Orinda, CA

Orinda is one of the more prestigious towns in Contra Costa County and attracts many of the Bay Area's professionals and executives. The city is nestled in a tree-flourished valley on the east side of the Oakland/ Berkeley hills and offers its residents a serene setting. The value of property in Orinda exceeds that of most Contra Costa communities.

The City of Orinda is a family-oriented community which offers its 17,000 residents a serene setting in contrast to the more urban existence of the surrounding area. The tree-studded hillsides of the 12.8 square-mile City contribute to Orinda's aesthetic beauty. Natural beauty, excellent schools, safety, history, culture, serenity and its proximity to major San Francisco Bay locations and activities make Orinda a delightful place in which to live, visit, and shop.

The city of Orinda is the first residential development on Highway 24 on the east side of the Caldecott tunnel. The freeway bisects Orinda resulting in the Crossroads business district to the south and The Village business district to the north. Orinda lies on portions of the Rancho de Laguna de los Palos Colorados and the Rancho El Sobrante, which were Mexican land grants to the Moraga and Castro families. In the 1920's, when about 1200 acres were designated the townsite of Orinda, city people began building summer homes in the wooded hillsides. Only when the Caldecott Tunnel to Oakland, about eight miles away, was completed in 1937 did the area begin to develop. Today Orinda offers gracious country style living to San Francisco and Oakland commuters who enjoy its rural setting and village-like atmosphere.