St. Jerome

We just moved here from the Peninsula. We just couldn’t take the soaring housing prices and needed some relief. We found a 2-bedroom here for about $1500—in the Peninsula, the same place probably would have cost around $2000 (or more)—so that a $6000 difference over the course of year, at least.

This neighborhood is mostly an apartment city, especially to the west of the BART tracks that bisect the neighborhood. As you head farther up into the hills towards El Cerrito High School, things get progressively nicer. Colusa Avenue—the eastern border of the neighborhood—hardly feels like the same neighborhood as the western end. There is not a hint of a boxy apartment building there and residents get some pretty sweet bay views.

Judging from the 30 odd homes that have sold here in the past 9 months, home prices here range roughly from $300 to $650 K with the median being right around $450 K. As you might expect given what I’ve said so far, homes tend to get more expensive as you go farther east. Into the hills—which is pretty much the case, as far as I can tell, throughout the East Bay.

At the heart of the neighborhood is the El Cerrito BART station and the nearby shopping mall. The mall has a Lucky Supermarket, a Pier 1 Imports, a Petco and a Bed Bath and Beyond; but also a Barnes and Noble (great for just hanging out and reading), and a Pasta Pomodoro. The 2 best restaurants in the neighborhood however, are WikiWiki Hawaiian BBQ and Al Burger’s.

The schools here are okay—getting so so marks in terms of assessment tests. El Cerrito High is on the eastern end of the neighborhood. It is a nice big school with good facilities and good programs.

As to crime, it is pretty light in this neighborhood with only about 2 dozen assaults since the beginning of the year. (It’s July now.)

Overall, I am pretty happy. Given our budget constraints I think this turned out pretty well.