Union City is a small city (population ~74,000) located in the southern part of the East Bay portion of the San FranciscoBay Area region of California. It is bordered to the north by the city of Hayward and to the south by the city of Fremont. It is part of the Tri-Cities area, which consists of Union City, Fremont, and Newark.
Understand
History
When California began to experience incredible growth in the 1950s, Southern Alameda County developed quickly and the city of Hayward began to eye the townships to its south for potential annexation. To preclude such an event, a citizen's committee petitioned for incorporation; and on January 13, 1959, the City of Union City came into being, binding together the four townships of Union City/New Haven/Alvarado/Decoto. Tom Kitayama, who served on the citizen's committee, became its first mayor. He was the first Japanese American to hold public office in California, just 14 years after the end of World War II.
Get in
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Public Transportation
- AC Transit buses bring you in from Contra Costa County and the rest of Alameda County.
- BART[dead link] trains bring you to the Union City BART Station from Fremont to the south and from Hayward, San Leandro, Oakland and Richmond to the north, as well as San Francisco to the west.
- Dumbarton Express buses bring you in from Palo Alto via Dumbarton Bridge.
Get around
Cycling, walking, and taking public transportation are all alternatives to driving, although traffic isn't bad relatively speaking and free parking is plentiful.
- Union City Transit. Operates four bus routes, which are coordinated with BART trains, AC Transit, and the Dumbarton Express to areas outside the city. Main transfer points are at the Union City BART Station and the Union Landing transit facility. Fares are $1.75 adults, $1 youth, $0.75 seniors.
See
The Union Landing shopping center is also home of the Century 25 movie theater.
Do
Cycle, run, or walk your dog on the Alameda Creek Trail which extends from the hills to the bay. One side of the trail is paved and the other is mostly unpaved.
- 1 Dry Creek/Pioneer Regional Park (The restored garden and cottage is accessible by the Meyer trail at the end of Tamarack Dr off Mission Blvd, which also provide access to hiking trails at the south end of Dry Creek Regional Park). Dry Creek Cottage was a popular summer home of Edith, Mildred, and Jeanette Meyers, three sisters of Alameda who were very active locally during the early and mid 1900s. Dry Creek/Pioneer is adjacent to Garin Regional Park and shares a visitor center in Hayward.
Buy
There is a shopping center and hang out spot off of 880 called 1 Union Landing. The shopping center contains mostly "big box" stores.
Eat
There is a variety of different (fast food) restaurants inside Union Landing.
- 1 Mayflower Seafood Restaurant, 34348 Alvarado Niles Rd (In the Mercado near Decoto Road), ☏ 1 510 489-8386. Very popular Chinese restaurant. Avoid the weekend lunch hour, when it is packed. Come early (before 11:30AM) during the weekdays to experience probably the best dim sum in the Tri-cities.
Drink
Sleep
- 1 Crowne Plaza Hotel, 32083 Alvarado-Niles Rd, ☏ 1 510 489-2200.
- 2 Holiday Inn Express, 31140 Alvarado-Niles Rd, ☏ 1 510 475-0600.
Go next
The Tri-City area includes Union City, Newark, and Fremont. Go south and visit Newark and Fremont.
| Routes through Union City |
| Oakland ← Hayward ← | N  S | → Newark → San Jose |