hgha

Moved here 10 years ago and stayed because of the friendly people, the wide open spaces, the proximity of things to do and the wine country vibe. Its really more of a home town than just a place to live.
One thing people don't know is that Livermore has been around since the 1860s and has a lot of history. The downtown has historic buildings and there are beautiful, old graceful homes in the old area of town. The oldest wineries are from this area; the first wine to win in the French exposition from California in 1884 was from the Cresta Blanca winery, now part of the Wente group. The clones of vines from 2 big Livermore wineries (Wente for chardonnay and Concannon for cab) are responsible for around 80% of vineyards planted in Napa at the present day. The mayor of SF even had a summer residence in Livermore, the beautiful Ravenswood estate. The vineyards have been designated as a protected area, and they are preserved in perpetuity and will never become victims of urban sprawl. There are around 50 wineries as of now and many have really good but affordable wines! Try out the Concannon wine bar, underdog, where they also have their old ancestral home which hosts Shakespeare plays once a year, or go to a Wente winemakers concert. Try McGrail and Steven Kent for their cabs! or any of the smaller wineries for a personal wine experience.
There are also beautiful, world class golf courses in the area (Wente, Poppy ridge). In the south, Lake del Valle provides fishing areas, while several preserves are good for hiking and biking (such as Sycamore Grove and Brushy peak).
The downtown area, which has been revitalized, offers a lot of food choices and small, local boutiques. On Friday and Saturday evenings, people stroll along and even the younger crowd can find places to go and have fun, with live music and dancing. Several wine bars offer a good place to hang out, and there are a couple of fancy places plus the ever popular Alehouse with local draft beer and fantastic burgers. There are a lot of artsy festivals (harvest festival, wine festival, artwalk) as well as a rodeo.
Shopping has recently gotten a boost with the opening of the high end outlets close to the freeway.
Schools are, in my opinion, OK. If you don't like public, there is a friendly, small Catholic school (St. Michael's) and also a Lutheran and a Montessori school, the kids who go to these all seem to be very well behaved.
Medical care is nearby, there are no hospitals in Livermore but Valley care (under the Standford group) has clinics and an ER there, plus the big hospital is 10 mins away in Pleasanton.
So far, house prices have been really going up and they sell like hotcakes! Its still a bit more affordable than other areas but if you want to move to this area, better hurry. You might even find a villa planted with some acres of vineyards for a couple of millions (that's pretty decent!)