Sunnyvale Ave, Walnut Creek

Sunnyvale Avenue is on the northwestern end of Walnut Creek. Its eastern end is right across the street from the Treat/Geary onramp/offramp--right by the car wash, Wendy’s and the strip mall where Pasta Primavera is located.

Near Main Street there are a bunch of apartment buildings along Sunnyvale Avenue, which is what brought me here the other day. There was a Studio here listed at $900/month which is about as low as it ever gets in Walnut Creek. Now this was just studio, basically a room with kitchen and bathroom--maybe 600 sq. feet.

These are those boxy, cramped looking apartment complexes where it feels like they have done all they can to get people as packed together as possible. In fact, it feels a bit more like a motel than an apartment building where you can live.

As you go farther west along Sunnyvale, however, the housing gets nicer. You start to get modern looking townhomes and nicer looking apartment complexes. The rents go up as well with a 2-bedroom just past the Presbyterian Church going for nearly $1400/month.

Past Sunnyvale Drive, Sunnyvale Avenue becomes virtually 100% single family homes, with a mix of types but predominantly Contemporary style model homes as far as I can tell. Rents here for a three bedroom rise to nearly $3000/month. They are very nice and about what you would expect to pay given the neighborhood and good schools.

The home sale prices follow a similar pattern to the rent prices, with condos going from between $180K to $400K, while home prices hover more typically around $600K.

The other great thing about living here is that you are within walking distance of the BART station, which makes commuting much easier since you will technically not even have to get into your car to make it to work. You are also close to all the shopping and entertainment of Walnut Creek without actually being at the heart of the action.

At the very eastern end of Sunnyvale Avenue, this lane takes on a very rural feel with lots of trees and half century year old homes. You get the occasional picket fence and broken down old car here as well. There is a certain charm to this.

Overall, I like the area and if I could find a nice place affordable enough to rent but not overly cramped I would love to live here.