I’d expect it to be understood within people who live in the coastal US. I may have heard of “the Bay area” before I got involved in EA but definitely also wondered “what bay?” when people abbreviated to “the Bay”. (In Canada, The Bay is a department store, so spending your summer interning in the Bay would have very different connotations!)
Definitely agree it’s not an “ingroup” thing though, I think this is more of a certain class of American thing.
I’d expect it to be understood within people who live in the coastal US. I may have heard of “the Bay area” before I got involved in EA but definitely also wondered “what bay?” when people abbreviated to “the Bay”. (In Canada, The Bay is a department store, so spending your summer interning in the Bay would have very different connotations!)
Definitely agree it’s not an “ingroup” thing though, I think this is more of a certain class of American thing.