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Berkeley Berkeley is an established city of gracious old homes, wide tree lined streets and winding hillside paths. Berkeley began as a small community of awuatters, setting up homesteads on a Spanish land grant during the Gold Rush days. The settlement occured in 1852 and was first caled Ocean View. By 1860 the stagecoach line had come through and was running along San Pablo Avenue; the small community along the bay was becoming a fair-sized town. The Berkeley area originally was comprised of two communities, Ocean View and the campus community. The campus community slowly took root in the rolling foothills surrounding the newly established University of California campus. In 1878, the trustees of the College of California decided to join together the campus community with Ocean View and call the combined area Berkeley after Bishop George Berkeley. Berkeley has been a college town from the beginning, with all the amenities, curiosity and exploration that influence a place of learning.
Berkeley has become a place for the actively and culturally inclined. If you enjoy going to the park, there are 47 local parks and playgrounds, three swim centers, tennis courts in 17 locations, golf courses, lawn bowling, flying disk course, skating rink, health clubs, the Berkeley YMCA and the East Bay Regional Park system to the east. Or if you prefer the cultural side, Berkeley has 6 museums, Berkeley City Ballet, Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley Opera, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, Call Performances, Julia Morgan Theater, Network Theater Company, UC-Berkeley Dramatic Arts and UC-Berkeley Department of Music. Berkeley has a hotline theater that provides current information and where to go and what to see, 24 hours a day, seven day a week, (510)549-8710.
Along with all the other amenities, Berkeley enjoys a mild coastal year round. Its 10.16 squares covers areas from upper Berkeley HIlls with breath taking views of the San Francisco Bay down to the bobbing masks of the yachts in the Berkeley Marina.
UC-Berkeley is the "oldest and second largest" of the nine campuses that comprise the University of California system. The campus is situated on 1,350 acres, with four houndred sixty-five building containing twelve million square feet. UC-Berkeley has been rated "the best balanced distinguished university in the country" by the American Concil on Education, which has made it attractive to all walks of life from all over the world.
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