francisco and the County of San Francisco have exactly the same borders. They have different executive responsibilities, but the same area. That is unusual. Usually a County will contain many towns and cities. The Bay Area is, in common usage, split into larger areas (the North Bay, East Bay, South Bay, Penninsula, the City) but these are not political entities, although sometimes groups of counties form a coalition to work on problems that are common to the areas. But those types of coalitions do not change the political boundaries. Yes, different areas do face different problems. But that is very natural. San Francisco is all urban, while all the other counties have varying amounts of rural and farming interests. There are many other cultural and demographic differences. Still, there are many commonalities. Thanks for looking into the area. I hope this answers a few questions.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

In the US we don't have geographically large cities that continue to annex land. We have constrained cities with vast suburban lands surrounding them. This concept is nearly unknown in many other parts of the world.

[clongirl]

San Francisco is a city AND county (that only includes San Francisco). Other counties in the Bay Area region are Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, and San Mateo. These counties contain many cities also. Each city can vary a lot in demographics.

When you hear someone mention San Francisco--they generally mean the actual city of San Francisco and not the whole entire region. If someone says "Bay Area", that can mean any of the hundreds of cities in the region including San Francisco--it's a broad, general term.

So if I were doing a research paper, make things a little easier on yourself. Do your research on the City of San Francisco specifically rather than the Bay Area region (i.e. Oakland or other cities mentioned). Leave all the other cities out and don't focus on the term county.

[pulp_fiction]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

The Bay Area is unusual in that there is a large body of water (SF Bay) that separates the metropolitan area into distinct areas. "The Bay Area" is not a political designation, but a geographic and social one. There are many counties that have a border on the Bay: San Francisco, Marin, Sonoma, Solano, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo. These are political designations, with the ability to govern, tax, etc. Within these counties are the cities you are familiar with. The Counties do vary in population, geography, climate, and in all the normal ways that different areas are different. One confusing thing is that the City of San Francisco and the County of San Francisco have exactly the same borders. They have different executive responsibilities, but the same area. That is unusual. Usually a County will contain many towns and cities. The Bay Area is, in common usage, split into larger areas (the North Bay, East Bay, South Bay, Penninsula, the City) but these are not political entities, although sometimes groups of counties form a coalition to work on problems that are common to the areas. But those types of coalitions do not change the political boundaries. Yes, different areas do face different problems. But that is very natural. San Francisco is all urban, while all the other counties have varying amounts of rural and farming interests. There are many other cultural and demographic differences. Still, there are many commonalities. Thanks for looking into the area. I hope this answers a few questions.

Well...there is no direct political element in the research(doubt it if its indirect). The thing for me to research is basically, "The problems faced by people wanting to move to the Bay Area". Yes, I got the confirmation from my manager(hadn't expected this info. from him) but anyway, I am to research in the Bay Area.

Putting myself in the clients' shoes(who is in U.S and I don't even know his/her company...nothing), I had to assume few things by thinking that, if I were to actually move to that area, what would I research, a city or the area even without being specified. What would be beneficial for me and stuff. But you know, making assumption without completely shadowing the client's requirements(I like it when I know 100% what I want to achieve) leads to some vagueness that I have "felt" truly.

I am an Intern and this is part of my learning experience for future.

And reading your statement which dictates that some areas are rural indeed and may have people facing "considerably" different problems makes me wonder what would the client think of the research. Would he/she benefit from it. The pressure ultimately comes onto my company.

Anyway, that was some learning experience and sincere thanks for your responses.

[G Grasshopper]

Yes, it sounds like a difficult task for you, since there are uncertainties. In general, I would say that the biggest problems in moving to or living in the Bay area are the cost of housing - it is one of the highest cost areas in the US - and traffic congestion. And California is having growing problems with the availability of water, due to the drought and high population growth. I imagine some people would think of the possibility of earthquakes as a problem. But there is general awareness of that, and various degrees of preparation. There are good building standards, especially in more recent buildings. Most areas have many social resources. Most areas have available stores, and all the things a person or company would need. The weather is certainly good.

[Ultrarunner]

Best advice is to limit to County and City of San Francisco... it will prove a big enough task simply analyzing all the various San Francisco ordinances and San Francisco Rent Control, Construction Moratoriums, Relocation, Low Income Set Asides... etc.

San Francisco is unique!

As for problems renting... I could write a book as to the difficulties of finding good renters.

If only the good landlords and good tenants could find each other and let the bad landlords and bad tenants find each other... it would be wonderful.

[pulp_fiction]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

If only the good landlords and good tenants could find each other and let the bad landlords and bad tenants find each other... it would be wonderful.

Hah! That is a terrific statement!

[ServoMiff]

If we want to get into the weeds a bit more - the US also has something that is frequently used in geographical statistics called a Metropolitan Statistical Area (or MSA). The MSA for this area is actually San Francisco (including North and South Bay), Oakland and Hayward. See Wiki: San Francisco

I use MSA quite often when I'm doing marketing research on markets and market potential in a more broad sense.

There's also something that's a little less used called a Combined Statistical Area for the Bay Area, and that is a 9 county area surrounding San Francisco - see wiki: San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia