The San Francisco Bay Area attracts millions of visitors a year to its marquee venues: Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz, Napa Valley, the Golden Gate Bridge. But as locals, our students have the luxury of experiencing a side of paradise that tourists rarely see. The options are infinite, whether people’s interests run to politics or poetry, food or film, nature or nightlife.
Berkeley boasts cosmopolitan cuisine, a vibrant mix of cultures, and dazzling art, music, and film. For those who crave more civilization, Berkeley’s western suburb—San Francisco—glitters across the bay. And those who crave less civilization can choose from a limitless array of options. Berkeley Law lies mere moments from peaceful hiking and spectacular mountain-biking, and a scant couple of hours from surfing beaches and snowboard runs. No other law school comes with giant redwoods on campus and the Golden Gate Bridge a glance away.
FOOD
A walk down Telegraph Avenue can transport the adventurous diner around the world in the space of a few blocks. Vietnam, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey, Japan, Jamaica, China, France, Italy, Ethiopia, Greece, Burma, Mexico, and Lebanon all have culinary embassies here in Berkeley—many within lunch distance. And within a 10-mile driving radius—encompassing San Francisco—diners can select from a planet’s worth of choices, whether their tastes run to the hot, the haute, or the hybrid.
Here are a couple of websites to help you see your options: http://buylocalberkeley.com/profile/profile_retail_cat/Dining
Trip Advisor (where the restaurants are rated by local diners): http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g32066-Berkeley_California.html
FILM
The list of local film festivals offers something for everyone. Irish-film freaks will be happy to know that there’s an entire festival just for them. Same with Arab film. And Jewish. Plus Asian American, African American, Italian, French, and Taiwanese. There’s also the Women of Color Film Festival. The Silent Film Festival. And Spike & Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation. The grande dame of them all is the San Francisco International Film Festival, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007 with showings of 120 films to more than 80,000 people. Not to forget, a collection of more than 14,000 films and videos can be found just down the block from the law school at the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
MUSIC
Just two blocks from Berkeley Law is Blake’s Bar and Grill, where on any given night they might be serving up ska, funk, jazz, rock, or world music—along with their 15 microbrews. Over in Oakland is Yoshi’s, where music lovers can take in a set of James Carter or Maria Muldaur over a plate of sushi. In San Francisco, the possibilities run from the sublime—Beethoven’s Ninth at Davies Symphony Hall or the Barber of Seville at the San Francisco Opera, say—to the rambunctious: Smashing Pumpkins at the Fillmore or Lavy Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers at Biscuit & Blues. For big-name rock acts, there are major venues dotting the region. On our own campus, we have one of the largest university-based arts presenters in the U.S. – Cal Performance regularly hosts many world-renowned performers and large ensembles, including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Wynton Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, the Grand Kabuki Theater of Japan, among others.
SPORTS
When it comes to sports, we have major-league venues on both sides of the Bay, including the Oakland Coliseum, home of the Oakland A’s, and AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The Golden State Warriors basketball team holds court in Oakland. And if you’re into pro hockey, the San Jose Sharks are just 45 miles down the road. But our athletics scene is far richer than that. When World Cup soccer time rolls around, fans tap into the madness by watching the games with frenzied expatriates of almost any nationality in their favorite hangouts: Italian cafes, Algerian coffee shops, or Brazilian bars. And for a very local form of madness, thousands of people a year sign up to walk or run in the annual Bay to Breakers race across San Francisco—a serious race for the few and a jubilant, costumed stroll for the many.
If you are interested in participating in your favorite sport on a competitive or recreational level, Intramural Sports on the Berkeley campus offers year-round leagues in basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball and tennis. Visit UC Berkeley Recreational Sports website for more information about membership. And if you want to mix sport and fantasy, we even offer a competitive quidditch team.
RECREATION
Just east of campus is Tilden Regional Park with a golf course, swimming spots, and more than 30 miles of hiking, biking, and horse trails. On the far side of Berkeley Hills is Wildcat Canyon, with 22 miles of hiking trails. And fewer than 200 miles farther to the east lie three national forests, the soaring granite splendors of Yosemite National Park, and Lake Tahoe, home to nearly two dozen winter ski resorts. And that’s just to the east. A look to the north, west, or south will yield comparable opportunities for hikers, boaters, campers, surfers, rafters, picnickers, bird watchers, and wine lovers.
FESTIVITY
The diversity that characterizes Berkeley Law and UC Berkeley makes for a lively local scene. The blocks bordering the law school are practically international fairs in themselves, offering a microcosm of global cuisine, clothing, and music. And throughout the Bay Area, cultural diversity and pride play out in the streets via countless festivals a year: Cinco de Mayo. Carnaval. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride. Aloha. Urdu. Filipino. Bulgarian. Dragonboat. Mandolin. Moon. Between Berkeley and San Francisco, some group of likeminded people is dancing in the streets almost every week.
TRANSPORTATION
It is easy to get around Berkeley via foot, bicycle, or public transportation. UC Berkeley runs a campus shuttle service, with routes that connect with city bus stops and the Downtown Berkeley subway (BART) station. Check out the Visiting Berkeley Law section of the guide for more information on transportation options.