Roosevelt

Roosevelt is a large residential neighborhood right at the heart of Redwood City. There are a lot of homes for sale here.

The median price of homes seems to be about $600K with prices ranging from around $325 on the low end to $1.2 million on the high end (although both those ends are outliers—the vast majority of homes go from $400K to $800K).

The foreclosure crisis has hit Roosevelt really hard. 3 out of 4 homes listed here are on sale due to foreclosure—pretty depressing really, though, of course, it is an opportunity for potential home owners.

This is also a really old neighborhood. About ¾ of the homes date from before 1950. So there would definitely be maintenance issues with most any home you buy here as you would expect with any home that is more than 50 years old.


(There are also some fairly affordable apartments in the area right by the corner of Jefferson and El Camino. They run around $1300 for a one bedroom and $1900 for two bedrooms, which is pretty good for the Peninsula, although the apartment themselves are pretty old and run down.)

There are some positives about being in an older neighborhood, however. One of the best aspects of this neighborhood is that it is flat and has sidewalks, which makes it a good spot for having kids. It is basically a bike-able neighborhood in that sense.

Unfortunately the local elementary (John Gill) has an API of 3—which is pretty terrible. Though it seems to get better by the time you get to Sequoia High School which has an API of 8.

There are also a number of parks in the neighborhood, including Morton park with its soccer fields, baseball fields and tennis courts.

Overall, although not the most attractive of neighborhood, Roosevelt does definitely have some positives for a family.

Nestled within the busy suburbs of Redwood City, Roosevelt is an elementary/middle school community serving its young families and local friends. It is one of the larger Redwood City neighborhoods (spanning about 1.5 square miles), encompassing about a couple dozen windy suburban roads. The neighborhood is also largely residential with an even larger range of middle-class residences. Demographically speaking, its a predominately white community with a rather sizable hispanic minority.

Roosevelt’s community is a mixed bag of residential terrain. Homes are rather old, mostly built before the 1960’s and vary in size and shape. Nicer, larger homes are situated on the hillside of Hastings Avenue, Westwood Street and Roosevelt Avenue. If you drive through the rest of the district, you’ll likely see a couple well-groomed properties with nice lawns and revamped house fronts while others don’t seem to follow suit. For the perspective resident, house prices tend to circle around $800,000, which seems about average for Redwood City. And according to the 2010 US Census, the median household income is around $61,000/year.

Roosevelt’s biggest luxuries lie in its school district. Both Roosevelt Elementary School and John F. Kennedy Middle School are located within the district’s proximity. And just appropriately, they are well regarded amongst the community. For family recreation, Stulsaft Park shares the district’s southern border while Red Morton Community Park skirts its northern corner. The latter of which provides a playground, a couple tennis courts and a junior baseball/softball field. For your shopping interests, a small commercial area is fitted along Roosevelt Avenue, but only offers the small essentials (a couple delis, fast food chains and a convenient store).