Donald Dr, Moraga

Donald Drive in Moraga is a leafy residential street that first came to my notice when one of my kids started attending Rheem Elementary. (To get to it you have to turn down Donald Drive.) Donald Drive is mostly made up of unusual looking duplex style homes as you near Rheem Elementary. These are mostly identified as condos and seem to largely date from the 1960’s--though they don’t look like what I traditionally think of as condos, as I’ve already described.

Donald Drive is unusual in that it takes a sharp turn at this point and heads up into the hills. Laird takes up the final block before the school.

On the eastern side of Donald, homes are much more typical, being mostly Ranch style home, probably dating from the 1950’s, though very well kept for homes that are more than half a century old at this point.

As you might expected estimated home prices vary greatly depending on which side of Donald the home is located. The Ranch style standalone home on the eastern end run in the $750k to $1 mil range, while the attached condos on the west run about $250k.

What has brought Donald Drive back into my attention recently, however are neither its eastern or western half but the apartments that huddle just off Moraga Road at its central dividing point. In my quest to find an apartment that will keep me near my kids’ current home, I recently took a look at one of the apartments located here. It was outside of my price range at $1850/month, but given that it is for a 2-bedroom, it is not excessively priced for the area. (It also offered close to 1200 ft. of space which is unusual for apartments.) It is definitely a good set-up for a single parent.

The proximity of Saint Mary’s also probably means a fair number of off-campus students live here. (Unless Saint Mary’s is an on-campus housing campus only, which may be the case.)

One of the benefits of living here is the great Moraga schools such as Rheem and Campolindo, both of which have the highest possible API’s.

Moraga’s somewhat isolated location, makes it not the ideal location for a commute even though there is a BART station in Orinda. Getting out of Moraga itself can be a bit of pain since these are long one lane roads on the way out.

The other great benefit of this area, is that you are within walking distance of the supermarket, park and shops located in Moraga--meaning that you won’t have to get in your car to do everything. (There is even a nearby movie theater, gym and a couple of decent restaurants.)