More Reviews of Oakland Neighborhoods

Re: Moving to Oakland with small children

Crocker Highlands has a good elementary school, very cute houses, seems to have an active family/community vibe (we go play on their school playground sometimes and it's always full of families hanging out together on weekends); not necessarily easy to walk to things from there.

Crocker Highlands or Piedmont?

We are considering moving to the East Bay from the Peninsula. We started looking at open houses just to get a feel for costs and locations. We loved the houses in Crocker Highlands and lower Piedmont. Both are doable for us price wise. We are not sure if we'd go public or private for middle and high school, so that needs to be factored in. Our son hasn't fit in at public school though he's fine academically. We'd like a friendly neighborhood as we don't have any family in the area. We both work and are professionals but don't come from money. Would either of these two areas work or should we look elsewhere. Where to live?

Re: Best neighborhood for commute to south bay
My husband commutes to the south bay (Santa Clara) off of 237 from our neighborhood in Oakland (Crocker Highlands). We have a number of neighbors who commute down there (Mountain View, Sunnyvale, etc) as well. Our experience has been to expect about an hour+ commute each way. My husband leaves at 6:30am to try to beat the rush and can get down there in about 50 min. but always hits traffic around the San Mateo bridge and the entrance to 237.

Crocker Highlands is a wonderful neighborhood conveniently located right off of 580 (Lakeshore exit). There are stores, restaurants, a Traders Joes, etc. within walking distance. We also have a weekly farmer's market that the entire family enjoys. Lastly, the elementary school is rated one of the best in Oakland. However, I would caution anyone looking into buying a home in the area the impact the recent school closures (specifically Lakeview elementary) may have on Crocker Elementary. As Oakland is looking to expand school boundaries, there is a small chance that the school may not be able to accommodate all the children in the neighborhood, similar to what happened in Hillcrest.

Hope this is helpful. happy crocker family

I am just looking for information on the area. My family and I are planning to move and have liked the location of Crocker Highlands. We know little about the elementry school and are wondering what people do for middle and high school since the Oakland school district is not very good. We would love to hear other people's opinions and recommendations. Thanks! Kelly

The ''what to do about Middle and High School'' question is the big one. Edna Brewer middle school is on the upswing, but it's still not that great today. We're planning to give it careful consideration in 5-6 years when our kids are getting to that age, but I do know many people in the neighborhood today that go to private middle and high schools. So we may end up doing that as well, but really it just depends on what we think is best for our individual kids. Mike

There is a push to have Crocker kids go to Edna Brewer the public middle school, and by the time we get to the point of making that decision, it may be much improved.

Overall its a great neighborhood and we love it here, which is why we have stayed so long (versus bailing to the 'burbs). But the schools issue is a big one, especially if you are buying into a huge property tax bill! Hilary