Gem Stones

As the name indicates, Gemstones has streets with names like Obsidian Way, Amethyst Court, Turquoise Drive and Emerald Way. It is just to the southwest of the Birds neighborhood with its aviary of bird themed streets.

Like in those other themed Hercules neighborhoods, Gemstones is a long neighborhood with very nice modern Contemporary styles homes dating from the late 1980’s. These are nice big homes (mostly more than 2000 ft.)--many of them on courts where you can find extra parking in the center. These courts could also function as a place for kids to play pickup games, though I admit that I haven’t seen kids playing out in the street like for a long time, probably because of abduction worries fed by media induced hysteria.

Gemstones is also similar to Birds and to Trees in that the farther you head up into the neighborhood the better are the views of San Pablo Bay.

Overall I would say that this is pretty great suburban living and about as affordable as it gets for these kinds of homes in the Bay Area. At around $350,000 in a safe neighborhood with okay schools, that is pretty good.

The main drawback of all of Hercules, of course, is the nightmare commute no matter where you are going.

So this is a great neighborhood if you happen to work nearby or can do a fair amount of telecommuting, but definitely too far out of the way if your office is in San Jose or the Peninsula.