About Berkeley California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern California, in the United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated Kensington. The eastern city limits coincide with the county line (bordering on Contra Costa County) which generally follows the ridgeline of the Berkeley Hills. Berkeley is located in northern Alameda County. Berkeley is the site of the University of California, Berkeley, the oldest campus of the University of California system, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Hall of Science, Space Sciences Laboratory, and Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, which are on the campus grounds.
Real Estate Market Areas: Neighborhoods
While Berkeley is a relatively small city, a number of distinct neighborhoods have developed.
Surrounding the University of California campus are the most densely populated parts of the city. West of the campus is Downtown Berkeley, the city's traditional commercial core; home of the civic center, the city's only public high school, the busiest BART station in Berkeley, as well as a major transfer point for AC Transit buses. South of the campus is the Southside neighborhood, where much of the university's student housing is located. The busiest stretch of Telegraph Avenue is in this neighborhood. North of the campus is the quieter Northside neighborhood, the location of the Graduate Theological Union.
Further from the university campus, the influence of the University quickly becomes less visible. Most of Berkeley's neighborhoods are primarily made up of detached houses, often with separate in-law units in the rear, although larger apartment buildings are also common in many neighborhoods. Commercial activities are concentrated along the major avenues and at important intersections. In the southeastern corner of the city is the Claremont District, home to the Claremont Hotel; and the Elmwood District, with a small shopping area on College Avenue. West of Elmwood is South Berkeley, known for its weekend flea market at the Ashby BART station. West of (and including) San Pablo Avenue is West Berkeley, the former unincorporated town of Ocean View. West Berkeley contains the remnants of Berkeley's industrial area, much of which has been replaced by retail and office uses, as well as residential live/work loft space, with the decline of manufacturing in the United States. Along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay at the foot of University Avenue is the Berkeley Marina. Nearby is Berkeley's Aquatic Park, featuring an artificial linear lagoon of San Francisco Bay. North of Downtown is the North Berkeley neighborhood, which has been nicknamed the "Gourmet Ghetto" because of the concentration of well-known restaurants and other food-related businesses. Further north are Northbrae, a master-planned subdivision from the early 20th Century, and Thousand Oaks. Above these last three neighborhoods, in the northeastern part of Berkeley, is the Berkeley Hills. The neighborhoods of the Berkeley Hills such as Cragmont and La Loma Park are notable for their dramatic views, winding streets, and numerous public stairways and paths.
Berkeley Transporation
Berkeley is served by Amtrak (Capitol Corridor), AC Transit, BART (Downtown Berkeley Station, North Berkeley, and Ashby Station) and bus shuttles operated by major employers including UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Eastshore Freeway (Interstate 80 and Interstate 580) runs along the bay shoreline.
Berkeley has one of the highest rates of bicycle and pedestrian commuting in the nation. Berkeley is the safest city of its size in California for pedestrians and cyclists, considering the number of injuries per pedestrian and cyclist, rather than per capita.[1]
Berkeley has modified its original grid roadway structure through use of diverters and barriers, moving most traffic out of neighborhoods and onto arterial streets. Berkeley maintains a separate grid of arterial streets for bicycles, called Bicycle Boulevards, with bike lanes and lower amounts of car traffic than the major streets to which they often run parallel.
Berkeley hosts a car sharing network run by City CarShare. Rather than owning (and parking) their own cars, members share a group of cars parked nearby. Online reservation systems keep track of hours and charges. Several "pods" (points of departure where cars are kept) exist throughout the city, in several downtown locations and at the Ashby BART station in South Berkeley.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Berkeley, California "
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