[suburbanite]

I'd agree that the way Charming is depicted, it would make sense to exist north of the Bay Area. The quintessential SOA opening scene is them riding through mountainous highways which scream Northern California. I always pictured the port scenes to be an excursion to Richmond or Oakland. Stockton is surrounded by flat farmland, but most of the show seems to imply that the area around Charming is heavily forested.