A BART town is not any town near a freeway that can reach a station. It is a place where you can walk, bike, or take a short bus to the platform often enough that you stop describing the trip as a project.
The strongest versions: Oakland’s several stations, Berkeley’s three, El Cerrito’s two, Richmond, Orinda, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill / Contra Costa Centre, Concord, Castro Valley, San Leandro, Hayward, Union City, Fremont, Dublin, and Pleasanton. Antioch and Pittsburg count, with a longer ride.
Alameda, Danville, Moraga, and Livermore are wonderful and not BART towns. Do not talk yourself into a walk that is actually a drive plus a parking garage.
Towns
Inner East Bay
Oakland
The bridge lands here, and so does dinner.
OpenBerkeley & the north hills
Berkeley
Campus, canyons, and a food culture that predates the trend.
OpenBerkeley & the north hills
El Cerrito
Two BART stations and a hill that looks back at the bay.
OpenCentral Contra Costa
Walnut Creek
The East Bay downtown people drive to on purpose.
OpenLamorinda
Lafayette
A downtown you can actually finish walking, plus a reservoir.
OpenLamorinda
Orinda
A village downtown at the mouth of the Caldecott.
OpenCentral Contra Costa
Concord
Todos Santos Plaza, a big city footprint, and summer concerts.
OpenTri-Valley
Dublin
Where the BART line ends and the new neighborhoods begin.
OpenSouthern Alameda
Castro Valley
An unincorporated town in a valley of its own.
Open