How has life in the Bay Area changed over the last 20 years? These stories straight from our Bay City News archives capture news of the day from 5, 10, and 20 years ago – as originally published at the time. Explore these history snapshots and ponder how today’s news compares to that of years past.
MAY 7, 2021
California lost population for the first time in recorded history, a symbolic shift with implications for housing, migration, and political representation. The change connects to continuing Bay Area debates over affordability, outmigration, and whether the region can retain residents across income levels.
Bay City News Reported:
“California Loses Population For The First Time On Record“
For the first time in its recorded history, California lost population, according to state officials Friday. The news comes a week after the U.S. Census Bureau said the Golden State would lose a Congressional seat in the House of Representatives for the first time in history because it grew more slowly than other states.
While still the nation’s most populous state and far ahead of Texas, Florida and New York, California’s population dropped by 182,000 from 2019 to 39.5 million in 2020, according to the state Department of Finance. It is the first yearly loss for the Golden State ever recorded, stalling a growth streak that dates to California’s joining the Union in 1850. The state’s population has surged and slowed in the decades since it became a state, with notable increases in the 1950s and ’60s, and also during the technology boom of the 1980s and ’90s that put Silicon Valley on the map.
The state has gradually lost people to other states for years, according to an analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California. In 2020, the state’s four most populated cities — Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco — dropped in population, losing a combined 88,000 residents. In the Bay Area, between 2019 and 2020, San Francisco’s population dropped 1.7 percent, from 889,783 to 875,010. Oakland’s population grew 0.7 percent to 435,514. San Jose, the region’s largest city, dropped to 1,009,340 in 2020. Fremont, the Bay Area’s fourth largest city, grew by 12,000 people to reach 247,800.
The U.S. Census Bureau will release official 2020 population figures on May 27. California became the nation’s most populous state in 1963, when its then-population of 17 million overtook New York that year.
MAY 7, 2016
The Frisco Five ended their hunger strike after community appeals, closing one phase of a protest centered on policing and reform. The decision connects to continuing questions about how protest movements convert moral pressure into institutional change.
Bay City News reported:
“Frisco Five End Hunger Strike At Community Urging“
Five people in San Francisco ended a hunger strike tonight after nearly 17 days without solid food, a spokeswoman for the five said in a statement. The Frisco Five have been in a hospital for nearly two days now and decided to end their strike at the urging of community members, spokeswoman Yayne Abeba said in the statement.
The five plan to recover and continue their work to shape a movement they’ve started in which they hope to achieve justice for San Francisco’s black and brown residents. The Frisco Five went on strike to demand that San Francisco’s Mayor Ed Lee fire his police Chief Greg Suhr over the police shootings in recent years of some San Francisco black and brown residents, such as Alex Nieto, Luis Gongora, Mario Woods and Amilcar Perez Lopez.
Friday, supporters of the Frisco Five damaged San Francisco’s landmark City Hall building during a protest as they sought to meet with Lee. The protesters smashed some of the front windows of City Hall and destroyed metal detectors during the protest, which started at about 4 p.m. and lasted until about midnight Saturday. Thirty-three people were arrested in the incident.
The Frisco Five will likely be in the hospital for a number of days, Abeba said in her statement. She said in no way are the Frisco Five conceding their demands for the firing of Suhr. Instead, the five are asking Bay Area residents to join them at 8:30 a.m. Monday in front of City Hall for a general strike.
MAY 7, 2006
Berkeley prepared for a potential natural disaster, treating emergency readiness as a matter of civic coordination rather than abstract planning. The work connects to continuing Bay Area concerns about earthquake risk, wildfire exposure, flooding, and infrastructure resilience.
Bay City News reported:
“Berkeley Prepares For A Potential Natural Disaster“
In preparation for the next major Bay Area disaster, volunteers from Disaster Resistant Berkeley delivered 29,000 disaster preparedness door hangers and magnets to homes throughout Berkeley Saturday. The city’s “Critical Steps to Prepare for a Disaster,” in addition to tips on how neighbors can help each other prepare for a natural disaster, were printed on the door hangers and magnets that were distributed, city officials reported.
“Berkeley is directly on top of the Hayward Fault, we are also susceptible to wildfires, so we have to take disaster preparations very seriously,” said Arrietta Chakos, Berkeley’s assistant city manager.
Some of the disaster preparedness steps include making a family escape plan, assembling a five-day disaster kit, staying in touch after a disaster and banding together to prepare the neighborhood. Knowing your neighbors is critical to preparing for a natural disaster, Chakos said.
Information on disaster preparedness classes offered in the community was also included on the door hangers, officials reported. “Berkeley is not prepared until the Bay Area is prepared,” Chakos said.
Editor’s Note: All the reporting, writing, and editing of this content was done by human journalists at the time of initial publication. AI tools were used to surface these stories from our internal Bay City News archives and provide the introductory context.