Moraga

Conveniently located next to Lafayette and Orinda, the town of Moraga is home to Saint Mary’s College of California, beautiful weather, and an excellent school system.

Named after Joaquin Moraga — a grandson of Jose Joaquin Moraga, credited with founding the Presidio of San Francisco — the town of Moraga was a ranching and farming community for many years.

In fact, most of the roads, businesses, and homes in Moraga today didn’t exist until after 1960.

Moraga homes for sale tend to range in price from $400,000 for less-expensive condominiums to more than $1 million for higher-end single-family homes. Homes at the Moraga Country Club are among the most sought-after.

The club features an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, a 25-meter swimming pool, and a clubhouse with restaurant and bar.

In December 2012, the number of condominiums and single-family homes for sale in Moraga plummeted almost 60 percent from a year earlier, while the number of residences sold swelled from one to nine, according to MLS data.

While many residents opt to shop and dine in nearby Orinda and Lafayette, the town of 16,000 offers a number of businesses, including those at the Rheem Valley Shopping Center. Asia Palace Restaurant, Ristorante Amoroma, and Chef Chao Restaurant are among the town’s more popular eateries.

The New Rheem Theatre, built in the 1950s, offers a range of independent, documentary, and family films in a historic setting.

The town remains popular among young families for its high-ranking schools. In 2012 the Moraga School District earned an overall state Academic Performance Index score of 961 out of 1,000, while Campolindo High School received a 922.

Perhaps the only drawback to living in this lovely town with views of the rolling Contra Costa hills is its single road to the freeway, Moraga Way. Still, commuting should get somewhat easier for all Lamorinda residents as workers finalize improvements to the Caldecott Tunnel this year.

Moraga is very upscale neighborhood that is part of the pocket of communities in the west of Contra Costa County known as “Lamorinda (Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda). Moraga is a bit flatter and more spread out than Orinda and it does not have Highway 24 running through it like the northern two thirds of its triumvirate.

Mount Saint Mary’s college is in Moraga. It is a solid private school with high tuition but is not as well known as the other Bay Area Colleges such as UC Berkeley or Stanford. The campus is small, being little larger than a community college campus, but it is well manicured and the student population tends to be well-off. St. Mary’s is tucked away at the southern end of Moraga on Saint Mary’s Road.

Moraga also has a large Golf Course where the community gathers for fireworks on the Fourth of July. Moraga has a strong sense of community and its shows in how easily they recruit for their schools and for fundraisers. Moraga also does it up for Halloween. Many private homes will deck out their homes and some will even put on skits free of charge, just for the fun.

Education in Moraga is also very strong. Moraga’s High School is well known for its academics and does very well on statewide tests. Moraga also has some very solid private schools. Moraga’s public library doesn’t compare to Lafayette’s or Orinda’s but it is okay overall.

Put simply, if you have a family and can afford the high property prices, Moraga is the place to live.