• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Living in Concord

squid vicious said:
I live right off Monument. Won't disagree with anything already said here. Traffic sucks if you get on the road anytime after 6:30am. It will suck coming back no matter what time.
Click to expand...

Since I start my work at 7AM, I better be out of CC County before 6:30AM! :laughing
 
Sharky said:
I'd choose elsewhere for a forever home. although I will say, the house I had on Concord was beautiful, built in 1993 and had the best garage I have ever had.
It was smack in between Treat and Monument, so it was a little closer to some riff-raff than you might like, but that was totally offset by the neighborhood itself and proximity to freeway(s) and shopping etc.
PM me if you want to check out the hood'. The homes are running in the $650 range for two-story 2100 sft.
Click to expand...

Sharky said:
I'd choose elsewhere for a forever home. although I will say, the house I had on Concord was beautiful, built in 1993 and had the best garage I have ever had.
It was smack in between Treat and Monument, so it was a little closer to some riff-raff than you might like, but that was totally offset by the neighborhood itself and proximity to freeway(s) and shopping etc.
PM me if you want to check out the hood'. The homes are running in the $650 range for two-story 2100 sft.
Click to expand...

Alright, alright, dammit, I'll PM you.
 
I lived on Bailey Rd. right by Concord Blvd. for a few years and would never consider living in Concord again. I hate the place. I ended up buying a house in the Hidden Lakes area of Martinez and love it there. It's quiet, safe, great neighbors and close to everything I need. Only 2 minutes away from 4 and 680 as well.
 
Spec-ECU said:
Martinez has been considered, but we really want to keep it as close to Pleasant Hill as possible. I have a brother in a care facility in Pleasant Hill.
Click to expand...

There are areas of Martinez where you can get into PH schools. I live in Martinez and my daughter goes to a PH school. Pretty much all teh Concord schools in the MDUSD are garbage. Try to get your kids into Valhalla, Strandwood, or PH Elementary. If you're in Martinez, John Swett is a great school. I'd choose Martinez over Concord any day of the week. Concord blows :laughing
 
Zerox said:
Concord to Redwood City would be a horrific commute! I used to commute to Mountain View so I know. :p
Click to expand...

I did the Bay Point to RWC drive for 3 months, 2 years ago. 60 mile each way. I was lucky to be working swing so the commute was tolerable. I live close to the freeway too. Been in Bay Point over 30 years. It has been ok, but the schools are crap. I'm lucky to live on a cul de sac w/ longterm neighbors who are pretty cool. Living alone here is pretty good.
 
no matter where you buy a house, if in a city, buy close to food stores and the freeway.
public schools suck, put up with the cost of a privet school.

.
 
I've lived in concord around 5 years. Mom has property in Pleasant Hill for far longer than that, i lived in PH for 2 years.

PH is part of the Mt. Diablo School district - which is to avoided at all costs. the middle school in PH is pretty good, but almost all high schools in this are not good. problem is, while the PH kids might be good, Mt. Diablo School district is HUGE, and they take their *worst* preforming kids from their worst schools, and bus them into PH for a "change in enviornment". you can take the kid out of the ghetto, but rarely can u take the ghetto out of the kid. so the schools anywhere in Mt. Diablo arnt really so hot. Martinez is MUCH better, and smaller - which is a good thing. If you can afford the cheapest shack in Lafayette or Orinda - DO IT. those are high income level cities, with their own school district = good schools.


I think real estate in PH and concord is still going up, not as fast as it did in the last couple years, of course time will tell. but i think the housing prices around here arnt going to drastically drop anytime soon. people are getting priced out of the east bay, and are discovering concord really isnt that far from "the action" of the bay area. no one wants to be as far out as Pitsburg or Antioch - so Concord area is a happy medium
 
Spec-ECU said:
Martinez has been considered, but we really want to keep it as close to Pleasant Hill as possible.
Click to expand...

Getting to the freeway from Bailey/Concord probably sucks.

Virginia Hills/Forest Hills area of Mtz have PHill schools and seem nice. Taylor Blvd to 24 is easy early in the morning.

I don't think College Park HS is THAT bad, is it? Compare it to Northgate or Pittsburg HS and let me know what you think.
 
SpeedyCorky said:
PH is part of the Mt. Diablo School district - which is to avoided at all costs. the middle school in PH is pretty good, but almost all high schools in this are not good. problem is, while the PH kids might be good, Mt. Diablo School district is HUGE, and they take their *worst* preforming kids from their worst schools, and bus them into PH for a "change in enviornment". you can take the kid out of the ghetto, but rarely can u take the ghetto out of the kid. so the schools anywhere in Mt. Diablo arnt really so hot. Martinez is MUCH better, and smaller - which is a good thing. If you can afford the cheapest shack in Lafayette or Orinda - DO IT. those are high income level cities, with their own school district = good schools.
Click to expand...

Spec-ECU, you really need to filter what people post.

It may seem like someone knows what they're talking about when they're really full of shit. Seriously, avoid Mt Diablo SD at all costs? Do you want your kids to go to Campo or Acalanes? You said you wanted more room, that kind of rules out a shack in Lafayette.

There's more than one MS in PH and as far as I know the only HS kids from PH would attend is College Park. Compare CPHS to Concord or Mt Diablo HS. Yeah, CP may not be not as good as Lamorinda but really comparable to Concord HS.
 
Spec-ECU said:
Looking to buy our second home for our growing family. Wife and I, plus a pair of toddlers. Our first pick was actually Pleasant Hill, but inventory's really low and the one property that met our needs slipped out of reach after our offer got beat by a no-contingency, albeit lower priced offer :)mad).

Anyway, Walnut Creek's too expensive for my taste, but Concord isn't. A good number of inventory too. Currently looking at a property off of Concord Blvd by Bailey Road.

Anyone got any thoughts for me and my area of consideration?
Click to expand...

I have lived in Pleasant Hill for 12 years and really like it. As for Concord the only thing you need to worry about is where in Concord and what school you feed into. Concord is in the same school district as Pleasant Hill, but they have very different schools and some of them are not so good.
 
SpeedyCorky said:
I've lived in concord around 5 years. Mom has property in Pleasant Hill for far longer than that, i lived in PH for 2 years.

PH is part of the Mt. Diablo School district - which is to avoided at all costs. the middle school in PH is pretty good, but almost all high schools in this are not good. problem is, while the PH kids might be good, Mt. Diablo School district is HUGE, and they take their *worst* preforming kids from their worst schools, and bus them into PH for a "change in enviornment". you can take the kid out of the ghetto, but rarely can u take the ghetto out of the kid. so the schools anywhere in Mt. Diablo arnt really so hot. Martinez is MUCH better, and smaller - which is a good thing. If you can afford the cheapest shack in Lafayette or Orinda - DO IT. those are high income level cities, with their own school district = good schools.


I think real estate in PH and concord is still going up, not as fast as it did in the last couple years, of course time will tell. but i think the housing prices around here arnt going to drastically drop anytime soon. people are getting priced out of the east bay, and are discovering concord really isnt that far from "the action" of the bay area. no one wants to be as far out as Pitsburg or Antioch - so Concord area is a happy medium
Click to expand...

I have not found that to be the case in PH. My daughter is in the 6th grade and her elementary school was excellent with excellent parents and students, we could not have been happier. My daughter started middle school this year and once again the school is excellent, with great teachers and students, many who come from other areas of the district. As for High School, I could not tell you that because I have not gone though that yet, but for k-8, we have been very pleased.

However, as I said before, PH schools are different than Concord, yes the same school district, but a large part of Walnut Creek is even Mt. Diablo school district, which is why we bought in PH and not Walnut Creek.
 
The cheapest shack in Laf or Orinda is going to be in the seven figures.
 
Boulevard Way area in Walnut Creek get Lafayette schools, but most if not all the places over there are going to be running close or in the seven figures as well.
 
Sharky said:
The cheapest shack in Laf or Orinda is going to be in the seven figures.
Click to expand...

Confirmed. Unless I plug in 7 digit prices in my searches, I get no inventory in Lafayette/Orinda. :laughing
 
tgrrdr said:
Spec-ECU, you really need to filter what people post.

It may seem like someone knows what they're talking about when they're really full of shit. Seriously, avoid Mt Diablo SD at all costs? Do you want your kids to go to Campo or Acalanes? You said you wanted more room, that kind of rules out a shack in Lafayette.

There's more than one MS in PH and as far as I know the only HS kids from PH would attend is College Park. Compare CPHS to Concord or Mt Diablo HS. Yeah, CP may not be not as good as Lamorinda but really comparable to Concord HS.
Click to expand...


i guess thats what i get for posting in the sink...
its cool. i'm sure you have more experience working in PH schools than I do....

:)rolleyes)


Truth be told, is that any kid can succeed and be prepped for college, even if they go to the WORST high school in Mt. Diablo district - so long as they have parents that stay on top of them and push them to do their absolute best. Short of that - its quite a gamble... i've seen a lot of very smart kids fall thru the cracks
 
Last edited:
food for thought regarding schools..

If your kid is young enough, and the area is gentrifying, I would not be so concerned with the schools performance now.. Because once your kids get old enough to start school, all the new money kids would bump up the schools performance significantly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top