About The East Bay

The East Bay region includes Alameda county and Contra Costa county, and lies along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay, directly across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco. The area encompasses not only the areas on the shore, but also the valleys located further inland east of Berkeley Hills. The largest cities in the region include Oakland, Hayward, Fremont, Richmond, and Berkeley. The area is very urban, and there are many cities with populations of more than 100,000. Travelers in the area can commute via the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, which has several routes leading into San Francisco. Amtrak California and Altamont Commuter Express also offer rail services here. Several bus lines also operate in and around the region. The largest employers in the East Bay area are the University of California, Berkeley; AT&T; USPS; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Chevron Corp.; Safeway; and Bank of America. Pixar, Longs Drugs and Contra Costa Newspapers all have headquarters located in the East Bay as well.

The region was the birthplace of popular bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Green Day. There are a number of musical and event venues, like the Oakland Coliseum Arena and Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, and the Paramount Theater. The location of UC Berkeley within the region also gives residents and visitors access to a number of the university's top-tier institutions, from arts and cultural performances to sports and fairs. The Berkeley Opera, California Symphony, the Oakland Museum of California and the Chabot Space and Science Center are also all found around here. Tilden Regional Park is one of the area's oldest parks, and offers visitors more than 2,000 acres to enjoy. Besides Tilden, the East Bay region also has 55 other parks and 15 trails covering more than 90,000 acres.