Stretching along the eastern side of San Francisco Bay, Alameda County displays history and charm at every mile. Its retail districts are mostly small and intimate, boasting specialty markets, gourmet eateries and unique coffee shops. Its easily walkable neighborhoods often surprise with a community rose garden or rock outcroppings where local climbers practice their skills. In the hills above Berkeley and Oakland, quiet roads snake along the ridgeline, offering expansive views across the bay.

Often overshadowed by its larger sibling across the bay, Oakland has recently emerged with a hip, exciting vibe all its own. Born out of a 1999 resolution to bring 10,000 new residents to downtown, Oakland has spent the first two decades of the 21st century adding restaurants, shops, nightspots, a reopened Fox Theater, apartments and condominium buildings to former industrial and office centers in Uptown, Old Oakland and Jack London Square. Popular with working artists, Oakland has become a hub of galleries and arts events like the First Fridays Festival and the Art Murmur. 

No longer an afterthought, Oakland is now at the forefront, a key component in the rich diversity of Alameda County. North of Oakland is Berkeley, home to the University of California, the Gourmet Ghetto, the thriving Fourth Street commercial corridor and storybook streets full of pre-war homes of all styles. Alameda County is where you’ll find Craftsmans, Tudors, shingle-sided cottages and prairie-style bungalows, along with sleek live/work lofts (like the kind found in Jack London Square), hillside Mid-Century Modern masterpieces with sweeping views of the bay and, in Piedmont, a collection of traditional (and non-traditional) mansions whose scale rivals anything found in Pacific Heights. The city of Alameda chips in with more than 1,500 authentic Victorian homes. In Albany, just north of Berkeley, the locals treat their smart California bungalow homes with great pride. 

Alameda County offers the best of fast-paced urban life and quiet suburbia. Homey commercial districts in Montclair, Rockridge, along Piedmont and Solano Avenues and in downtown Alameda add a friendly small-town dimension. Its outdoor recreation options range from windsurfing at Alameda’s Robert W. Crown beach to hiking, biking, picnicking and swimming at Tilden Regional Park. It’s this diversity — of lifestyle, architecture and population — along with a housing market that still offers opportunities for great value, that has made Alameda County one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s hottest real estate markets.