FlowerGirl

It is not super fancy but it does have a pretty good array of choices in terms of dining options. Restaurants worth visiting here include Cafe Brioche (a French place great for Sunday brunch), Palo Alto Sol (a Mexican place), Mediterranean Wraps, Jade Palace and my favorite among them Baume. Baume is an amazing French restaurant right at the end of the street--by the Amtrak station. I think this is actually a Michelin grade restaurant. Last time I went I had the lamb, which I would highly recommend.

But it is not just about the restaurants, the bars aren’t too bad either--in specific I would recommend Antonio’s Nut House which believe it or not, is a true blue dive bar in the middle of Palo Alto. I know it is hard to believe, but if you step inside this place you can almost imagine a Charles Bukowski type sauntering in and making his way to the end of the bar. And, of course, everyone’s favorite, a sign in the men’s urinal that reads “Please Don’t Throw Cigarette Butts in the Urinal; I Makes Them Soggy and Hard to Relight.” (Don’t ask me how I know what the sign say in the men’s urinal.)

Of course, these are not the only places along North California Ave. You get the usual kind of places you might expect, like a chiropractor and massage therapist, an office supply place and an optometrist--basically the usual sorts of places that you need to get your daily work done.

Overall a pretty good spot--totally my fav in Palo Alto.

You really feel like you are in a big city on this section of the San Francisco. I haven’t really been to a lot of other cities having been born and raised here in the Bay Area, but this is probably one of my favorite sections of SF--a part of the city where you really feel like you are in the midst of the hustle and bustle.

Mission starts just one block south of the Ferry Building, feeding off Embarcadero. Much of this stretch of the Mission is packed with high rises but what brought me to this place was not the high rises but the Americano, a first floor cocktail bar and lounge right on the end of the Mission. (You can actually see the Ferry Building clock tower from through the Embarcadero side windows.) It is very cool and stylish and great place to bring in the New Year if you can manage it.

The other great restaurant here is Boulevard, the French restaurant right across the street. Be sure to try the filet mignon. There are also some other joints like Mixt Greens and even a Subway along this stretch but by far the best restaurants are down by the water.

I don’t know all the companies that have businesses in these offices but I know a couple of the big ones are Marin Software--some kind of big wig in the business software world, and the Forex Capital Markets.

Anyway, for me this place is all about the hustle and bustle and fun that is nearby. Even when I work nearby I used to more pass by the rest of the area rather than actually stay here. But you definitely need to make the big bucks to come here often.

Romolo Place is right off the heart of San Francisco’s Red Light District. Think of it as a little aneurysm. Okay, so that metaphor doesn’t quite work.

Romolo Place is basically an alleyway that climbs up off Broadway--less than a block from the corner with Columbus. If you know this section of San Francisco at all, you know this is where you will find all the strip joints.

Why is this alley worth a mention?

Because it is also home to two pretty cool places: the Basque Hotel, a really cool bar that feels a lot like a speak easy. If you happen to be in North Beach and want to get away from the crowds, this is a good spot to hide away for awhile. Unfortunately you will still get your share of drunk ass fratboys all hopped up from having seen T&A down by the Hungry Eye.

Overall kind of fun every so often though. Worth a visit.

I am surprised no one has reviewed this section of Berkeley before. The Panoramic Hill section of Berkeley is basically Frat and Sorority row. It is just to the southeast of the college, located right up against the hills and the now old football stadium (it was the stadium when I was there).

In addition to Sigma Pi and Alpha Delta Pi and the like there is also the Oscar Wilde House which is not a museum to the famous author but a residence specifically for LGBT students--a pretty cool idea I think. This is also where you will find the Clark Kerr Campus with it amazing looking Spanish style architecture. There are tennis courts and a big Olympic size pool up there.

Just above the fraternity houses there are large older homes, many of which are about a century old. These homes are along narrow winding streets and have street level garages and a tight feel that is more European than North American. You can see Coit Tower from here and I assume you get some pretty good bay views from the upper balconies and windows as well.

This is great spot to live if you are student since you can be on Campus within 5 minutes and since you are so close to action. I suppose I would love to be in one of those big homes as well. A pretty nice spot.

Anyone who knows me knows how I love College Avenue. I’ve talked fondly of the stretch that you find in Berkeley and I’ve talked about how much I love Rockridge too. So what could be better than College Ave in Rockridge. And the answer is, not much!

Whether it is having brunch, meeting friends for drinks, getting some good eats to bring home, shopping for clothes or browsing books, this stretch of College from Claremont to Broadway has you covered. In fact, there is hardly enough time to do justice to all of the cool little joints there are here on College. And that is just what is here currently. If you have been coming back to College Ave for years on end like I have you probably now have a mental map not only of the current establishments but of all the memories you have of the places that used to be here.

But I will resist the pull of nostalgia and try to stick to what there is on College Avenue now. So let’s start with eats. Here are just a handful of restaurants you will find here: the Claremont Diner; Barney’s Burgers, the Crepevine, and Zachary’s Pizza of course; A Cote, a French place; Flavors of India, Wood Tavern and Rikyu, a sushi place.

You can also find some pretty good watering holes as well such as Barclay’s, McNally’s, George & Walts, and of course, the Graduate (which apparently is a mandatory bar name for every college town). I want to give a special shout out to the Conga Room, which has a Tiki bar decor and a good corps of loyal regulars that make sure it is always well attended and has a cool vibe.

And as far as places to shop for cool women’s clothes, you can go to Iniam, Fit, Chic, Crush or Bella Vita to just name a few. And if you’re just looking for a good book, be sure to try Diesel or Pegasus Books.

Does all this make you want to live here?

Well, first you should consider what it costs to rent here: a one bedroom around here will run you around $1500 and a two-bedroom around twice that much.

Of course you can’t beat it for the commute. College has its own BART station, which makes it a great spot for commuters--just in case you can’t get enough food and fun living here.

Put simply, College Avenue in Rockridge is just as great as it is in Berkeley. One of the best lanes in the world imo.

This is the section of Oakland people head out to to take care of business. And I don’t just mean the kind that brings in money--I also mean the kind where you throw back a few and unwind some of the stresses of the week.

I worked down here at a temp agency for awhile and sometimes after work we’d head down to the Bar Three Five Five, which is a cool divey sort of hipster bar with a classic saloon look to it; or to the 19th Street Station, a slightly more business class bar. There are also a ton of little hole in the wall eateries and stores around here that feed off the local businesses.

19th Street is pretty ugly and not the sort of place that you want to loiter after dark unless you are looking for trouble. But it is also a very active stretch filled with high rises. You could literally work in a building for years without meeting or even seeing half the people in your building.

Part of what makes this a popular location for businesses and organizations is that it is right by the 19th Street BART station, which makes it easy for commuters from as far away as Pittsburg and Daly City to pop over without worrying about facing rush hour traffic. Driving is also not convenient here because of the parking situation--basically you have to pay for parking, and though not as expensive as SF, is still pretty expensive.

They other nice thing about this stretch of 19th Street is that though not in the Lakeside neighborhood it is still within walking distance of the Merritt Lake and the nearby park, a good spot for a walk or for lunch during the day.

The weather is fairly cool and there is a lot of activity, but there are also a fair number of homeless folks around. It is the big city, and if you aren’t used to it and can be a little intimidating.

And in case you think that it is all suits here, this is also the home of Oaksterdam University, whose central topic of research is cannabis. This is basically one of those streets where you feel the pulse and flow of commerce of all kinds.

I wouldn’t want to live around here, but I definitely miss working in a place like this.

The big attraction to this section of 8th Street in Oakland is the Trappist Bar--good eats, nice selection of beers and a good place to chill with friends. It is one of those pubs that actually looks like a pub with brick walls and nice mahogany bar, except that they have an amazing selection of beers and pretty cool bartenders as well.

If you happen to live in the area you also might like the Go Sports Bar--which is not really my scene but I can imagine other people liking. You are also close enough to Chinatown that you get some East Asian businesses here, such as Kai’s Japanese Restaurant and the New Star Chinese Restaurant. There are also a number of offices and other businesses here.

Mixed in with these businesses and often housed in the floors above the storefronts are apartments and condos. Many of these are the typical 3-story Victorians that anyone who lives in SF or the East Bay is quite used to and some are those new fangled 3-story buildings in dark stucco pastel colors. (These newer constructions have become emblematic of the gentrification that has been taking place in Oakland for the last 20 years.)

I took a quick look at one of these newer condos one block over on 9th to see about what one costs and this what I found. A 770 ft. one-bedroom will run you $1800. At those prices you almost are better off living in the city.

Or you could buy one of these newer condos for about $300,000. (The older ones are about $200,000.)

I don’t know if any of that is really typical--that is just what I found when I took a look at some of the rental boards.

For me, this section of Adeline is all about Nick’s Lounge. I don’t come to it all the time but every so often when I’m in the neighborhood I might drop in to chill a bit. They also have these pretty cool open mic nights that used to do local poets and that sort of thing--its a very college sort of atmosphere which sometimes makes me feel like I’m still an undergrad but lately more often than not makes me feel over the hill. They are actually doing an open mic for jazz singers which I am looking forward to this weekend.

The other nice thing about this stretch of Adeline is the it is right by the Ashby BART station, which makes it great for commuters. There are a butt load of cool places here too, including the Black Repertory Group, which you can think of as the Berkeley Rep with a focus on African Americans arts; Turtle Island Integrative Health, one of those New-Age Acupuncture massage sorts of places,and the really fabulous Mothership Hackermoms workspace--which is completely amazing. Mothership Hackkermoms is this place--with onsite childcare--where moms can come and explore their creativity and entrepreneurship. Very cool and very, very Berkeley.

There are also stores like The People’s Bazaar--a semi-furniture/antiques shop where you can come across some really cool stuff if you take the time to look hard enough.

As far as places to eat be sure to check out Chen’s Garden, the local Chinese food joint and Vault Cafe, the place to go for breakfast.

Overall this is pretty good stretch and far enough of the UC campus where rents are pretty reasonable. Also with BART nearby, commuting is a cinch.

Came here to 10th Street in Downtown Sac to go to the Parlare Euro Lounge, it is one of those classy dimly lit joints with couches you can lounge on and bottle service. It’s one of those joints that has a dress code: you know, no baseball caps or saggy jeans. Basically, no gang-banger types. But they seem to enforce the dress code very selectively. There is no cover to get in so this place was totally packed and the dance floor was like a sardine can.

Enjoyed it anyway. As to the rest of 10th Street in Downtown, it has lots of other things going for it as well. It stretches from Highway 50 (W Street) to F Street, so it crosses over a lot of blocks. Other notable watering holes along 10th include The Fox and Goose, an English Pub/Restaurant that definitely trends older, and The Social Night Club, which is great dancing fun if you can get by the door and don’t mind waiting for a bit; and a couple of restaurants.

You also have some hotels here--the Shasta and the

Like most of this western part of Sacramento, there are a lot of pre-WWII homes here--lots of bungalows and those older wooden planked buildings. There are also a lot of barred windows and metal screens on doors, so crime is probably pretty bad. Although I should say that when I lived down here I did not really feel particularly in danger.

If you prefer newer looking places, you might try around Discovery Park, where you will find a number of apartment buildings that were created more recently. A one bedroom along 10th can run as little as $625/month. A 2-bedroom would be about $1000.

Also along 10th is the California Museum, a big and fairly dull museum about California. This is also where you will find Capitol Mall and City Hall, so you should expect to have occasional traffic from protests and other kinds of gatherings.

Overall this is nice spot to go clubbing or stage a protest, I am not so sure it is a great place to live.

There is one main reason to come to this 2-block stretch of Durant Avenue in Berkeley: the Beta Lounge. The Beta Lounge is a very cool, slick looking little watering hole with a real modern look to it. Like every else near campus, it is pretty low key and laid back. (Yeah, that’s right both--it is also chill, so there redundancy police!) But it is packed with Cal students out on dates so you are just as likely to hear Heidegger brought up in casual conversation as Paris Hilton--just my kind of place to get my buzz on.

But it is not the only thing worth visiting on this two block stretch. You are right on Shattuck and just around the corner is Venus--a great place to go for breakfast. On the corner with Shattuck you will also find Pegasus Books, which would be a good place to browse for books if it were not so messy. There is also a Staples there if you are looking for office supplies. Okay those aren’t that exciting.

The main part I would stay away from is the Berkeley High end of the street--especially just when they get out; that’s when you get your occasional out of control street brawl. Ahhhh, high school in the big city, such sweet memories.

Overall though this is nice place to go for dinner and a drink. (Maybe even go over and catch a movie at one of the many movie theaters. or a play at the Berkeley Rep.)

Townsend Street is in the SoMa neighborhood where I used to work for a while. Me and the BF came here to go to District, a wine and tapas bars that caters to the Yuppie types which populate this part of SF. The wine selection was amazing and the food too! We loved it.

Marlowes is also on Townsend. I would love to try it, as I hear it has “the best burger in SF.” I am reserving judgement until I get the chance to go there and try it out.

Townsend however is mostly about the hip businesses that have their headquarters here. I am talking about a place like Playdom, a video game maker with titles like Avengers, City Girl and Armies of Magic. They are a little like Zynga, with games that are made for mobile. There are also a couple of radio stations here: Star 101.3 and KMEL.

As far as living here, there are some pretty cool looking modern apartments and the typical SoMa lofts--for which this area is known. Prices are way out of my (and most people’s) price ranges. I took a quick look to see what prices were like these days and this is what I found: a 2-bedroom condo around here will run you about $4000/month.

Yes. This is where you live if you are within reach of the 1%. So if you are the founder of a successful start-up, you might live here. Your workers, however, will have to commute up from The Mission or even farther. Luckily for you with BART and MUNI, SF has a pretty good public transportation system.

This is a pretty busy, urban street so it is a bit on the noisy side and you will get a fairly big number of homeless folks. Overall, it is prety cool though, as far as I am concerned anyway.

Came here with the BF to dance the night away at the Matrix. It had been a little while since I had really gotten down to a night of fun and booze quite like this. I was really happy to be back in the city after a being stuck in the East Bay boonies for a while.

Here’s what to love about Fillmore Street in Cow Hollow. Let’s start of course with The Matrix--it is one of those cool couch be-clad lounges where the SF young people go to party down and work off the week’s work stresses.

But Matrix is only one of the beacons that draw people to this section of Fillmore. If you are hungry after working up a sweat at the Matrix, you can get burgers at the City Tavern, crepes at Castagna (a French place that is currently closed due fire), a very pricy night at the Atelier Crenn, or the hearty meals at the Balboa Cafe.

If you have the disposable income, there are also a number of boutiques on Fillmore, including Simply Chic, Bubble and a Child’s Delight. And if all that shopping wears you out, you will also find a one or two spas here just to re-charge your spirits. There are also all the usual things you would want in a neighborhood, a corner grocery, a notary, paint stores and all that kind of good stuff that you might want if you were making a life for yourself here.

And if you are an architecture buff, this is also one of those gorgeous San Francisco streets packed with old Victorian walk-ups whose bay window stare out at the street and well, at the bay--more specifically the entrance to the SF Bay just past the Golden Gate.

What would it be like living on Fillmore in Cow Hollow. Well, you should know that Cow Hollow is generally known as a young couple neighborhood. Lot’s of SF corporate climbers here, often in the early stages of marriage or just having had their first kids (think of it as a jr. Pacific Heights which is just up the slope to the south).

Of course, that means high rents and cost of living. I took a quick look and a two bedroom on or around Fillmore will run you between $2500 and $5000 per month. (One bedrooms seem to go for around $2500 as well.) So basically, you can expect to spend at least $30,000 on rent if you live here.

What about buying? I took a quick look into that as well. Basically any little condo here starts at $1 million. You might be able to shave off a hundred thousand from that if you get lucky.

Put simply, if you aren’t some kind of business executive type, you are not going to be able to afford living here. Heck, I felt outpriced just looking at the listings.

If you can afford it though, you can’t beat the fun. And for those of us who can’t we can always visit once and awhile and pretend to be one of the classy up-and-comers.

People who know me, know I am no big fan of tourist traps and would normally not be caught dead on the Wharf. It is like if you live near Disneyland and have to go every time a relative visits. The first couple of times you are caught up in the wonder of the Magic Kingdom, but by the fourth or fifth time you go you start to just be bored by the same rides and long lines. That’s the Wharf. If you are just visiting SF for the first time it might be like going on Space Mountain, but if you grew up here like I did, there are are only so many times you can hear the Peruvian flute players and chalk faced mimes.

That said, there is a reason to visit Jefferson Street in the Fisherman’s Wharf and that is the Winery Collective. If you don’t want to head up to Napa but want to go wine tasting and then enjoy the city with a bit of a wine buzz on, you can’t beat this little joint. It basically has the widest selection of wines that you could hope for. And even though you have to brave the touristy crowds to get there it is worth it.

That said, I would really not want to be on Jefferson for any other reason. Parking is terrible and even in the off-season it is packed with tourists. And don’t even bother trying in the middle of the summer in the height of the season. It is just terrible then.

I love Grant Ave. on Telegraph Hill! (Even if I have always thought of this as North Beach.) If you want to feel the pulse of the city and be around a bunch of young up and comers, come here on a Saturday night in the summer. It is just packed with people--from twenty-somethings just out of college to tourists looking for the more adult pleasures the city has to offer.

It starts for me with The Saloon, one of the oldest bars in all of SF. (Dates to the Civil War.) This is just a super cool bar with live music and lots of old burnouts. Tope Cocktail Bar is also a good alternative if you are looking for more of a mixed drink sort of a vibe, as is Tupelo and Maggie McGarry’s. There is no shortage of places to get sloshed here. (I told you I loved it!)

There are also a ton of restaurants like the Greek joint right by Columbus, Estia; Ristorante Ideale (an Italian joint obviously) and Mo’s Burgers (if you want to keep it nice and simple) are also good choices as is North Beach Pizza as well. (Overrated imo, but you can decide for yourself.)

Of course, you can’t mention Grant Ave without giving a shout out to Caffe Trieste, one of SF’s most famous coffee houses. (You may have seen it in movies like 40 Days And 40 Nights.) The Steps of Rome (another famous North Beach eatery) is also right there on the corner with Columbus.

And it is not just the eats here, you also get great shopping delights like Ruby’s clothing store, Alla Prima Lingerie (for your special BF occasions gals) and Lola’s of North Beach.

There are also a lot less interesting places that are still vital if you happen to live on the second or third floors above these places along Grant. (Had friends who did that--it’s a blast if you can afford it!) There is a cleaners, a grocery store, a pilates place, a barber shop, nail salon and a mechanic’s shop.

North of Filbert (where Coit Tower and Pioneer park loom), Grant becomes purely residential with three story Victorian walk-ups with great old bay windows that look down on the street. Parking sucks but if you don’t have a car or store it in a garage you won’t miss your wheels--despite the hills, this is one of the most walkable places on Earth.

A block up from Filbert you hit the top of Grant and from there you get nice views of the bay as Grant drops down to the Wharf. Most days you get a cool ocean breeze and even the occasional scents of bakeries and restaurants. Despite the summer crowds it is the kind of place that you can’t help but be in love in.

Came here to me old stompin’ grounds for a little trip down Amnesia Lane--sometimes called San Pablo Avenue. Specifically, we came to visit the Albatross--ye nice old dive bar on this part of San Pablo. Oh the memories I would have of this joint had I not been far too drunk to remember most nights.

San Pablo is not generally my favorite part of Berkeley in terms of appearance--it is a bit on the dumpy side, even for Berkeley. It also just has way too much traffic and is a bit out of the way from all the other fun parts of Berkeley. But this particular section of San Pablo is an exception to the rule, mainly because of the Albatross, whose claim to fame is being the “oldest bar in Berkeley.”

Of course, being that this is where University meets San Pablo there are a fair number of stores around including a Pet Food Express and a Midas Tires. There are a number of auto body shops and repair shops and check cashing places.

Which is not to say that the only highlight of this strip is the Albatross. (It is only the most salient given my particular inclinations.) It is also where you will find Acme Bread--the perfect place to go early in the morning for some truly fresh bread and a cup of joe. You can also find some pretty good barbecue joints here.

Oh yeah and there is also a pilates place that one of my friends went to for a while and says is pretty good.

Are you into Edward Fitzgerald? You know, the whole Omar Khayyam thing? “A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and you, my love...”--well with Acme Bread, the Albatross and a significant other, this is definitely the place for it.

Came here with the BF and friends to have some fun. There’s not much to the part of West Stockton Blvd that I saw. We came here to go to the Hookaholics Hookah Lounge. Now, this is not really that much of a hookah lounge--at least not of the kind that I have been to. Most hookah lounges that I have been to are little hole in the wall places with the kind of drinks that you feel pounding in your head for a few days afterwards. The Hookaholics Hookah Lounge is pretty big and more of a dance place than anything else. Not that I am complaining. Me and the BF really got down. Loved it!

Hookaholics is right at the western end of West Stockton Blvd in Elk Grove. I lived in Sacramento for a while but I must say that I don’t ever remember coming here. It is located in a strip mall with a restaurant called Lollicup, a taqueria, a pizza place and a supermarket called Food Co (which I have never heard of).

From what I saw of the rest of the street there are some housing communities to the south of this where West Stockton runs parallel with Highway 99. I have no idea what these cost but given their seeming isolation and proximity to a noisy highway, I assume you can get them for a discount, though they do look nice and clean and relatively new. (Maybe built in the 80’s or 90’s?)

Farther down West Stockton before it just breaks into open fields you can also find a bunch of car dealerships: Honda, VW, Nissan, Dodge and Toyota. I guess this is where you come to buy some wheels.

I don’t know what it is like living here but it seems pretty nice.

I did look up the schools here and they all have API’s of 7, which is pretty good.

Okay, so until a couple of weeks ago when I stopped by here with the BF on one of our many rambles, I’m not sure I even knew that Galt existed. I may have but I could not have pointed it out on a map. I have only been here once, but I thought I would give you the skinny on what I found.

There is, as far as I’m concerned, one reason to go to Galt, and that it is to visit Brewsters. It is a very cool saloon-like bar smack in the middle of Galt. But this is not the kind of saloon you will find in your typical one-horse town (which Galt with barely a population of 20,000 definitely is). This is a big bar with really cool upstairs area with red velvet coated chairs and a ceiling high glittering back bar filled with liquors of all varieties. (I had a great Manhattan.)

They also have big meaty burgers.

Now I don’t know what it would be like to live here. You are sort of out in the middle of nowhere. Galt is in-between Stockton and Sacramento (on the southern end of Sacramento County). It is pretty much farm country.

The usual things that you would expect given what I said so far seemed to be true about Galt: home prices are pretty low. (These mostly looked like Ranch style homes--at least that is what I saw.) Schools look good and crime is pretty low these days.

Unless I worked here or in Stockton, I don’t think that I would choose to live here, however. I’m just too much of a city girl. But if you happen to be planning a visit to Brewsters, I am totally in.

The section of Bancroft Road in Concord goes from David Ave. to Hookston. On its southern end, Bancroft Road is mostly made up of Ranch Style homes. On its northern end as it curves towards Hookston you get some shoebox apartment buildings and businesses like Encore Gymnastics.

This is one of those wide busy streets that tempt people to drive fast and is a bit of pain for crossing if you are with old people or children.

Homes on and around Bancroft can’t possibly sell for too much given the neighborhood is in Concord and I bet you can get one of those condos on the northern end for less than $100K.

Unfortunately, you still get some pretty bad schools even if you are on the border with Walnut Creek.

Overall, not too bad a place to live, if you have a family.

You can sort of think of Morada as a pimple on the nose of Stockton. It is just to the northeast of its much larger neighbor.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying this in a negative way. This is actually a fairly affluent area. With large homes and even an outright mansion or two. The roads though have a sort of country feel to them and remind you that you are just a hop, skip and jump from farmlands to the east.

This is the case in most of Morada but you will find some spots in other parts of Morada near Hershey Lane where you get more Ranch homes on streets that feel more typically Stockton. Although homes around Hershey are sweetly priced at typical Stockton prices I’m told that the larger newer homes in Morada can run up to 3 quarters of a million dollars.

It kinda sucks that the schools aren’t very good around here, though. Most of them are average or slightly below. You probably also have to worry about crime living in this area.

Overall though it is probably one of the cheapest spots in California to buy a mansion. If that is what you are into. Most people would probably rather have an average house in Walnut Creek than a mansion in Stockton--but maybe that is just my big city gal prejudice.

Campbell Lane just off San Pablo Dam Road in El Sobrante is basically one of those spots where it is all apartments. Most people use San Pablo Dam Road as a shortcut to and from the Lamorinda area, but this is also a nice little spot to live as well. The rents at the apartments around here are fairly low--about a $1000.

There is some crime in the area from what I understand--the occasional assault--but nowhere near what you find to the wes of here. You are also pretty close to the Hilltop Mall and are not in too bad a position for starting a commute.

Of course, you also have to contend with the traffic on San Pablo Dam Road, which is fairly constant and filled with speedsters.

It’s also pretty cheap to buy a house around here, with nearby houses selling for between $150 to $250 thousand.

Schools are pretty bad around here though--De Anza High having a pretty reputation in terms of test scores. So families would probably not want to live here.

The BF had to make a stop here to pick something up so I got to experience life in Linden for a couple of hours. Now this is not the smallest of towns in this area--it has more than 1000 residents which is a lot more than Farmington--but this is pretty much a small farm community. You can drive through it in less than minute on your way up into the Sierra and never even realize that it is a town onto itself.

Being a city gal, I have a hard time imagining life in a place this small, where there are literally fewer total people than at my high school. It seemed nice enough though. There are some shops like a hair salon, a martial arts and yoga place, and a roadside restaurant that we stopped at.

You would definitely not want to make the commute into anywhere farther than Stockton from here, but I could see why someone might like to get away from it all. Property values for one thing seem a lot more reasonable. Most homes, even newer ones from as late as 2007, seem to be selling for between $150 and $300 thousand, which is pretty impressive.

Schools are pretty good too, with Linden High being above average.

So, I guess as long as you don’t mind the boredom of small time life or are willing to make the long jaunt into Stockton, this could be an okay sort of life.

Robin Lane is a short, two block street in Concord just a few blocks off Monument. I have a friend who found a really cheap place to live here, which is what brought us here over the weekend.

This is basically boxy apartment row with one shoe box shaped building after another. They almost all look to be about 50 years old and are a bit on the dreary side. The rent is definitely affordable, but you do get what you pay for.

The only break to the buildings is a trailer park at the south eastern end of Robin.

The area around here is not very appealing, being along the section of Monument right by the freeway, which is fairly downtrodden. And my friends mentioned they thought the schools around here were not very good either. They said they wouldn’t have moved here if they had kids but that it was good cheap alternative for now.

Overall, I would rather pay $100 to $200 more per month and live in a slightly nicer spot, but maybe I am just getting un-adventuress as I enter middle age.

Farmington is the kind of town that you would barely consider a town at all. There are probably more people living on your block than live in Farmington. In fact, it is actually getting smaller. There are barely a hundred residents now.

If you are a Peter Fonda fan, you may recognize it as the setting for part of Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry--but otherwise there isn’t much to it.

That said they do have a general store and some authentic looking western buildings. So they can’t be all bad.

Woodbridge, just to the north of Lodi, is best known for being the home of the Robert Mondavi Winery. More than ⅔ of the population of Woodbridge lives in South Woodbridge.

South Woodbridge at this point is basically an addendum to Lodi. Though most of the homes here are newer, the property values in South Woodbridge are actually lower than they are in Lodi. Most of the homes here date from the 70’s and 80’s. They are relatively nice Contemporary style homes, but they sell for around $150K because there is not much going on in South Woodbridge these days.

One place where things are okay for South Woodbridge and Woodbridge overall are the schools, which are relatively strong.

Crime is about average and commute times beyond Sac are pretty bad, but overall this is an okay place to live.

I had never been to Lodi before this weekend. Frankly, I knew there was a place called Lodi and that it was in NorCal but before this weekend if you had asked me to point it out on a map I would not have been able to.

So here is what I found out about it and my general though limited impression. Lodi is a relatively small city with less than a 100,000. I guess Blue Shield is the major private employer here. (That’s who my BF’s friend works for.)

It is an older middle class looking sort of place, with lots of Ranch style homes along flat grid-like streets. The homes here were mostly of the older 50’s variety in the neighborhood we were visiting. We drove around though afterwards and I did notice that there were some really nice looking newer neighborhoods on the southern end of Lodi with nice newer, Contemporary style homes from the 80’s and 90’s. (A little cookie cutter, but still pretty nice.)

At the bbq, I overheard someone saying that there was a big difference between east and west Lodi, and that one was nice and the other one pretty bad, but I didn’t notice that. (Seemed more like a north-south divide to me actually.)

Lodi also has a pretty cute, very authentic downtown. Sort of like the place from “What a Wonderful Life” but paved of course. And Lodi is also the hometown of Robert Mondavi.

I also did a little research on some other figures:

In terms of crime Lodi is about average compared to the national average. It gets about 1-2 murders per year.

The average home here sells for around $200K--though in can rise to twice that in the really nice spots.

I guess where you really see the class divide in Lodi is in the schools. Schools on the east side of town like Liberty High and Washington Elementary get really bad ratings, while schools like Lodi High and Larson Elementary are on the opposite end of the spectrum.

As far as commuting goes, you can only really manage Sacramento and Stockton from here.

So I guess overall I would say that Lodi is an okay place to raise a family if you have a job there--but I am not sure if I would chose it for myself otherwise.

Usually when you think of country clubs Stockton is not the first place that comes to mind. But if you look up Country Club, California, the Stockton neighborhood is what you get. It does have a nearby golf course, but you would probably not call this neighborhood, “Country Club” if you were just visiting it for the first time.

It is not that this neighborhood is ugly. It just doesn’t have that sort of posh feel that you expect from a place you associate with country clubs. The neighborhood is mostly made up of older 1950’s style Ranch homes, with worn lawns and sidewalks that are actually pedestrian friendly. (Something that is pretty rare in the newer burbs.)

This is not to say that there isn’t a nice well kept feel to some places in Country Club. The section to the west of Highway 5 is actually fairly nice, and you can see the foundations for a rather nice neighborhood. What do homes cost around here?

About a $100K. That’s what I hear. So pretty much rock bottom like the rest of Stockton.

The reason for this has to do with a lot of factors starting with the bad schools. People don’t want to start lives in a spot where they don’t feel they can send their kids.

The other issue throughout Stockton is crime. There have been about 4 dozen assaults in Country Club in the last 6 months, which though not terrible is not promising either.

That added onto the city government’s bankruptcy and the high unemployment rate here explains why this is one country club people are not clamoring to get into.

Saranap Avenue in Walnut Creek is right at the border between Walnut Creek and Lafayette. It slips off Mt. Diablo Blvd. and skirts the southern end of Highway 24. This is pretty much apartment row in this section of Walnut Creek. You get what looks to me like 30 to 40 year old apartment buildings, all pretty much set up in the long boxy row format with parking spaces on the ground level and one to three levels of apartments above. (Some of the places do feel a little bit like motels because of their set-up but some of the complexes are fairly nice--it varies complex to complex.)

Had friends who lived in one of the so-so places here. Apartment was okay but a bit thin walled, so you pretty much knew what your neighbors’ TV habits were and whether they snored (or did anything else) loudly at night. You are also right at the spot where Highway 24 and Highway 680 meet, so there is a bit of traffic noise when you are outside, though I do not remember it while I was inside their apartment, so I’m not sure if this is much of a problem.

This section of Walnut Creek is also on the southwestern end of the the highway crisscross, so you are not right by the heart of Downtown Walnut Creek, though you could still walk there in probably 15 minutes or so.

That said, you still get all the benefits of living at the border of Walnut Creek and Lafayette. You get basically a safe residential area with great schools--if you have kids, most people here are single I think--and you also get nearby dining, entertainment and nightlife. (Walnut Creek does not, of course, compare with San Francisco but it probably is the central destination for those seeking bars, movies and shopping in Contra Costa County.) As I mentioned in earlier blogs about Walnut Creek, I used to work here, and can tell that it also has a lot of office buildings and jobs, for those looking for work.

The walk to BART might be a bit too much for most people but you could probably bike there. This is an okay place to begin a commute from if you don’t happen to work in the area.

Overall, I would say this is a pretty good, fairly affordable place to live. (I think I saw a one-bedroom for $1200 around here, which isn’t too bad for this part of Walnut Creek.)

Carmel Drive is a short winding street to the north of the Safeway Supermarket in Walnut Creek. Like Alta Vista Drive and Mt. Pisgah Road this whole section of Walnut Creek is basically just a bunch of apartment complexes. I am not sure if it was intentionally designed this way or if this just happened naturally because of the proximity of Downtown Walnut Creek.

These are mostly older apartment buildings in this area (some of them maybe from the 1950’s?). These are very square but well kept apartments. Pretty much shoeboxes with windows and occasionally, recessed balconies.

The main draw of the apartments on Carmel Drive is the location, of course. Not only are you within walking distance of the supermarket. (You really wouldn’t have to ever worry about running out of something when the supermarket feels like it is a pantry for your apartment.)

You are also within walking distance of the heart of Downtown Walnut Creek, so you have all the shopping, restaurants and entertainment that you could hope for in a location. It is the kind of location that is perfect for singles who like being right in the middle of the action but still want to be in a relatively safe area. It is also perfect for single parents because of the great Walnut Creek schools, so it is sort of the best of both worlds in that sense.

Rents around here are about average for Walnut Creek apartments as well. You pay about $1400 for a one-bedroom.

Overall, this would be a pretty cool place to live if you like the sort of fun you can find in Walnut Creek.

East Street is a tiny little dead end street in Lafayette. It is easy to miss even if you have lived in Lafayette your whole life. This, like most of Lafayette that is not on Mt. Diablo or Moraga, is a residential area. But this part of Lafayette actually has a lot of apartments nestled in between the homes.

When I was in college I used to date a guy out here at one of the apartments hidden away at the end of this street, so spent my share of weekends out here. It is actually a great spot. You can, first of all, walk to just about anything, from the supermarket to the shops. And Lafayette has gotten a lot nicer since I lived there with a lot more shops and restaurants.

It is also a great spot for commuters since the BART station is nearby as well. Me and the old bf spent many a Sunday morning get coffee and hanging out at nearby coffee shops. Lot’s of fun, though a little on the slow side.

Lafayette is also a great spot if you are an outdoorsy type and like to go for hikes that sort of thing. The Lafayette Reservoir is a favorite spot for locals on the weekends.

The great Lafayette schools and suburban safety also make this the perfect spot for single parents needing a pad.

Overall this is a great little spot to live, even if the apartments on this street are a little run down and on the ugly side.

Brookwood Road in Orinda is probably the only place that anyone of moderate income can afford in Orinda. Well, at least one half of the road is. I visited a friend who lives in one of the apartment complexes that line the northern end of Brookwood, right by the rumble of the freeway. They are happy to be here because of the great Orinda schools, so they are willing to pay the extra hundred bucks or two to rent an apartment here. (Basically $1500 for a 1 bedroom.)

The apartment is kind of cavernous even though it has two big sliding glass doors that lead out onto the balcony (with its view of nothing in particular). The apartments are okay, I suppose. The location really is the main appeal of this location. As I already mentioned Orinda schools are great by all accounts.

The other great thing about these apartments is that you are a 5 minute walk from the quaint downtown area of Orinda where there is a movie theater, some restaurants and a little shopping area. It is really nice.

The other great thing is that the Orinda BART is right there as well, so if you are commuting to work--as you most likely are since Orinda is not known as a big commercial center, then you can walk right to your train. (You can be in Berkeley in about 25 minutes and in SF in about 45 minutes, I think.)

On the other side of Brookwood Road, it is practically a different world with million dollar homes with beautiful leafy entries. Brookwood road itself is also particularly attractive, with lots of tree cover and an appealing look to it.

I can see why my friend likes living here and was willing to pay the extra $2000 a year to do it.

The Lincoln Village neighborhood in Stockton is just to the north of the Pacific Neighborhood. History buffs will really love this neighborhood as I believe the streets here are named for Lincoln’s famous “Team of Rivals,” the cabinet Lincoln assembled to get him through the Civil War and which were filled with giant egos.

Homes here sell for a little bit more than some neighborhoods to the south with places averaging maybe $150,000. Homes here date largely from the 1960s and look to be in okay though not great shape. It definitely does have a sort classic 1970’s suburban neighborhood feel to it, with older cars and so-so maintained front yards.

Unfortunately this neighborhood still has the same level of high crime as most of Stockton. In the last 6 months there have been 4 murders right at the edges of this neighborhood. There have also been more than 200 assaults. Put simply this is just a dangerous neighborhood.

So even though this is in the supposedly safer northern end of the Stockton, I just don’t see this neighborhood as a serious option for anyone who values their safety.

Okay so lets begin with the crime problem here in Garden Acres in southeastern Stockton. Crime in this neighborhood is actually pretty mild with only the occasional assault. The problem, though is that if you go just to west of here over Highway 99, you are suddenly in a very crime ridden area where there have been 2 homicides in the second half of last year and more than 2 assaults per month during the same period. So, if you are worried about living close to a crime ridden area you will not want to live here.

That said, however, Garden Acres itself, as far as I can tell from the handful of times that I have been here, actually seems like a fairly chill neighborhood with older Ranch homes and a sort of semi-rural suburban feel to it. (Though I would not really call this a rural area by any means--I only mean that it feels like the kind of neighborhood you would find in a small, 3000 person town like say Arbuckle.)

Probably because of the terrible economy and nearby crime, houses here are rock bottom in terms of prices. The median home price is less than $100,000. In fact, few homes here go over that amount and you can actually find homes here that sell for $35,000. Now these are not very nice homes. A 1960’s Ranch home here can look like it is a 100 years old because of poor maintenance, and realtors don’t seem to bother to try to fix them up for sale--probably expecting the ROI would not be high enough to justify it.

The school system doesn’t help matters either. Most of the schools around here are well below average--often with bottom basement API scores. Franklin High School is an exception with a solidly average score.

In a nutshell then, high nearby crime, rock bottom prices for run down homes, and bad schools add up to a pretty lousy neighborhood that I would not recommend for anyone.

The Kennedy neighborhood in Stockton is just a big industrial area where you can find things like trucks and industrial yards. Basically you have places like a Reddaway Trucking yard, a fencing place, a crane place, and a junkyard that sells used parts. This is just one of those ugly, very manly sorts of places where all the dirty gritty stuff that cities need to get done, gets done. That’s about it.

It is however well placed being near the highway and not far to the north of the airport--so you wouldn’t really want to have too many homes here, anyway. (Though there are some just outside of this neighborhood anyway.)

The Taft-Mosswood neighborhood is one of these neighborhoods on the far south of Stockton. It’s the kind of neighborhood where there are no sidewalks, the asphalt just giving way to the dirt or grass of homes. That, combined with the fences and the fairly unimpressive set of Ranchers that make up much of this neighborhood give this area its rural feel.

This is definitely not Kansas, however. Not with the level of crime you have here. I was looking at a crime reporting website to see if what I had heard about the crime rate in stockton is true and it looks like it definitely is. There has been at least one murder in this neighborhood in the second half of the 2012, and there has been another 8 more within a mile to the north most in the afternoon during the heat of summer. Those are the kind of crime rates you expect in somewhere like Oakland.

This is not the heart of the crime problem but it is definitely close enough where I would feel a little unsafe. You also get about 2 dozen assaults in this neighborhood and more than 200 in the neighborhoods just to the north. And there have also been more than 300 burglaries and robberies in the area.

Schools are also pretty lousy around here. Edison High is a bit below average and the local elementary school, Taft Elementary is pretty much bottom of the basement.

One thing this neighborhood does have going for it is home prices, with no home selling for more than $100K. Some even falling as low as $25K. These are actually homes. (Granted they are kind of old and ugly.)

I guess, however, you get what you are paying for. The added costs would be the price of living in a crime ridden neighborhood with terrible schools.

Okay, so let’s start where you have to with Stockton: crime. It’s high. More than twice the national average. That is on a par with San Francisco. Of course, the difference is Stockton does not have everything going for it that SF does.

They get about 40 murders a year with a population of 300,000. Rapes are even worse. There are consistently more than 100 rapes. And assaults are over 2000 year after year. (So if I am doing my a calculation right, you have a 1 in 50 chance of getting assaulted there if you live there for two years.) I’ve lived in some place with crime problems like Berkeley and SF, but this is pretty awful.

Okay, but let’s say you want to roll the dice and take a chance on Stockton. The other problem is that Stockton is just a mess financially now. They declared bankruptcy this year, becoming the largest city in American history to do so. On the way to doing so they got rid of a quarter of their cops and a third of their firefighters and they still couldn’t close the gap.

Now there are a lot of newer, nicer homes in Stockton that were built since 2000 when Stockton was riding the good times. But unfortunately, these houses are exactly what has pulled Stockton down. I read somewhere that Stockton has the second highest foreclosure rate in the entire country.

It is actually pretty depressing for Stockton which felt it was finally going to pull out of its problems. And Stockton does have a lot to build on. It is a major port, and it is from here that California’s agriculture ships out. It does have a strong business community.

University of Pacific is also in Stockton. It is considered a good school for getting a degree like dentistry. The area around the university is a pretty nice college town and one of the best places to live in Stockton.

The Downtown area has a lot of potential too. Stockton has a pretty solid museum, the Haggan Museum. And they have the Asparagus Festival, of course. (Like the Garlic Festival in Gilroy.)

They also have some okay bars like Basil’s and Taste Ultra. And they have an okay selection of restaurants.

Overall, however, with the current crime and financial problems combining with the horrible reputation Stockton has gotten as the 10th most dangerous city in the country and being listed on the Forbes 25 list of worst places to live, I don’t see many people taking a chance on Stockton anytime soon.

French Camp is a small town just to the west of Stockton Airport. It is a pretty typical town, except for the fact that two thirds of the population is male.

Why male?

Because a third of the population is locked up in a men’s prison there. That makes up a full third of the population, thus explaining the two guys for every girl demographics of the place. (Of course, unless you like your guy to have a strict curfew and only be able to see you for conjugal visits, not so sure it is really such a panacea for single gals.)

French Camp also has a hospital--San Joaquin County General, I think--and an arms depot to the south, which doesn’t seem like a great combination to me. (Generally, I wouldn’t want my prisons close to my armory myself.

Okay, but my reason for liking French Camp is neither the attractiveness of a bad-boy behind bars (a bit too unavailable even for me) or the chance mass mayhem offered by having a local armory nearby. No, what I like about French Camp is the Ghirardelli Factory Outlet. It is the ideal way to enjoy Ghirardelli chocolates for me: sans Fisherman’s Wharf tourists! You should definitely check this place out if you are in this neck of the woods anytime soon, as I was recently with my bf. You will loooooovvve it!

Okay, but what is it like living in this little town and is it worth it just for the chocolates?

I actually have little idea but I can imagine that it would pretty much suck. For one thing, Stockton is trying to annex you so that they can get more tax revenues and aside from the things I mentioned there really isn’t much to do here. For restaurants and entertainment you have to drive either to Stockton or to Lathrop, and let me tell you, if you look up to Stockton for entertainment and culture, you definitely don’t have much going on.

So my recommendation is come here for the chocolates; but then go back home somewhere else.

August is the kind of place where houses have bars on the windows and chain link fences around their front yards. This is one of the easternmost sections of Stockton. It has an old timey sort of feel in that it doesn’t really have sidewalks so feels like it sprung up “naturally.”

You will not find a cheaper place to buy a home than this. Homes typically sell for less than $100,000. These are not trailers in trailer parks. (Though there are some these here as well.)
These are actual full-fledged houses. Some are a little worn out but most fairly promising. The age of the homes here is pretty mixed. You have a ton of 1950’s Ranchers, but mixed in you will also find a fair number from every decade, even homes built within the last decade, even though they only sell for about $100,000. What is strange is that even the newer homes just don’t feel all that much newer. They just look like someone has refurbished one of those older Ranchers--which is perhaps what they have done.

Of course, whenever you have low home prices in an area which has a bad reputation you start to look for crime and bad schools.

And this is pretty much what you find here. Crime is high. In the last six months the area (and the area just to the west of it) has experienced:

1 murder
250+ assaults
200+ burglaries
100+ robberies
dozens of rapes and attempted rapes

In Stockton overall, the crime rate is more than twice the national average and has been for a while. Looks like this may be a typical Stockton neighborhood in that sense.

Schools are similarly, from what I have heard, beyond terrible. Completely dysfunctional.

None of this, of course, is helped out by the fact that Stockton appears to be in the process of declaring (has declared?) bankruptcy. Will definitely not put more cops on the street.

I only passed through here once. Would definitely not want to live here.

So Ripon is another one of these tiny San Joaquin towns. (It is pronounced “Rippin’” by locals, as in, “I had a rippin’ good time in Ripon.”)

Okay so I am hardly a local. My entire knowledge of this quaint little town comes from having lunch at Pizza Plus on their main street, talking to people from nearby towns and a touch of internet research. People are really high on this pizza and so we dropped in to try it out and see what all the hoopla was about. It is very good pizza, and I guess if I lived near Ripon and had nothing better to do, I might drop in to grab some pizza on my way by. Not sure it is worth the trip just on its own, but if you’re on the way somewhere else and happen by, why not?

The “downtown” area is authentically historic, not like a lot of these downtowns where they try to make if feel quaint in a sort of classy way. This actually feels like it has been like this for a while. Which means that it isn’t super attractive, but it is nice. And there are some nicer older buildings.

What I saw of the surrounding residential areas was pretty nice too. Very much like a 1950’s style middle class neighborhood, wide streets, nice lawns. Lots of older Ranch homes. But really nicely kept.

I don’t know if it just when I was there, but the streets felt a little empty. This is not altogether surprising, I mean the total population of Ripon is less than you can fit in the stadium for a College basketball game.

On average homes here sell for $300,000--which is actually higher than I expected for somewhere so far out in the middle of nowhere. (Could it be the pizza?) My BF tells me there are a lot of big newer homes on the outskirts of town which accounts for the high prices. But I still don’t know where people are getting their money out here. The commute to the Bay Area just seems undoable from Tracy, much less from even farther.

In fact, it will take you more than an hour to make it just to Livermore during rush hour. (Sacramento is more than an hour away, too.) So who knows how people manage to rake in $80K living here, but if the census is right, that’s what they make.)

Schools are really strong here too, so that probably has a lot to do with it. Though I think I saw Ripon High on Main Street and it didn’t look like much. (There were also like 3 churches, so you certainly won’t lack in soul saving--you could get yourself saved at least three times over on your way to getting a pepperoni slice.)

Overall, I don’t know if I would recommend Ripon, but I can see why some people would like it.

Okay, so Escalon is the kind of town where when you look it up on Google Maps, Starbucks is a major landmark. That gives you a sense of the scale of this one-horse town. (Btw the horse is name Sal--he’s the second landmark. That’s a joke, but I’m not kidding. This is a small place for a city gal like me.)

Came here over the long holiday weekend to check out the bf’s childhood home. Supposedly Escalon has put the brakes on new housing developments, but I saw tons of new homes there including one of those adobe walled, red tiled roof neighborhoods that are so popular now. Big wide streets; clean, clean clean--just that very nice look that is so appealing now. So I’m not sure if they just slowed down growth or what?

Anyway, homes here in Escalon are even cheaper than in Manteca--probably because it is too far from the Bay Area for commuters. It is, however, just 10 miles or so north of Modesto, which has its own charms. The average home here barely reaches $200,000. Very cheap.

As to schools, they are pretty strong with Escalon High school being well above average and the middle school that feeds into it being just so so.

There are some drawbacks to living in farm country however. One is the weather. Fog for what seems like weeks on end in the winter. (Another reason you don’t want to try to commute from here if you value your life the other being that Sacramento is more than an hour away and San Jose, San Francisco, Walnut Creek even are more than 2 hours away.) Then the summers are hot as hot gets--no cooling coastal winds out here. The other reason you might not like the climate here is that you will get your fair share of pesticides and such as well. During the summer when the crops are being reaped, if you get a windy day you will definitely find out if you have any allergies, because all sorts of stuff will blow into town. (I have seen people in Davis, CA resort to surgical masks during the spring and summer to protect themselves.) That just comes with the territory.

So that is pretty much it. Not my kind of place, but okay if you have a job in the area and are married with kids I guess.

Okay, so Manteca is not really my sort of town. I was there over Thanksgiving weekend meeting my guy’s family and we hung out for a while. DULLLLLLSVILLE!

So, let me put it another way. It is like when I saw Terms of Endearment when I was a kid. Now I know it is supposed to be a great movie and got some Oscars and all that, but at 8 or 9 or whatever age I was when my moms rented it for us to watch, it was a snoozer. Because I was 9. Not the right audience, right?

Well Manteca is pretty much the same way for me now. Although I am to the point in the relationship where I am meeting his family, I am definitely not to the point in the relationship where I am thinking about a nice place to settle down. And even if I was, there is settling down and then there is putting your enjoyment into a box and burying it forever to raise your kids and Manteca feels more like that.

Manteca is by design all about raising the kiddies in as safe and boring an environment as possible. It makes Leave It to Beaver seem like Mean Streets. (Okay maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but still.)

So what do people like about Manteca?

It is pretty simple actually: good schools and cheap houses within reach of San Jose and SF (if hubby is willing to commute for 5 hours every day, anyway).

How cheap are homes here? The average home around here is probably less than $250,000. Maybe less. And there are basically no homes that go for more than $500,000. For people used to unbelievable prices in the Bay Area, this sounds like pocket change.

These prices probably have a lot to do with the Foreclosure Crisis, which probably affected Manteca more than other places since so many of the people here came into (and then out of) their homes in the last decade. (Manteca grew about a third larger during the last decade--raising incomes though not reaching the California average--people here still make a lot less.)

A lot of the homes here are newer homes from housing developments that popped in the last 30 years or so to keep up with Manteca’s explosive growth. You can actually see the homes expanding outward from the little town that once was, with the oldest 1950’s and earlier homes in the middle and newer and newer homes the farther out you head. There are tons of houses trading hands actually.

Okay, and schools?

Schools, I’m told, have a similar pattern to the homes. The farther away from the center of town you get, the better the schools seem to get. So Manteca High in the center of town is pretty awful, but Sierra High is pretty great! (Or at least well above average.)
They have malls and all the usual suburban deals but that is pretty much it. No one heads out to Manteca for a good time.

Crime is about average in Manteca. I forget where I was seeing this stat but I guess they get maybe one murder per year.

Oh yeah, and in terms of nightlife here, I got a taste of it and it didn’t have a great aftertaste. We went to the Rusty Hook one night. I am not kidding, the one pub in town is called the Rusty Hook. Not exactly a name that inspires you to want to taste the peanuts, if you get my drift. But heck, after a couple of drinks, the inappropriate jokes at expense of the bar’s name actually started to seem funny.

Lathrop is close to being part of Red California. For those that don’t know California, you might say that there are 2 Californias, the ultra-liberal Coastal California where you will find San Francisco and LA and Silicon Valley; and the inland and central sections of California that are lot like Latrhop: agriculturally based with manufacturing and industries that we more typically associate with the Midwest and South. The politics is also quite more conservative in these less populated sections of California.

Lathrop, however, is more Purple than anything and becoming bluer all the time, narrowly electing Bush in 04, Obama in 08.

On the south, Lathrop is mostly an industrial area--pretty ugly, but it is the economic engine of the area. And if you love McDonald’s French fries, you may be interested to know that the fourth largest employer here in Lathrop is SimpLot. Idaho based Simplot, who invented the frozen French fry for the Golden Arches, has one of its 16 facilities here. These are the kind of employers you will find on this southern end of Lathrop.

This is also a bit of a one-horse town. It was big news, for example, when Target opened up a store here in 2009. But once the economy starts picking up again, I think that Lathrop will also start growing again--I don’t think it has the problems that led next door Stockton to declare bankruptcy.

Lathrop is also a very new community in terms of growth. The vast majority of homes here were built this Millenium and because of the housing crisis, prices here are really low. You can get a house built after 2000 here for around $200K.

There are some real drawbacks to living here, however. One might be the schools, which are mediocre at best, with middling API scores at the high school level and worse at the lower levels.

Crime is another issue. South Stockton is known for its gang problem and residents of Lathrop complain that there is a lot of spillover. I have not seen too many signs of it myself, but I will take the locals word for it.

Summer temperatures this far inland and the allergens that blow in during the harvest from the surrounding areas are also nothing to sneeze at. It you don’t like warm summers, you will hate it here.

If you are looking for an alternative to the high property prices in the East Bay, Lathrop is probably too far away. It will easily take you an hour just to get to Pleasanton from Lathrop during rush hour. Heading the other way is a little better: Turlock and Stockton are within an hours reach--but not Sac.

Overall, Lathrop is a little bit of gamble, but with such low property prices it might be one worth taking if you situation is right for it.

Tracy’s biggest selling point is the really low cost of living as compared with the rest of the Bay Area. (Pssst, it’s not really part of the Bay Area; it’s in San Joaquin County.) That largely explains the explosive growth of Tracy that has almost tripled its size in the last 20 years. The median home price here is $250,000--which is no doubt the bait that hooks so many families to live out here. Livermore just to the east over the infamous Altamont Pass has median home prices of $425,000. (Ceilings are also much higher with barely any homes breaking the $750 mark in Tracy, while $1 million is closer to the ceiling in Livermore as far as I can tell.)

Renting here is also much easier. Whereas in Livermore the median for a 3 bedroom or larger is around $2300/mon, in Tracy the median is probably closer to $1500/mon. (It’s hard to say because there are so many rentals available, sorting them down can be a problem.)

The median household income has grown as well, aligning it more with Bay Area salaries (about $80,000/year from $62,000 a decade ago.)

Usually these kinds of low prices in the Bay Area mean that crime and schools are a problem. This is not really the case here.

Schools here are pretty good, being average to above average for the most part. Tracy Joint High and Merrill J. West High, for example, both have APIs of 7, which is firmly above average.

Crime, though not non-existent, is below average. You get maybe 2 or 3 murders in a year here and maybe 5 dozen reported assaults in a year.

Actually, the biggest drawback of all to living in Tracy as a solution to the high cost of living in the Bay Area is the commute. It will take you an hour to get from Tracy to Hayward. You can’t even make it to Walnut Creek in an hour. So if you intend on live in Tracy and work anywhere farther away than Pleasanton, you are probably looking at 3 to 4 hours every day in commute. That is like having a second part time job called commuting, and for this job you get to pay for it in gas, automobile wear and tear and lost family time. Not sure the extra cost is worth it with gas prices at over $4/gallon currently.

On the other hand if you are commuting in the opposite direction, to Stockton or Modesto, Tracy might not be too bad. Unfortunately that is not usually the direction people are going.

As to what there actually is to do in Tracy itself. I don’t really know; I have never actually been out to eat anywhere in Tracy, though I have driven through the main section of town. This central part looks a lot like it did 50 years ago I suspect: very old buildings, kind of western cowboy feel to it.

There is a theater and some restaurants down here, which I hear are good (though most people who work out in Pleasanton stay out there for their date nights and such). This is a very working class place--which is fine, but nowhere that you would go for weekend entertainment if you didn’t already live in town.

In a nutshell, I would say that Tracy might be a reasonable option only if you can handle the commute. I don’t think I could, but then again, I’ve always been the sort of gal that likes to keep it simple--live close to where you work, and have more time for actual living. Then again, I don’t have any little puppies in tow, that might make a big difference in terms of the economics of the decision.

The El Cerro neighborhood is a cute little neighborhood on the northern end of Danville straddling--you guessed it--El Cerro Road. It is a very pleasant, bushy neighborhood--the kind of place that just feels sheltering, and almost bucolic in spots.

One of the drawbacks of this neighborhood is that there are no sidewalks, making it harder for walks and bike riding. Though the streets are wide enough that most people should be okay walking in most cases. Also because these streets are not very busy and are gently curved, cars tend not to speed through the neighborhood. (I would still prefer sidewalks, however.)

Homes run in the near one million dollar range.

Overall this is a pretty nice little neighborhood for families if you can afford it and if your hubby doesn’t mind the commute.

The Diablo Road neighborhood is one of those communities where the streets stretch out onto mostly green hills and make you feel you are right at the edge of the town or city. (Though in this case, you are still fairly contained within the bounds of Danville on all sides.)

On the far eastern end of the neighborhood is Hidden Hills, a planned community where all of homes are built in basically the same style--in this case it is the Mediterranean style, with its adobe walls and red tiled roofs. There are bigger homes for families and smaller homes for “empty nesters” as the real estate person for Hidden Hills on YouTube put it. They are really beautiful, but I’ve never been a huge fan of conformity, which cheapens them for me a bit. Though not for realtors and buyers, apparently, given what these homes go for on the market. I guess people just like the security of it.

Definitely one of the benefits of Hidden Hills is that it is set up as a series of cul-de-sacs, offering customers not only great views, but quiet streets where kids could, in theory, play outside. (Though frankly, I’m not sure people let their kids play outside anymore.)

I personally actually prefer the other parts of the Diablo Road neighborhood, on the western end where the big, low lying homes have sidewalks and variety. These are homes dating from the 70’s I think, but they are really pretty nice. Single story, so they are good for young kids and older folks who may not be as mobile as they once were.

The schools here, as in the rest of Danville are strong and crime is virtually non-existent. On the other hand, the commute from here is pretty terrible, there is no public transportation, and the cost of living is pretty high.

Overall, I would still recommend it for families though.

Greenbrook is the neighborhood just to the north and west of Crow Canyon Country Club. It has Crow Canyon Blvd. not far from the southern border of the neighborhood and Highway 680 as its western border.

With the exception of the condos on the far western end of this neighborhood (that go for around $300,000) most of the homes here sell for more than $500,000 (averaging $700ish if I had to guess). Just about all the homes here date from the mid 60’s through the 1970’s. So what you get is a lot of larger sized Ranch homes on big lots--usually a ratio of 2000 ft or so to 9000 to 10000 ft. lots.

That, of course means plenty of space for pools and nice big back yards. As you get farther up into the hills on the east, not only do you start to get some views but the houses just seem a lot more nicely kept--more Contemporary style homes as well, I think. (Not sure if that is what they are called.)

Of course, here like in other parts of Danville the schools are great, there is virtually no crime and everything is clean and fairly quiet. You are close enough to the shopping center area on Crow Canyon that you could walk there--but nobody walks anywhere around here. And there is not too much in terms of nightlife to do--but that’s what you would expect--you are in the ‘burbs, after all.

There are a few nearby restaurants and all of your basic needs are taken care of to the point where you rarely have to leave town to go find something you need (other than variety). So, overall, this is pretty nice suburban neighborhood--maybe a touch on the boring side, like most others.

But if you are in a family way and hubby doesn’t mind the soul crushing commute to SF of San Jose then this might just work out. (Even better would be if hubby works in Walnut Creek or Pleasanton--two often overlooked centers of commerce in the Bay Area that are way closer than Silicon Valley or the City.)

Overall, a pretty nice spot--the kind of neighborhood where you expect to see Greg or Marsha Brady to come walking up at any minute.

Green Valley Road is the Danville neighborhood that straddles Green Valley Road. (Duh!)

Okay, now that I have established my expert credentials showing that I am a mistress of the obvious, let me tell a few other things about this neighborhood that anyone with access to Google Maps can tell: it is just to the west of Diablo Country Club and has both Monte Vista High School and Los Cerros Middle School on its western end.

Monte Vista, in case you are curious (and I know you are--why else would you be here), is one of those high achieving schools that are par for the course in affluent locations like Danville. According to the Great Schools website, they have an API of 10 (out of 10), and their test scores are consistently in the 90th percentile overall. Basically, if your kid is capable of learning, he or she will learn in this environment and head off to a great college, etc.

But what are the houses like here you ask?

Well thank you for asking; you just provided me with the perfect transition for talking about the amazing houses in the Green Valley Road neighborhood. Okay, so I would say that about half the homes in this neighborhood date back to the 50’s; so you know what that means: Ranch homes galore. These are okay looking, pretty much like most Ranch homes. (Don’t expect them to be cheaper because of this, you will still pay north of $500,000 for just about any home in this neighborhood. Even the dog houses never fall below $300K around here.)

The other half of the homes (and the ones that are more likely to sell for close to $1 million) date from the 70’s and 80’s mostly. There are some newer homes here and there--like this one house in sort of a Spanish style with a round towerlike part--but these may just be renovations.

This is a fairly hilly area and some of the homes do have a pretty good view of the valley. I’ve never been here in the summer, but I suspect that it gets pretty hot here, even though they are hilly.

In a nutshell, here is how I would put it: good schools, no crime, no nightlife, definitely a car culture. That’s this neighborhood and most of Danville as well.

Most of the hills on the southern end of Blackhawk Road are undeveloped, so the homes that do exist in this area have backyards that open onto open hillsides. Of course, that in combination with the fact that this is Danville/Blackhawk make this some fairly prime real estate, commanding the sort of prices that you would expect from such real estate.

Many of these homes are definitely in million dollar price tag territory. These are large homes with pools and that pricey look to them that you would expect from an area like this. Although most of these homes are in the fairly typical Contemporary style that you would expect, there are also some homes here that are also some uniquely designed homes up here in classic styles which are a little more interesting than you your usual run of the mill house.

This is basically one of those out of the way spots where rich folks place their homes so that they can “get away from it all” when they get home.

There is also a big mansion up in this neighborhood—up, hidden away on top of a hill. I am not sure whose it is, but they clearly must be totally loaded.

This is a great spot without question—but way out of the league of most of us.

Danville Boulevard is home to San Ramon Valley High School and the Alamo Cemetery, so you could say that you get both sides of life here, those that are just starting out and those that are stepping out of this life.

San Ramon Valley High School, which I think I mentioned in another review as well, is an excellent school with high achievements in academics and athletics—although that is pretty much par for the course here. A very good school in a safe area which is the big attraction of a place like Danville. It is also relatively well located for the San Jose commute—though not so much if you have to go SF or the Peninsula.

As to the cemetery, Alamo Cemetery is one of the most historic spots in all of Danville dating back to just after the Gold Rush—1850, when Danville must have been in its infancy. The cemetery doesn’t take new families though it still takes members of families already buried there, and there is a museum there too—though I must admit it doesn’t sound like much.
It’s actually a pretty nice looking cemetery, as far as cemeteries go—very leafy and park like.

What about actually living here?

In between the cemetery and the high school, there is a pretty nice neighborhood made up of very nice—expensive—homes. These mostly look like large really well-kept Ranch style homes—though there are also a lot of Contemporary style homes too—and they are on really quiet streets. It is pretty much the kind of idyllic neighborhood that you might expect to find in a place like Danville.

La Gonda, which is just to the east of “Downtown” Danville, looks like a pretty average California neighborhood for the most part. If you are familiar with California you know that that means lots of Ranch style homes on flat leafy streets. And that is pretty much what you get here. Highway 680 forms the eastern border of the neighborhood, but the streets to the west of the freeway are pretty sleepy and peaceful.

You will also find a fair number of apartment complexes and condos here and spill over from the “Downtown” area as well—such as the Presbyterian Church on La Gonda Way. This is one of the least expensive neighborhoods in Danville, with homes well out of the million dollar range (though they are probably mostly still above half a million). Rents here stay pretty close to the same however with a typical condo here running you around $2000/month, or just shy of that amount.

Overall, this is an okay area, especially since you are so close the “Downtown” fun, but the housing choices are more than a little bit on the bland side. I don’t think I would want to buy here—though renting an apartment would probably be okay, if my work were nearby, etc.

Wrapped around Del Amigo High (a continuation school for older students) and San Ramon Valley High School, the Del Amigo neighborhood is one of those places where you will literally find the occasional white picket fence. This is one of those flat neighborhoods where you find these immaculate streets where you expect the 21st century version of Leave to Beaver. San Ramon Valley High is the standard bearer for the great Danville Schools, and most famous in my book for being the alma mater of Jim Bogios, the drummer of Counting Crows. Ahhh! The 90’s.

Like much of Danville, this is definitely million dollar home territory. Big homes dating to the 60’s mostly. You do get a few condos near Danville Blvd., but that is more the exception than the rule. For the most part these are long squat homes with big front yards and lots of tree cover. You can tell that you are in a super affluent neighborhood by how well everything here is maintained.

As I have mentioned before, commuting from Danville is not ideal. There is no BART station here, so in order to use public transportation you have to drive to it first. So this is a total car culture, if you want to live here.

One of the things that does make this area desirable is that you can walk to “Downtown Danville,” where you can find a number of restaurants and stores. This is another Danville neighborhood where I wouldn’t mind living one day, if I ever come into a ton of dough.

Las Trampas Hills is the place to come for gated mcmansions and nice valley views way out to Mt. Diablo. This is the kind of place where homes have turnabouts around fountains in the front, pools in the back and a tennis court or two just for good measure. The kind of properties where small armies of gardeners and maids ascend every day to help maintain the beautiful properties while the tennis moms go out to get their lessons.

Am I painting too luxurious a view of this location? If so, not by much.

This is without a doubt million dollar home territory. In fact, it is more like multi-million dollar home territory. It is the kind of place where senators come to raise money, as Feinstein did this weekend (netted $3 million).

A lot of the homes here are perched on little winding roads that don’t look like they are going anywhere and in many cases you feel as if you are out in the middle of the country. The Las Trampas Hills neighborhood is bordered by the Las Trampas Wilderness Park on the west and south.

I like this neighborhood though it is one of those places that I will never be able to afford to live.

For a long time, I only knew this area from having driven through it when I didn’t feel like sitting in traffic on Highway 680. You can take Sycamore Valley Road to Camino Tassajara and sneak all the way down to Livermore—I don’t think it actually saves you much time unless there is really some seriously messed up traffic on 680, but at least you have a feeling of forward progress.

Anyway, up until recently, that is all I knew about this area, but I have a friend who lives here now, thanks to BF so I have been checking out this area a bit. Here are my thoughts:

This is a pretty pleasant suburban neighborhood, but it is pretty densely packed for a residential area like this. There are lots of fairly nice Ranch homes and Contemporary homes on the winding streets and cul-de-sacs here—which all seem fairly well kept—as you might expect given this is Danville. This is mostly not, however, million dollar home territory although it’s pretty close. I doubt many homes in this area sell for under half a million.

There are also a fair number of apartments and condos here as well. I took a quick look at what rents cost around here and looks like you can get a 2-bedroom apartment for $2K. That is not too bad. (Homes, of course, are way more expensive—pretty much double in most cases.)

The other draw to this neighborhood is Osage Park, which is one of those parks with a ton of soccer fields—I think it is technically a part of Charlotte Wood Middle School, but I think I heard someone say they play soccer matches and that kind of thing there on the weekends.

Good schools, clean streets and a nice little short cut to exciting Livermore—what else could you ask for in a neighborhood?

El Pintado is Danville’s most northern neighborhood. It is tucked away into the rolling chaparral of the Contra Costa hills and still has pretty much a rural feel—not unlike some areas in affluent Alamo just to the north.

The roads in El Pintado are narrow and have no sidewalks, for the most part. They face fields with overgrown grass (unless someone’s cattle has recently chewed them up or there has been a grass fire—both not uncommon around here).

You will definitely find your share of McMansions tucked away up here as well. Million dollar homes are more the rule than the exception in El Pintado. And there is still a lot of room for development, so I would bet that we will soon be getting even more McMansions up here.

Overall, given the great schools, big houses and safety I certainly wouldn’t mind living here if I could afford it.