People's Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area
An alternative history and geography of the Bay Area that highlights sites of oppression, resistance, and transformation.
“Lavishly produced, with beautiful images and crystal clear prose, A People’s Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area is for readers and activists who have taken part in protests and demonstrations for decades, and from Berkeley and Oakland to San Francisco, Sonoma and beyond.”—CounterPunch
A People’s Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area looks beyond the mythologized image of San Francisco to the places where collective struggle has built the region. Countering romanticized commercial narratives about the Bay Area, geographers Rachel Brahinsky and Alexander Tarr highlight the cultural and economic landscape of indigenous resistance to colonial rule, radical interracial and cross-class organizing against housing discrimination and police violence, young people demanding economically and ecologically sustainable futures, and the often-unrecognized labor of farmworkers and everyday people.
The book asks who had—and who has—the power to shape the geography of one of the most watched regions in the world. As Silicon Valley's wealth dramatically transforms the look and feel of every corner of the region, like bankers' wealth did in the past, what do we need to remember about the people and places that have made the Bay Area, with its rich political legacies?
A useful companion for travelers, educators, or longtime residents, this guide:
- Features over 100 must-visit sites to explore and learn from.
- Demonstrates how to read the landscape for historical clues.
- Connects multicultural streets, lush hills, suburban cul-de-sacs, and wetlands across the Bay Area.
- Covers a wide range of locations, from the North Bay to the South Bay, East Bay, and San Francisco.
- Includes original maps to guide readers through the region.
- Offers thematic tours—such as The Intertribal Bay and The Youth in Revolt tours—as starting points for creating personalized routes.
Alexander Tarr is Assistant Professor of Geography at Worcester State University. His research, writing, and cartography examine the development of cities, food politics, and digital culture.