99 articles
Pleasanton, California
Pleasanton, California: Alameda County Tri-Valley city, incorporated 1894 and named for General Alfred Pleasonton. Formerly Alisal, a Gold Rush stop; now about 75,000 residents and a Hacienda business park economy.
Redding, California
Redding is a city and the county seat of Shasta County, California, at the northern end of the Sacramento Valley on the Sacramento River, incorporated in 1887.
Redwood City, California
Redwood City, California: San Mateo County seat on the San Francisco Peninsula, incorporated 1867. Gold Rush lumber port, home of the South Bay's only deep water port; population about 82,000-84,000.
Richmond, California
Richmond, California: Bay Area city in western Contra Costa County, 16 miles from San Francisco. Known for the Kaiser WWII shipyards (747 ships), the Port of Richmond, the Chevron refinery, and the Rosie the Riveter home front park; 2020 population 116,448.
Roseville, California
Roseville, California, is the largest city in Placer County, northeast of Sacramento. Founded as a Central Pacific rail junction in 1864, incorporated 1909; population 147,773 (2020), a retail, healthcare, and technology hub.
Sacramento, California
Sacramento, the capital of California since 1854, sits where the Sacramento and American rivers meet; founded in 1849, it is California's oldest incorporated city with nearly 500,000 residents.
Salinas, California
Salinas, California: Monterey County seat (1872, incorporated 1874) in the Salinas Valley, population about 159,000 (2025 estimate), 80.9% Hispanic, hub of a $2 billion lettuce and artichoke agriculture industry and birthplace of John Steinbeck.
San Bruno, California
San Bruno, California: San Mateo County city incorporated December 23, 1914, named for San Bruno Mountain; home of YouTube headquarters, Tanforan Racetrack history, and the 2010 PG&E pipeline explosion.
San Francisco
San Francisco, California: dense coastal city of 826,079 (2025), core of the Bay Area tech economy with $250 billion GDP, extreme housing costs, post-pandemic budget deficits, and 1906 earthquake history.
San Jose, California
San Jose (San José), California: founded 1777 as El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, first civil settlement in Alta California and the state's first capital; now California's third-largest city and center of Silicon Valley.
San Mateo, California
San Mateo, California: a Peninsula city in San Mateo County, incorporated 1894, population 105,661 (2020). Ohlone origins, 1863 railroad, estates, five-member council, RHNA of 7,015 units.
San Rafael, California
San Rafael is the county seat and largest city of Marin County, California, on San Pablo Bay about 18 miles north of San Francisco, grown from Mission San Rafael Arcángel (1817) with about 60,000 residents.
San Ramon, California
San Ramon is a charter city in Contra Costa County, California, incorporated July 1, 1983, with 84,605 residents (2020 census), known for the 585-acre Bishop Ranch office park and 59 city parks.
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara is a city of about 128,000 in Santa Clara County, California, at the center of Silicon Valley, incorporated in 1852 and named for Mission Santa Clara de Asís.
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California: coastal city and county seat on northern Monterey Bay, 75 miles south of San Francisco. Incorporated 1866, chartered 1876, council-manager government since 1948; home of UC Santa Cruz; known for tourism and extreme housing costs.
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa, California: largest city in Sonoma County (pop. about 179,000), 55 miles north of San Francisco; incorporated 1868; home of Luther Burbank and Charles Schulz; rebuilt rapidly after the 2017 Tubbs Fire.
Saratoga, California
Saratoga, California: Santa Clara County residential city of about 30,400, incorporated 1956; began as an 1848 sawmill settlement, named 1865 for Saratoga Springs, New York, once a prune-orchard center.
Sausalito, California
Sausalito is a small waterfront city in southern Marin County, California, on Richardson's Bay across from San Francisco. Known for the WWII Marinship shipyard, floating homes, and ferry service; incorporated 1893, population about 7,300.
Scotts Valley, California
Scotts Valley is a general law city in Santa Cruz County, California, incorporated August 2, 1966 after a contested 1964 vote. Population about 12,000; home to Seagate's origins, a 1,220-unit RHNA obligation, and a planned 58-acre Town Center.
Sebastopol, California
Sebastopol, California: small incorporated city (1902) in western Sonoma County, about 50 miles north of San Francisco; Gravenstein apple heritage, Luther Burbank Experiment Farm, The Barlow market district, population about 7,800.
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley: southern San Francisco Bay Area technology cluster centered on Santa Clara County, named by Don Hoefler in 1971. Grew from Stanford Research Park and Fairchild semiconductors into the world's leading hub for venture capital, software, and AI.
Sonoma, California
Sonoma, California: small Sonoma County city (pop. about 10,500) around Mission San Francisco Solano, founded 1823, and site of the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt and the short-lived California Republic.
South Lake Tahoe, California
South Lake Tahoe is a general law city in El Dorado County, California, incorporated November 30, 1965 on the south shore of Lake Tahoe at 6,237 feet. Population 21,330 (2020); tourism-driven economy with severe housing vacancy and vacation-rental disputes.
Stanford, California
Stanford, California is a census-designated place (CDP) in unincorporated Santa Clara County covering Stanford University's campus; 21,150 residents at the 2020 census, median age 22, governed under the county's 1985 Land Use Policy.
Stockton, California
Stockton, California: county seat of San Joaquin County on the San Joaquin River delta, founded 1849 by Charles M. Weber, incorporated 1850, home of the first inland seaport in California (1933), population about 324,600.
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale, California: a Santa Clara County city in Silicon Valley, incorporated 1912, charter city 1950, population 155,805 (2020), a Bay Area tech and aerospace hub with employers such as Google, Juniper Networks, and Lockheed Martin.
Susanville, California
Susanville, California: the only incorporated city and county seat of Lassen County, founded by Isaac Roop in 1853, incorporated 1900, a former logging town turned prison town whose economy contracted after the 2023 closure of the California Correctional Center.
Tracy, California
Tracy, California is a San Joaquin County city of about 102,000 at the I-580/I-205/I-5 junction, founded in 1878 as a railroad town and now a fast-growing Bay Area suburb and logistics hub.
Truckee, California
Truckee, California: Sierra Nevada charter town in Nevada County, incorporated 1993, population about 17,100. Founded as a Central Pacific Railroad and logging town in 1868, named for Paiute guide Tro-kay; now a snowy tourism and ski hub near Donner Pass.
Turlock, California
Turlock, California: Central Valley city in Stanislaus County, second largest in the county; founded 1871 by John William Mitchell, incorporated 1908, 2020 population 72,740, home of CSU Stanislaus.