"The City" (Los Angeles, San Francisco: living in, restaurant, suburb)

[MikeNigh]

Do people in the bay area refer to San Francisco as "The City" as people in the philly and nyc regions (and I'm sure some others) do?

[bmw335xi]

There's a lot of people outside of SF that refer to it as "the city"

[mini_cute]

Yes, when referencing it as a location in the Bay Area, people refer to it as "The City".

i.e. I'm heading into The City to meet up with a friend. It's just fifteen minutes to drive to The City.

But when speaking of it more as a subject, then no. They just say SF.

i.e. I moved to SF three years ago. I love living in SF.

I think people who reside outside of SF in other parts of California or the US tend to refer to it more as San Fran or Frisco.

Also, as a bonus fyi: Oakland can be referred to as The Town in the same manner that people refer to SF as The City. Though that is less common than people calling SF The City. People usually refer to Oakland as Oaktown or O-Town, if they use an alternative name.

[mstnghu2]

Most of my friends and myself use the term "The City". Also, in the Bay Area, when saying "San Francisco", it strictly refers to the city of San Francisco. I've noticed that many non-locals will refer to the whole region as San Francisco instead of "Bay Area".

I was recently standing in line at a Subway restaurant in Fremont getting lunch and the guy in front of me was on his phone telling the person on the other end that he was in San Francisco...ummmm no, not really. You're in Fremont, a city in the Bay Area that is not even remotely similar to SF.

[mini_cute]

Originally Posted by mstnghu2

Most of my friends and myself use the term "The City". Also, in the Bay Area, when saying "San Francisco", it strictly refers to the city of San Francisco. I've noticed that many non-locals will refer to the whole region as San Francisco instead of "Bay Area".

I was recently standing in line at a Subway restaurant in Fremont getting lunch and the guy in front of me was on his phone telling the person on the other end that he was in San Francisco...ummmm no, not really. You're in Fremont, a city in the Bay Area that is not even remotely similar to SF.

Haha, yeah outside people think of the whole Bay Area as SF the same way they think the entire LA metro is Los Angeles, though they are more technically correct since LA County covers not just the city itself but adjoining cities. Although they really fail when they refer to Orange County as LA!

My husband's sister-in-law who lives in So Cal keeps referring to So Cal as "California". Like when she visits, she keeps saying, "Back in California" instead of "Back in So Cal". Her son had to keep correcting her that SF is part of California.

[04kL4nD]

I use "the City" a lot. I only use "the Town" for Oakland when I'm trying to be ironic or sarcastic.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

I only use "the Town" for Oakland when I'm trying to be ironic or sarcastic.

Same here. I also call Pleasanton p-town. And walnut creek WC in the same ironic way.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

Do people in the bay area refer to San Francisco as "The City" as people in the philly and nyc regions (and I'm sure some others) do?

I didn't know people in the Philadelphia area referred to Philadelphia proper as 'The City'. As far as I knew it was only Manhattan and San Francisco by their respective regions. At least in a manner that has been pretty consistently on a regional basis.

San Francisco has been referred to as 'The City' since the Gold Rush. Originally it was 'The City' for the entire West as it was the only real urban environment for over 1000 miles in any direction.

Today it's mainly a Northern California phenomenon and extends into Northern Nevada and Southern Oregon. At least that's my experience.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by jade408

Same here. I also call Pleasanton p-town. And walnut creek WC in the same ironic way.

It's the "dub-c" or just "the dub" sometimes lol.

Some of my friends refer to Lafayette as "the Yetti" lol.

Us suburbanites have our suburb nicknames too.

[Folks3000]

I have heard people as far out as Sacramento and Reno call SF the City.