City, Alameda County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 94550, 94551
Bedroom,
high-tech town, population
83,604, that also grows grapes and fights development, often successfully, but
still accepts a fair amount of change and new construction, especially in its
downtown. www.mccormacks.com
Home to
Lawrence Livermore Lab, which has helped make the town a brainy place.
School
rankings bounce around a bit but many are in the 80 and 90th percentile. The
school district mixes parents across a diverse social spectrum, rural to
suburban, low income to highly educated. The latter tend to produce high-scoring
kids.
In 1999, in partnership with the
city government, the school district passed a $150 million bond to renovate
schools and make civic improvements. In 2001, the district opened another
elementary on the east side, north of the freeway.
Click for regional or detailed map
In 2004,
however, short of money, the district closed two schools. This angered some
parents who organized a campaign to turn one of the closed schools into a
charter school. After every local agency rejected the parents, the state Dept.
of Education agreed with them and the new school (Livermore Charter, K to 7th
grade) opened in 2005. There's a lot of head scratching over this dispute. The
money for the new school comes, in part, from the school district, which means
that any savings from closing the two schools probably has been lost. See Schools.
In 2004,
perhaps more sensitive to the plight of the schools, Livermore voters approved
a parcel tax that restored programs cut or reduced in recent years and kept
class sizes low. www.mccormacks.com
Crime low.
One homicide in 2005, zero in 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000, two in 1999 and
1998, zero in 1997 and 1996. Counts for previous years are two, one, one, zero,
two, two and one. See Crime.
Commute
not as bad as might be thought because the region is loaded with jobs.
In and
about Livermore are located 38 wineries, Wente the best known. Residents call
Livermore the “Alameda Wine Country.” Livermore is situated in a bowl called
the Amador Valley. The city is frequently mentioned in connection to its
western neighbors, Dublin and Pleasanton, and to a lesser extent, San Ramon.
The town
was named after Robert Livermore, an English sailor who married into a
Spanish-Mexican family and secured a grant of 44,000 acres. For much of its
early history, Livermore crushed the grape and rounded up the cattle. It produced
one celebrity, boxer Max Baer, who in 1934 won the heavyweight crown. He was
called “the Livermore Larruper.”
In 1952,
as the Cold War was swinging into high gear, Dr. Edward Teller, father of the
H-Bomb, persuaded the U.S. government to build the Lawrence Livermore Lab to do
research on nuclear weapons and other defense-related projects. The town at
that time had a population of about 7,000. www.mccormacks.com
Homes
followed to house the people who worked at the lab and its spinoffs. The
freeway, Interstate 580, was gradually extended, making the commute from
Livermore to the Bay Area much easier and tying Livermore into the regional
economy. Many of its residents now work in other towns.
In the
1960s, Livermore built about 6,400 housing units, in the 1970s, about 6,000
units and in the 1980s, about 4,000 units. In the 1990s, housing starts rose to
about 5,700 units (census 2000). Between 2000 and 2006, the town erected 2,900
units.
By any
standards, this is good amount of housing in a fairly short time. Nonetheless,
Livermore picked up a reputation for being anti-growth.
The
Lawrence Lab is run by the University of California at Berkeley. Yes ... that
Berkeley! The leader in free speech, environmentalism and a few other causes.
The Livermore locals initially saw the lab as this bonanza that would boom the
local economy and build homes over the valley and into the hills.
The UC
people saw the vineyards and the open hills and the small-town qualities and
said, no, no, no, NO! to the development plans. www.mccormacks.com
But even
without the Berkeley connection, the fights would have come. In the 1980s and
1990s, the whole region, including San Ramon, Dublin and Pleasanton, went
high-tech and up-market, bringing in thousands of professionals with upscale
ideas of slowing growth and protecting the countryside. The same fights that
show up in Livermore broke out in the other towns, the main difference being
intensity. Livermore tops the scale in this category.
The big
job, fought over for decades, is the equivalent of a new city, on Livermore's north
border: 12,500 homes, condos and apartments. In 2000, residents passed a measure restricting growth in
the area but in 2005 a developer reworked the plan, threw in a lot civic
goodies, and said, please pass it, please, please, please. No dice. Rejected.
Down
through the years, however, the pro and anti groups learned somewhat to work
together to the benefit of the town. Instead of ripping out the vineyards, ways
were devised to protect them, about 3,500 acres, and blend in the housing. Much
of the new housing and retail stores were built near Interstate 580.
Livermore
is forever trying to revive its downtown. It has had some success but removed
from the freeway, the neighborhood will never be the vibrant center it once
was. In some quarters this amounts to the end of the world, in others ... no
big deal.
And it's
by no means a dead downtown. It has movies, restaurants, sidewalk cafes, shops, a regional
hospital, and a certain old-fashioned charm. Under construction in 2007, a performing arts center (see following).
In recent years, the city has been
filling empty or demolished lots with apartments, condos and a large senior
complex. More townhouses and multiple units are in the pipeline. www.mccormacks.com
Like most
towns, Livermore built to the demands of the times. When the times called for
middle-class housing, that's what it built, standard three-bedroom tract
models, especially around its downtown. In the 1980s, many people were taking
the equity in their first homes and moving into something bigger and better.
Livermore
went in this direction. Many of the new homes run to four-bedrooms, with
walk-in closets in the master bedroom, large or gourmet kitchens, plenty of
windows and natural light, living rooms oriented toward the television or
entertainment center and modern wiring.
In the
overall picture, there's a good amount of variety. This includes large custom
homes, some built near the downtown, others in the country. And it includes in
the downtown, cottages and bungalows erected before 1950. On many of the older
streets the trees have matured into leafy umbrellas that cast pleasing shadows
for the hotter days.
The state
in 2008 counted 29,955 residential units, of which 21,624 were detached single
homes, 2,621 attached homes, 5,279 apartments or condos and 431 mobile homes.
Many new
homes sell for $750,000 plus and some soar over $1 million. The resale market
offers old homes for less but Livermore is no longer the affordable town it
used to be. See profiles on Dublin and Pleasanton. www.mccormacks.com
In 2002,
the Lawrence Lab, which employs about 8,000, celebrated its 50th anniversary.
With the end of the Cold War, there was talk of closing the Lab but after
cutbacks, it won a contract to build a super laser, cost about $2 billion.
Besides research into nuclear weapons (computer testing and modeling) and
disposal of aging bombs, the lab does research on cancer detection, fusion
energy and mapping the genetic code, developing stronger materials and stopping
bio-terrorism.
After
Sept. 11, Americans took national security more seriously and if anything this
only underscored the importance of the lab.
Across the
street is the Sandia National Lab, different outfit, approximately same
mission, about 1,000 employees.
Years ago,
a newspaper reported that Livermore had one of the highest — if not the
highest — concentrations of PhDs in the world. This boast is hard to prove
but the labs are crawling with scientists.
Lawrence
Lab and Las Positas Community College run special programs for the kids. Lab
also trains teachers. Las Positas, which attracts many adults, in 1996 opened a
science-technology center. www.mccormacks.com
Of the
$150 million approved in the 1999 bond, $20 million went for a new library, $20
million for a seniors center, a teen center, and a swim center, and $110
million for schools. The school district is also gets building funds from the
state. The library and a community center were opened in 2004. The town also
has two branch libraries.
Livermore
is attracting many professionals with young families. The school bond and the
success of the 2004 measure that restored programs reflects the town's high
interest in education. So did the school closure fight. Those parents,
believing they were helping their kids education, fought and refused to get
discouraged.
BART
station was opened in 1997 in nearby Dublin, a comfort to commuters, especially
those traveling to San Francisco. Local buses and express buses to Silicon
Valley job sites. Another BART station at Dublin now under construction.
Interstate
680 has been widened south of Pleasanton, easing the commute for people working
in Silicon Valley.
Altamont
Commuter Express runs commute trains from Stockton to San Jose with stops in
Livermore and Pleasanton. This is removing a little traffic from Interstate
680. Some residents are bothered by the train horns. www.mccormacks.com
Even with
these improvements, if you have a long commute, you will often find it a
time-consuming drive. The Bay Bridge, the main route to San Francisco, is
almost always backed up at commute hours. Many people now commute from the
Central Valley and this is congesting Interstate 580.
Nonetheless,
many Livermore residents have a short commute because they have local jobs.
Besides the Lawrence Lab and Sandia, the region has attracted such high-tech or
office firms as, AT&T, Chevron, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle and Sybase. Also
office operations for Safeway and Kaiser Permanente Medical.
Located on the east side of the coastal
range, Livermore is warmer and drier than the shore cities of Alameda County
but not as hot as the Central Valley, which is separated from Livermore by the
Diablo range. Livermore and Pleasanton occasionally trap some of the smog that
blows around the Bay Area but air quality in the region has been improving.
Just east
of Livermore is the Altamont Pass, site of a notorious rock concert of the
1970s. (Rolling Stones hired Hell's Angels for security and, surprise,
surprise, things got out of hand.) Windy. About 5,000 windmills, power
generators. Many dislike windmills, eye-insulting bird killers. Plans afoot to
tear down many of the small ones and replace them with fewer but larger and
more powerful ones that supposedly will kill fewer birds.
To
elaborate on the appearance, Livermore is suburban pleasant with a strong
country atmosphere. Empty or almost empty hills still surround the city. Mt.
Diablo rises to the northwest and in the winter takes on a mantle of snow. The
homes are generally well-maintained, the streets clean, graffiti rare to the
point of escaping notice. New police station, city hall renovated. www.mccormacks.com
The
freeway stores include a Costco, a Target, a Mervyns, a Home Depot, a Lowe's
and a Wal-Mart.
Usual recreation
— baseball, soccer, activity classes, softball — much better than
you’ll find in many suburban cities. About 40 parks or play facilities. Skate
park. Three golf courses. Bowling
alley. Annual rodeo. Large park, Del Valle, which has camping, boating,
windsurfing and swimming. Equestrian events are popular. Thoroughbred ranches
in hills. Plenty of horse and hiking trails.
Livermore
runs many of its recreation programs through a park and recreation district, an
agency separate from city hall. For information and a schedule of activities,
(925) 373-5700.
Camelot
amusement center: video games, miniature golf, go-carts. Wine-country social life, of sorts,
with an intellectual underpinning (the lab people). Livermore throws a harvest
festival, a wine and honey festival and an arts festival. Wine museum. www.mccormacks.com
Wente
Vineyards sponsors summer concerts and brings in big names — in 2006
Chris Isaak, Kenny Loggins, Ringo Starr. Other wineries produce Shakespeare
plays.
Local
groups are not only staging plays but operas, a demanding art. The town is also fielding a children's chorus, a symphony orchestra and a dance theater. The more
ambitious productions draw on talent from the Bay Region.
Livermore has combined parcels in the downtown to build a performing arts center. The first phase, to open in late 2007, will seat 500; the second phase, another 1,200.
Lights,
Camera, Action! Livermore has its
own annual film festival, a weekend event that screens about 65 films and mixes
in dinners and wine tastings.
Dublin has
a movie complex, 20 screens and an IMAX (giant) screen and a large bookstore.
Pleasanton also has its big bookstore and a downtown popular with the
restaurant crowd. And a giant mall with a Nordstroms and a Macys. Other
goodies, a Trader Joe's.
In the
1950s, when the Lab arrived, Livermore and the region really were hicksville.
Television, movies, small markets and a few greasy spoon restaurants —
and that was it. Now ... a much different picture, not only for Livermore but
for affluent suburbia. The giant supermarkets routinely field bakeries, delis,
fish markets, pharmacies and banks. For the harried commuter and soccer parents
all this means more convenient shopping. Starbucks and other coffee shops. www.mccormacks.com
• BART in
2003 started direct service from Dublin to San Francisco International Airport.
• For
local medical attention, Valley Memorial Hospital and Kaiser clinics. Veterans
Hospital on the south side of town. Some federal officials want to close it and
build a new hospital in Stockton. Some vets want to keep Livermore open. Matter
to be decided in Washington D.C.
• Movie
house, two screens, built in 1966, in the downtown got competition in late 2006
with the opening of a 10-screen movieplex about a half mile away.
• Lawrence
Livermore Lab and Sandia have their supporters and critics, the latter uneasy
about or flat opposed to nuclear and biological weapons. The differences show
up periodically in the local press and sometimes take the form of
demonstrations.
• Just
north of Interstate 580 is a neighborhood that shows up on maps as Spring Town.
This is a large master planned community with a club house and golf course. www.mccormacks.com
• Livermore Airport, located to west of
downtown. If moving near airport, check out noise, especially at night. Airport
is home to about 600 planes, mostly small. Annual open house features vintage
planes.
• Private
firm opened a rock-climbing gym but couldn’t make it profitable even though it
attracted many. When its closure was announced in 2006, park district bought
the place and through stronger marketing hopes to make it profitable and more
popular.
•
Livermore High School is expanding to add science classrooms.
• County
planning commission has approved the opening of 40-acre cemetery on the north
side. Some residents opposed; say not enough water to keep grounds green.
• With the
opening of the first charter elementary, the charter supporters formed an
association and are now asking the school district to allocate funds for a
charter academy (8th and 9th grade) and a charter high
school. School district dislikes charters because they have their own
enrollment policies and take funds from the district’s budget. If charter
people get green light, academy might open in 2008 and the high school in 2009. www.mccormacks.com
•
Livermore and Pleasanton have kicked in $20,000 apiece to encourage people
residents to equip their homes with solar devices and to help them go
solar.
• Las
Positas College in 2004 won a bond that will pay for renovations and new
buildings.
• Although
voters have restricted housing north of the freeway, some housing along with
stores and commercial buildings are going up. Drive Canyons Parkway near Las
Positas College.
• Lunar, a
local society dedicated to firing miniature rockets, is looking for a new home.
Old one, Robertson Park, now is bordered by housing and town officials are
afraid of fires.
• For
Yosemite and the mountains and snow slopes, Livermore offers a quick getaway
— three or four hours. www.mccormacks.com
• New
synagogue opened in 2004; serves families in Livermore, Pleasanton and Dublin.
•
Livermore downtown landmarks: tall flag pole with fountain at base and
Baughman’s Western Outfitters with a life-size plastic horse out front.
Baughman’s traces its origins (with name changes) to 1881. The store devotes
one wall to cowboy boots.
• Wal-Mart
wants to build a second, bigger store in town. Opponents rising.
• Vasco
Road, whichleads north into
Contra Costa County, has turned into to popular commute road because of all the
new homes around Brentwood, Oakley and Antioch. Every year or so, the road has
a horrible accident. One such in 2006 killed four. If you drive Vasco, take
care.
• One of
these years, money permitting, BART is to be extended to Livermore. For those
working in Silicon Valley and traveling Interstate 680, Stanley Road shortcuts
the drive to this freeway. www.mccormacks.com
Chamber of commerce (925) 447-1606.
City web site: www.ci.livermore.ca.us
