AlamedaResident

The difficult part of assessing the East End of Alameda is it’s really several neighborhoods within one school district. Unlike Gold Coast and Fernside, which are architecturally and demographically very consistent, East End is a mixed bag, sometimes for the better, sometimes not.

First the good. Like Fernside, East End is (obviously) on the east side of Alameda, the island’s most desirable area. It also has excellent schools. Although Otis Elementary is technically not as highly rated as Fernside’s Edison, the difference in scores is largely trivial, and both neighborhoods share Lincoln Middle and Alameda High, the island’s best.

East End also has a nice assortment of Craftsmans, Tudors, and Victorians, a number of waterfront homes, a large park with playgrounds, tennis courts, and ball fields, a small shopping center with a well-appointed gourmet grocery and a few restaurants, and quick access to 880, BART, the Oakland Airport, and the island’s Southshore Shopping Center.

So what keeps it out of the top tier? A few things. For one, while Gold Coast and Fernside have traditionally been professional neighborhoods, East End has more blue-collar roots. This manifests itself is several ways. Some of the homes have been pretty beat up over the years, and a few are in rough shape. Others have been “remodeled” by their owners with inexpensive materials and little regard for the aesthetics of the house, so you’ll find some formerly lovely homes with boxy ‘70s additions, sliding Plexiglass windows, crappy stucco over woodwork, bolted-on carports, paved yards, and other unpermitted eyesores.

It can be pretty hit-or-miss—you never know what any street has in store. The area framed by Encinal, High, Fernside, and Otis has everything—good and bad—scattered randomly throughout, and College between San Jose and Calhoun is a schizophrenic mash-up of old and new, big and small, meticulous and trainwreck—it makes NO sense.

And while it’s not a rental community per se like Southshore, there are far more apartments and rental units here than in either Gold Coast or Fernside. Some are attractive and well-maintained, but many others are neither. Briggs Avenue and many of the streets closest to Park have quite a few buildings that no one would be upset to see go.

Finally, the area is oddly devoid of trees. I’ve heard many theories—the water table is too high, the groundwater is too salty, it was once a farm, it was once a marsh—but once you reach Encinal, the trees largely disappear, and those that are there just don’t thrive like those in Gold Coast or Fernside. It’s not a huge deal, but it can make what’s cute and cozy in Fernside seem a bit harsh and sparse by comparison.

The area with the most consistent quality is probably the rectangle formed by Central, Mound, High, and Fountain. Here you’ll find a mix of lovely and well-maintained Craftsman bungalows, cozy tudors, and Spanish-influenced pre-war homes, with the odd Victorian, Cape Cod, Deco adobe, or ranch—and one converted firehouse. (There is also a block of what I’ll call “Art Dexican” homes off of Central between Mound and Court that were built in the ‘70s. They’re absolutely bizarre, but oddly charming.) The area framed by Calhoun, Mound, Broadway, and Otis is quite nice as well, as are Encinal, Sterling, and Central Streets between High and Fernside.

If you’re less concerned with architecture, the neighborhood framed by Fernside, Central, Encinal, and the bay is Alameda’s best mid-century modern neighborhood. Most of Alameda’s “Brady Bunch”-era neighborhoods are absolutely hideous, but this one features large, attractive, very well-built and maintained homes. Factor in some waterfront, extremely wide streets and almost no traffic, and this is a terrific option, particularly if you like privacy and quiet. Finally, the tiny, relatively new neighborhood on Washington Court features spacious, attractive waterfront homes— some with marina views—a semi-private path system, and almost gated privacy.

Full disclosure: I live in this area. So what I can tell you is that while the aesthetics and demographics aren’t quite as ideal as Gold Coast or Fernside, this is probably the best value on the island. And since it was one of the few good, affordable neighborhoods close to San Fran during the real estate bubble a few years back, it’s loaded with a really interesting mix of city diaspora, both professional and artsy—a lot of really cool people live here.

So if you can’t quite swing the top two neighborhoods, but still want the best of Alameda (albeit with a few minor hiccups here and there), there is no better neighborhood than this.

This is one of the best neighborhoods—and in some respects THE best neighborhood—in Alameda. Ask 10 people in Alameda which neighborhood they’d like to live in, and at least half will say Fernside.

First, let’s talk schools. It has the best elementary school in Alameda, and one of the best in the Bay Area, in Edison. Children here also attend Lincoln Middle— Alameda’s best—and Alameda High, again, Alameda’s best. Hard to argue with that.

Let’s talk location. Fernside is on the east side of the Alameda, which is the island’s most desirable area, and it’s the first neighborhood over the bridge, which means it’s just minutes from 880 or BART. Since it’s the first neighborhood in, it’s surrounded by the channel separating Alameda from Oakland, which means a number of the houses have deep-water docks with one- or two-bridge access to the bay. It’s also minutes from Park Street and has its own shopping center with a Raley’s and a Peet’s. Again, hard to argue with that.

But now let’s talk about Fernside’s best attribute—consistency. Virtually every house in the neighborhood is meticulously maintained and landscaped, and only a tiny handful are in disrepair. Virtually all of the houses are from the same time period, virtually all are the same scale, and there are almost no rental units, condos, or apartments—it’s as close to perfection as you’re likely to find, well, anywhere.

And let’s talk about the houses. While the neighborhood doesn’t have Gold Coast’s “wow” factor (although “The Football” off of Gibbons has some spectacular homes), it more than makes up for it in charm. Someone turned the whimsy up to 11 here; there are more barrel tile haciendas, elfin brick-accented Tudors, and Craftsman cottages than you can shake a stick at, and there’s even a few Art Deco homes, straight-out-of-New-England Cape Cods, and a stray Victorian or two. Cove ceilings, arched doorways, curved staircases, beams, portholes—you name it, it’s here. It’s pricey, but it’s become much more affordable in the last 3-4 years, and it’s by-and-large much less expensive than Gold Coast.

If there’s any downside, it might be scale. Where Gold Coast goes enormous, Fernside goes tiny. Small lots, small homes, small rooms, small closets; if you’re coming from a suburban McMansion, it might be a tough go. An odd downside is the waterfront homes are some of the least attractive in the neighborhood, and—in the maddening Alameda tradition—many of the original large waterfront lots were split in the ‘60s and ‘70s, allowing owners to wedge in hideous, horribly constructed rental units. The same situation is present on the neighborhood’s outer edge (Broadway and Pearl Streets), so those homes should also be approached with caution.

But those are minor quibbles. Throw in decent tree canopy, specially designed street lamps, and Thompson’s famous Christmas Tree Lane during the holidays, and it’s really hard to find fault with this terrific neighborhood.