Dublin

Not to be confused with the city in Ireland.

Dublin is a city of 65,000 people (2019) on the northern side of Alameda County, in California's East Bay region. It's an expanding city, constantly making its way into the golden-colored foothills of the Diablo Range on its eastern and western sides. While it doesn't have a historic district or any particularly notable tourist destinations, it's a pleasant place to visit, with some important positives that it shares with its neighbors.

Understand

Dublin is in the Tri-Valley and is 35 miles from San Francisco, but nonetheless has a surprisingly different climate than that city. Summers are hot, dry and windy. Dublin is on the Calaveras Fault, which is a minor fault line in the Bay Area that begins near Calaveras Reservoir to the south and travels north through Pleasanton and western Dublin.

The City of Dublin is at the northern end of Alameda County. Its northern boundary is also the boundary with Contra Costa County and is San Ramon's southern boundary.

History

In 1835, José María Amador received over 16,000 acres for his service as a Mexican soldier and in Mission San Jose where he was administrator. The valley where Dublin can be found, the Amador Valley, was named after him. Irish settlers bought land from Amador and founded a town fifteen years later.

The formerly rural community that Irish settlers had founded was transformed into a suburb when, in 1960, the first housing tracts were built in West Dublin. The city grew steadily from the early 1960s onward, and developed as both a residential and retail center. Dublin was incorporated in February 1982.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Dublin was the second fastest-growing city in California, behind only Santa Clarita. The population was about 46,000 at the time of the 2010 census.

Dublin is home to the headquarters for the companies CallidusCloud, Ross Stores, Tria Beauty, Medley Health, Challenge Dairy, and Arlen Ness. It was also formerly home to the headquarters of Sybase, which is now part of SAP SE.

Murray Schoolhouse

There are some historical sites at the junction of Dublin Boulevard and Donlan Way. This was in the past the northernmost segment of the main road to Sunol and Niles Canyon (present-day Foothill Road):

• The Murray Schoolhouse (established in 1856 with 50 pupils)
• Green's Store (opened in 1860), current home of the Dublin Church of Christ.
• The old cemetery was established in 1859, although people had been buried in the churchyard for years before 1859.
• Old St. Raymond's Church (built 1859), is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Climate

The region's climate is Mediterranean, similar to that of its neighbors Pleasanton and San Ramon.

Get in

By car

I-580 goes along the southern boundary of the City of Dublin, while I-680 goes through the western section. There are also some major boulevards that go around the city; these boulevards mostly connect with Pleasanton roads to the south and with other towns, like San Ramon, to the north.

By BART

There are two BART stations: 1 Dublin/Pleasanton BART and 2 West Dublin/Pleasanton BART. BART connects Dublin with the cities of Hayward, Fremont, Oakland, and San Francisco, along with several smaller cities as well.

By bike

• Iron Horse Regional Trail. Formerly the railroad for the Southern Pacific railroad, the Iron Horse Trail is a paved biking and walking trail that runs through Dublin, down to Pleasanton in the south and San Ramon, Danville, Concord, and Walnut Creek in the north. (updated Nov 2023)

Get around

By car

Dublin Boulevard, a generally east–west road running just north of Interstate 580, was a part of the Lincoln Highway and later U.S. Route 50. It leads west to Dublin Hills Regional Park and the Shaefer Ranch housing development.

Traveling around the city by car is the most practical method of getting around.

By bus

WHEELS is the local bus service, and it serves Dublin, Pleasanton, and Livermore.

See

Countryside

Large oak-dotted and grass-covered hills surround Dublin. These hills look green in winter and spring and appear golden in summer and fall. The higher hills in the area are covered with chaparral in places, while parts of the hills are considered to be a desert climate.

There is a lush, wooded canyon near Dublin Hills Regional Park, but most of the hills west and northeast of Dublin are quite dry. To the northeast of Dublin, however, there are some chaparral-covered slopes and Mount Diablo.

City

Because it grew little until the 1960s, Dublin does not have a historic downtown. Most of the amenities are in the numerous shopping malls around the city, and interesting sights are generally in the hills around the city.

Parks

There is one major regional park in Dublin and several city parks.

• 1 Dublin Hills Regional Park. Dublin Hills Regional Park is on the west side of Dublin, close to Shaefer ranch development. Trails at Dublin Hills Regional Park generally are in grassland regions, with scattered oak forests in the canyons. The main trail follows Calaveras Ridge for 2½ miles. A network of short trails (the Donlon Loop Trail) leads to a housing development along Dublin Boulevard. Hikers are not allowed to park in this housing development. A loop can be made with this network of short trails, although this route is too narrow for cyclists and equestrians. A further Martin Canyon Creek Trail, which connects to both the Donlon Loop Trail and the Calaveras Ridge Trail, goes in the direction of the Martin Canyon Creek Trail open space. Other minor trails come to dead-ends at the edges of the park. (updated Dec 2017)
• 2 Emerald Glen Park, 4201 Central Pkwy. This is a city park between Central Parkway and Gleason Drive. It has everything you would expect in a city park, including several fields and playgrounds. (updated Apr 2018)
• 3 Don Biddle Community Park. A large city park, mostly unremarkable except for one thing: its playground is phenomenal for kids older than about 5. (updated May 2024)

Do

• 1 St. Patrick's Day Celebration, 100 Civic Plaza. The annual Saint Patrick's Day celebration includes a 5K Fun Run and Walk, a pancake breakfast, a two-day festival, and a parade. The parade is popular with residents and visitors from outside Dublin alike and has been growing in popularity each year. It is sponsored by the Dublin Host Lions Club and features bands and colorful floats. The Dublin firefighters sponsor the pancake breakfast, and tours of the firehouse are popular with children. The festival continues all weekend and features food, games, kiddie rides, arts & crafts, and information about local organizations. The festival is held at the Civic Center on Dublin Blvd. (updated Mar 2018)

Buy

Waterford

Since Dublin started to expand significantly, several shopping malls have appeared in the city. These include The Shops at Waterford, The Shops at Tralee Village, Grafton Station, Fallon Gateway, Persimmon Place, and Hacienda Crossings. Hacienda Crossings has several large stores. Whole Foods Market, Nordstrom Rack, Dick's Sporting Goods, HomeGoods, and a second Target location (in East Dublin), have all opened for business since the 1990s.

• 1 Hacienda Crossings Shopping Center, 4820 - 4980 Dublin Boulevard. The mall is probably the largest mall in the City of Dublin. It includes a Barnes & Noble, along with Pier 1 Imports and a Best Buy. Near the I-580 at the southwestern end of Hacienda Crossings is a large cinema. (updated Jan 2018)
• 2 The Shops at Waterford, Tassajara Road (Near the intersection of Dublin Boulevard and Tassajara Road near I-580). This is a shopping mall in the eastern section of Dublin. Named after the city in Ireland, much of the shopping mall includes stores on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors. The Waterford shopping mall on Tassajara Road includes a Safeway, along with Coco Cabana and other restaurants. (updated Mar 2018)

Eat and drink

• 1 Brevino Italian Restaurant, 4590 Dublin Boulevard (A few hundred yards west of the Waterford shopping center). (updated Apr 2018)
• Casa Orozco. There is another Casa Orozco Mexican restaurant in Livermore. (updated Apr 2018)
• 2 Coco Cabana, 4500-C Tassajara Road (In the Waterford shopping development of Tassajara Road.). This is a Latin-American fusion restaurant. It has a large eating area, which is typically not brightly-lit. There is a side room that, due to a mirror at one end, looks larger than actually is the case. For a place with an evening atmosphere, this quite a good choice. (updated Apr 2018)

Sleep

• 1 Hyatt Place Dublin/Pleasanton, 4950 Hacienda Dr (at the junction of Interstates 580 and 680), ☏ +1 925 828-9006, fax: +1 925 828-9030. (updated Jul 2020)

Go next

• Livermore is to the southeast and has a very different culture from Pleasanton, but one that is just as nice in its own way, with many hiking opportunities and wineries.
• Oakland is a much larger city than Pleasanton and Livermore and is the main city in Alameda County.
• Pleasanton is just south of Dublin and can be accessed on 680 South and several other local roads. It's only short drive away (on the other side of I-580) and is an interesting place to visit, with a colorful history and downtown.
• San Ramon and Danville are north of Dublin, and like their neighbors to the south, are separated from Oakland by a range of hills.

Routes through Dublin

Oakland ← Castro Valley ←	W  E	→ Livermore → Tracy
Concord ← San Ramon ←	N  S	→ Pleasanton → San Jose
Oakland ← Castro Valley ←	W  E	→ END
Concord ← San Ramon ←	N  S	→ Pleasanton