Official bay area information thread (San Francisco, Concord: section 8, apartment, foreclosures)
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Basically the premise of this thread is you describe the various quality of a county, city, or neighborhood in the Bay Area to help others, who may not have a clear understanding of the Bay's various regions. This thread will act as a place to be informed by locals!
This is a post I made to someone asking about Marin County and Contra Costa County. I think posts like this would be helpful, especially from people who are familiar with other parts of the Bay. I know SF, the East Bay, and Solano county fairly well, but I know very little about the peninsula, etc. This a change to gain a local's point of view.
Marin County is the most Affluent county in California, and the second most affluent in the United States. It's very nice and upscale. But yes, it is also very, very white. Which isn't a bad or good thing, it's just a fact about the county. Marin is geographically beautiful because the residents pretty much say no to any developers that propose, well anything. The con to Marin is that nimbyism is rampant.
Contra Costa County is too diverse of a region to pin down to any one feel. Richmond is Contra Costa County, as is Concord, Crockett, Brentwood and Orinda. CCC can be broken down into 5 separate regions that are completely different from each other.
West County:
This area is most known for Richmond and it's bad rap in the media, but Richmond has some very nice areas, such as Point Richmond, and the area near Hilltop Mall, but Richmond does contain some of the worst ghettos in California as well, so it's very dependent on area. San Pablo is another city in West County. It's basically an extension of the rougher parts of Richmond. However, West County is also home to some of the best areas in the Bay (at least in my opinion) El Cerrito is an awesome, beautiful community, very diverse and plentiful access to BART. Pinole is middle class suburb. El Sobrante is a semi-rural working-middle class suburb. Not a bad community at all. Hercules is an upper middle class area, very quiet, large Asian population. It has the feel of a smaller, East Bay Daly City. Then there's Rodeo, Rodeo is a refinery town, working-middle class area. Not bad. The next two towns in West County are Crockett and Port Costa, these areas are very old and are very small. It's crazy to think you're only 26 miles from San Francisco while in Crockett/PC, as the towns remain frozen in time, not in bad way, though. It's very charming.
Central County:
Central County includes the largest city in Contra Costa County, Concord. Concord is a middle-working class town with a large Hispanic community. The downtown area is nice, albeit small, and there's good access to San Francisco as the city has two BART stations. Despite Concord being the biggest city in CCC, the focal point of all of Contra Costa is Walnut Creek. Walnut Creek is basically the East Bay's answer to Palo Alto. Very rich, new money vibe. Many of the high end outlets you'd find in San Francisco, you can find in Walnut Creek. Then there's Pleasant Hill, which is an upper middle class area with a large Asian student population as the school is the main feeder into UC Berkeley. Downtown area is small and very suburban in the sense that everything is a major big box retailer. Last, but not least is Martinez. Martinez is the waterfront section of Central Contra Costa. The city is working-upper middle class. The areas near Morello, and in the hills are very wealthy, while the areas closer to downtown are a bit depressed, but seems to be gentrifying. One thing about Martinez is the refinery, also the downtown area seems to have a bit of a problem with methamphetamine. It's not a bad town overall.
East County:
East County is the part of Contra Costa that has been growing the fastest lately. East County includes Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood, and a few smaller, unincorporated areas. Pittsburg is a working-middle class city that seems a bit depressed, it does have access to BART, which makes it preferable among East County communities, as Pittsburg is the only place with easy access to the rest of the Bay Area. Antioch is the largest city in East County, and can be characterized as suburban sprawl, like Pittsburg the area is working to middle class, and very diverse. However, Antioch is experiencing a surge in crime because of the section 8 from other parts of the Bay Area has been moved to Antioch. During the 2008 crash, Antioch had the highest rate of foreclosures in the Bay Area. Brentwood borders Antioch to the southeast, and is middle to upper middle class. This town you can call a bit conservative, it is semi rural, but is growing quickly as East County is the most affordable region in Contra Costa. Oakley is working to middle class with a large Hispanic community. Kinda like a smaller Concord, but with less to do. There's also unincorporated Bay Point. This area is very economically depressed. Large Hispanic community. So there's a lot of good Mexican food, but other than that, the area is very isolated, and dare I say desolate.
Tri Valley: The Tri-Valley is partly in Alameda County, but the parts that are in Contra Costa are typical affluent suburbs. Very wealthy, with about an even mix of whites and Asians. These cities are San Ramon, Danville, and Alamo
Lamorinda: Lamorinda is basically little Marin County in the East Bay. Very old money. Nibyism runs rampant, although that seems to be charging a bit in the case of Lafayette. The cities in the regions are Orinda, Lafayette and Moraga. The name Lamorinda is a combination of the names of all three cities.
Hope this helps. But don't dismiss Vallejo or Benicia either. Both are bargains and offer a lot. I recently moved to Vallejo and it's very diverse, the city is geographically beautiful and there's a large gay scene here. Which surprised me. Very tolerant. Some areas are crime ridden, but nothing you can't handle coming from SF. There's also direct ferry service to the city. Benicia next door is a bit more affluent than Vallejo, and is gorgeous. The one thing you may find negative about Benicia is the refinery. However, the city may be whiter than you like, judging from your previous comments.
Basically the premise of this thread is you describe the various quality of a county, city, or neighborhood in the Bay Area to help others, who may not have a clear understanding of the Bay's various regions. This thread will act as a place to be informed by locals!
This is a post I made to someone asking about Marin County and Contra Costa County. I think posts like this would be helpful, especially from people who are familiar with other parts of the Bay. I know SF, the East Bay, and Solano county fairly well, but I know very little about the peninsula, etc. This a change to gain a local's point of view.
Marin County is the most Affluent county in California, and the second most affluent in the United States. It's very nice and upscale. But yes, it is also very, very white. Which isn't a bad or good thing, it's just a fact about the county. Marin is geographically beautiful because the residents pretty much say no to any developers that propose, well anything. The con to Marin is that nimbyism is rampant.
Contra Costa County is too diverse of a region to pin down to any one feel. Richmond is Contra Costa County, as is Concord, Crockett, Brentwood and Orinda. CCC can be broken down into 5 separate regions that are completely different from each other.
West County:
This area is most known for Richmond and it's bad rap in the media, but Richmond has some very nice areas, such as Point Richmond, and the area near Hilltop Mall, but Richmond does contain some of the worst ghettos in California as well, so it's very dependent on area. San Pablo is another city in West County. It's basically an extension of the rougher parts of Richmond. However, West County is also home to some of the best areas in the Bay (at least in my opinion) El Cerrito is an awesome, beautiful community, very diverse and plentiful access to BART. Pinole is middle class suburb. El Sobrante is a semi-rural working-middle class suburb. Not a bad community at all. Hercules is an upper middle class area, very quiet, large Asian population. It has the feel of a smaller, East Bay Daly City. Then there's Rodeo, Rodeo is a refinery town, working-middle class area. Not bad. The next two towns in West County are Crockett and Port Costa, these areas are very old and are very small. It's crazy to think you're only 26 miles from San Francisco while in Crockett/PC, as the towns remain frozen in time, not in bad way, though. It's very charming.
Central County:
Central County includes the largest city in Contra Costa County, Concord. Concord is a middle-working class town with a large Hispanic community. The downtown area is nice, albeit small, and there's good access to San Francisco as the city has two BART stations. Despite Concord being the biggest city in CCC, the focal point of all of Contra Costa is Walnut Creek. Walnut Creek is basically the East Bay's answer to Palo Alto. Very rich, new money vibe. Many of the high end outlets you'd find in San Francisco, you can find in Walnut Creek. Then there's Pleasant Hill, which is an upper middle class area with a large Asian student population as the school is the main feeder into UC Berkeley. Downtown area is small and very suburban in the sense that everything is a major big box retailer. Last, but not least is Martinez. Martinez is the waterfront section of Central Contra Costa. The city is working-upper middle class. The areas near Morello, and in the hills are very wealthy, while the areas closer to downtown are a bit depressed, but seems to be gentrifying. One thing about Martinez is the refinery, also the downtown area seems to have a bit of a problem with methamphetamine. It's not a bad town overall.
East County:
East County is the part of Contra Costa that has been growing the fastest lately. East County includes Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood, and a few smaller, unincorporated areas. Pittsburg is a working-middle class city that seems a bit depressed, it does have access to BART, which makes it preferable among East County communities, as Pittsburg is the only place with easy access to the rest of the Bay Area. Antioch is the largest city in East County, and can be characterized as suburban sprawl, like Pittsburg the area is working to middle class, and very diverse. However, Antioch is experiencing a surge in crime because of the section 8 from other parts of the Bay Area has been moved to Antioch. During the 2008 crash, Antioch had the highest rate of foreclosures in the Bay Area. Brentwood borders Antioch to the southeast, and is middle to upper middle class. This town you can call a bit conservative, it is semi rural, but is growing quickly as East County is the most affordable region in Contra Costa. Oakley is working to middle class with a large Hispanic community. Kinda like a smaller Concord, but with less to do. There's also unincorporated Bay Point. This area is very economically depressed. Large Hispanic community. So there's a lot of good Mexican food, but other than that, the area is very isolated, and dare I say desolate.
Tri Valley: The Tri-Valley is partly in Alameda County, but the parts that are in Contra Costa are typical affluent suburbs. Very wealthy, with about an even mix of whites and Asians. These cities are San Ramon, Danville, and Alamo
Lamorinda: Lamorinda is basically little Marin County in the East Bay. Very old money. Nibyism runs rampant, although that seems to be charging a bit in the case of Lafayette. The cities in the regions are Orinda, Lafayette and Moraga. The name Lamorinda is a combination of the names of all three cities.
Hope this helps. But don't dismiss Vallejo or Benicia either. Both are bargains and offer a lot. I recently moved to Vallejo and it's very diverse, the city is geographically beautiful and there's a large gay scene here. Which surprised me. Very tolerant. Some areas are crime ridden, but nothing you can't handle coming from SF. There's also direct ferry service to the city. Benicia next door is a bit more affluent than Vallejo, and is gorgeous. The one thing you may find negative about Benicia is the refinery. However, the city may be whiter than you like, judging from your previous comments.
Adding to El Cerrito. I consider it a transition zone between Richmond and NW Alameda County, although if I had to make a call, it trends more toward NW Alameda than Richmond. Except for the fact it's in the same school district as Richmond. There are a wide variety of housing options for such a relatively small community, ranging from borderline hardscrabble "dingbat" apartment buildings in the flats between the El Cerrito BART station and the Albany/Richmond border (e.g. out behind Pacific East Mall), to lavish large spec homes in the hills.
For the tri valley I believe you left out Dublin,Pleasanton, and Livermore.
Those are the cities for alameda county
I was focusing on the Contra Costa side. What I wrote was a post from a different thread. I'd just like to see info like that compiled into one thread.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PixelatedTherapy
I was focusing on the Contra Costa side. What I wrote was a post from a different thread. I'd just like to see info like that compiled into one thread.
True, but for people moving to the Bay Area and looking at the tri valley they should be aware it doesn't just stop at San Ramon.
For this post to be a good guide you need that as well as south bay and peninsula if you want to really cover the area
True, but for people moving to the Bay Area and looking at the tri valley they should be aware it doesn't just stop at San Ramon.
For this post to be a good guide you need that as well as south bay and peninsula if you want to really cover the area
Exactly. That's why I want other users to put their input in on other parts of the Bay Area.
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