COMMENT BY
Michael from Alameda, CA
COMMENT ABOUT PLACE
Alameda, CA
COMMENT
Best city in East Bay
Alameda combines all the best of the Bay Area with little of the worst. When it is cold and foggy in San Francisco and Oakland, it is sunny and warm in Alameda. Fire or mudslides in the Oakland hills but no problems in Alameda. Alameda has the Victorian charm of San Francisco with the backyard sizes of the East Bay.
It used to be very blue collar, but is gently gentrifying, so we have some good shops on, a Trader Joe's, an organic market, etc., but no upscale attitude.
Downside - getting off the island can be a hassle on heavy traffic days. And the main streets are still a little ragged around the edges.