[6] Prior to settlement, the land which would become Berkley consisted largely of dense forests and some isolated pockets of swampland.

[7] Many in the region deemed the areas north and west of Detroit as uninhabitable or impassible due to the harshness of the swamps beyond Detroit, but as adventurers pushed out through the interminable swamp, they found beautiful scenery beyond the wet prairie of Northern Wayne County.

As it became well known that there was "fine farming country" to the north and west of Detroit, great excitement was raised and people began to flock to what was then all known as Royal Oak.

The 1910s brought significant growth to the area with the completion of the Highland Park Ford Plant.

As farms were sold and turned into subdivisions, there was pressure to formally incorporate the land.

In the 1940s, suburbanization and the post-war boom economy drove significant development in the area.

[11] In 1993, the Berkley Theater, long a symbol of moviegoers in the area, closed down and became a Rite Aid drug store.

[12] In July 1964, an enclosed shopping mall was planned to be built, stretching east to west from Coolidge Highway to Kipling Avenue, and 12 Mile Rd to Wiltshire Rd, North to South.

Downtown Berkley is home to many restaurants, boutiques, clothing stores, and retail shops.

Downtown Berkley hosts an annual Art Bash, which drew roughly 10,000 people to the city's commercial sector in 2016.

Local stores and shops also participate in the festivities holding sidewalk sales.

The city is an active participant in the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, a popular classic car showcase in the Metro Detroit area.

It holds the festivities one day before the official date of the Dream Cruise,[15] and has done so every year since 1995.

[17] The City of Berkley is home to many neighborhood parks and a large central community center, which is located on Catalpa Drive, just east of Anderson Middle School.

The majority of its streets connect on a grid pattern and typical lots are small by suburban standards.

This has led to the community becoming an increasingly popular suburb, being among the healthiest housing markets in Michigan and the United States,[20] but despite this Berkley is still considered affordable by Money.com, which rated Berkley as the 28th-best place to live for the money, in the United States[21] due to its "small-town feel" within Metro Detroit and its "easily walkable downtown".

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.62 square miles (6.79 km2), all land.

Homeowners in the first block west of Woodward and in the first five streets north of Eleven Mile Road are serviced by the Royal Oak Public Schools.

Angell is currently the oldest continuously operating elementary school in Oakland County, having opened in 1921.

For decades, Berkley School District has been the principal employer in the city, with 718 employees as of 2021.