Sequoyah

The Oakland Zoo makes its home here. Although it is largely overshadowed by the SF Zoo which makes perches at the Pacific’s edge across the Bay, I much prefer the Oakland Zoo. The SF Zoo has a much more crowded feel, and although it is interesting to see some of the older exhibition halls they have there, the more country like feel of the Oakland Zoo suggests a better environment for the animals. The main problem with the Oakland Zoo is that, since it is on a long incline, one must be willing to walk uphill at least part of the way. They also have a very good train ride that the kids love, and an amusement park attachment that is just okay.

The Zoo offers really good summer camps that back before the recession we used to let our oldest go to. If times were not as tight as they currently are, we probably would have continued to do so.

What a lot of people may not know is that there is a large hillside neighborhood that sprawls up into the hills to the east of the Zoo. The neighborhood is an ethnically diverse community made up of half African Americans and one third whites. The homes in the neighborhood are similarly diverse. Down close to the Zoo, there are a number of Prairie and Ranch Homes, that have a rather rundown feel. Many of the homes have boarded up windows or roofs with missing shingles. There are few newer homes in the neighborhood, with less than one in ten of Sequoyah’s structures having been erected in the last generation. (In fact, one third of the homes date to before WWII.)

It is in this lower area that you find some of the schools and day care centers that Sequoyah has to offer. One is the Horizon Primary, a pre-school located just adjacent to an apartment complex right by the noise of the freeway—not very pleasant from the outside, but I don’t really know much about it. The other is Northern Lights Primary School, a religious school that I believe is associated with St. Paschal Baylon Church, to which it is adjacent. It is well liked by the parents and tries to teach not only the usual curriculum but leadership skills as well. Sequoyah parents not satisfied with these choices can take their kids just across to the freeway or a little to the north where they will find at least half a dozen other choices in terms of both private and public schools and daycare centers.

Similarly, you can also find a number of churches in the neighborhood, including Sequoyah Community Church and the aforementioned St. Paschal’s.

One thing the neighborhood could use, however is a solid supermarket. There is a rather limited liquor store by the freeway and a auto repair shop that looks like it just stepped out of the 1970’s, but not much else other than a gas station by the entrance to the Zoo.

Up by Keller Road on the northern end of the neighborhood, you will find some the 1980’s style tract homes. Nice, bigger houses look down on the clean, modern looking four lane street and its center meridian that takes you up into the rest of the neighborhood.

A bit farther up the road by where Keller meets Hanson, you will find a classic Eichler neighborhood. I can’t be sure if this was one of the original such groupings of California Modern houses that the famous Bay Area based architect built in the 1960’s, but the distinctive centered roof giving way to flat wings to either side and the backyard pools are at the very least Eichleresque. The look is distinctively a 1960’s upscale style that once looked cutting edge and now looks classically stylish. The wide lanes of this area of the neighborhood with their gentle curves also just make you feel transported to a previous era in California architecture.

Along winding Sequoyah Road which parallels Keller, the neighborhood is considerably more bucolic and features large Craftsman style homes hidden away behind curtains of trees. At times it is clear that you are in the hills of the Contra Costa mountains, but at other times you could fool yourself into thinking you are more inland in an area near Tahoe or Bigbear because of how heavy the tree cover is and because the homes take on a distinctly chalet feel.

Hugging the extensive Sequoyah Country Club and its perfectly well-kept greens, you find an equally extensive clutch of long, squat Ranch Style Homes, on wide, beautifully maintained streets featuring bike worthy sidewalks and occasional palm trees.

And finally, overlooking the country club at the far eastern end of the Sequoyah neighborhood, you come upon a multi-tiered terrace of large and elegant Mission style homes. These are both the best views and the highest property values in the neighborhood, as you can tell by a simple survey of the luxury cars that laze on the driveways. With Chabot Park just to east over Skyline Blvd. and the Equestrian Center within walking distance, whether it is golf, hikes, or a good ride that appeals to these residents they can find it here.

There are also a few restaurants along Keller, and there is an occasional bus that ventures up Sequoyah, but these are barely worth mention. With the zoo, the country club, the park and so many different styles of homes, Sequoyah offers potential residents virtually every species of suburban living and easy access to the freeways to boot.