Living in El Cerrito
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Living in El Cerrito
May 2007
Re: Safe, family--oriented neighborhood?
We live in El Cerrito
and both of our elementary school age children attend the
local public school.
It's not perfect because we are a resource-poor district but it's worked out great
for our kids. The parents are very involved (volunteering in the school) and they
raise funds to provide the students with a good education. The PTA provides art,
music, and science programs to supplement what the district provides.
At last count, there were at least 8 elementary school children on our block--all
living within 5 houses of each other. At night they run in and out of each others'
back yards and play in the front yards. Some parents in El Cerrito opt to go to
private schools but I think the local elementary school is just fine. We are also
planning to go to the local public middle school when my son is ready. Most of El
Cerrito is very safe and family-friendly. There are great parks and a terrific
public pool.
Unfortunately, I don't think it's that affordable for first-time home buyers but
houses are slightly less expensive than Albany, Lafayette or Orinda. Consequently,
there is more diversity in the local public schools.
El Cerrito! It has become my favorite east bay city. Close enough to freeways so
you can get anywhere. Easy shopping at the E.C. plaza and E.C. Natural Grocery.
There are lots of new families moving here, it is relatively safe and has good
schools. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is actually more diverse
than our old neighborhood in SF. Our block has lots of different kinds of families
- different ethnicities and family structures. There is crime everywhere and E.C.
is no exception but we have not experienced anywhere near what we did in SF or what
some of our friends in Oakland have. I think it is in part because even though El
Cerrito is a part of the larger bay area community it still has a small town feel.
Our neighbors here have been friendlier than anywhere I have lived and about 1/3 of
the houses in our immediate neighborhood has kids.
anon
Feb 2003
Re: Seeking a friendly neighborhood w/kids
Hi. In response to your message about finding a friendly
neighborhood with children - we live near Poinsette Park, off
Barnett in El Cerrito. Our block on Mono Ave. in particular is
very close knit - most of the neighbors know each other and we
have holiday parties (Halloween, Christmas, and progressive
dinner parties). It's a true gift. I've never lived anywhere
like it, and it easily is one of the best things about our home
(which we love). There are several families with small children
on our block, and I see lots of children when I drive through
the neighborhood, and when we go to Poinsett Park (on Poinsette
St. or Dr. - up the hill from Home Depot and the San Pablo
Safeway). Hope you find something comparable. Best wishes.
debora
Feb 2007
As a young family, we are planning to buy our first house and we have been looking at the
Albany/El Cerrito area. We currently rent and have lived in SF for 10 years but have decided
it is time to move across the bridge. We have looked around Albany and really liked it but
it seems like it can be hard to find a house for the price range we want to spend. We have
also looked in the El Cerrito Hills and seen some really nice houses. Is there anywhere in
these areas where you wouldnt recommend to buy? Is there any ''shady'' neighborhoods? We
have a 17mth old child.
Melanie
St. Jerome's neighborhood in El Cerrito is a good one. St.
Jerome's is on Albany's north border, and it also borders Kensington and Berkeley. It's close to Solano
Ave.(with lots of good eateries), the El Cerrito shopping center (where Trader Joe's is), BART, and bus
lines. The character of the neighborhood is family friendly, modest, safe, and quiet. My family lived
there for years and loved it. Current real estate prices may be down, at least that's the buzz. One caveat:
the public schools being what they are, we opted out for our kids, and that was a big deal, financially.
Hi - There are no bad neighborhoods in Albany, although the streets a block off San Pablo Ave. are a bit
noisier and the farther east you go the better. El Cerrito has generally good neighborhoods, bad ones are
maybe near San Pablo Ave. again or it's obvious. The farther south and east you go, the better.
There's also the Richmond Annex, west of S.Pab., nice older homes some with views, near EC and Albany but
not really pedestrian. Lots of families live there. Better deals in the last 2, but you don't get the
Albany school district then, which has a good reputation. You didn't give a price range, but I'm not sure
what you can get under $500K barring busier streets or condos, even with the softening market. Hope that
helps.
Anon
Previous to moving to El Cerrito, we lived in a high crime neighborhood in Oakland for many years so, by
contrast, almost everywhere in El Cerrito feels very safe to me. Both of our children attend the local
public schools which are not as highly rated as Albany but have worked just fine for us.
I'm not a big fan of the hills because my kids like level streets where they can ride their scooters or
their bikes to the park or the pool. However, there are many lovely hillside homes with spectacular views
of the Golden Gate Bridge. Some of the homes near Colusa are still within walking distance of things you
might want to walk to (FatApples Bakery) but anything South of Stockton gets very steep and not every block
has sidewalks.
The most desirable neighborhoods are those near St. Jerome's (on
Fairmount) because they are close to Solano Ave. plus you can walk to the El Cerrito Plaza which has a
Farmer's Market, Trader Joe's, and Starbucks. In general, if you want something that feels like a really
quiet safe neighorhood near urban amenities, I would recommend the neighborhoods South of Moeser and East
of Elm Street.
I know a great local realtor, Mykah Larkins, who sells homes in El Cerrito and Albany. I'm sure she could
give you more details on both of these communities. To give you some idea of what home prices are going
for, check out the most recently sold homes on her web page:
http://marvingardens.mlsb.com/idx/agentbio.cfm?cid=34&aid=8145
Best of luck with your housing search!
April 2006
Our family is considering moving to Kensington or El Cerrito.
Can anyone tell us more about these cities? Are they LGBT
friendly? Good places for children? How are the schools? Thanks
in advance. (Also, can you recommend any realtors?)
-- Need advice
Re Living in Kensington or El Cerrito --- looking for realtor -- Let me
highly recommend Rayne Palmer, of Keller Williams --- she's an EXCELLENT
realtor, for buyers OR sellers. Rayne Palmer 510-502-2063 -- feel free to
tell her Christie sent you.
Christie
Since you asked about whether El Cerrito/Kensington is LGBT
friendly, I will share my experience living here and raising
kids. We are a 2-mom family and have lived here for over ten
years and attend the neighborhood public school (Harding) which
is within walking distance of our home. So far, I have been
impressed with the quality of education there. There is an active
parent community and the teachers we have had are top notch.
I have also had good experiences on the local soccer team and
both my partner and I have been encouraged to take an active role
in the school. The families we have met at school and in our
neighborhood seem to be unfazed by the fact that our kids have 2
moms. I have noticed rainbow flags on several of the curches in
the area so I know there are some welcoming/inclusive church
communities here too.
It seems like many folks are reluctant to move to El Cerrito
because of the schools but most of our babysitters attend Portola
or El Cerrito High School and are college-bound so I think it is
entirely possible to get a good education in the local public
schools, particularly if you are willing to get involved and
support your child.
If you can overcome ''Albany envy'' and manage to afford a home
here, it's a great place to raise kids.
I love El Cerrito. I have lived in berkeley, Kensington and El Cerrito
and prefer EC the best. I am also a Realtor with Marvin Gardens on
Fairmount. We have 5 gay and lesbian realtors in our office so EC is
pretty open minded. I have helped several lesbian couples and for me it
does not make a difference. Good luck, Catherine
Please come live in Kensington-- we need some diversity! I gotta say I
love living in Kensington--moved here three years ago from El Cerrito
because we wanted to feel comfortable sending our kids to public schools
without the stress of lotteries like in Berkeley and didn't feel El
Cerrito elementary schools were up to the standards we wanted. Parts of
El Cerrito are okay (personally I don't like the ''no tree'' look of El
Cerrito) but there is more of a community feel to Kensington, I think.
But like I alluded to in the beginning, boy, is it white up here! As far
as realtors go, friends of mine have bought in El Cerrito using Ann Plant
and were happy with her. Good luck in your search.
anon
I've lived in El Cerrito for almost six years and really enjoy it. My
neighbors are just friendly enough. The neighborhood where I live has
been changing on the surface as the homes turn over from in some cases
their original owners but we are the newest arrivals on my block. When I
go for a walk the folks we meet on the street say hello, and sometimes if
we're working in our yards a neighbor will stop to introduce themselves.
I have two young children and all of the local parks have been upgraded
in the past couple of years. Crime is higher than some east bay locals,
and seems to me to be concentrated in certain areas in the evenings or
early mornings. http://www.el-cerrito.org/police/weekly_060417.html. I can't imagine any discrimation
of LGBTs but I have to admit I've never met a LGBT couple here.
Schools are mixed, with a couple of good elementary schools, and I've had
long discussions with friends and people I've met at the park about
whether the middle school and high school are ok.
http://www.greatschools.net/ gives test scores but you'll notice the
connection between parents' education levels and scores. While El Cerrito
residents have generally high education levels according to census data,
it has been an aging community until recently and I don't think there are
a lot of kids from El Cerrito in those schools. Not sure whether the next
generation of parents will send their kids there or not.
We worked with a great real estate agent Melissa Eizenberg. She was
really enjoyable to spend time with, knows the area well, and was able to
give us a few referrals for the work we had done on our house.
http://marvingardens.mlsb.com/mls/agent.cfm
Happy in El Cerrito
August 2005
We're moving to the Bay Area in a few months, and have been checking out real
estate in the Oakland area. Unfortunately, we want what everyone else wants - good
schools, access to transportation, and some green space for less than a fortune. For
obvious reasons, we're starting to consider areas outside of Oakland. Can anyone
tell me about El Cerrito? Is it socially/culturally similar to Oakland, or is it much
more suburban? (We're from Boston, so if these references make sense to you, I'm
asking is it more like Brookline or Newton?) Thanks so much for any input!
Nerissa
El Cerrito is a great place to live - lots of people go there for
the same reasons you are. It doesn't feel suburban to me - well,
maybe parts of it are, but most of it feels a lot like Oakland or
Berkeley. It's definitely socially/culturally similar and diverse.
anon
It will be interesting to see what others say about
this--perceptions sort of depend on how long you've lived in El
Cerrito and where you work. I've lived here for six years and
love it.
El Cerrito isn't really like Brookline or Newton (I used to live
in Somerville), but it's hard to compare the east bay with the
Boston area. El Cerrito is a city in transition, with lots of new
people moving into town, particularly on the southern end of
town. There are differences between different parts of town, even
though it's very small, with the southern half being more urban
and the northern half more suburban in its orientation. People
who live near the Plaza shopping center tend to be more ''urban,''
and many of them are trying to live close to Berkeley and San
Francisco, and public transit. People who live in the north tend
to be more oriented to Contra Costa County and Richmond. There's
also a hills-flats difference. The cost of housing is much higher
on the hills and there's more crime in the flats, as you get
closer to San Pablo Avenue. Access to public transit is great
throughout town, though you may have to drive to a BART station
if you're in the hills. There is an effort to revitalize the
commercial areas. Hope this helps.
Happy in El Cerrito
We rented in Oakland for 8 years and bought in El Cerrito because
we knew we wanted to start a family one day and were attracted to
the affordable housing (at least more so than Berkeley and
Albany). Sadly, many of our friends who rent are being priced out
of El Cerrito so ''afffordable'' is very relative.
If you want to get a feel for the community, I would suggest a
visit to the El Cerrito Pool on a weekend or shopping at the
Trader Joe's in the Plaza. El Cerrito is not quite as urban as
Oakland but it is socially/culturally similar in many ways.
My older child attends the local public elementary school
(Harding) which is within walking distance of our home. This was
very important to me as I wanted him to have local playmates. I
have found it to be astoundingly diverse. One of his friends is
spending part of the summer in Spain, another will be in Mexico,
and another in Asia. At last count, we had students from almost
every continent at the school.
Most of our friends are choosing to send their kids through the
public schools and so far, I'm hearing that students who graduate
from ECHS, at least a good portion of them, go on to four-year
universities. If you want a mellow, laid back, down to earth,
family-friendly community with a lot of diversity and you can
afford to buy here, I think you'll enjoy El Cerrito.
I haven't lived in Boston, but I lived in the heart of the
gourmet ghetto in Berkeley before buying a house in El Cerrito in
the mid-nineties. I thought I would hate living in El Cerrito,
it seemed far and ugly to me then, but I realized the ''pros''
right after we moved in:
- It's much quieter here; we can hear birds singing.
- We have had to call the police only twice in nine years,
whereas in Berkeley we called an average of once monthly (lots of
petty theft, car break-ins, even in our ''nice'' area).
- It's slower here and the local politics (and politicians) are
more accessible.
- The local pool is fabulous, never crowded, and the parks are
very nice.
- You can park your car easily and for free pretty much anywhere
you need to go.
- Highway access is easy.
Of course, we live near Kensington in an area with more trees and
distance from the BART track than most of El Cerrito, so that
probably colors my perspective. We are also within the
Kensington Hilltop elementary school zone. On the ''con'' side:
- Most of El Cerrito is pretty ugly. A lot of the housing stock
is 50s and 70s yuck and there are far fewer trees than in
Berkeley and Kensington (and a lot of local hostility toward them).
- I can no longer walk to a wide variety of shops and
restaurants. However, we are only 3 miles from where we lived
before and I don't at all feel as if I'm out in the boonies.
Berkeley is an easy bike ride and I still shop there (another con:)
- Except for Costco, Trader Joe's and the Natural Grocer,
shopping here is distinctly LOW END.
- There is probably more cronism in the local politics and people
seem somewhat less progressive.
Hope this helps.
El Cerrito resident
Hi Nerissa, good luck on your move here. I grew up in MA, went
to college in Boston and worked in the area for a couple of
years before moving here, so though I was not raising kids in
MA, I can assure you El Cerrito is no Newton. It could
possibly be seen as a bit more like Brookline, but really I'd
say it's like neither. We bought our first house in El
Cerrito, but then because of the schools ended up moving ''up
the hill'' to Kensington which is more like Newton (the good
things like schools, the bad like no diversity). But living in
Berkeley, ALbany, Kensington, El Cerrito-- all these place are
a mile away from each other so it's easy to reach out and find
diversity quickly. My impression of El Cerrito is that there
are still a lot of aging baby boomers that live in 50's era
houses and as they pass on, young families are moving in, but
it's not exactly a vibrant community (they just redid a great
public pool though!). The only real warning I'd have, is
coming from MA where public schools are in the top five in the
country, it is more than a shock to see what parents and kids
have to put up with in CA as far as school standards/offerings,
etc..-- we (CA) are in the bottom five in the country for what
we spend per kid in public schools, so looking for a good
public school is a heartbreaking experience. Good luck again.
Luisa
Sept 2004
hi, we (husband, toddler son and I) are going to move from
atlanta to the berkeley area, and are thinking of renting a
house in el cerrito. it is on elm, close to the bart line. I was
just wondering if it is a safe neighborhood and a good place for
children.
many thanks,
Shobhana
hi shobhana - i currently live in north oakland, but grew up in
el cerrito. my parents still live there and i would say it's
pretty safe. elm street is a fairly long street that runs
close to bart, so it really depends on what the cross street
is. but i'd still say most of el cerrito is pretty safe.
granted any place nowadays has it's fair share of crime, no
matter how ''safe'' it is...good luck!
anonymous
I'm not sure what section of Elm Street you're considering
(closer to Solano Avenue or Potrero Avenue?), but I live on Elm
Street in El Cerrito near Potrero Avenue with my husband and two
year old. It's a relatively safe neighborhood. Our house and
cars have never been burglarized or vandalized in the 4.5 years
of living here. However, there have been some incidences along
the Ohlone Greenbelt/path that runs beneath the BART tracks
(these occured near the El Cerrito Del Norte BART station.)
While the schools in the area are sub-par, it's a great place
with plenty to do if you have toddlers. Just recently, the city
completed significant rennovations and upgrades to Castro Park
(on Norvell and Gladys) and the El Cerrito community pool.
Castro Park has three modern playgrounds (one with a
state-of-the-art climbing wall), a nice grassy ball field, and
two tennis courts. Also, there's a Gymboree play center in the
new El Cerrito Shopping Plaza. Target is in walking distance, as
is Giovanni's, the small, neighborhood grocery store on Potrero
and Liberty.
As a bonus, there are four convenient modes of public
transportation to take you into San Francisco (in 30-40 minutes
travel time): two AC transit bus lines (the L and G lines), the
BART train, and casual carpool, the informal car pool system that
forms when drivers and passengers meet at designated locations.
(read here for more info on this free, safe, and convenient
commuting alternative: http://www.ridenow.org/carpool/what.htm)
I would definitely recommend El Cerrito as a place to live with
children. There are plenty of young families and it's relatively
safe.
swalter
There are many families with young childen moving into El Cerrito
these days, and it can be a great place for kids. The swim
center has just been renovated, and all the parks are being
modernized. There are some very good public schools here, and
most of them are undergoing re-construction, so facilities will
be much improved. There are several excellent private schools
here, too. There are also a number of interesting civic projects
in the works (e.g., the renovation of the 1937 art deco Cerrito
Theater, and creek restoration efforts) which will add to our
charms. Let me know where on Elm your rental house is, and I'll
tell you more about that specific neighborhood, and answer any
other questions you might have about El Cerrito. Good luck with
your decision.
Lori
Yes, it is. I had a friend who lived on Elm just south of
Moeser, and it was a great neighborhood for kids. Not much
traffic, not much crime, pretty area, schools nearby seem nice.
Jen
I lived for two years in a rented house at 1440 Elm Street in El
Cerrito, and my brother rented the house for four years after
that. The walk from BART and the neighborhood always felt safe
to us. Elm Street is a few blocks up from San Pablo Avenue, so
it doesn't have a lot of ''flatland'' problems (generally in the
East Bay the closer you get to the Bay, the worse the
neighborhood). We had no kids ourselves, but the nearby parks
and schools were welcoming and safe. Our house was broken into
one time (by middle schoolers!), but that was just random. El
Cerrito is a nice place, slightly shabby but lovable, and a lot
more affordable than Berkeley. Feel free to ask if you'd like to
know more.
Nicole
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