About The Bay: Dissecting The Differences Between San Leandro, San Lorenzo
SAN LEANDRO (CBS SF) - Ever do some deep thinking while driving on 880? You know, considering life's great, unanswered questions? For instance, if you've got San Leandro, why do you need San Lorenzo?
After all, both are Alameda County suburbs, named after saints, border each other, and even each have 10 letters in their names.
In hopes of finding an answer or two, I ran into some people I thought could shed some light on things.
"I am the Mayor of San Leandro," declared Stephen Cassidy.
"The Unofficial Mayor of San Lorenzo," Matt DeLima offered his title.
Unofficial?
"Because they're unincorporated they don't have a mayor," he explained.
Still, he's something of a star in his hometown because of YouTube videos - with nearly as many hits as his unincorporated town's population.
San Leandro, on the other hand, is incorporated and about 4 times the size of neighboring San Lorenzo.
"Well, San Leandro's a city. San Lorenzo's a place," said Cassidy. "San Leandro's a full-fledged city. We have our own police department. We have one of the best library systems in the entire East Bay."
He's less than thrilled when people confuse San Leandro and San Lorenzo.
Caltrans has even gotten involved in the issue, pitching in on new overpass art.
"For the Davis Street exit, cherries, which is the symbol of San Leandro, we are known as the cherry city," explained Cassidy. "And then for the Maria exit, we'll have butterflies."
KCBS' Mike Sugerman Reports:
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