Here’s a short chat I had with Amy Blaschka, President and CEO of the Tri-Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, about the Tri-Valley region (where I live), located in the San Francisco East Bay. The Tri-Valley consists of Pleasanton, Livermore, Danville, San Ramon and Dublin, and it’s best known for the Livermore wine region, golf, an amazing array of parks and sports fields, and the historic downtowns of some of the cities, especially Pleasanton.

As Wikipedia points out:

In the 1850s, the town was nicknamed “The Most Desperate Town in the West” and it was ruled by bandits and desperados. Main Street shootouts were not uncommon. Banditos such as Joaquin Murrieta, upon whom the legend of Zorro is based, would ambush prospectors on their way back from the gold rush fields and then seek refuge in Pleasanton. This reputation passed, and in 1917 Pleasanton became the backdrop for the film “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.”

Highlights of California’s Tri-Valley region from JD Lasica on Vimeo.

Pleasanton was among the cities named in CNN Money Magazine’s list of “The Best Places to Live” in 2010, and was also named one of “Americans’ Top Hometown Spots” in the United States in 2009 by Forbes. Also, notably, late night host Craig Ferguson took some lighthearted jabs at Pleasanton after he passed through town.

Watch, embed or download the video on Vimeo