The Bay Area in 2008 has a population of 31.3 million people, making it the largest population center in the United States. There are four main urban centers: San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Redwood City. Each is a large modern skyscraper-studded city with populations in the millions.
San Francisco is a haven for free-thinkers, artists and authors. It boasts the largest metahuman population on Earth, an estimated 25,000 people with an expressed metahuman ability of Delta-class or above. It has the largest Asian population in the US (27% of residents). One man in five above the age of 15 is gay. It has the only phone book in the US with the profession ‘Wizard’ listed. Due to the physical nature of the peninsula, San Francisco has the densest population of any city in the US.
Oakland is an urban hellhole of crime and corruption. It’s been voted ‘Most Corrupt Police Force in the US’ every year since 1968 and boasts the highest violent crime rate in the US. Oakland has suffered crippling economic downturns and is a sea of urban poor. Save for the showcase waterfront mall area, the average income of an Oakland resident is $10,000 per year with a 35% unemplyment rate. Massive decaying housing project towers serve as gang headquarters in the war for the streets. Ironically, just south of Oakland’s borders in Freemont is an economic boomtown in terms of jobs and living standards due to the massive automotive plants and subsidiary industries.
Redwood City is all glitz and glamour. This is where the displaced film industry settled and all major studios maintain a significant presence here. The huge marina areas host both cargo container ships and million-dollar yachts. The finest hotels and entertainment venues are here, though San Francisco still has the best restaurants. The theater and ballet companies that have settled here are why the northern part of the area is called ‘Little Broadway’.
San Jose is a gleaming ‘city of the future’ that boasts one of the highest standards of living in the US. Every major and minor technical company has some level of representation here. It has the first automated guidance roadway system in the US, which came online in 2001 and serves the inner city area, with extensions out to the primary shopping districts, airport, and Disneyland.
