Berkeley

Pros: Lots of excellent book stores
Cons: The books aren't free?

The boilerplate: I lived in Berkeley, California for 13 years until last winter. Berkeley has, shall we say, a certain reputation for its ultra-liberality, and not unjustly. In my years of living in Berkeley I found that tourists visiting ...

Pros: Nice bookstores and beautiful people, Telegraph Avenue
Cons: Telegraph Avenue

I'm not in love with Berkeley because of its reputation as a hotbed of radical politics or as the center of the free speech movement of more than thirty years ago, nor because its an emotional museum filled with the artifacts of love's ruined ambitions....

Pros: Beautiful view, great sampler platter
Cons: Overpriced, Average service, Average ambiance

Waterfront dining. Huge, 10’x12’ glass panels peering out onto a view of the City (e.g. San Francisco) framed by the twinkling lights of the Bay Bridge (whose lighting was designed by my fiance’s great-grandfather!). But one can’t eat a beautiful...

Pros: Lots to shop for, young and hip, pretty to look at.
Cons: Expensive, ghetto, not San Francisco, overcrowded, you smell the bay :-*.

Okay so I have lived here for almost a year it is about time that I rate the darn place. I moved out here, Berkeley that is, last January of 2002 on a whim and a longing to live in San Francisco without paying $900/month. Well, yeah so I had to choose...

Pros: Organic Produce & Meats, Deli, Fish
Cons: not enough vitamins, tinctures, shampoo, etc.

Review Topic:  Sights & Attractions

If Heaven were a grocery store it would be Berkeley Bowl.

What makes Berkeley Bowl so special? Numerous attributes contribute to this most amazing establishment. Here are...

Pros: Telegraph, Blondie's Pizza, and drum circles
Cons: Hippies Hippies Hippies

Every year for three years I attended UC Berkeley's high school debate tournament. I LOVE Berkeley, I love the hands on approach to life embodied by activists, ranging from people who want hemp to be used for EVERYTHING under the sun to people idolizing...

Pros: good people watching
Cons: smells funny

The sport of people watching is hard to beat in Berkeley, California. Especially along the busy strip of Telegraph Avenue right next to the UCB campus.

There was a time in my life when I used to work on Telegraph. I worked at a used clothing...

Pros: Uncrowded, very clean, lots of creative outlets for children
Cons: could be bigger, but it's size is DEFINITELY not a problem considering it's open layout

Before my last trip to visit my family in the Bay Area, I checked on-line to see what kind of toddler activities I could find. As I mention in all my other kid-activity related epinions, my goal each day is to get my 2 year old son worn out enough to...

Pros: crazy, fun, yet intellectual and unique
Cons: not as sunny as L.A.

Growing up in Berkeley, I thought the entire world was a giant melting pot of diverse people, cultures, ideas, thoughts, foods, styles, likes, dislikes, etc. You mean EVERY city doesn't have hare krishnas walking around, beating on drums? You mean...

Pros: colorful,happy,free spirited
Cons: you may have to listen to "The Love Boat" :)

We came to Berkeley one day in search of an escape from San Francisco.As we left the BART station (Bay Area Rapid Transit-the subway for you New Yorkers)we came into a small downtown type area(if it was actually downtown,I don't know),it had the usual...

Pros: Diverse, bustling, full of things to do and people to meet
Cons: Can get really crowded

When people think of Berkeley, often they recall the 1960s--free love, hippies, drugs, etc. I've lived in the Bay Area all my life, and I currently attend school in Berkeley. What I've found in the city are the most diverse and interesting people that...

Pros: easy access, great trails and views, a great escape
Cons: none really

While you're in Berkeley, cruise over to the Oakland Hills...they aren't far away!

WHO should read this:
People (hikers, trail runners, mountain bikers, dog owners, nature lovers, overworked stressed out rat racers) living in San...

Pros: Great Shopping, Food, and Sights
Cons: Street Punks, Traffic

Being a student at the University of California and living on Telegraph itself, with my balcony looking down upon the "Graph" as we locals call it, I have grown to appreciate all the ins and outs of the four blocks between my house and the...

Pros: Beautiful, classy, private
Cons: Draconian rules, out-of-the-way

The Brazilian Room in the Berkeley Hills is one of the most popular wedding sites in the San Francisco Bay Area. It's a beautiful building in the middle of Tilden Park that's used pretty much exclusively for weddings (and bar mitzvahs and other similar...

Pros: Fresh fish
Cons: Poor service, overpriced wine

SPENGER'S -- DON'T BOTHER
By meiste

Spenger's restaurant in Berkeley has long been a Bay Area institution -- great seafood in generous portions, great service, great atmosphere, reasonable prices. But no more, not since the venerable...