Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern California.  The city is world renowned for its liberal philosophy, diversity of its residents, the turbulent 60's and the free love movement of tie die t-shirts with its followers being nicknamed hippies.  What Berkeley is also known for is having a top-ranked national state college, the University of California at Berkeley that competes with the best of our country's private universities.  Underlying all of the famous adjectives and well known landmarks for Berkeley is a city of 107,000 residents with hidden neighborhoods in the hills and flatlands and some of the best neighborhood shopping in the East Bay.  While Berkeley is a relatively small city, a number of distinct neighborhoods have developed. 

When asked what they like most about living in Berkeley, residents repeatedly cite cultural diversity, art, beautiful parks, innovative businesses, and friendliness amongst neighbors.  Other frequently mentioned characteristics include great restaurants and shopping, proximity to the University of California campus, geographic location, the physical beauty of the environment, easy access to San Francisco, Oakland, Silicon Valley, the weather, community services, recreational activities- and an abundance of things to do!