The founder of Wild Oakland, Constance Taylor and some friends started California Center for Natural History, a nonprofit naturalist collective, to teach the public urban ecology.

Louise Aronson, M.D., professor of geriatrics at UCSF, is promoting elderhood, a period starting between 60 and 70 years of age and lasting decades and striving to remove the negative values placed on being old.

Animal phenomena abound in the East Bay, so here’s where to see ladybugs converging, newts migrating, and night herons nesting. Or maybe you’d rather lay eyes on grunions, tarantulas, prairie falcons, harbor seals, and other critters.

Legislation from State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, would allow larger day care centers to forego costly permits and business licenses.

Think of modern industrial design as a Westernized version of the tidying up craze. It is by definition utilitarian, and clutter is replaced with overtly functional, mechanical, or sublimely purposeful items as focal points.

Just east of Lake Merritt, discover psychics and martial arts, tattoo artists and locksmiths, crawfish and sweet and savory pies.

Oakland designer and stylist Shayla Dopp uses sustainable material to make her high-end footwear.

See ‘The Rock,’ paddle the bay, bird watch, and hike the woodlands.

Master Shi Yong Yao is a 33rd Generation Shaolin Temple Grand Master Monk. Originally from China, he now lives in Oakland, and has been hosting regular classes at the Oakland Asian Culture Center in Oakland for years.

Find the quintessential West Coast getaway in this iconic California seaside town, a coastal crossroads of vintage and modern, redwoods and surf, kid-friendly and romantic, sleepy and packed with fun-in-the-sun.