• Moving into the Oakland hills area
• Oakland Hills - Safety for Children
• What's it like living in the hills?
• More reviews of Oakland Hills
• More advice about Living in Oakland

Moving into the Oakland hills area

My family is moving into the Oakland hills area (off keller) and I would like some advise on what to do in the area with my 6 year old. What schools are the best? I was thinking Joaquin Miller or Thornhill? Are there any play dates in the area? Thank you! newoaklandparent steph

Oakland Hills - Safety for Children

We are thinking of moving to the Oakland Hills from Fremont. We lived in North Berkeley for 10 years before our 8 years in Fremont and loved it, but now we have three small children. Zip Realty says that the Oakland Hills have almost twice the national average of personal crimes and 1.4 times the national average of crime in general. For those of you who live in the Oakland Hills, what has your experience with crime been? Do you feel safe in your neighborhood? We are looking in the area near Thornhill and Snake. If you have young children what do you like and dislike about the area?

What's it like living in the hills?

what's it like living in the hills?
pros and cons
especially interested in hearing from those who have lived in our local flatter, denser, grid-layout cities (oakland, berkeley, alameda) before moving to the hills we're considering moving there. We're not really considering the higher elevation areas, even though the views would be fabulous, because we want some room for gardening. Seems like flatter land would be at a premium up there. Premium isn't in the cards. any thoughts? recommendations? warnings? considerations?
looking before i leap

PROS:
+Lots less traffic than down below
+Sit on porch and say hi to neighbors, not strangers or tourists
+Close to higher-elevation attractions such as Sibley Volcanic, horseback riding, the Hills pool, Roberts Park
+We were robbed once in the flats; zero times in the hills
+Private enough to walk outside in p.j.s
+Amazing, ethereal fog

--Happy with Our Hills Home

I miss seeing and knowing my immediate neighbors. Up here even though I have met a number of people on the street I don't see them and chat with them going in and out of their houses the way I did. I miss being close to Bart and walking distance to more cafes and restaurants. feels a bit suburban and I miss the artsy/urban funky mix. have to drive on the freeway more

good things up here:
my son goes to the neighborhood school and can safely walk to school and friends houses.
met some great neighbors (even if I don't see them on the street) and am becoming friends with some of them
nice walks for exercise
feels safer in terms of crime
I actually can bike to work and my husband does too even though we are in a much hillier area there is less traffic so it seem to work out.
Can walk or bike to Montclair Farmer;s Market and Lake Temescal.

Good luck with your decision
enjoying the hills

Kasia

Pros
--it's less congested and urban, feels more like a retreat or living in the wilderness sometimes (less so w/ some of these ridiculously large houses they are building in some areas now!)
--the view is wonderful, and the air is fresh
--proximity to Redwood/Joaquin Miller/Huckleberry/Tilden/Sibley
--easy to get to Rockridge, montclair, Piedmont, and Elmwood for shopping, eating out, movies
--people tend to be friendly up here and willing to help out their neighbors, I think the fire created a stick-together kind of feeling in the community.

Cons:
--hard to meet neighbors sometimes since people aren't out strolling as much as in the flats, have to make more effort
--can't run out for late night food runs
--hard to get dinners delivered except Rustica
--people often get lost coming here, but your friends will get used to it
--no tot parks w/in walking distance so we always have to ride in our car to get to toddler parks
--not as many families w/ young kids, but more moving up here all the time.
--some houses have NO outside space...which would drive me crazy. Our house has a huge yard, hilly, but lots of room to create flat lawns and garden, have dogs, and let kids run around.

That's my first run, feel free to contact me directly to chat. Julie

What is better up here? I definitely feel much safer and more private. There used to be lots of random people kind of passing by, picking bottles out of the garbage cans, hanging out at the school playground which was near our house, etc. Now I leave our front door wide open when we're home (our house is set back a bit from the street). We can't see or hear our neighbors and it just feels like we have a ton more privacy and space. And best of all is the beautiful view and sense of serenety gazing out at the Bay gives me.

What is worse? Driving everywhere. I seriously underestimated how much less exercise I would get living up here and have gained weight. I think I didn't notice how I'd just walk out of the house to do an errand, pick up lunch, or take my (then) baby for a stroll. Here even the tiniest little excursion means getting in the car. I would seriously give this consideration especially if you have more than one kid because you know what a hassle it is getting everybody in and out of the car seats. Also, the downside of having more privacy is that you don't interact with your neighbors. I'm sure it differs street by street but we happen to live on a street with mostly older neighbors and almost no kids. It was more fun having neighbors with kids, especially as they get older and would have fun playing together informally.

So pros and cons. But for me, without the view, the hassles of living in the hills wouldn't be worth it. Best to you
High on the hill

More reviews of Oakland Hills

Re: Safe, family--oriented neighborhood?
We LOVE living in what has recently been dubbed ''Piedmont Pines'' - the hills in Oakland just above Joaquin Miller Elementary School. Our backyard is the trailhead to Joaquin Miller & Redwood Regional Parks, we have great neighbors, many with children, and living on a cul-de-sac allows us to let our children (with supervision) to run around in a safe environment, where we all look out for each other. Cost is an issue. When we moved in, things were not so bad, but we've been looking at housing prices skyrocket since. If you own your home though, I'm sure you'll get a good price when you sell and could find a place in our neighborhood to make it work for you. Hope we meet your family soon