The concept is seen as increasingly relevant in the context of a rapidly growing Northern California economy plagued by transportation issues and a lack of affordable housing.[8][3]
In 2005, the Regional Plan Association launched its program, America 2050, which outlined 11 megaregions of the United States, including a "Northern California Megaregion."[10] This proposed region extended from Monterey to Sonoma County and from Fresno to Reno, Nevada. In 2007, the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), published a report detailing a more restrictive definition of the Megaregion, which included the counties and metropolitan areas highlighted in the map below.[2][11] In 2016, the Bay Area Council's Economic Institute published a report titled, "The Northern California Megaregion," using the same delineation for the region as the SPUR report.[3] The report listed the megaregion as being the fifth most populous U.S. megaregion, as having the highest Gross Regional Product per capita of any U.S. megaregion, and as making up over 5% of the U.S. economy. The report also stated that as of 2013, 188 thousand commuters crossed between the subregions of the megaregion daily, including 132 thousand moving from the outer subregions into the Bay Area daily.
More information Metropolitan statistical area, Population 2018 ...
List of metropolitan statistical areas in the Northern California Megaregion
(The Truckee Meadows was included in the original megaregion plan but is generally no longer included.)