Questions about walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill neighborhoods (Concord, Vista: appointed, apartments)

[onup]

We may be relocating to the bay area some time this summer. We would most likely buy a home in Walnut Creek or Pleasant Hill. Can anyone tell me much about the following neighborhoods? Close to shopping? Good for kids? etc.

Walnut Creek -
--areas within walking distance to the BART station and or mall
-- neighborhoods around Heather Farm Park
--west of 680 and between 24 and Buena Vista Ave

Pleasant Hill
--neighborhoods within walking distance to the BART Station
--neighborhoods west of SunValley Mall
-- areas in Pleasant Hill that bump up against Martinez

Thanks for you time!

[onup]

bumping to see if anyone has any info about any of these areas

[sav858]

Originally Posted by onup

We may be relocating to the bay area some time this summer. We would most likely buy a home in Walnut Creek or Pleasant Hill. Can anyone tell me much about the following neighborhoods? Close to shopping? Good for kids? etc.

Walnut Creek -
--areas within walking distance to the BART station and or mall
--west of 680 and between 24 and Buena Vista Ave

These two would be the same area, the only SFH neighborhood within walking distance is near Buena Vista Ave. All the schools in the Walnut Creek School District are good. It's pretty close to downtown WC where all the shopping is and there is a free shuttle from the BART station that takes you through downtown to Broadway Plaza and back. Neighborhood is nice, it's older and the homes all look different. No sidewalks, lots of narrow windy roads, and lots of trees in the area.

If you want to be closer to Downtown and Broadway Plaza, Walnut Knolls is a good neighborhood to look into and is one of the few SFH neighborhoods within walking distance of downtown, although it's up a hill. Another good area to look into for being within walking distance to downtown is the area west of S. Main St west of 680 and around Newell Ave, nice little charming neighborhood.

Broadway Plaza is the only mall in WC but downtown WC is like one big mall anyways. Most of the single family homes to the east are a little far are up a hill from Downtown.

-- neighborhoods around Heather Farm Park

These neighborhoods are newer generally and more the typical suburban development. The only thing about this area is that some of the schools may be in the Mt Diablo School District, which includes lots of schools Concord and that school district is not as good as the WCUSD. Foothill Middle and Northgate High, both in WC, are not in the WCUSD or the Acalanes Union High school District, which is what Las Lomas High is part off. Acalanes UHSCD has great high schools in it. There is a large shopping center at the corner of Treat and Bancroft and another one across the street from Heather Farms, just typical grocery store, strip mall stuff.

Pleasant Hill
--neighborhoods within walking distance to the BART Station

The PH Bart station is actually in an unincorporated part of WC. The neighborhood with in walking distance is called Walden and is where I grew up. The neighborhood is older, few sidewalks, and all the homes look different. There are two trails; the Iron Horse trail goes by the BART station so people who live near that trail take it to get to BART. The Contra Costa Canal Trail runs from near the BART station to Heather Farms, it's only like a 15-20 minute walk from the BART station to Heather Farms. I lived near the intersection of these two trails and could walk to the BART station in about 10 minutes and Heather Farms in 15. This area is part of the WCUSD and Acalanes UHSD. Although this is kind of the border for WC schools so some areas near there will send kids to schools in the MT Diable School District.

All these neighborhoods are good for kids and most of the shopping is in Downtown WC.

[onup]

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. All the information is really helpful.

One question. You mentioned a few of the areas don't have sidewalks. Does this make it difficult to walk places? The area we currently live in has no sidewalks on the road going towards the closest shops and the road is quite narrow and curvy and people tend to fly down it pretty fast which makes it less than ideal for walking, especially with a stroller.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by onup

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. All the information is really helpful.

One question. You mentioned a few of the areas don't have sidewalks. Does this make it difficult to walk places? The area we currently live in has no sidewalks on the road going towards the closest shops and the road is quite narrow and curvy and people tend to fly down it pretty fast which makes it less than ideal for walking, especially with a stroller.

People for the most part don't drive too fast but the roads are narrow, I'd just be cautious and might try to avoid walking it at night. If you live in the Walden area the two trails are better to walk or bike on and you can take the Iron Horse trail right to Downtown Walnut Creek, about a 45 minute walk or 15 minute bike ride. Lots of people use those trails to walk, run, ride, and exercise.

The area around Buena Vista has a lot of cut through traffic for people trying to get to 680, 24, and BART. I would feel less comfortable walking around the busier streets in that area.

[N CA]

I believe that much of the neighborhoods near the PLH BART station are in Mt. Diablo. The easiest way to check is at the link below. There is no 'choice' in attending school districts, so if you're in Mt. Diablo, you attend Mt. Diablo schools unless you apply for a inter-district transfer. Walnut Creek school District schools are decent to excellent. Mt. Diablo has a wider range of performance at their schools, so you need to check school performance for any Mt. Diablo school. Be sure to check through the high school level. There have been many Mt. Diablo parents who have been disappointed with their high school because they only checked the performance of their elementary school, and they just assumed that the middle and high schools would be similar in performance.

MDUSD::Schools : Find Your School (http://www.mdusd.k12.ca.us/mdusd/schoolfind.php - broken link)

[N CA]

Sorry, most of WCSD schools really are excellent. I don't think that any of them rate under a 9 out of 10 by the State of California.

[radioclown]

I always enjoyed Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill, especially with all of the growth they have experienced. I grew up in Lafayette, and that is an area you might want to consider as well. It is very nice, good schools and hasn't really experienced the increase in population that the rest of the East Bay has.

[onup]

Thank you everyone for all of the information. It has been really helpful.

How are the schools in Pleasant Hill? We are actually homeschooling our oldest right now so schools aren't an immediate concern, but we have always taken homeschooling on a year by year basis and would put him in regular school if we came to a point where we felt he wasn't getting everything he needed. We know that schools can also play into the resale value of a house so we want to keep that in mind.

We have looked a bit in Lafayette and while it's possible we could find a house that would work nicely for us, there are more options in Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill in our preferred price range.

Something close to one of the BART stations or on a public transportatoin route that would get us to the BART woud be a huge plus for us because it would open up more opportunities for trips centered around what my son is studying. That's one of the reasons we have been looking at those areas in particular.

[N CA]

Pleasant Hill schools belong to Mt. Diablo.

Here is the link for public schools in PLH. My friend's kids attend PLH Elementary, and he likes it. Sequoia is a magnet school and admission is first come, first served, I think. I think you register your child on a waiting list when they're young. I know folks whose kids attend Sequoia, and they like it. I know a Strandwood teacher, and I hear it's excellent, also.

Pleasant Hill is a very nice community. I believe that their city council is very involved in the city's education community and partners with Mt. Diablo Unified.

My husband grew up in Walnut Creek (Saranap) and Alamo. He would not be inclined to move anywhere near PLH BART. I just asked him. My husband recommends the Buena Vista area of Walnut Creek for it's accessibility to Walnut Creek BART.

Alamo is also a very nice community, but I don't think that it's as accessible to BART. My husbands family moved from unincorporated WC to Alamo (entire town is unincorporated) where Alamo meets Walnut Creek, near Tice. Very nice area.

Pleasant Hill Public Schools

I recommend that you visit: transit.511.org

It will plan your public transit route.

I'm not sure, but think most of the areas by PLH BART is high-density housing: apartments, condos, etc.

My recommendation is to select some of the higher rated elementary schools and look in the areas near those schools. Generally, the 'nicer' areas are going to be associated with the higher rated schools.

Lafayette, Moraga, Alamo, Orinda are all wonderful communities, but they're pricier than Walnut Creek and PLH. PLH is the most affordable community out of the ones mentioned here. The PLH folks I know all seem to view PLH as a small, community-minded city.