Chapter 12, The Great Plains and Prairies

The Great Plains covers southern Texas all the way up to the Canadian border.  This includes the states Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana.  The landscape of the Plains and Prairies is a low, flat to rolling terrain.  In San Francisco the landscape is mostly hills.  There are more than 50 hills within the city.  Near the center of the city are more densely populated hills.  Mount Davidson is the highest hill at 925ft.
 
Mount Davidson Cross, http://www.f-stopped.com/

Unlike the Plains, where there is extreme weather, tornado frequency, and more than enough days of hail, the City's climate is mostly influenced by the cool ocean breeze which keeps most of the bay area cool.  This produces a year-round climate with little temperature change.
 
view of Ocean Beach, San Francisco, http://www.chamoismoon.com/

As water is an important resource in the Great Plains and is underlain by the Ogallala aquifer, in San Francisco the water is monitored by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC).  According to http://www.sfwater.org/, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Natural Resources and Land Management Division is responsible for the management of 63,000 acres of watershed lands.  Located in three counties, the lands contain the water supply storage, transmission, and treatment systems which serve 2.4 million people all over the Bay Area. 

SFPUC Water, Power, and Wastewater System, http://www.franciscodacosta.com/

Chapter 11, The Agricultural Core

As the agricultural core is in the Midwest we would think that the Bay Area would then be in the Far West, but it would be more considered as on the West Coast.  It is a term for the western states of the United States.  This would include California, Oregon, and Washington.  Alaska and Hawaii are also considered part of the West Coast because they border the Pacific Ocean.


The soils of the Agricultural Core is mollisols and alfisols.  Mollisols form in semi-arid and semi-humid areas, typically under a grassland cover.  Alfisols, like mollisols, also form in semi-arid and semi-humid areas, but under a hardwood forest cover.  The soil type in the Bay Area does not include these two types of soil.  The climate does not accomodate to help form them.  According to http://www.earthquake.usgs.gov/, there are 5 soil types in the Bay Area.  The information is based on ground shaking and the soft soils that amplify it.  The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) has defined the 5 soil types as A, B, C, D, and E and they include unweathered intrusive igneous rock, volcanics and Mesozoic bedrock, sandstone, mudstone, limestone, and artificial fill.

Farms in the Bay Area not a common site.  Because of the location of a big city surrounded by the suburbs, farmland can be found as far out as Dixon, CA (70 miles north of San Francisco).  As you drive north on Interstate 80 you pass farms that are plentiful in apples, mushrooms, and walnuts.

http://www.localism.com/



Chapter 10, The Southern Coastlands: On the Subtropical Margin

If we think about the southern coastland of the Bay Area, it would include San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties.  Unlike the subtropical environment that the southern coastland has, the bay area has a more similar environment to maybe Oregon or Washington.  Southern California has an equivalent climate, but unfortunately it is not in my blog's region. 

The text had mentioned that California produces more lemons and naval oranges than Florida.  According to pearsonranch.com, California is the largest producer of eating oranges, while Florida is the largest producer for juice oranges.  Lemons are also plentiful to California.  Grown mostly in the San Joaquin Valley, the California lemons are of great quality and flavor.  Eureka and Lisbon Variety lemons are mostly produced in California, while Florida grows Sicilian type lemons.

 http://www.jaspo-online.com/


When we here the word "sugarcane" we immediately think of either Florida or Hawaii.  But California should also be included into that list.  Crockett, CA (35mi. north-east of San Francisco) is an unincorporated city in Contra Costa County, and it is home to C&H Pure Cane Sugar headquarters.  The refinery at Crockett refines, packages, and markets all of the output from Hawaii's sugar factories.  If you did not already know, the C&H stand for California and Hawaii.  
http://www.savingwithshellie.com/

Florida is known as a sort of retirement area.  People over the age of 60 had populated 22% of the state.  In the bay area, there are not too many retirement facilities or neighborhoods that would compare in scale to Florida.  When we look at San Francisco on a global view we have the perception that it is a progressive city with high technology and great universities to help along the young minds of the future.  It is projected that by the year 2020 the elderly population aged 60 and over will be a percentage increase of 50-99%.
 http://www.aging.ca.gov/

Chapter 9, The Changing South

Being a history major, I think this has been my favorite chapter thus far.  I enjoyed reading about the changing South, and the long history that the region carries with it.  But to apply it to the San Francisco Bay Area is a different kind of history.  Like the Changing South, the bay area has a navigable waterway that was probably used to carry crops from one area to another.  Through there are no plantations of  any kind, there is an abundance of crop, such as the vineyards of Sonoma County, and the garlic of Gilroy, CA in Santa Clara County. 

Gilroy is considered the garlic capital,

www.upress.state.ms.us

With the passing of the 13th Amendment in 1865, slavery was abolished.  But California was never a slave state.  During the Great Migration (1910-1940) about 2 million blacks would migrate out of the South and into other regions of the United States, including California.  What attracted them to the bay area were the abundant labor opportunities, and the economic diversity.  In addition to the appeal, CA offered aid to residents who were living in the state for only a year.  So if they were unemployed or needed assistance the state was willing to help them out. 

The Great Migration brought some to parts of CA,

www.epals.com

Another force had brought migration to the bay area, the Dust Bowl.  The harsh weather conditions of the Dust Bowl region - parts of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma - made many living in that area question whether or not they could survive there.

 www.english.illinois.edu

Dust storm in Oklahoma,

www.science.howstuffworks.com

Those that came to the bay area found that the weather was pleasant, and the soil was good enough to plant crops, without having the nasty dust storms. 

Chapter 8, Appalachia and the Ozarks

Unlike the Appalachia and the Ozarks that we learned about in Chapter 8, the San Francisco, Bay Area does not compare to the forestry and rugged terrain that stretches well over 2000 miles in length.  Muir Woods National Monument is what I would consider the little preserved forest of the Bay Area.  Located in Mill Valley, CA (14 miles north of San Francisco; Marin County) Muir Woods is home to 240 acres of Redwood trees.
   Scale of  Redwood trees compared to man, www.renamae.com

  In the forest it is so serene and peaceful you would never know that San Francisco is only 14 miles away, www.danheller.com

In Chapter 8, it also talked about the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).  It was to develop the Tennessee River for navigation, and to do that a barge channel was built in the river, and constructing dams for stream flow.  Today, the TVA controls 45 dams (including 29 hydroelectric dams).  This reduced flooding and provided electricity across the region.  How does this apply to San Francisco?  Well, it doesn't, and the city does not have anything in comparison to the TVA.  But what it does have is the Calaveres Dam, located at the Alameda-Santa Clara County line.  The dam is a 230 foot high barrier which holds the largest drinking water reservoir in the 9 county region.  Since its location is on an active fault zone, dam regulators drained the reservoir to about a third of its capacity.  The Calaveras reservoir sits in the Alameda Creek watershed, which drains most of the southern sections of the East Bay, including the southern slopes of Mount Diablo.  "More than 80% of the water used in the bay Area comes from Hetch Hetchy on Tuolomne River in Yosemite "(www.sfgate.com, January 28, 2011).  
  www.aquafornia.com, pic of the Calaveras Dam

Other dams in the area are the Almaden Dam, Leroy Anderson Dam, Calero Dam, Elmer Chesbro Dam, Coyote Dam, Guadalupe Dam, Peters Dam, Monticello Dam, Del Valle Dam, Conn Creek Dam, Water Springs Dam, James Lenihan Dam, Los Vaqueros Dam, James Turner Dam, Santa Rosa Creek Dam, Stevens Creek Dam, Uvas Dam, and Vasona Dam. 

Chapter 7, The Bypassed East

What we have learned about the Bypassed East from the text is that it is cold, receives a good amount of precipitation, and is mountainous.  In comparison to the Bay Area it seems very similar, except for the mountains.  San Francisco averages 57.3 degrees Fahrenheit annually.  The climate is mostly cool all year round, with the warmest month coming in September at an average maximum of 71 degrees Fahrenheit.  According to a weather site, www.idcide.com, San Francisco has an annual average precipitation of 22.28 inches with the wettest month being in January with 4.72 inches. 
               a couple walking on sidewalk along Ocean Beach, SF, www.mccullagh.org

As far as mountains in the Bay Area...they are nothing compared to what the Bypassed East has to offer.  Mount Tamalpais, just across the Golden Gate Bridge, has a peak 2,604 ft. high.  At the base of the mountain is the Muir Woods National Monument.  Mount Tam is the product of buckling and folding of the North American plate as is slides along the Pacific Plate near the active San Andreas Fault. 

Because the Bay Area is in a high traffic, high population location it would be hard to set up a farm close to the City.  But on the outskirts of the Bay Area we do find places in Solano and Sonoma counties that have agricultural land.  In Solano county they grow beans, sunflower seed, wheat, corn, almonds, walnuts, grapes, and alfalfa.  In Sonoma county we like to think that only grapes to be made into wine grow in that region, but they also have other million dollar crops such as apples, mushrooms, watercress, and chestnuts.  But winegrapes dominate most of the crops in Sonoma.  

                

Vineyards at Opus One Winery, www.superstock.com

Growing p in San Francisco, I was always told not to eat the fish that come out of the Bay.  Why?  According to www.eponline.com on January 31, 2011, the mercury mining gold recovery in the mid-1800s to the late 1900s have contributed enough mercury to threaten wildlife and prompt a fish-consumption advisory in the Bay Area.  The main sources of mercury in bay floor sediments have shown up in small fish near the base acquiring mercury from those sediments.  Warning...always know where your fish is coming from.  I do. 

Chapter 5, The North American Manufacturing Core

Although San Francisco is not in a region where there is a manufacturing core, the area still does manufacture some things.  Up until 2010 there used to be an automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, CA (45 miles from SF).  New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) was built by General Motors and used to manufacture cars such as the Chevy Nova, Geo Prism, and Toyota Corolla.  The plant operated from 1984 to 2010.  When the plant closed more than 4,700 employees were out of a job.     

    http://www.lemonlaws.com/

California has produced many of the nations industrial minerals.  According to a report by the United States Geological Survey, in 1998 CA was the only state to produce boron, rare-earth concentrates, and asbestos.  In the San Francisco-Bay Area  industrial minerals are produced at several dozen sites.  For example, stone and rock sites can be found in almost all counties in the bay area, except for San Francisco.  There are other sites that produce sand/gravel, silica, and clay. 

Let us not forget about thoses delicious treats from San Francisco's own Ghiradelli, or Berkeley's Guittard, and Boudin's Bakery.  There is also Mother's Cookies, founded in Oakland, and Del Monte Foods in San Francisco.
Boudin breadbowl, http://www.flickr.com/

Levi Strauss Denim also started in San Francisco.  During the gold mining era, Levi Strauss thought he could take the burlap sacks used for grain and tailor them into clothing that would be more durable to wear for the miners.  The business was a gold mine for him. 
Train workers wearing denim, http://www.nytimes.com/

The location of San Francisco means that there should be an easily flow with the means of transportation and communication.  The railway system is the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) which helps people commute in and out of the City without having to sit in their cars during traffic.  The central part of BART is San Francisco of course because of all of the office space that dominate the financial districts.  BART also makes stops at the Oakland Coliseum, SF Downtown shopping areas, and AT&T Park.  Many people also use the ferry system to commute to and from the City.  People who live on the east and north side of the bay frequent this mode of transportation.
  Eastbound train with SF in background, www.railforthevalley.wordpress.com