General Reviews of North Berkeley

Re: Moving to Berkeley -- which neighborhood?
You are going to get a lot of responses to this question, and probably most of the suggestions will be great. We moved to Berkeley when my son was a newborn, and it is a wonderful place to live with kids. We live in North Berkeley, and it's a terrific area. There are a lot of playgrounds, lots of families, and for the most part people are very kid-friendly here. I would suggest that you avoid the hills, since (you're right) you won't be able to walk anywhere. The streets along Hopkins Street and Solano Ave are wonderful and have all the resources you could want - shopping, parks, things to do, all walkable. See if you can find a place there. Also, west Berkeley is underrated but constantly improving - there is a beautiful new Berkeley Bowl down there, and there are also great playgrounds. It's much less expensive, too. Albany is also worth a look. It's very walkable and very kid-centric. Good luck! Mom in Berkeley

We moved to North Berkeley when I was pregnant with my first child. I didn't want to be too far into the hills, wanted to be able to walk to a park and to grocery shopping, so I set my eastern limit at Euclid Avenue and my northern limit as Eunice. It was a great decision for us - wonderful having Codornices Park and the Rose Garden to explore with young children and meet other families. However, my northern limit was really out of ignorance - I only knew the campus area from my days in college here, and wasn't aware of other great neighborhoods within walking distance of Solano Avenue, or close to the Monterey Market area. We were equally fortunate in finding a small, neighborly street, and know all of our neighbors! There are many great neighborhoods in north, central, west, south Berkeley - So I'd say, get out a compass and draw walking distance from good parks, grocery shopping (including farmer's markets) and transportation, and for bonus points, find yourself one of the smaller, shorter streets and you'll be as happy as we! Berkeley Mama

Re: East Bay neighborhoods like DC Metro
I used to live in DC (Adam's Morgan area), and we now live in Berkeley with our 22 month old and love it. We live in North Berkeley, in the Westbrae neighborhood, and love the fact that we are a 10 minute drive from the city (with no traffic, 30 with traffic), less than 10 min. walk from BART, have several local bus lines that stop within a block of our house, and plenty of great shopping within walking distance (Monterey/Hopkins shopping district, as well as Solano Ave), and can walk to several really nice playgrounds and parks. We rarely need to use our car. I think this is an ideal neighborhood for someone used to diversity and convenience of urban living, but looking for a bit more quiet, child-friendly living environment with plenty of parking. You should definitely consider Berkeley for your relocation. Hillary

Car-Free in North Berkeley

Re: Neighborhoods for car-free life with a toddler?
It's not as easy to get around as SF but I'd say anywhere in Berkeley besides the hills is do-able without a car. I live in N. berkeley off Gilman and was thrilled to discover the number 9 bus runs along Gilman right into downtown berkeley. I'm also 10 mins from BART. I can walk to do all my grocery shopping (Monterey Market) and to our local library. About the only time I ''need'' the car is to get up to Tilden. Even then there is a bus, but I haven't figured it out yet. When I lived in south berkeley near the Berkeley Bowl it was not quite so easy (not so many parks to walk to, felt less safe walking around alone) but still very do-able. If you manage to find somewhere in Central Berkeley, the Ohlone Park/Totland area seems ideal to me; completely walkable, tons of families and very safe. If you ride a bike and have a seat/trailer for your little one I think you will find berkeley without a car very manageable.
walking in berkeley

Totland Neighborhood

Re: Kid friendly neighborhoods in the East Bay I live in the ''Totland district'' of North Berkeley, it runs between Sacramento and MLK; University and up to Hopkins, I think. I'm 2 blocks from North Berkeley BART, 2 blocks from Totland, about a mile from the ''gourmet ghetto'' on Shattuck. There are kids and dogs and families everywhere you look, I absolutely love this neighborhood and highly recommend it for what you're wanting!! Jill