<P> Coordinates: 37 ° 42 ′ N 122 ° 00 ′ W ﻿ / ﻿ 37.7 ° N 122 ° W ﻿ / 37.7; - 122 </P> <P> The eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area, commonly referred to as the East Bay, includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay . The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties . With a population of roughly 2.5 million in 2010, it is the most populous subregion in the Bay Area . </P> <P> Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay and the third largest in the Bay Area . The city serves as a major transportation hub for the U.S. West Coast, and its port is the largest in Northern California . Increased population has led to the growth of large edge cities such as Fremont, Hayward, Concord, Berkeley, Richmond and Walnut Creek . </P> <P> Although initial development in the larger Bay Area focused on San Francisco, the coastal East Bay came to prominence in the middle of the nineteenth century as the part of the Bay Area most accessible by land from the east . The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 with its western terminus at the newly constructed Oakland Long Wharf, and the new city of Oakland rapidly developed into a significant seaport . Today the Port of Oakland is the Bay Area's largest port and the fifth largest container shipping port in the United States . In 1868, the University of California was formed from the private College of California and a new campus was built in what would become Berkeley . The 1906 San Francisco earthquake saw a large number of refugees flee to the relatively undamaged East Bay, and the region continued to grow rapidly . As the East Bay grew, the push to connect it with a more permanent link than ferry service resulted in the completion of the San Francisco--Oakland Bay Bridge in 1936 . </P>

Which city is on the east side of san francisco bay