Melissa Pompy

I've lived in Longfellow for about 3 1/2 years now. I chose the area purely for its location and a small dose of luck on affordability. I couldn't be happier with the central location to almost everything in the Bay Area. I commute to the East Bay, so traffic is a breeze. Easy access to both airports and Bart is only a few blocks away. On-ramps to both 580 and CA-24, east and west bound. Quick and easy access to Downtown Oakland, which has some really interesting and diverse restaurants, bars, etc. First Fridays is a favorite of ours! Occasionally there's a cool little jazz club pop-up down the street on MLK.

The neighborhood has seen some improvements over the past few years alone, with some big construction projects in the area, older homes continuing to turn over and the big street repaving project we've seen over the last couple months. MacArthur Bart is also getting some work done, adding some necessary security improvements. I do notice greater care being taken in newly purchased homes and general upkeep of the local businesses.

Foot traffic leaves a lot of rubbish on the roads and sidewalks, but then again that goes back to the whole urban feel of the neighborhood. The proximity to the hospital is nice, but we hear sirens pretty often. You get used to it though. House prices continue to rise, which makes the prospect of moving here a bit harder, especially as Temescal seemingly becomes more popular and rising home prices start carrying over into adjacent neighborhoods.

Overall, we enjoy the neighborhood and location in the Bay Area and have enjoyed seeing the improvements over the last few years. Certainly expect to see more!