On December 19, 2013 Forbes magazine awarded Orinda the silver medal for “Friendliest Towns in America”.

The article read…..
Another West Coast town placed second on our list: Orinda, Calif., a suburb east of Oakland with nearly 18,000 residents where 92% of households own their homes. Roughly 77% of those residents have a bachelor’s or a higher degree. As in Sammamish, the crime rate is much lower than the national average.

“Holidays and events are a really big deal to Orinda residents,” says Kelsey Grady of Nextdoor.com. Annual events include the Orinda Film Festival, the California Shakespeare Theater and an annual daylong 4th of July celebration that kicks off with a pancake breakfast. On Nextdoor, Orinda residents have been known to organize holiday gatherings like pumpkin carving contests and neighborhood wine and cheese parties.

Go to http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/12/19/americas-friendliest-towns/ to read the whole article.