This story is deeply personal. I had been stationed in the SF Bay Area in the Army before I went back to Texas to complete my BSEE degree. I graduated from Texas Tech in 1975. After graduation, I accepted a job in Southern California, but after a couple of years, several circumstances pushed me toward the Altamont Pass. My wife had a sister that lived in Livermore, on the western side of the above pass. Then I received an offer from GE Vallecitos Nuclear Center (Just west of Livermore) to be their Facilities Electrical Engineer, and our course was set.
We settled in Livermore, and I enjoyed my job at GE. However, a few years thereafter, the nuclear industry started imploding, so I moved to another (non-nuclear) job in Silicon (Santa Clara) Valley. After a brief move to San Jose to be closer to my work, we decided that we greatly preferred Livermore, and moved back in 1985. We have lived in the same house in Livermore ever since.
