East Bay
Lying across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco, the East Bay consists primarily of Contra Costa County and Alameda County. It has a unique culture that's more laid back and uncomplicated than its Western neighbors.
Oakland, the area's largest city, is famous for its somewhat smaller Chinatown and its beautiful waterfront Jack London Square, as well as its large port and eucalyptus-spotted hills. Berkeley, just north of Oakland, is home to the University of California and tens of thousands of students, as well as left-leaning politics and great food.
Regions
Cities
- Alameda - An island community separated from Oakland by a narrow channel
- Antioch
- Berkeley - Home to the world famous University of California, Berkeley
- Concord - Birthplace of jazz legend Dave Brubeck
- Fremont - The northern border of Silicon Valley
- Hayward - California State University, East Bay
- Oakland - The East Bay's largest city, and the home of Oakland International Airport
- San Leandro - World headquarters of Otis Spunkmeyer, hotels, Chabot Dam (first dam in Northern California), shopping malls, parks, beaches and business industries
- Walnut Creek - The best shopping in the Bay Area behind San Francisco
Other destinations
- Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site - America's only Nobel Prize winning playwright, Eugene O'Neill, chose to live in Northern California at the climax of his writing career. Isolated from the world and within the walls of his home, O'Neill wrote his final and most memorable plays; The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey Into Night, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Reservations are required to visit this site.
- John Muir National Historic Site - John Muir National Historic Site preserves the Victorian home of the noted author and preservationist. Surrounded by almost 9 acres of fruit orchards and 326 acres of oak woodland, the site today is just a small piece of the original 2,600 acre ranch. The United States is forever indebted to the "Father of the National Park Service" for helping to preserve this countries greatest treasures.
- Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial - Concord Naval Weapons Station - At Port Chicago Naval Magazine, 320 men were instantly killed when the munitions ships they were loading with ammunition for the Pacific theatre troops mysteriously exploded.
- Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park - Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, located in the wartime boomtown of Richmond, preserves and interprets the stories and places of our nation's home front response to World War II.
Understand
What the locals call "the East Bay" is really two fairly distinct regions separated by the East Bay hills. On the bay side of the hills in the west, the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro and Hayward rise from the edge of the San Francisco Bay up the western face of the foothills. The climate tends to be temperate, the culture diverse and the traffic horrendous.
On the eastern side of the hills, the towns of Walnut Creek, Pleasanton and Livermore lie in the area known as the Tri-Valley region (named for the Livermore, San Ramon and Amador valleys). The climate here is more like that of the San Joaquin Valley, with foggy winters and scorching summers. The population is more homogeneous, but the traffic is still pretty awful. Originally, when the small towns of the Tri-Valley area began to grow into immense suburbs in the 1970s, many people commuted over the hills to work in the South Bay, the Peninsula or the City. Today, many large corporations have offices in the Tri-Valley area, and the suburbs of Pleasanton and Walnut Creek are growing into small cities.
However, due to the population exodus from "The City" (due to $$$ high prices and low bang for the buck) and the movement of some families from the west side of the hills it is growing very rapidly and the traffic is now as terrible as any place in Northern California. As the locals would say "The traffic is like, um like, hella bad here"
Contra Costa County in itself is divided into three parts simply referred to as: "West County" near Richmond, "Central County" for the booming area near Walnut Creek, Concord, and Mount Diablo, "East County" for the area near the Delta which includes Antioch or Brentwood.
The two main area codes are (510) for Western Alameda county and the "West County" region of Contra Costa, and (925) for central and east Contra Costa County and for the central eastern part of Alameda county near the fairgrounds Pleasanton and Livermore.
There are many malls and shopping centers in the east bay. Sunvalley Mall (Concord), Stoneridge Mall (Pleasanton), Bay Fair Mall, New Park Mall, Southland Mall, and Hilltop Mall are some of the largest.
The East Bay Regional Park District maintains 65 parks across the East Bay, ranging from easy access picnic areas to off-limits wildlife sanctuaries. More than a dozen campsites range from "family camping" to backpack areas.
There are three professional sports teams in Oakland: Oakland A's (baseball), Oakland Raiders (football), and the Golden State Warriors (basketball).
The University of California, Berkeley (often called "Cal-Berkeley", "Berkeley", "California", or just "Cal") is world renowned for its educational standards and its liberal viewpoint of most things. There is a Cal State school in Hayward (CSU East Bay - formerly known as "CSU Hayward"). There are many two year junior colleges here but one of the biggest is Diablo Valley College, located in Pleasant Hill, CA Contra Costa County
The East Bay also has two NCAA Division I sports programs:
- The California Golden Bears field teams in 30 sports, mostly in the Pacific-12 Conference. Most Cal sports venues on campus, with the most notable being the ancient Memorial Stadium (football), which sits right over the Hayward Fault.
- The Saint Mary's Gaels, representing Saint Mary's College in Moraga, field teams in 19 sports, mostly in the West Coast Conference. Unlike Cal, Saint Mary's doesn't have a football team. Men's basketball is the hot-button sport here, with NCAA tournament appearances not unheard of.