Temescal

With quick access to public transportation and freeways and a walkable strip of highly regarded restaurants, centrally located Temescal will appeal to Oakland homebuyers seeking a more affordable alternative to neighboring Rockridge.Temescal

Roughly speaking, Temescal is bordered by 51st Street to the north, 40th Street to the south, Broadway to the east, and state Route 24 to the west. The latter freeway feeds directly into Interstate 580, making it possible to drive to San Francisco in less than 20 minutes.

Commuters who prefer public transportation will appreciate the neighborhood’s access to two BART stations. Residents who live in the southern part of Temescal are within walking distance of the MacArthur station, while those in the neighborhood’s northern portion can opt to use the Rockridge station.

Most of the neighborhood’s businesses and eateries are located on Telegraph Avenue, Temescal’s principal thoroughfare and a strip that’s easy to explore on foot or bicycle. Walk Score — an online service that ranks neighborhoods based on amenities within a quarter-mile distance — gives Temescal a Walk Score of 87 and a Bike Score of 86 on a scale of 100.

Temescal’s restaurant and nightlife scene has exploded in the past decade and now rivals Berkeley’s famed Gourmet Ghetto. Locals line up around the block for Bakesale Betty’s fried-chicken sandwich, a delicacy that landed on Food & Wine’s list of best sandwiches in the U.S. Aunt Mary’s Cafe, which serves an array of Southern-style dishes, is a popular brunch option. Other well-regarded restaurants in the neighborhood include Dona Tomas, which offers high-end Mexican food, and Pizzaiolo, a wood-fired-pizza place founded by a former Chez Panisse employee.

There is no shortage of activities in Temescal, thanks to a variety of events throughout the year. The neighborhood hosts an annual street fair in July, as well as September’s Taste of Temescal festival, where attendees can sample a smorgasbord of food from local restaurants. Temescal also participates in Oakland’s increasingly popular First Fridays initiative, when many art galleries are open to the public.

Mosswood Park, just a few blocks south of the neighborhood’s boundaries, is home to basketball and tennis courts, a baseball field, an outdoor amphitheater, and a dogs-off-leash area. Residents seeking relief on hot summer days will appreciate the Temescal Pool, a low-cost outdoor facility that offers swimming lessons for both children and adults.

The median sales price for homes in the 94609 ZIP code, which encompasses Temescal, was $644,000 in August — a year-over-year increase of 29 percent. Homes in the neighborhood are considerably more affordable than those in the 94618 ZIP code, which includes Rockridge, where the median August sales price was $875,000.

While Temescal has a slim 1.4-month supply of inventory (MSI), there are slightly more homes on the market than there are in our Oakland region as a whole, where the MSI was 1.2 in August. On average, buyers shelled out 16.5 percent more than list price for Temescal homes in that month, as opposed to 9 percent above list in Oakland overall.

Temescal is a relatively small neighborhood, with cheap rent and inexpensive shopping. Many of the residents will tell you that the district is on the upswing, with many new and diverse families moving into the community. One of the few perks of the community is its location, straddling the border of Berkeley and its convenient proximity to the many popular shops and restaurants that string along Telegraph, Shattuck and Claremont Avenue.

Telegraph Avenue is one of the main commercial strips that traverses the neighborhood. It stretches a couple miles north and ends four blocks shy of the UC Berkeley campus. Some UC Berkeley locals use the bus lines that frequent along the main street every 15-20 minutes. The area is also popular amongst the local community, hosting a myriad of Asian cuisines, including Ryo B.B.Q. House, Koryo Sushi, Kan Sai Restaurant and Casserole House Korean. All these inexpensive restaurants cluster within a block of Telegraph Avenue and 44th Street.

The neighborhood is mostly residential, with pockets of old homes with muted colors and thin two-story residents packed along quiet side streets. Many of the streets’ characteristics depict that of bushy trees, ugly fences enclosing unkempt front lawns and dusty cement parking lots. Rent is relatively affordable, but you get what you pay for. Garages are rare and driveways are shallow, so street parking can be a little bit more complicated. However, it is still a neighborhood so nothing you’d spend more than five minutes finding.

Oakland Technical Senior High School lies within the neighborhood’s borders, but maintains a less than stellar reputation. Many of the locals gravitate towards Temescal Plaza, which occupies the northwestern corner of the district. The cluster of shops offers everything from food chain stores to a handful of ethnic eateries.

For commuting options, Highway 24 curbs the western border of the neighborhood while two Bart transit lines fall just north and south of the district (MacArthur station to the south and Rockridge station to the north).

Temescal is my new neighborhood and definitely up and coming. Sure, it is still a little rough around the edges. There is still some crime and you will definitely encounter the strange homeless person walking around. However, the stretch of telegraph from 52nd street to 43rd is terrific. Two Chez Pannise former chefs have opened up restaurants there. The well loved bake sale betty's is right in the neighborhood, with delicious chicken sandwiches and baked goods. So is Genova's, the fancy Italian sandwich shop that has been reviewed as a place to go by the NY Times. Temescal also boasts a number of other great eats including Barlatta for Tapas, Dona Tomas for Mexican food, and the newly opened Burma Superstar. For someone who hates to cook, its a great neighborhood! There are also two small art galleries that sometimes hold events on Shattuck and 56th, and the area is pretty much right between Ashby, Rockridge and Macarthur BART with the 18, 51 and 1 bus line running through. I think in no time at all this area will (hopefully) be the new Rockridge. For the moment, rents are extremely low and the food good!