Advertise | About Us | My Account | Log In

 

Getting to Know You

Five Oakland Neighborhoods Worth Exploring

Getting to Know You

Five Oakland Neighborhoods Worth Exploring

    What’s the quintessential “Oakland” neighborhood?
    Most Oaklanders probably think theirs is. Rockridge dwellers relish their charming, historic bungalows near destination dining and shopping; Montclarians delight in forested hillsides with great vistas; and Trestle Glen residents take pride in grand estates along narrow, meandering roads. Out-of-towners might zero in on other
Oakland neighborhoods—ever-hipper Temescal, ethnically diverse Fruitvale, urban Uptown—that generate buzz.
    But a slew of lesser-known neighborhoods play a big part in making Oakland what it is today, so we thought it would be worth getting to know a few a little better. Here’s what we found out.

Bella Vista/Ivy Hill

    The Bella Vista neighborhood is one of Oakland’s up-and-comers, and its history and gorgeous mix of housing styles and sizes give it some of its most colorful character.
    Often grouped in with Ivy Hill or Haddon Hill, this neighborhood is East of Lake Merritt, nestled roughly between East 33rd Street, 13th Avenue, East 24th Street and Ninth Avenue.
    “There aren’t tons of people looking at it yet, but I think it’ll get to that point,” says Thornwall Properties real estate agent Martha Becker. “It’s one of my favorite neighbohoods in Oakland.”
There’s an intriguing assortment of home sizes within the neighborhood, from small bungalows to grand estates. Architectural styles vary as well; traditional Craftsman homes lining one block, Mediterranean-style houses commanding the next.
    The interesting mix carries over into the ethnic character of the neighborhood. “One thing I really like about Bella Vista is that there’s not one ethnic group that dominates the neighborhood,” says Loviça Callisti, who’s lived in Bella Vista for two years.
    Bella Vista residents are still close to Grand Avenue amenities, and they can easily catch the casual carpool under Interstate 580. Additionally, Lakeshore and Glenview eateries and businesses, including the Parkway Speakeasy Theater on Park Boulevard, are nearby.
    The remnants of Arbor Villa, entrepreneur Francis Marion “Borax” Smith’s 1890s estate, still flavor the neighborhood. Smith ended up with the nickname “Borax” after he discovered the mineral borax and its uses. Smith also earned a name in the East Bay as a real estate entrepreneur, running streetcars into lesser-known parts of Oakland where he was selling land. The palm trees that line Ninth Avenue once formed the border of his estate, and across Park Boulevard still lie some of the historic cottages built by his wife in a charitable effort to house “friendless girls.” Some of the cottages were designed by big-name architects—Bernard Maybeck and Julia Morgan among them.

New Kids on the Block

    Chip Beal, 37, and his wife, Loviça Callisti, 35, call their move to Bella Vista a “happy accident.” They didn’t know much about the neighborhood but had chanced upon it a few times and were intrigued by its historical roots.
    As Seattle transplants, they’d settled in a rental property near Lake Merritt upon arrival in Oakland only to find many fellow ex-Seattle-ites had done the same. “I think we must all be drawn to live near bodies of water,” Beal jokes.
    Once they started looking at houses, one of the first they were smitten with happened to be in the Bella Vista neighborhood.
“We really liked the combination of different-sized houses and the quietness of the neighborhood,” says Beal. “The neighborhood has a really cool mix of Arts and Crafts, Victorians and Mediterranean-style homes.”
    The home they purchased about two years ago is a 1920 two-plus bedroom, three-bath Craftsman. The “plus” is a loft upstairs that Chip Beal, an industrial designer, uses as his home office. His wife commutes to nearby Emeryville, where she’s a technical director at Leapfrog.
    “The house has a lot of nice Craftsman detailing, but then we like to say that the ’60s and ’70s happened to it,” Beal says. “There were some weird additions and style decisions made in that era.”
    The couple is currently working with an architect on remodeling plans, hoping to complete a renovation within two years. They’re focusing on keeping things “green” by using sustainable materials, radiant heat, nontoxic paint and energy-efficient appliances, and they intend to install solar panels on their roof.
    “It’s been a great neighborhood to get to know,” says Beal. “It’s constantly changing, going through a really positive transformation right now.”
    “We’re equidistant from the Lakeshore area and Glenview and the Parkway,” says Callisti. “If the weather is nice, we’ll often take a 15-minute walk to Glenview on a Sunday morning and have brunch at the Blackberry Bistro.”
    Bella Vista is drawing more and more artists to its ranks, which pleases Beal. “There are some pockets of the neighborhood where artists have set up live/work spaces, which I really like to see.”

Redwood Heights

    The Redwood Heights neighborhood, one of Oakland’s oldest subdivisions, lies between MacArthur Boulevard and state Highway 13 and is centered around Redwood Road, once an old logging road. A
family-friendly community and colonial and ranch-style houses dating from the 1920s to the 1950s distinguish the neighborhood.
    Richard Cowan, a Redwood Heights resident and chief of staff for Councilmember Jean Quan, says younger families with kids have moved into the neighborhood recently. “It’s great to see kids everywhere,” says Cowan, who lives in a 1938 Monterey Colonial home with his wife and teenage daughter. “It’s great to see that people are moving in and buying these older homes and really keeping them up.”
    The neighborhood’s Redwood Heights Neighborhood Association, established in 1944 and one of the oldest voluntary neighborhood associations in Oakland, is very active and attracts lots of residents to spearhead local projects and organize social events.
    “The sense of community here is incredible,” says Cowan. “Redwood Heights has changed considerably over the past 20 years, and the community involvement has been a huge part of that.”
    Pacific Union real estate agent Jennie Flanigan says she encourages clients who are feeling pushed out of neighborhoods like Rockridge—especially those with children or those who plan to start a familly—to take a look at Redwood Heights. “It’s so kid-friendly,” she says. “There are great parks, a good elementary school and great activities at the Redwood Heights Recreation Center.”
    Parents come from far and wide to let their kids play at Redwood Heights’ Avenue Terrace Park (also known as Jordan Park), and the elementary school impresses with strong parent involvement and top scores.
    Great hiking in Roberts and Redwood parks is just a five-minute drive up Redwood Road; Roberts Park has a community pool, and there are horseback-riding facilities near the entrance to Redwood Park. Peralta Creek, which runs through the neighborhood itself, attracts nature lovers.

Maintaining Homegrown Roots

    Denise Davila has a lot to say about her neighborhood, Redwood Heights, considering she’s lived there her entire life. She currently resides in her grandmother’s 1930s home on the street that she grew up on.  All told, her family has been in the neighborhood for almost 80 years (Davila is 40). “We’ve seen a lot of changes over the years,” she says. “All this time, Redwood Heightshas remained a desirable, family-oriented neighborhood.”
    Davila attended Redwood Heights Elementary School and has fond memories of riding her bike around the neighborhood after school, ending up at Avenue Terrace Park to play with friends.
    “I know of three people who recently bought into the neighborhood, because they grew up here and wanted to raise their kids here,” Davila says.
    After the 1998 El Niño storms, a landslide made Peralta Creek accessible once again to Redwood Heights residents. The landslide closed off Rettig Avenue near Wisconsin Street and opened up nine acres of creekside that has since been designated a wildlife corridor. Davila and her neighbors have played an active role in the restoration of Peralta Creek, forming a nonprofit group, Native Environment Watershed Transformation, or NEWT, to maintain the banks and creekbeds. Davila, who also leads creek field trips for local school groups, is an education specialist with the nonprofit Community Resources for Science and a professor and teacher-trainer for the education program at CSU East Bay, so the Peralta Creek work has been close to her heart.
    Neighborhood organizing is another part of what makes living in Redwood Heights so enjoyable, says Davila. In addition to the large Redwood Heights Neighborhood Association, there are numerous subgroups of neighbors who organize around various issues. Davila serves as co-editor of the Redwood Heights quarterly newsletter, which goes out to 1,400 residents.

San Antonio

    The incredible cultural diversity of the San Antonio neighborhood attracts attention and is what gives the neighborhood its character. The Lower San Antonio neighborhood—the real hub of community activity—extends roughly from Lake Merritt to 29th Avenue, up from the estuary to East 22nd Street. The area serves as a first home to many immigrants and refugees from all over the world.
    “You can pretty much point your finger anywhere on the globe and find someone from that country that resides here,” says Denisha DeLane, program assistant with Making Connections Oakland, a nonprofit organization formed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
    Based on 2000 census data, the San Antonio neighborhood is one of the most diverse in the country. And that’s what initially attracted the attention of the foundation, which wanted to assist in improving economic conditions in targeted communities between censuses.
    San Antonio’s main commercial strip along International Boulevard reflects the neighborhood’s diversity and is filled Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Mexican businesses, shops and restaurants. And while the business district hasn’t seen the same revitalization as the  neighboring Fruitvale district, that’s probably only a matter of time.
    The houses in the neighborhood reflect its colorful history, and there are many beautiful Victorian homes and early 1900s structures, including the historic Cohen-Bray house, the home of the Victorian Preservation Center of Oakland.
    San Antonio’s historic commercial corridor along 23rd Avenue, from East 12th Street to Foothill Boulevard, is slated for a major revitalization with new streetscaping, affordable housing, neighborhood-serving businesses and an arts center in the plans.The arts have long had a strong presence in San Antonio, where the Eastside Arts Alliance is a major neighborhood player, supporting artists and hosting community events, workshops and festivals.

A Magnet for Families

    Mayra Lopez has lived in the lower San Antonio neighborhood for 26 of her 27 years, and she has been getting to know her neighborhood even better over the past few years through her role as a volunteer community-builder for San Antonio Neighborhood Network, a program of Making Connections Oakland.Interested in schools and early childhood education issues, she facilitates meetings, communicates with parents and organizes local grassroots efforts. Lopez also works to get local residents connected to available free and low-cost services, such as tax help and financial-planning workshops.
    Lopez’s two young children—ages 7 and 9—attend the same elementary school she did. “When I was in school, I didn’t see a lot of participation from the parents,” she says. “But now it seems like there are a lot more parents who are interested.”
    What keeps Lopez in the neighborhood is family and familiarity. She moved to San Antonio from Mexico with her family when she was 1, and her family still lives in the neighborhood. Her mom lives next door, and her husband, Ernesto Herrera, 32, a welder, was her childhood next-door neighbor. Her sister married Herrera’s brother, and they live nearby as well.
    “I feel like this is a safe place for me, because I know the area and know my neighbors,” says Lopez, adding that the nearby preschool, elementary and junior high schools are pluses for the neighborhood.
“There’s also a lot of cultural enrichmentin our neighborhood,” she says.“The diversity is so great. My kids are learning to get along with so many different types of kids from so many types of cultures, and like that.”

Jack London District

    The Jack London District is the site of much of Oakland’s earliest history, and as such, it’s home to numerous historical buildings and neighborhoods. The Waterfront Warehouse District—nine blocks within the larger Jack London District—is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the historic Produce Market buildings still stand and operate within the neighborhood. Spanning 70 blocks along the Oakland Estuary, the Jack London District is one of the hottest development sites in Oakland. Hundreds of apartments, lofts and condos have sprung up recently, and more are in the works, as are a $300 million Jack London Square overhaul and major development of the estuary.
    “The Jack London District is great, because there’s lots of new development coupled with some older, more historic buildings and community action around preservation,” says Pacific Union real estate agent Jennie Flanigan.
    Residents like being within walking distance of Jack London Square and the easy access to Interstate 880 (plus Alameda and transbay ferry service). The neighborhood itself attracts artists and proponents of live/work arrangements.
    The rapid development has not been without controversy. While some residents eagerly anticipate the estuary develoment, critics complain it doesn’t make the most of the waterfront’s natural features. Other projects have their share of advocates and adversaries. Partly because of the changing nature of the neighborhood, a strong neighborhood group, the Jack London District Association, has evolved to keep an eye on development.
    Waterfront Warehouse District resident Gary Knecht has lived in the business-centric area for 25 years, residing in a live/work building that he and his wife bought 22 years ago. “Back when we first moved here, it was still a manufacturing and warehouse district; parking spaces were infinite, and the number of people on the street was pretty nominal,” Knecht says. That’s all changed: “Now there are dogs, double-wide baby carriages and no parking.”
    The trend toward more residential housing in the neighborhood started in the early 1990s, says Knecht, who has seen multistory buildings take the place of warehouses, and cars and people fill the streets and parking spaces.
    Knecht has been involved in several historical-preservation efforts and is currently working on a historical walking tour of the Waterfront Warehouse District, though he says preservation issues have not been at the forefront recently. “The ecnomic forces have been so overwhelming, and the city has been so uninterested, that it’s a miracle that the warehouse district got enough support to even be listed [on the National Register of Historic Places].”
    “There’s always some new surprise coming up in the neighborhood,” says Knecht. “When we first got here, we liked our isolation and solitude; and as we’ve grown older, we’ve enjoyed the growth.”

Sheffield village

    Designated as an Oakland City Historic District, Sheffield Village is a 100-acre enclave of single-family houses built mostly in the late 1930s. At the base of Dunsmuir Ridge, with San Leandro to the west, Sheffield Village lies just east of I-580 about a mile south of the Oakland Zoo and consists of about 300 homes.
    At the heart of the “village” lies a park and clubhouse maintained by the Sheffield Village Homeowner’s Association. Mature trees line the village’s meandering streets, where charming, well-kept houses conjure up a 1950s time warp. The houses here are generally two- and three-bedroom homes that sit on large lots, but finding one for sale is a rarity. Originally, all homes featured hardwood floors, lots of built-ins and
custom-design choices.
    “Many of the houses are still in pretty original condition,” says Michael Crowe, an architectural historian who has led walking tours of Sheffield Village. Crowe notes that some new construction that’s dramatically different from the overall character of the neighborhood really stands out.
    Though long since outlawed and abandoned, at the time of construction, Sheffield Village billed itself as racially segregated—it was a Caucasian-only housing development. Today, Sheffield Village is a racially mixed community. The neighborhood is governed by the Sheffield Village Homeowners Association, which enforces property-owners’ rules.
    Deni Hodges, who moved to Sheffield Village eight years ago, describes her neighborhood as a real community. “I feel it’s one of the last neighborhoods in the Bay Area where you can really get to know your neighbors,” she says. “I know everyone on my block, and they all know me—and my dog.”
    Hodges, who teaches private yoga classes in the downstairs of her home, enjoys being close to the Dunsmuir Ridge open space that backs up to her home. The village also has two association-maintained parks (one with newly refinished tennis courts) and a city-maintained park.
    The neighborhood lies very close to the Hayward fault, and fractures in the fault, visible in the cliffs above the houses, attract local geology enthusiasts. The precariousness of the fault is why many residents oppose development along the ridge above the neighborhood. Though much of the ridge is designated as an open-space preserve, some parts are privately owned, and some developers are interested in putting in new housing developments.