Living in Upper Rockridge? (Oakland, Berkeley: to rent, crime, houses)

[frenzyrider]

So we are considering moving to Upper Rockridge (once something reasonable comes up) in single family home. Elementary schools are important for us with two school aged kids. Buying is also an option. Few questions -
1) Has crime gone up in recent times?
2) Some houses seem to be sitting in the market for too long. Is there some structural issues in the area due to risk of land slides or any other soil issue?
3) how is the diversity vs. rest of Oakland?
4) Are people generally accepting of other cultures? Don’t want to end up in a situation where neighbors are not friendly to you for variety of factors such as color of your skin. How can we gauge that inclusivity in any area and not just Upper Rockridge?

[Ruth4Truth]

The people in that area are polite. That should answer your last question. Last I was there, back in the late 90's, one black couple had moved into the neighborhood. (This was a "first".) They attended a street party on the Berkeley side of the city line, to meet some of their new neighbors, and everyone was polite. By now, though, there's been a fair amount of turnover in homeownership in the area, so things have probably improved, beyond merely "polite". But it doesn't have the same level of diversity as the rest of Oakland, being a very high-end neighborhood.

Some houses may be overpriced, or too close to the freeway, so they're slower to sell. That's all I can tell you on that point. Chabot elementary school is well-regarded, fwiw. I don't know where in Upper Rockridge you're looking, but if you're looking above the tennis club, the chances of "something reasonable" coming up are slim. Below there, around the school somewhere, might be a possibility, depending on what's "reasonable", for you. Oh, but you're mainly looking to rent? IDK about rents in the area. But I would imagine that rents get more reasonable west of the school, or north/northwest of it. If you end up in a property that borders on Berkeley, you may have access to Berkeley schools as well.

[TheCityTheBridge]

Originally Posted by frenzyrider

So we are considering moving to Upper Rockridge (once something reasonable comes up) in single family home. Elementary schools are important for us with two school aged kids. Buying is also an option. Few questions -
1) Has crime gone up in recent times?

You can check the statistics, but this is a part of Oakland that most would characterize as very safe.

Originally Posted by frenzyrider

2) Some houses seem to be sitting in the market for too long. Is there some structural issues in the area due to risk of land slides or any other soil issue?

I would be surprised to see many houses in the area staying on the market long.

Originally Posted by frenzyrider

3) how is the diversity vs. rest of Oakland?

It is less diverse than the rest of Oakland by a considerable measure.

Originally Posted by frenzyrider

4) Are people generally accepting of other cultures? Don’t want to end up in a situation where neighbors are not friendly to you for variety of factors such as color of your skin. How can we gauge that inclusivity in any area and not just Upper Rockridge?

Oakland is probably about as good as you'll find in America for an inclusive atmosphere.

[frenzyrider]

Thank you both. There are two houses in Rockridge that are sitting for about 4 weeks now. One had a $200k price reduction.

[davdaven]

Usually when I see houses on the market for an extended period here in the East Bay, that means either it was priced at the actual selling point (rather than being marked down so that people would bid up to the actual price) or there was some sort of paperwork problem. For example, I came across a home elsewhere in the East Bay that has been on the market for 2 months with no price reduction, but the issue seems to be that it's listed as 4 bedrooms and has been remodeled as such even though the tax record lists the property as 3 bedrooms.

Upper Rockridge is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Oakland, but it's still Oakland, so it's about as inclusive as it gets. Although actual demographics don't mirror the rest of town. Crime ebbs and flows, but you're unlikely to experience it in that neighborhood.