Usually people who say "The Bay Area" are actually from the San Francisco area. Most other Americans would just san San Francisco.

The Bay Area itself is pretty big. We've got 3 big cities, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose as well as lots of other smaller cities. Silicon Valley is also part of the Bay Area.

I've lived in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Florida, Illinois(Chicago) Shanghai China (long story) and California and have to say that the Bay Area is definitely the best place to live in the U.S.. The weather is great, you have all the city life and sophistication you want but if you want it you can also have a total wilderness experience. We pretty much go straight from city to mountains/ wilderness. You can spend the day rock climbing or mountain biking then come home, clean up, and then go out for dinner and a play, or to the clubs, or whatever floats your boat. Plus we have some of the best weed in the U.S if not the worldimp: