To clarify, what makes it weird is that anywhere else, Oakland and San Jose (and if you go far flung enough, a dozen other Bay Area cities) could well be "the c

To clarify, what makes it weird is that anywhere else, Oakland and San Jose (and if you go far flung enough, a dozen other Bay Area cities) could well be "the city". It's not even just a size thing, San Jose is bigger than San Fransisco.