Livermore

Livermore is a suburban city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Like its neighbor Pleasanton, it lies in the Tri-Valley region; however, Livermore is closer to the Altamont Pass, which separates the Tri-Valley from the vast San Joaquin Valley.

Understand
Livermore is a city with nearly 100,000 inhabitants. The city is known for the two laboratories on the eastern side of the city, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory. (Element #116 on the periodic table of elements, Livermorium, is named after the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.) The city is also in the oil industry, but on a much smaller scale.

Livermore is home to local wineries, excellent scenery, and many parks and trails. The wine country south of the city is dominated by Wente Vineyards and a few other wineries, which vary from factory-like wine tasting destinations to country houses. Livermore wine country, particularly along Tesla Road on the southeast side of the city, tends to have an authentic country feel, highlighted by the hills and mountains surrounding the Tri-Valley and the parks that are scattered through these hills, along with many ranches that have survived the tech boom, the addition of the laboratories, and the success of the wine industry.

Geography
The Livermore Valley is about 30 miles (48 km) east of the first coastal range of foot hills that surround the San Francisco Bay Area. The Livermore Valley has an east-west orientation with mountain passes on the west and east connecting the Bay Area and the Central Valley. The passes are used by railroads and highways to connect the two regions. Livermore Valley is about 15 miles (24 km) long (east to west), 10 miles (16 km) wide (north to south), and surrounded by California coastal range mountains and foothills.

To the south of Livermore is a large area with rugged, mountainous terrain, with elevations steadily increasing the farther south one goes. This region is the location of Lake Del Valle and, much farther south, Mount Hamilton. The mountains south of Del Valle are located on long ridges that vary from 2,000 to 4,500 feet in height above sea level.

The mountains to the north are generally not as high as those to the south; however, Mount Diablo is nearly 4,000 feet high and most of this height is prominence.

History
Livermore was founded by William Mendenhall and named after Robert Livermore, his friend and a local rancher who settled in the area in the 1840s. Like Livermore's neighbor Pleasanton, the city was fairly small until the 1950s, when its population nearly tripled to 16,000. It has continued to grow steadily and now has a population of about 90,000.

Livermore has the longest-burning incandescent light bulb in the world, which was installed at a local firehouse over a hundred years ago and is still burning today.

It was a location in the 1976 Chowchilla Kidnapping. In this incident, three kidnappers imprisoned twenty-six children, who had been on a field trip, in a buried box truck within a quarry in Shadow Cliffs, a rural area between Pleasanton and Livermore. The children and the bus driver, who was also a victim of the kidnapping, managed to escape and the criminals were arrested; the event is among the most notable in the region's history.

Climate
Livermore has a Mediterranean climate, although it is close to a semi-arid climate because of its relatively low annual precipitation. It features warm to hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters (Köppen climate classification Csa). Summer (June–October) daytime temperatures average in the 75 to 85 °F (24 to 29 °C) range, but sometimes reach 100 °F (38 °C) and can occasionally approach 110 °F (43 °C). Summer nights, however, are normally much cooler, with lows in the 50 to 60 °F (10 to 16 °C) range.

Usually, there is a strong evening wind in the summer that brings cool air off the Pacific Ocean into the Livermore valley as it heads towards the much hotter Central Valley. This wind is strong enough with an average summer wind speed of about 9 miles per hour (14 km/h) and predictable enough to make the Livermore hills covered with wind turbines mounted in Altamont Pass. The period from June to September is extremely dry and is characterized by clear skies, but in late summer, subtropical moisture occasionally surges into the Livermore Valley, bringing high humidity, monsoon clouds, and, much less commonly, thunderstorms.

By car
Interstate 580 is the city's main highway, and it connects Livermore to the cities of Tracy, Pleasanton, Dublin, Hayward, Oakland, and other Bay Area cities. Livermore is a short drive from San Jose during good traffic; but during bad traffic, however, the seemingly short distance from San Jose to Livermore can become a more than two hours' drive.

CA State Route 84 is another major route in the area, connecting Livermore to I-680 and Fremont. California State Route 84 has its ends on the Pacific Coast and Sacramento - but don't be fooled, there is a gap on Route 84 between Livermore and the Sacramento Delta region. The best way to travel from the Sacramento Delta to Livermore is by taking Vasco Road, which is now a major highway.

Several country roads also connect Livermore with its eastern neighbor, Tracy. These roads are generally one-lane or two-lane and are not designed to take fast and heavy traffic, but if you want to enjoy your drive into Livermore at a leisurely pace, are good options for getting into the city. They include Altamont Pass Road, Tesla Road, and Patterson Pass Road.

By BART
The nearest BART stations are and. However, both of these stations are a few miles west of Livermore, so you would probably want to take a WHEELS bus from these BART stations to Livermore.

Visit the BART website for train details. BART trains connect cities in the Bay Area, and run to San Francisco and Oakland.

By train
There is also a train station for the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) train in Livermore. The train takes you to Fremont and San Jose, or to Stockton via the Altamont Pass.

By air
Livermore has a general aviation airport, although it's for local flights, not commercial jets. There are major airports in San Jose —, San Francisco — , and Oakland — — that you should use. San Francisco Airport is the best for international flights, but for domestic flights go to either San Jose or Oakland, since these airports are smaller and, especially in the case of Oakland, closer to Livermore.

By car
There are several major roads in town, including First Street, Portola Avenue, and Jack London Boulevard. However, driving in Livermore can be difficult - many of the intersections (especially near downtown) are at odd angles.

To get across Livermore via the downtown, you have to take two separate but intersecting roads: from the western end of town to the city center, take Stanley Boulevard (also known as Railroad Avenue). From the eastern end of town to the city center, take First Street, which begins in Springtown and continues southwest into the city center.

Livermore Avenue is a 2-to-4 lane road that crosses Livermore from north to south. Its northern end is near Morgan Territory, and the road turns into Tesla Road near Concannon Winery.

By bus
WHEELS is a local bus service that will take you to local towns.

By bicycle
Livermore has a network of paved cycling trails. These are excellent in themselves, but their downside is that only a handful of them actually go into the main Livermore downtown area; the most of the bicycle trail network goes around the Livermore wine country, not in downtown. In short, Livermore's bicycle network is design primarily for recreational purposes, not transportation purposes.

By foot
Livermore's paved bicycle trails may be used by pedestrians as well as cyclists.

See
Livermore, like much of the Tri-Valley, includes many notable sights, varying from rows of vineyards to science labs to historic buildings. Areas to the north and south of Livermore feature the area's rolling hills and chaparral country, while the city includes a main street (called First Street) with a beautiful line of plants and several interesting buildings.

Do
Much of Livermore's wild countryside has been purchased by East Bay Parks and other local organizations that buy land for parks.

Parks and trail networks

 * Arroyo del Valle cliffs.jpg
 * Del Valle Regional Park. Fairly large park (with camping area) to the south of Livermore. The park largely surrounds Lake Del Valle, an artificial reservoir made in 1968 by damming Arroyo del Valle, a small river. Del Valle Regional Park was then opened to the public in 1970, 36 years after the EBRPD was founded in 1934. Since the reservoir was created, Lake Del Valle has continued to provide a source of recreation for visitors, including hiking, swimming, fishing, and boating. There are lifeguards present at designated swimming areas. The park offers 28 miles (45.1 km) of hiking, horseback, and bicycle trails; about one-fourth of which is called the East Shore Trail. There are also numerous camping sites in the park. It is the eastern gate for the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, which leads to Sunol and Mission Peak Regional Parks. You can reach the Arroyo staging area in the north of the park by traveling along a narrow footpath which connects to Sycamore Grove Park and the general LARPD (Livermore Area Recreation and Park District) trail network, or you can drive toward the park by approaching it from Del Valle Park Road (via Mines Road).
 * Del Valle Regional Park. Fairly large park (with camping area) to the south of Livermore. The park largely surrounds Lake Del Valle, an artificial reservoir made in 1968 by damming Arroyo del Valle, a small river. Del Valle Regional Park was then opened to the public in 1970, 36 years after the EBRPD was founded in 1934. Since the reservoir was created, Lake Del Valle has continued to provide a source of recreation for visitors, including hiking, swimming, fishing, and boating. There are lifeguards present at designated swimming areas. The park offers 28 miles (45.1 km) of hiking, horseback, and bicycle trails; about one-fourth of which is called the East Shore Trail. There are also numerous camping sites in the park. It is the eastern gate for the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, which leads to Sunol and Mission Peak Regional Parks. You can reach the Arroyo staging area in the north of the park by traveling along a narrow footpath which connects to Sycamore Grove Park and the general LARPD (Livermore Area Recreation and Park District) trail network, or you can drive toward the park by approaching it from Del Valle Park Road (via Mines Road).

Buy

 * There are several stores in the north of town along Las Positas Road.
 * There are several stores in the north of town along Las Positas Road.

Wineries & vineyards
The Livermore Valley, which contains many wineries, is considered to be wine country and produces some of California's best wines. Livermore is one of the oldest wine producing regions in California, and is home to Concannon, Cresta Blanca, and Wente wineries; all are California Historic Landmarks. Most of the Livermore Valley wineries are just south of the City of Livermore itself.



Cope
Livermore's main city newspaper is the Independent, but there are other newspapers in the greater East Bay.

In Livermore, there is an important community location:. This church has over the years built up a congregation in the thousands and many of the locals attend the church regularly. This makes it a connection for many of the local inhabitants of the Tri-Valley.

Go next

 * Pleasanton – town only a few minutes from Livermore along Stanley Boulevard. Large downtown and historic district with numerous restaurants, hotels, and tourist attractions.
 * Tracy – east of Livermore, on the other side of the hills.
 * Del Valle Regional Park – sizable park to the south of Livermore with camping area.
 * San Jose – 580 West to 680 South. About 1 hour away. Largest city in the area, has numerous museums and attractions.
 * San Francisco – 580 West to 80 West. About 50 minutes away. One of the world's most popular tourist destinations.