The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most heavily occupied
areas in the United States. It includes six counties, San Francisco, San
Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Mar-in, which surround
San Francisco Bay, with a combined population of more than five million.
The metropolitan area includes three major cities, San Francisco, San Jose,
and Oakland, and dozens of smaller communities, many of which are
contiguous.
The City of Oakland is situated on the eastern side of San Francisco
Bay, directly opposite the City of San Francisco, as seen on the regional
map on the following page. Most of Oakla.nd’s 360,000 citizens live on the
coastal “flatlands” that extend inland for approximately four miles to the
East Bay Hills. The flatlands are heavily developed with waterfront port
installations, the central business district, industrial and warehouse zones,
and several residential areas. Along the eastern edge of the flatlands, the
ground begins to rise to a median elevation of approximately 400 feet and
is occupied by middle- and upper-class residential neighborhoods.
The terrain then rises abruptly to form a row of hills called the East
Bay Hills or the Oakland Hills, with a ridge line approximately 1,300 feet
above sea level. The ridge line runs generally in a north-south direction,
parallel to the shoreline of San Francisco Bay and approximately five miles
inland. The hills separate the coastal flatlands from the inland valleys of
Contra Costa County, and the ridge line establishes both the eastern city
limits of the City of-Oakland and-the eastern boundary of Alameda
County.
The west face of the hills is heavily developed with expensive
residential properties, which are provided with spectacular views of
Oakland and San Francisco.
In these hills, Temescal Canyon is one of a series of canyons t:hat
open toward the west. Grandview and Claremont Canyons are both north
of Temescal Canyon. The canyons separate “fingers” of hills which project
up to one mile west of the main ridge line. Temescal Canyon creates a
natural path to a narrow point in the hills, providing the shortest distance
for a tunnel connection between Oakland and Contra Costa County. This
tunnel, the Caldecott Tunnel, links Oakland with the growing communities
of Orinda, Moraga, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Concord, and the San Ramon
Valley. It is the only major highway connection in a stretch of more than
20 miles and its triple tubes carry eight lanes of commuter traffic under the
hills to the major employment centers of Oakland and San Francisco. A
newer tube, approximately one quarter mile north of the Caldecott Tunnel,
carries the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) under the hills.
Highway 24 follows the bottom of Temescal Canyon from the tunnel
portals to the mouth of the canyon, where it meets Highway 13 in a
Y-shaped interchange, then continues west toward downtown Oakland and
the Bay Bridge. Highway 13 carries north-south traffic along the base of
the hills, before turning west into the City of Berkeley. Within the Y of
the freeway interchange are an electrical substation and a small
recreational area surrounding Lake Temescal.
Grizzly Peak Boulevard follows the ridge line, approximately 600
feet above the Caldecott Tunnel, barely within the City of Oakland.
The East Bay Regional Parks District administers several recreation
and preserve areas along the hilltops and on the slopes, straddling the
county line. Other parts of the hill area belong to the University of
California - Berkeley. The southeast comer of the City of Berkeley
includes pat-t of Grandview Canyon, just north of Highway 24 on the
Oakland side. On the Contra Costa side, the communities of Orinda and
Moraga lie at the base of the hills and include residential areas that have
been developed on the eastern slope.
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