Home › San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay

A person can spend their entire lifetime exploring San Francisco Bay and never tire of it. The Bay is less than a third the size it once was — the difference is the enormous amount it has been filled in over the years. The first time I traveled from San Jose to San Francisco there were salt evaporation ponds on either side of Highway 101. Now that same highway is several miles from the edge of the bay in many locations, and there is no point along the entire distance where the bay comes anywhere near the highway.

The filling has not happened in just one location but around the bay's entire perimeter. Entire mountains have been moved to enable it. To build the causeway between San Francisco and Brisbane, huge earthmoving equipment worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for many months — in some cases years. The large residential and commercial development at Foster City was a similar project. Even within San Francisco itself there are vast areas sitting on fill.

During the Loma Prieta earthquake, many buildings in the Marina District in San Francisco sank into the soil as a result of liquefaction — a direct consequence of that fill. Laws have finally been passed and enforced to stop the practice. So far the elected officials have held firm against further development despite very aggressive lobbying by landowners and developers.

Ducks resting in a protected wildlife sanctuary near Newark, California, close to the approach of the Dumbarton Bridge on the east side of San Francisco Bay
Ducks in a protected sanctuary near Newark, California — photographed near the approach to the Dumbarton Bridge on the east side of the bay. Beautiful spots like this still exist along the bay's edge, if you can get to them. Almost all property bordering the bay is now privately owned, which makes approaching the water from the land side quite difficult.

I was fortunate when I lived in California because I worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad. My position required me to be able to enter any property where the railroad ran in central or northern California — in some places that meant entering state, federal, or municipally owned land, and I had the keys and credentials to go where others could not.

I was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Southern Pacific from San Luis Obispo all the way to the Oregon border. I could travel over that entire stretch of California whenever I chose, and get paid to do it. I cannot imagine having had another job that could have been more enjoyable. I was tied to a desk part of the time, of course — but whenever I wanted to, I could delegate and get myself back outdoors.

↑ Back to top