Martinez (San Francisco, Oakland, Concord: homes, school districts, live)

[sonarrat]

One of the towns I almost never hear mentioned on this forum is Martinez. It's a smaller town, about the same size as San Bruno, just south of the Benicia Bridge. I have only actually been there once - a sports bar near the Amtrak station. It seemed to me like an adorable little town that I could really fall in love with. I like these kinds of sleepy suburbs where not much happens. Is my assessment correct, or is there more (or less) to Martinez than I'm seeing?

[ImRandy]

It has it's good and bad points. It's the county seat for Contra Costa, has a nice fairly sleepy downtown, home prices are more reasonable than many areas of the Bay Area. On the other hand you've got the refinery which concerns a lot of people.

When you go back you may want to try Bulldog BBQ on main street. It's pretty tasty.

[nooneknowsmyname]

I live one town over from Martinez. The town is divided by Highway 4 and the two sides are different. The side south of 4 is more like a small town with an old-fashioned downtown, older homes, the Amtrak Station and many of the Contra Costa County Offices including the County jail. There is also a waterfront part that includes a reclaimed wetlands area. The north side of 4 is newer and borders on Pleasant Hill and is much like PH. Although I am not certain, I believe the town's children may attend 2 different school districts depending on which side of the highway they reside.

[docskinner]

Old section is between the 4 and the water - which is NORTH of the 4!!

Originally Posted by nooneknowsmyname

I live one town over from Martinez. The town is divided by Highway 4 and the two sides are different. The side south of 4 is more like a small town with an old-fashioned downtown, older homes, the Amtrak Station and many of the Contra Costa County Offices including the County jail. There is also a waterfront part that includes a reclaimed wetlands area. The north side of 4 is newer and borders on Pleasant Hill and is much like PH. Although I am not certain, I believe the town's children may attend 2 different school districts depending on which side of the highway they reside.

[MichaelinWA]

Speaking of sports, I remember reading that the great Joe DiMaggio was born there, somewhere on the waterfront. It always seemed like a pretty nice town, the few times I've been there. More recently, the beaver controversy has made it way into the PNW newspapers.

Originally Posted by sonarrat

One of the towns I almost never hear mentioned on this forum is Martinez. It's a smaller town, about the same size as San Bruno, just south of the Benicia Bridge. I have only actually been there once - a sports bar near the Amtrak station.

[Ultrarunner]

There is a plaque commemorating the birth of the martini on the north-east corner of the intersection of Alhambra Avenue and Masonic Street

[frios]

The weather is great, always. It is a very clean town and very close to concord for all your shopping needs. The only drawback is that it's far from the city (San Francisco) you have to take hwy 4 to 80 west which can be a real pain during rush hours. And don't tell me you take 680 to 24

But, if you don't work in the city or need to travel to often, it's a great place!

[John-G]

Originally Posted by frios

... The only drawback is that it's far from the city (San Francisco) you have to take hwy 4 to 80 west which can be a real pain during rush hours. And don't tell me you take 680 to 24

Hwy4 to 80 is longer & slower.
Pleasant Hill Rd to Taylor...to 24 is a lot quicker, almost always. I commuted for a while, tried both ways. No question about which worked better.

"Far from the city" is pretty vague. Takes about 40 minutes from Martinez when traffic isn't heavy, all bets are off when traffic is hosed, just like everywhere else around here. I made it to Oakland airport a few weeks ago for a 9:00am weekday flight in an amazing 40 minutes. I have no idea where all the cars were that morning. Did the same thing to SFO a week later in 70 minutes.


I've also done the 3+ hour drive from downtown SF to Concord - just bad timing that day.