Belding Woods

Belding Woods is a largish neighborhood just north of the Richmond BART Station and south of Richmond High School.
This is pretty much just a residential neighborhood filled with the characteristic pre-WWII homes that make up most of Richmond. There are some fairly well kept streets here, which show that many of the residents take real pride in their homes and work hard to keep them nicely. Every so often, however, you come across a boarded up house that looks as if it has been basically abandoned or is a “crack-house,” as the old saying goes.

There are also some newer homes in the area as well, which look as if they have just been built (perhaps the first signs of an impending gentrification?).

The median home price here is only $125K with prices ranging from as low as $50 K to as high as $300 K.

Of course, when it comes to Richmond, you have to consider crime. In the last six months there has been:

2 murders in and just around the Belding Woods neighborhood. One in February, the other in May.

There have been more than 150 assaults and 75 burglaries.

The other problem here are the schools, all of which are well below average in terms of test scores and other indicators.

Even without the bad schools however, crime just makes it a deal breaker for me. If I can’t feel safe where I set my head down to sleep at night, I just can’t live there.