Guides
Read this before you tour
The practical half of the guide: commutes, budgets, and the difference between a town you visit and a town you can repeat.
Where to live
Start here
Moving to the East Bay
Two counties, a dozen microclimates, and one bridge. How to arrive without treating the East Bay like a suburb of San Francisco.
OpenThe bridge and the train
Commuting to San Francisco
Westbound toll in the morning, BART if you can walk to it, a ferry if you live near the right dock.
OpenTrain towns
BART-friendly communities
The East Bay towns where the station is part of the neighborhood, not a Saturday plan.
OpenWalk out the door
Downtown living
The East Bay downtowns that function on a Tuesday, not only on a festival poster.
OpenRoutines
Family-friendly living
Towns where the week has a shape: a school run, a park, and a downtown that is not a freeway exit.
OpenA shorter main street
Small-town feel
Places where the downtown ends, on purpose.
OpenOlder streets
Historic communities
Victorians, old towns, a sugar refinery, and downtowns that were not invented by a lifestyle brand.
OpenEasy to miss
Hidden gems
The communities and corners people skip because the famous cities are louder.
OpenStay on this side
Remote-work friendly
If the office is mostly a laptop, you can choose the town for the Tuesday, not the toll.
OpenThe search
A calmer search
First-time buyers
Where people look when they want an East Bay address and a payment that still lets them eat out.
OpenValue
More attainable East Bay living
“Affordable” is relative in this region. These are the places people actually mean.
OpenNewer streets
New construction
Where the East Bay has actually been building, and what those streets feel like.
OpenThe high end
Luxury living
Piedmont, the Lamorinda hills, Diablo, Blackhawk, and the streets where the lot is the point.
OpenRoom
Large lots
Yards, horses, and the places where the house is not the whole property.
OpenSee something
Arts and culture
Museums, theaters, and the rooms where the East Bay does not borrow San Francisco’s cultural life.
OpenLooking for dinner and trails instead? Start with Lifestyle.