When I was 12 years old, I left Oakland for a small town on the southern edge of the Carquinez Strait. The towering buildings of Oakland and neighboring San Francisco were replaced by the smokestacks of refineries.  The East Bay is primarily defined by Oakland and Berkeley, but there is

  The Bay Area is a big place with a lot of cities, and every city in the Bay can be a little different.  But one thing that is synonymous with the Bay Area experience, is BART.  The Bay Area Rapid Transit, with its loud trains, lateness, general sketchiness and