Mathew Sumner - STAFF

The Bay Area economy basked during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, then was beaten down like a pinata for several years.  

Ray Chavex - STAFF

First, the awful truth: ``The Bay Area's surface transportation system is poorly maintained, seriously overcrowded at peak hours and woefully underfunded.  

D. Ross Cameron - STAFF

Plaster on Masonite is artist Tracy West's chosen medium, an unusual material but one that finds acceptance in the eclectic East Bay art scene.  

Art is an avenue for celebrating the outer view and the inner person—the landscape surrounding us, the streets where we spend our daily lives, and private life of the spirit, the soul,  

Justin Mott

When anyone talks about the "California lifestyle," they're talking for the most part about life outdoors. Redwood forests, wetlands, sandy beaches and windswept ridges.  

Sean Connelley - STAFF

Bay Area residents are blessed with proximity. The culture of San Francisco is just a BART ride away. Amusement parks like Great America and Marine World/ Africa USA are an easy drive.  

At 25 years old, the Thomas Fogarty winery is just now reaching maturity. Back when Dr.  

WHEN Mary Jo Thoresen and Curt Clingman set out to open a restaurant of their own after years of toiling in other people's kitchens, there was no doubt in their minds that it would be in the East Bay.