Coastal California

Geography

The area includes the North Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, Central Coast, and South Coast. The coastline is slowly eroding due to natural processes accelerated by climate change, though much more slowly in other places in the United States. In the last 100 years, the water line has risen less than 6 in along the coast of California. In the next 100 years, the water is expected to surge as much as 9 ft, bringing into question the fate of the many million dollar homes settled right on the edge of the sea.

Climate

Coastal California is heavily influenced by east–west distances to the dominant cold California Current as well as microclimates. Due to hills and coast ranges having strong meteorological effects, summer and winter temperatures (other than occasional heat waves) are heavily moderated by ocean currents and fog with strong seasonal lags compared to interior valleys as little as 10 mi away. Point Conception tends to divide the Coastal region by mid-summer into warmer (south and east) and cooler zones (north). Peak and often intense heat tends to arrive in September much later than the rest of the nation or state. Over time, droughts and wildfires have increased in frequency and become less seasonal and more year-round, further straining the region's water security. Furthermore, extended droughts and decadal changes in land use are causing severe shoreline retreat to the coast of the Gulf of Santa Catalina.

Counties

The counties commonly seen as constituting coastal California are:

;South Coast

• Los Angeles
• Orange
• San Diego

;Central Coast

• Monterey
• San Benito
• San Luis Obispo
• Santa Barbara
• Santa Cruz
• Ventura

;San Francisco Bay Area

• Alameda
• Contra Costa
• Marin
• Napa
• San Francisco
• San Mateo
• Santa Clara
• Solano
• Sonoma

;North Coast

• Del Norte
• Humboldt
• Mendocino

Demographics

During the 2000 Census, roughly a third of households had incomes exceeding $75,000, compared to 17.6% in the Central Valley and 22.5% at the national average. While the area has always been relatively expensive, when compared to inland regions and the national average, the recent real estate boom has left it as the most expensive housing market in the nation. An October 2004 CNN Money publication found that a 2200 sqft home in a "middle management neighborhood" would cost an average of $1.8 million.

References

References

1. Milman, Oliver. (October 11, 2018). "Sinking Santa Cruz: climate change threatens famed California beach town". The Guardian.
2. link. "". (May 2022)
3. (November 10, 2018). "California's most destructive wildfire should not have come as a surprise". Los Angeles Times.
4. "Advancing Drought Science and Preparedness across the Nation". National Integrated Drought Information System.
5. (22 May 2024). "Communications Earth & Environment, Shoreline retreat and beach nourishment are projected to increase in Southern California". Communications Earth & Environment.
6. "CNN Money, housing markets".
7. Xia, Rosanna. (July 7, 2019). "The California coast is disappearing under the rising sea. Our choices are grim".