NightOwlnOrinda

Kansas Street in Fairfield is one of the several residential streets in this section of Fairfield where the streets are all named after states. The homes here are mostly fairly beaten up looking Ranch Style homes dating from the mid-1950’s.

Kansas runs parallel and just to the south of the Linear Park Pathway and is also just a bit to the south of the Solano Town Center Mall--one of those traditional Fast Times at Ridgemont High style malls. But it is far enough away so that it doesn’t really get any collateral traffic.

I came here to take a look at a 3-bedroom that was listed at just over $1000, about as cheap as it gets in the Bay Area. The average home here sells for around $100K, which is also about as low as it gets.

Other than its distance from the Bay Area, another drawback to this part of Fairfield is the poor schools that serve it. Both Fairview Elementary and Sullivan Middle schools have below average APIs of 3, while Amijo High gets a slightly better average score of 5.

As to crime, the other worry one might have in a neighborhood with such a low cost of living, it is basically about even with the national average. Some years it is a bit higher, others it is below. You do get about a half dozen murders every year, which is not terrible given the 100,000 residents who live here, but nowhere near as bad as Vallejo’s murder rate which is about 3 times higher and has a crime rate twice as high as the national average.

Overall, this might be an okay alternative for someone who either has a job out here (perhaps working at Travis Air Force Base) or who doesn’t mind trading long commutes for lower rents--something which I am definitely considering.

Muir Road in Martinez runs parallel to Highway 4 so most homes face south offering their back fences to Muir. It also means that you get a bit of traffic noise along parts of Muir. It runs all the way practically from Pacheco Blvd. on the eastern end of Martinez to Center Ave. towards the western end.

Condos just off Muir Road tend to sell in the $200Ks while houses (mostly late 60’s Ranch Style homes) are going for $350K to $499K.

Martinez however is relatively safe and has very good schools with APIs of 8 and up virtually across the board.

Muir Road is also close to both the movie theater on Center and to several stores and some restaurants as well. None of these are spectacular but they will definitely cover your needs from groceries to other items.

Another benefit of living here is the Contra Costa Canal Trail that you can find on the eastern end of Muir Lane. The trail comes off Muir Lane and heads south. It is a great place to go biking or hiking.

Overall, I think Muir Road and especially those streets just off of Muir Lane are good places to live.

Mohr Lane in Treehaven, Concord is basically apartment row. It is filled with apartments and condominium complexes which get increasingly nice the farther you get from Monument Blvd.

I came here to look at a 3-bedroom condo that was listed for $1350, which is about the same price that many of the 2-bedrooms are listed for along Mohr Lane. Now the area is not ideal--especially near Monument where it feels dense and noisy. Most of the apartment complexes here are gated, and the cast iron screens on the front doors suggest crime is an issue in this part of Concord.

The other problem here are the schools. They are unfortunately pretty lousy. Both Fair Oaks Elementary and Oak Grove Middle School have bottom skirting APIs of 2. Ygnacio Valley High is a little better with an API of 5--making it solidly middle of the road--but overall this is not a good combination if you will be sending your kids to schools here.

However, the lower prices and the relatively nice facilities offered in some of these complexes make these viable options for someone like me--a divorced dad with kids.

Oak Grove Road in this section of Concord is a well-trafficked north-south artery that stretches from Ygnacio Valley Road to Ygnacio Valley Park. Most of the eastern half of Oak Grove is made up of single-family homes and apartments. Although Oak Grove Road is a busy lane, the houses and especially the apartments are very nice.

The homes are for the most part late 50’s era Ranch Style homes. The median price for one of these homes during the last year or so is about $500K, with sell prices running from $350K to $650K.

As to the apartments and condos along Oak Grove, they sell for between $125K and $300K and rent for between $1600 to $1800 per month for a two bedroom. I actually came here to take a look at a 3-bedroom listed for $1600, about as low as you get in a good neighborhood like this.

The schools here and especially to the south of here in Walnut Creek, are actually pretty strong. Bancroft Elementary and Valle Verde Elementary (which both serve the southern end of Oak Grove Road) both have APIs of 9. But things are more divergent when you compare them to southern end of Oak Grove as compared to the northern end. Northgate High in Walnut Creek, for example, has an API of 10 while Ygnacio Valley High, which is just off Oak Grove near the intersection of Treat Blvd., has a solid but unimpressive API of 5. The middle schools serving the southern and northern ends of Oak Grove are even more divergent, with Foothill Middle School have a perfect API of 10, while Oak Grove Middle Schools scratches bottom with a 2 API.

The other nice thing about this section of Oak Grove is that you are far enough away from the more commercial sections of Concord and Walnut Creek that you get a certain level of peace (except for the fairly constant traffic along Oak Grove of course)--but you are not so far away that you add significantly to your job, wherever that may be.

I actually really like this area and would one day like to live here perhaps.

William Way is a horseshoe shaped street in Concord. It is fairly typical of Concord really, in that it is made up of Ranch Style homes from the late 50’s. The typical home here sells for about $250K to $300K and I recently saw a home put up for rent for $2000/month, which although not exactly low for this area is a pretty great steal for a 4-bedroom, which this home was.

William Way is one of those streets that looks like it used to have sidewalks but no longer does. The asphalt has been pulled up and left dirt where the sidewalks are. The lawns sometimes have white picket fences but more often than not are just slightly unkept with brown patches or overgrown edges. It is not awful, just a sign that the occupants simply do not have the time or motivation to work on their homes.

Cars along William Way are generally older model and doors tend to have iron gated doors--a sign perhaps of the crime worry in the area.

The schools here are about average: Ygnacio Valley High has an API of 5 and Cambridge Elementary has a 4--which is not too bad for Concord.

With such low rents and property prices, however, this definitely has to be a consideration for anyone going through dire straits.

What would it cost to have a 4-bedroom in Orinda?

I was wondering that recently as I was thinking about what would be the ideal for me and my kids after the divorce. So I took a look and here on Dalewood is the only 4-bedroom I found in Orinda for rent. Dalewood is one of those long gently curving lanes with no sidewalks. The homes here are invariably large and long with big front lawns and walkways. Even the ones that don’t look particularly luxurious still have a certain air of affluence about them. (Perhaps it is the luxury cars in the driveways.) This is definitely the country club set--CEO’s and others who are part of the governing boards of their businesses.

This area is all that you could ask for when it comes to raising kids. Great schools (Sleepy Hollow Elementary all the Orinda schools are well-supported and achieve excellent results), virtually no crime (1 murder in Orinda in 10 years), and a nice secluded area far away from the worries of the world. It is all you can ask for if you can afford it, of course.

A home here on Dalewood will run you $4200/month ($50K per year in case you are wondering). So using the standard of 3 times rent to determine viability, a person would have to make around $150K to afford living here. Thus the reason why I--and most people--can’t really afford to live here.

Devon Ave. in Pleasant Hill is a mostly residential street. Near Pleasant Hill Road there are condominium complexes on both sides of Pleasant Hill Road. I recently looked at a 2-bedroom unit here whose rent was around $1450/month--about what you would expect for a 2-bedroom in this part of Pleasant Hill.

Along the other end of Devon most of the homes dates from the 1980s and have those high roofs that stretch down from the second to the first floor all in one line (rather than have separate roofs for the separate levels). It was sort of a status symbol in the 80’s that denoted a fairly affluent neighborhood. It is fairly dated now, though it still is usually a sign of a neighborhood that is doing fairly well.

Devon’s location is particularly suburban and has a sort of Brady Bunch feel to it. The schools are strong and crime is low. The supermarket is right at the end of the road and from here you are about 10 minutes from the best parts of Concord and maybe 15 from Walnut Creek.

In other words, this is the sort of place that you want to come live when you have a family and kids. And compared to the Lamorinda area this is much, much more affordable.

Oakland Blvd runs parallel to Highway 680 just off the Mt. Diablo Exit. On its southern block (it is basically two blocks long), Oakland Blvd. is mostly made up of older smaller Ranch Style homes. There are also, however, some apartment buildings mixed in for variety and some office buildings across the street. The office buildings are always looking for new lessees--which suggests to me this isn’t a great place to have a business.

The apartments are of the fairly boxy, ugly variety and rent for about the average amount that many similar kinds of apartments rent for in the area--about $1500. These place are pretty close to Downtown Walnut Creek and all the entertainment and restaurants that you will find there.

On the northern end Oakland Blvd. mostly empties out, with just empty fields on one side and the constant rumble of Highway 680 below.

Overall this is a pretty good spot to live. You have good schools, low crime, are close to BART so you can easily commute to work and you also have lots of local places to go as well.

Fig Tree Lane in Martinez is a pleasant residential street that slips right off Arnold Drive and heads up to Midhill Road. It is a bit off from the main part of Martinez and has a very secluded feel to it. You get lots of apartments and condos on the southern half of Fig Tree. I came here to see a 2-bedroom that was going for $1325/month. It was very nice if still a bit beyond my limit at this point.

As I have said elsewhere, I consider Martinez to be underrated as a place to live. Martinez offers low crime, good schools while still having affordable homes.

This area is an example of what I like about Martinez. The street is clean, green and relatively quiet. Other nearby 2-bedrooms run about $1575, which is closer to what you expect for a place like this but still on the relatively affordable side. As to buying, condos here sell for between $200K and $250K

On the northern end of Fig Tree Lane you will find Ranch Homes. Nicely kept but mostly unremarkable. A 5-bedroom here recently sold for half a million dollars--so you can have a sense of the cost.

There is a movie theater in Martinez and all the usual suburban amenities you would want. You also have the Amtrak station on the northern end.

Overall, I would be more than happy to live here, if I could manage.

7th Avenue in Crockett fringes the south-eastern edge of the town, giving many of the homes there a nice little view of the drop down to the S&G Sugar Factory and the old homes there. I recently came here to take a look at a 2-bedroom listed for just $1000.

With rents this low you might expect that this is one of those crime ridden areas, but because of the relatively low density of Crockett, crime is actually relatively moderate. There are a fair number of burglaries in the area and at least 4 registered sex offenders, but assaults are few and far between and most of the police action is limited to the downtown area where the businesses are located.

Schools in Crockett such as Swett High and Carquinez Middle School are solidly average--maybe just a touch above.

One of the main drawbacks of Crockett is the location. In order to get into the rest of the Bay Area, you have to get on Highway 80, which involves hitting some of the worst traffic in the Bay Area. There are some back ways to get into Contra Costa County but those methods get pretty packed as well.

Most of the homes here date from before World War II. But they are relatively well-kept and feel a bit secluded--more like a small town feel in a good way. Overall, I think I could get into living in a place like this. I will definitely keep an eye out for places here.

Carey Drive is just off the Monument Exit on Highway 680 in Concord. Carey Drive is actually not very long, curving from Monument to Victory Lane. Most of Carey is made up of pretty average looking 1950’s style Ranch homes. The street looks relatively quiet and seems to be home for a lot of harding working middle class type blokes.

What brought me here was the apartments on Monument side end of Carey. These are pretty much the shoe box style apartments, with only slight variations (like being in a “V” shape rather than parallel). These are great apartments but they do offer some of the most affordable rents you will find. There was a 2-bedroom here listed for $1025--about as low as it gets. There was also a studio listed here for just $725/month.

The nice thing about this area is that you are just on the other side of the freeway from some of the nicest spots in Pleasant Hill. Crescent Plaza Shopping Center is right across the way so if you have a hankering for a movie or want to grab a bite to eat at a place like Daphne’s (a Greek place) or Pasta Pomodoro--you are practically within walking distance. They have also been renovating Crossroads Shopping Center on the eastern side of the freeway and it has a ton of new businesses around there, such Kohl’s and Gamestop to name just a couple. (Unfortunately, a casualty of this renovation is that they have knocked down the dome theater that used to be there. I drove by yesterday and was sad to see a pile of rubble where that old movie house used to be. I saw a lot of good movies there--they had a penchant for playing independent and more unusual movies.)

Overall, an okay place to live affordably.

Came out here to Nautilus Drive in Pittsburg to take a look at a 3-bedroom that was at least in the ballpark as far as what I can afford. It was a pretty average looking house right at the western edge of Pittsburg, right by Bay Point. It still would take a half hour to make it to my kid’s school from here.

But the rents on this western end of Pittsburg are definitely affordable. This 3-bedroom is going for only $1250/month. In fact, it is so inexpensive they take Section 8 housing. There is another comparable house on the same street going for $1325. Basically this is the beginning of the more affordable sections of the East Bay.

The homes here are the typical Ranch homes that are fairly ubiquitous throughout California and especially in these more affordable neighborhoods.

There is a bit of crime in the area--which is the usual drawback of places like this that are so affordable, but it is relatively mild. Some breaking and entering and a handful of assaults, nothing too worrisome in this section. There are about a dozen sex offenders in the area--which is more worrisome, but that is the price of living in this kind of area.

Unfortunately the schools in this area are also pretty bad with low APIs and bad reputations.

I hear, however, that the commute is pretty terrible heading into the rest of Contra Costa. I suppose that being on the Western end of Pittsburg that this is the best spot for it, but I still don’t know if I would want to face that every day.

Overall, however, it is definitely a location to keep in mind.

Came here to Olivera Road to see about a three bedroom apartment that was listed at $1500. That is still out of my current budget range but it is about as inexpensive as it gets in Contra Costa without sacrificing safety.

Buchanan Airport is just to the west of this section of Olivera, though what actually forms the western end of this section is the Solano Drive-In Theater, a classic outdoor movie theater. I think they still show movies though I have never been to one here. This kind of a theater is more of a curiosity than anything else.

Most of Olivera Road however, is made up of the apartments that are part of the apartment complex that I came to see. These are a nice mix of one and two-story units with covered parking spaces. They are nicely set up for families since they are spaced in a way that the noise levels are less likely to bother neighbors.

In the past year, these condos have also sold for between $65K and $125K.

On the southern end of Olivera there is also a nice big park, Hillcrest Park which has a big play area and baseball fields. And on the southeastern end there is also a set of churches, Calvary Baptist and New Hope International.

In terms of commuting, although you are on the upper end of Concord, the commute is much easier than from Pittsburg or Antioch. The schools here are about average with Sun Terrace Elementary and Mount Diablo High getting APIs of 4 and 6 respectively.

I don’t know what crime is like around here, but from the density in this area, I would guess that crime is lower than in the more crowded areas of Concord.

I think this would definitely be a good place for families to live.

Came here to Viewpoint Blvd. to take a look at a four bedroom that was only sort of outside of my price range at about $1800. I am actually not there yet in terms of my income, but a 4 bedroom would be ideal for my situation allowing me to have a room, and my younger boys and girls to have their own rooms while my oldest--being at the age where privacy is more of thing--could have his.
This is a nice older home. Looks like it dates maybe to the 50’s but is perfectly fine and I have always liked Rodeo as a sensible alternative to the sky high prices of other places. The big drawback, of course, of a place like Rodeo is that it is way out of the way. People regularly complain about how difficult the commute is from here. Though I think that the commute from Pittsburg is worse and probably the worst of all commutes is from Tracy.

Overall Viewpoint Blvd has a very 1970s feel to it, probably because it is a wide lane with lots of well maintained Ranch homes on it. It actually reminds me a lot of Woodland Hills where I grew up. You can tell from how well-kept the homes are here that it has a lot of residents who take pride in their homes and take the time to maintain them.

Overall this is a fairly safe place to live, with okay schools and relatively affordable rents. If you don’t work too far away, or if you do a sort of reverse commute this could definitely be a good option.

If you know Lacassie Street in Walnut Creek, you probably know it as the connector street just to the south of Target. This basically covers one block of Lacassie. However, Lacassie also has a second block that continues on the opposite end of North Main Street. On this western end, Lacassie is a mix of boxy apartment buildings, duplexes and duplexes converted into offices. It has a bit of a worn out look to it and feels a bit overcrowded--especially where the apartment buildings are. Lacassie dead ends right at the 680 Ygnacio Valley off-ramp.

Although this is not the most pleasant and appealing of streets in terms of feeling homey, you are quite close to the BART and the Downtown Walnut Creek area. That is the great advantage of living even in a fairly unpleasant apartment building here.

I came to take a look at a $1200/month apartment here, which the owners were advertising as a reduced price apartment for someone who was willing to be a part-time manager. It was a good deal at $1200 given the location but was not really worth it when you added in the hassles of being a part-time manager into the mix.

Willow Street is a bit of an unusual street, located as it is just outside of the Downtown Martinez. It is unusual in that it is one of those streets that dead ends and then picks up again a block or two later. The two parts of Willow Street could not be more different, however.

Willow Street on its upper end is a fairly typical residential lane right by Downtown Martinez. It is made up of homes dating from before WWII (Martinez dates back to before California was a state and was once the capital of California). I came here to take a look at a tiny duplex which was very cute but very small.

Cute is actually a pretty good word to describe this upper part of Willow Street, which is just far enough uphill from the courthouse and the downtown area that you might not realize you are within walking distance of that area.

On the lower end, you are much more aware of being right by Downtown. Willow is wider here and is mostly filled with old, slightly rundown looking pre-WWII homes. As you get close to Jones Street, however, you get some apartments, one which is actually very new looking with red-tiled roofs and pastel colored adobe walls.

The drawback of being so close to Downtown Martinez is that you are, of course, close to the homeless types that seem to be constantly hanging around down there. It is not the most hospitable of places and being within walking distance of it wouldn’t make me feel too safe.

The other drawback of being up the hill on this side of Downtown is that you right by the hilltop chemical tanks which are also within walking distance. Many people--me included--might be a little worried about what kind of undetected toxins might affect you and your children over time from living in such close proximity to these.

The positives of living so close, of course, are that you are right by the restaurants and coffee shops and that you are also right by the Amtrak station, so commuting is a lot easier.

Overall, it seems like the negatives somewhat outweigh the positives in terms of living here.

Soule Avenue is a pretty residential street that breaks south and then east off of Boyd in Pleasant Hill. Soule is basically made up of single families homes dating to the late 40’s (most seem to have been originally built in 1947). These are mostly Ranch style homes, but they are so nicely kept and the street is so leafy and idyllic that it doesn’t at all take on the typical look of a neighborhood of this kind. In fact, the typical home here has a white picket fence, a biggy shady tree and nicely kept topiary on immaculately green lawns.

Basically this is a hidden away little residential street, quiet and perfect for raising a family. I came here to take a look at detached studio, that was really little more than just a room in someone’s house--no way it would meet my needs though I can imagine a college student taking the room and making something of it.

The typical home here sells for between $550K and $750K. The neighborhood is safe and the schools are strong. Overall a pretty nice place to live.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

California Street in Concord is only one block long. It is basically apartment city. You have about a dozen apartment complexes heres, mostly three story boxy monstrosities. The kinds of apartments where you feel as if you have been piled one on top of another. But the apartments here are almost dirt cheap compared to what you might pay for similar places in Contra Costa County. I saw a studio here listed for $750/month.

California is actually in a pretty good spot. It is north of the most dense spots in Concord, but still within walking distance of Todos Santos Park and the Brendan Movie Theater and what shopping there is in Downtown Concord. You are, however perfectly positioned to hit the freeway or to head over to the Pleasant Hill BART station. You are also pretty close to Diablo Valley College, so it would not be too bad a place for students either.

It is not however a very attractive street--too many straight lines, flat and not very natural. There is also a fair amount of traffic noise from Concord Blvd. and the overcrowding of the area. I imagine that when everyone is home at night it must be very active. Not a good spot for insomniacs.

You can’t beat the price though.

Fairfield is a mid-sized town about 20 miles north of Contra Costa County and just a bit of ways north of Benicia. It is one of the first truly affordable satellite communities of the Bay Area where crime is not a dissuading factor.

How affordable is it? Two-bedroom apartments run between $850 and $1600 per month; one-bedrooms between $625 and $1250. Those prices are just light years from most Bay Area locations that are not plagued by high crime (in fact, even those with high crime will often have way higher rates than this--yeah, I’m looking at you Mission District).

Homes are similarly inexpensive, with the median price being around $250,000 and less than 10% breaking the half million mark. (Only about half dozen homes sold for more than a million dollars here in the last year.)

Homes here are mostly 50’s style Ranch homes and boxy 60’s style apartments. There are some newer condos and constructions however which are still fairly reasonably priced for the most part.

Fairfield is mostly a middle class city--the 10th largest in California you might be surprised to find out. It is dominated by Travis Air Force Base on its eastern end. It is the biggest employer. You can often see B-52s and other military planes in the area running missions.

Another big employer is Solano Community College where I taught for a while. A good school with a good mix of students from the various backgrounds in the area.

And, of course, you cannot mention Fairfield without mentioning the Jelly Bean Factory, which my family has often visited. If you are into jelly beans, you will definitely be interested in finding out how jelly beans are made here.

The crime rate is right around the national average or at least has been for the last two or three years after a good decade of being slightly above. In a population of 100,000 there are about 5 murders per year, which is not non-existent but not too bad either.

Schools are similarly average with API’s ranging from 3 to 7. (10 is the highest.)

There is a shopping center and there are businesses who take advantage of the relatively low cost of the living to place their offices in Fairfield, so you may be able to find employment and live here as well. It is much nicer than Vallejo, bigger than Dixon, and almost comparable to Vacaville.

This is also a pretty good spot for couples who are divided between Davis and Contra Costa--sort of an intermediate location in between. Purely for the economics I am considering it. Unfortunately the commute is pretty gruesome once you hit the Benicia Bridge. And the wind can be pretty bad along Highway 80 south of here as well.

You could, however, take the Amtrak train down to Richmond and take the BART from there and work along the way. (Amtrak is also a great way of getting to Davis and Sac, which I also used to enjoy.)