Berkeley Parents Network: Living in Rockridge/N. Oakland

Berkeley Parents Network

Living in Rockridge/N. Oakland

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > Housing, Neighborhoods, & Moving > Living in Rockridge/N. Oakland

Moving to Rockridge with little ones

July 2007

My husband and I are moving to Rockridge (from Cambridge, MA) this August with our 2 and 4 year old girls. We're very excited! I'm a SAHM and would love some initial pointers on the area - yummy child-friendly restaurants & hang out spots, best places for groceries, and, most of all, best places/ways to meet other families in the neighborhood with preschoolers. It seems playgroups and such tend to be mostly for infants/younger children -- any advice on good ways to connect with other parents of similarly-aged kids? Any parents interested in meeting up - please feel free to email me! Jen

Welcome to the Bay Area! I'm sure you'll get a million responses on this one, but here are some things we love to do in Rockridge: dinner at Cactus Taqueria (fresh, yummy, kid-friendly); cookies and coffee (and fresh pasta, interesting cheeses, etc.) at Market Hall; FROG Park; Rockridge Library (read the bulletin board -- they often have fun free activities for kids); Pasta Pomodoro (not a foodie place, but heated outdoor seating and good for kids); Rockridge Kids toy store (train table and good birthday gift source). A new Trader Joe's grocery store is opening near Rockridge BART this fall (I think) -- they're hands-down my favorite grocery store. As for meeting other kids, preschool has been a good resource for us, if you're going that route; also music classes (eg, Music Together) and other classes, library events and meeting people through BPN. You're on the right track! JP

Not to worry, you will be in heaven. Just cruise down College Avenue and you will see all the other parents and kids and all there is to see. Practically all the restaurants are child-friendly--the fancier ones are easy to spot. Hang out at the Frog park and you will meet lots of people. Rockridge is easily accessible to Berkeley and the rest of Oakland so everything you see on the gold old BPN applies to you! See you around!

Playgrounds & parent groups in North Oakland?

Feb 2006

We will soon be moving to North Oakland (Rockridge adjacent -- 61st and Shattuck) -- I'm wondering if there are any active local parent groups, or even a local playground where kids (and parents) congregate and can get to know each other (I'm new to the Bay Area)? I have a 10-month-old daughter. Kim

Dear Kim, Welcome to the neighborhood! We've been in North Oakland (just a few blocks from you) for a couple of years and like it very much. We are pretty new parents and still figuring out the scene so I look forward to reading the other responses you get. I can tell you that there is a relatively new playground on Dover St (I think between 59th & 58th, between Shattuck & MLK). There seem to be a mix of little kids with parents and bigger, unsupervised kids. Each time I've been there I've run into someone else pushing a stroller, so I encourage you to give it a shot. I understand that the playground was created with a lot of community support, and so far it is very well-maintained. Bushrod Park has had an iffy reputation in the past, but it seems to be undergoing a revitalization, and if we all turned out and used the playground I'm sure it would help. Then there's the Frog Park up in Rockridge, which is just too damn charming and I would guess a hotspot for parent networking. happy in Noakland

Welcome to the neighborhood! You can subscribe to the Lower Rockridge Parents newsgroup at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lowerrockridgeparents/ Heather

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