Carpe Domum! The Little City that Could: Richmond, California

It's about a 30-minute drive from Richmond to San Francisco; Oakland is only about 20 minutes away. And you can get to marvelous Marin County in just 15 minutes, driving across the truly magnificent Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, from which you'll see, off to the left, the infamous San Quentin State Prison, once home to such notable murderers as Sirhan Sirhan, Charles Manson, and "The Nightstalker," Richard Ramirez. San Quentin is, for men, California's Death Row.

Within a 30-mile radius of Richmond can be found over 3.7 million people, but in the City of Richmond alone, the population is just over 100,000. The city's largest employers include Chevron, who has a major oil refinery in Richmond, Zeneca, a chemical company, Kaiser Permanente and the Social Security Administration... but Richmond also boasts growing high- and biotech sectors.''