Emeryville's New Urbanism
Interestingly, with the onset of a new-found awareness of the joys and benefits of high-density, high-quality urban environments, also known as the New 
Urbanism, Emeryville has encountered a rebirth and renaissance, which has taken the city’s commerce, residential, shopping, and entertainment offerings to new heights.
While a conversion of the old industrial base to a services and commercial base started in the mid 1980s, Emeryville’s residential development trends paralleled that trends in the late 1980s with the conversion of the Besler Building for use by artists and creative professionals, giving rise to a high demand for loft spaces in Emeryville. The new loft space developments in Emeryville include projects 
such as Oliver Lofts, Liquid Sugar Lofts, Green City Lofts, and most recently Glashaus.
Townhouse-style properties have also been added to the inventory of new urban homes. They include Emerybay Village, Elevation 22, and City Limits, with homes meeting the needs of a variety of design palates and floor plan layouts.
City History
Urban Emeryville has a rich history as a site of extensive native American settlement, probably due to the rich food sources and the abundant fishing grounds of the nearby Bay: the mudflats off of the shallow coast were teeming with clams and oysters. This is evidenced by the disposal of the shellfish shells in a single place, over time creating a huge mound— the Emeryville Shellmound, to which a small park at Bay Street One pays homage.
With the late 19th and early 20th century urban development of the San Francisco Bay Area, Emeryville played a role as a naturalistic playground: in the 
early 1900s a large park, dance hall and fairground were built along the waterfront on the Shellmound to serve as an entertainment and social spot in the area. In the 1920, a dog race track was added.
These early amusements have since disappeared, with the Shellmound hauled away for building materials. They were replaced in the early 20th century by heavy industry, including a major paint company's factory, then an easily recognizable landmark. Emeryville was also home to the research arm of an oil company that relocated to Texas in the 1970s.
Emeryville today is teeming with various research and development companies, designers, architects, artists, and the digerati; it’s work environment and educational institutions draw in newcomers and the Bay Area's well educated and experienced scientific, technical, artistic, and business workforce.
