Discover Lakeshore and Grand Avenue

The Grand-Lakeshore district is the crossroads of Oakland. Seemingly everyone in town spends time here, whether they walk in from the surrounding neighborhoods, ride in on one of the major bus lines that pass through or drive in for a couple of hours of shopping and noshing. The well-known diversity of the city can be seen here from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. most days of the week. The district is also just a short walk from Lake Merritt, Oakland's crown jewel, making it a great place to stop before or after a leisurely stroll along water.

Grand Avenue cuts through several Oakland neighborhoods, from its beginnings as the border between downtown to uptown to where it transects Piedmont and becomes Pleasant Valley Avenue. The length of Grand that creates one side of the Grand-Lakeshore district runs from the 580 Freeway north to about Weldon Avenue, give or take a block depending on the state of the economy in any given year.

This wide, four-lane boulevard has seen and survived many changes of time, fashion, and taste. Nowadays, the avenue is a relaxed and easygoing social center perfect for finding breakfast, a midday espresso or late night drinks. The Lakeshore Avenue shopping and dining strip is a shorter stretch than Grand, but the street is narrower and more businesses are packed in, so it's constantly alive with diners, shoppers and people watchers. The tree-lined street is a great place to stroll, eat, window shop, and catch up with friends.

Connecting the two is the brief but busy Lake Park Avenue. For all of the car traffic, foot traffic Lake Park keeps a park, a classic hamburger stand and a popular farmers' market thriving. All of these and the diversions on Grand and Lakeshore make the district a place where finding something fun and interesting to do is an easy way to spend a few hours.

Discovering Rockridge

Prior to the building of the Bay Bridge in 1936, Rockridge, located at the foot of the Oakland Hills between Alcatraz Avenue to the north and 51st Street to the south, and between Telegraph Avenue to the west and Broadway to the east, was a sleepy neighborhood of cottages and bungalows owned by those who preferred the quiet life to the urban bustle of San Francisco across the bay.

Yasai Market on College Avenue

Today, many of these homes remain, and they represent some of the most coveted real estate in the Bay Area, for several reasons: the weather in this particular microclimate is often sunny and warm; the commute from the Rockridge BART is easy; the homes on the leafy residential streets have been charmingly restored; and the area's main thoroughfare, College Avenue, is lined with atmospheric cafes, gourmet restaurants, independent bookstores and, more and more, antiques shops that people go out of their way to patronize.

Consequently, real estate prices have soared -- to the point that most professionals cannot afford to live here. Still, it makes a pleasant day trip, and, if you're lucky enough to score an apartment in the area, an even nicer place to live.

Although some have derided the neighborhood for being too upscale, too yuppie, Rockridge is, unlike many other gentrified areas, ethnically diverse. After all, this is still Oakland, the most integrated city in the United States. It's true, the area has a chic edge. But it's also a place where people greet each other on the street, chat in line while they wait for their burritos at Cactus Taqueria, walk home together from BART. In the hamlet of Rockridge, a down-home feel prevails.

Best Time to Go

Weekend mornings -- and in Rockridge, that includes Fridays -- are a great time to visit the neighborhood. Destination cafes like Oliveto, La Farine and Royal Coffee are buzzing with activity as locals settle down over the morning paper, coffee and decadent pastries. Late afternoons Monday through Saturday are also happening. Stroll in and out of boutiques, bookstores and antiques shops, then pop into Ben-N-Nick's for a pint of beer or À Côté for a kir. If you'd like to stay for dinner, be aware that you will have to wait at any of the better restaurants. Fortunately, no matter what time you visit, parking is not a problem. You may have to hunt around the side streets for a spot, but you'll find one more quickly than you would in other neighborhoods.Di

The Temescal, not Rockridge!

Temescal (IPA: [ˌtɛməˈskæl]) is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the northern section of Oakland. It is centered on Telegraph Avenue and bordered by Broadway and Shattuck Avenue to the east and west, and Claremont Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard to the north and south. Although it shares its name with Lake Temescal, the neighborhood is located nearly two miles from that reservoir.

Temescal received its name from the Peralta family, who established their Rancho San Antonio in the East Bay. The name was first applied to the major creek that runs through the district. It was subsequently applied also to the estate of one of the Peralta brothers (Vicente), which was established in today's Temescal district adjacent to the creek.

The word temescal derives from the word temescalli, which means "sweat house" in the Nahuatl language of the Aztec people of Mexico. It is surmised that the Peraltas or perhaps one of their ranch hands had seen local indigenous, Ohlone structures along the creek similar to those in other parts of New Spain which were called temescalli.

Temescal has long been an important junction of several principal thoroughfares: Telegraph, Claremont, and Shattuck Avenues, and 51^st Street.

The Temescal Pool on 45^th St. in Oakland

The earliest telegraph wire from Oakland to Sacramento went through the area, up Claremont Avenue and over the hills at Claremont Canyon. Temescal was the site of agriculture, cattle grazing and greenhouses when, in the 1890s, an opera house was built in parkland north of the creek crossing at 51^st street.

The area grew and was developed into Idora Park, the earliest "trolley park" in the East Bay. In the late 1920s the amusement park was razed and, after a plan to build mid-rise apartment blocks called the Midtown District fell through, a tract of storybook houses was built on the site between 1929 and 1934. It is reported to be the first development in the American west with underground utilities.

Until the early 20th century, a wide wooden bridge spanned Temescal Creek, carrying both road (Telegraph Avenue) and railroad tracks.

The horsecar line to the University of California along today's Telegraph Avenue (then called Humboldt Avenue in Oakland and Choate in Berkeley) operated out of a horse barn at 51^st and Telegraph. When the horsecar was replaced by electric streetcars the horse barn was replaced by a carbarn. The carbarn became the Western Carhouse of the Key System's streetcar division, the East Bay Street Railways. When the streetcars ceased operation in 1948, the carbarn was razed and a grocery store constructed on the site. This, in turn, was razed in the 1980s and replaced by a Walgreen's store.

Temescal is a diverse neighborhood with concentrations of Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants. There are many Ethiopian restaurants here, especially on Telegraph north of 51^st St., where there is one every few blocks all the way into Berkeley. There are also many Korean establishments along Telegraph Ave.

The neighborhood has seen many changes in demographics since 2000 as new condominium developments and upscale shopping have entered the neighborhood. Large numbers of young couples with children have moved to Temescal as the prices in nearby Rockridge have grown out of reach for middle-class families.

Temescal is home to one of the newest farmer's markets in the Bay Area; the Temescal Farmers' Market, begun in 2006, is held on Sundays in the parking lot of the Department of Motor Vehicles facility on Claremont Ave.

Eco-Home Improvement, San Pablo Avenue

The Benefits of Low-VOC Paints

Some people love that “new-paint smell” that is derived from a freshly painted room. It’s actually caused by volatile organic compounds or VOCs.

VOCs are a class of chemicals that can cause health problems and contribute to both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Low-level exposure to VOCs can cause temporary health problems, including headaches, dizziness and nausea. Higher exposure levels can cause permanent damage to kidneys, liver and nervous or respiratory systems. Plus, gasses from VOCs contribute to indoor air pollution and outdoor smog when its emissions react with other hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and sunlight.

Avoid high levels of VOCs by choosing latex-based paint. Although it can be made up of hundreds of different chemicals, paint still can be divided into two subcategories according to its primary solvent.

In latex paints, water is the primary solvent; in alkyds, it's a petroleum solvent (oil). Latex paints, with much lower levels of VOCs, beat alkyds hands-down for safety.

Try Portland based, Yolo, for no VOC paints. www.yolocolorhouse.com or call me for more information.

Another option... lots of Rockridge Agents use Mark's Paints on Telegraph Avenue for their expertise. They carry a new Benjamin Moore low VOC paint line called Aura. Ask them for additional information!

The Last Farm in Rockridge!

Wow! I finally got my Rockridge Brown Shingle at 5905 Claremont Avenue on the market this weekend.

What a job! It was full of thirty years of "stuff" but it looks amazing now. The interior is very original compared to many of the craftsman homes in the area, not much was done to change it over the years. To see all the photos of the property you can view the website at www.5905claremont.com and also find it on Craigslist.com

So much is made of the falling real estate market. I have to say, it felt great to have over sixty people on Saturday and well over one-hundred on Sunday, and it wasn't just curious neighbors. Real buyers were out and about with their Rockridge Agents, looking for wonderful homes for themselves and their families

Call me if you'd like to see this property personally at 510.593.7501.

Terrapass--Offset Your Carbon Tire Tread

SUV Guilt?

Offset your carbon tire tread by joining us at Terrapass. www.terrapass.com
With no problem whatever, you may enter your vehicle make and model into the online carbon model and it spits out your carbon emissions for the year, based on your driving. The model then offers a subscription to contribute to carbon offset programs. The money you pay goes toward wind farms, planting trees and other worthwhile and interesting programs.

Bulky Waste Pick-Ups for Rockridge Homeowners

I feel confident that I have become the refuse expert in the past months since getting my 1908 Rockridge Brown Shingle to market.

Avid antique collectors, and admirers of all genus and species, my sellers had their cabana, basement, and to be honest, their back yard full of stuff. It took an army of haulers to get rid of everything.

Part of the complication these days are the strict recycling laws in place. When if comes to your property, you sometimes want to say "green schmeen" I just want to throw this crap away! But there are so many ways to dispose of your junk inexpensively. you just have to be persistent.

The first is the Bulky Waste Free pick-up that Waste Management provides once per year to all their customers. You can schedule it in advance of your clean out and they'll tell you exactly how to sort it. You just leave it on the curb. WM 510.613.8710.

I've also discovered that Urban Ore will pick-up and haul almost any metal products and many others, and recycle them for you. The E-Waste drop offs are periodic but free, for computer moniters, batteries, old remotes, hard drives, stereo equipment, TV's, telephones, cameras, cell phones are amazing! You will feel like you've lost 100 pounds when you get rid of this old stuff in your basement! Call me if you need resources. 510.593.7501.

Energy Loss Evaluations for Berkeley Oakland Homeowners

Rising Sun Energy Center
www.RisingSunEnergy.org

California Youth Energy Services Evaluation

Have your home professionally evaluated for energy loss and waste by California Youth Energy Services. Student evaluators are trained to do an in home walk-through with the homeowner and replace energy wasting bulbs on the spot, pointing out potential leaks to sav you money! California Youth Energy Services (CYES) is not for profit program promoting energy awareness and resource conservation in the Bay Area since 2000. They provide FREE services and products for both renters and owners. 510.665.1501

Green Home Ideas for Berkeley Oakland Homeowners

Free and Low Cost Ways to Cut Energy Usage

Turn down the water heater thermostat
Turn off the light when leaving a room
Air dry clothes when practical
Close heating vents in unused rooms and close doors
Repair leaky faucets
Install a water saving 2.5 gallon-per-minute showerhead
Install water-efficient faucet heads in kitchen and bath
Install a programmable thermostat
Plug leaks in attic and basement
Re-putty window panes
Get an HVAC inspection and make repairs to ducts
Install an R-7 or R-11 water heater wrap
Go tankless or “on demand” hot water
Insulate the first three inches of hot and cold inlet pipes
Install compact florescents in light fixtures
(the lighting quality has really improved)

Green Real Estate--Green Chamber of Commerce

Green Chamber of Commerce

In June I participated in an event called the “Greening of Albany,” at the Albany Middle School. I got involved by accident. A friend from the Berkeley Daily Planet knew I had an interest in green building and heard that the event planners were looking for booth sponsors.

I represented Prudential as a REALTOR. People have asked me, “How can a real estate agent be green?” It turns out to be easy. As agents we influence buying decisions of our clients and can turn remodels toward “greener” solutions. As we expose people to cost savings through energy efficiency they become sold.

There is a false perception that making something environmentally friendly always has to be expensive. In some cases it is, or there are larger up front costs, but in many cases, there is just a lack of information that separates people from making better choices.

James Carter from the green Chamber of Commerce is looking for like-minded people to join him in affiliating businesses toward green solutions.

His website, www.greenchamberodcommerce.net tells you how to get involved. He is currently opening membership to Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond and is looking for board members for the opening round. There are mixers planned for July and August for you to drop by and find out how your business can participate.

And if you wonder why an organization like this is needed, just go to the litigation section of the National Chamber of Commerce website and see what they are against. Your choices really do make a difference! Call me if you’d like more information. www.greenchamberofcommerce.org

Berkeley Oakland Homeowners Receive Rebates

I just received my “Smart Home Rebate Booklet” from PGE and I am looking over it to see if there are any potential investments I could make on things that I need for my home anyway.

I still don’t have a dishwasher and I can get a $50 rebate if I buy with efficiency in mind. As a REALTOR what I have become most interested in is “taking the guilt out of environmentalism.” These new systems homes and smart appliances are quiet, they save tons on your power bills and they make your home life more comfortable and peaceful. And isn’t peace one thing we can all use a little more of?

Classic Claremont Brown Shingle

Coming Soon!

This Classic Rockridge neighborhood Brown Shingle will be on the market the last week in August, 2007. Nearly 2,700 square feet of living space and a lot size of almost 14,000 square feet. You will want to make this home your own. There is a cabana and the original carriage house in the back yard as well as mature fruit trees and redwoods.

Join us for our Rockridge Neighborhood open house Thursday, August 23rd from 5:00pm to 7:00pm.

For additional information about my new listings call Nicole Bailey, 510.593.7501 or email to nicole@baileyhomegroup.com.