Alameda County

Encompassing the intensely urban Oakland area, the quiet suburbs of Pleasanton, and the farming and wine country around Livermore, Alameda County stretches from the San Francisco Bay across the Berkeley Hills to the expansive, rolling countryside of the Central Valley where horses outnumber people.

Alameda, situated directly on San Francisco Bay, retains much of its small-town, turn-of-the-20th-Century flavor with more than 1,500 ornately decorated Victorians, Queen Annes, and Craftsman bungalows within walking distance of the downtown.

Once a working-class town of steel workers, ship builders, and pipe fitters, Albany has become a family-friendly community where kids still walk to school. The community is justifiably proud of the public schools here, which are some of the best in the county. Once a year the town shows off its bakeries, boutiques, and bistros during the Solano Street Stroll, a parade that celebrates all 26 blocks of this walkable community.

It’s never boring in Berkeley. Hundred-year-old brown-shingle Craftsman-style homes give the shaded streets of Berkeley their quintessential California feel. UC Berkeley is buzzing with 30,000 undergraduates and the performing arts series at Zellerbach Hall brings the best of dance, music, and theater from around the world. Berkeley Rep, the best repertory theater in America, has called Berkeley home for more than 30 years, while Chez Panisse and Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant have made Berkeley synonymous with good food and drink. Above the Berkeley hills, the showplace homes of Kensington offer panoramic views of the Bay below.

Emeryville is undergoing a booming Bay-area renaissance. Home to entertainment studio Pixar and biotech giant Novartis, Emeryville also features nearby condos and converted factory lofts that give it an urban village feel pulsing with youthful energy.

Oakland is home to high-rise luxury condominiums along Lake Merrit, as well as the quiet, tree-lined neighborhoods like Glenview and its bungalows popular with families making a home in the Bay Area. Oakland’s central district, called Uptown, is the center of the entertainment and nightlife scene. Restored Art Deco movie palaces, the Paramount on Broadway, and the Fox Theater now feature symphony performances, ballet, rock, and soul reviews. And Oakland’s First Friday Art Stroll attracts thousands of hip young scene makers and art collectors to the downtown streets once a month. In lively Jack London Square, Yoshi’s nightclub serves up tasty food and jazz under the same roof, within walking distance of the hurly burly of farmer’s markets, a sprawling food emporium, spacious warehouse lofts, and new condominiums with views of the bay.

Surrounded by Oakland, Piedmont is an affluent incorporated village that is home to the most prestigious addresses in the city. Consistently rated as one of the top 10 places to live in the US, Piedmont has grand homes adorning the quiet, curving tree-lined streets in the hills above downtown Oakland. Mansions in numerous styles, high-performing public schools, and easy access to Oakland and San Francisco make Piedmont one of the most sought-after locations in the East Bay.

Tucked away in the wooded hills above Oakland, the winding streets of Montclair offer a secluded escape just minutes from the city. Million-dollar contemporary homes mix comfortably with Craftsman bungalows and Prairie-style houses on large forested lots. Downtown is defined by generations of family-owned shops that provide Montclair with its distinctive small-town ambience.

Less than an hour east from San Francisco, Livermore combines wine making, high-tech job opportunities, and gracious living in the rolling hills and sunny oak-studded canyons. More than 40 wineries now operate in Livermore, including the vineyards of Wente, California’s oldest family-owned winery.