Ridges

The appropriately named Ridges, this neighborhood in Castro Valley is as you might guess from the name, up on the hills above Castro Valley on the northeastern end. It is little more than a half dozen or so streets with the main artery, Greenridge Road, running down the middle of them.

The eastern border is formed by Crow Canyon Road, which those familiar with the Pleasanton and Dublin Area will recognize.

This entire neighborhood dates from the 60s and 70s. Greenridge Road was clearly built up in the 1960s as you can tell from all the Eichler homes that line that street with their distinct flat look, triangular windows near the roofs, and exposed timbering. If you dig local architect Eichler, you will love this street--these minimalist beauties are really nicely maintained.

The arteries that grew out from this main road were clearly built in the 1970s, which in what was no doubt considered an upper middle class neighborhood means a lot of Contemporary homes of the Brady Bunch variety: lots of interior space, homes built for big families and entertaining.

The median selling price for a single family home up here is around $550K, making it one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Castro Valley, except that the ceiling seems only to be around $625K--probably because though these are nice homes, none of them are really what you would call mansions.

In fact, on the far western end of the neighborhood you will actually find a number of nice wood shingle apartments arranged in a row.

This is also a really great neighborhood if you are an outdoorsy type who likes to be out in nature. There is a really nice park way at the northern end of the neighborhood--Greenridge Park--which not only has the typical things such as a play area and basketball courts, but also cool trails for hiking and an amazing view down into the valley.

Overall this is another one of the great neighborhoods that makes Castro Valley such a hidden Bay Area treasure.