Is Play in the Picture When You Search for a Home?
I love the idea of a sleek mid-century modernist pad near Tilden Regional Park or in Montclair; I quite like the concept of a loft apartment in a buzzy part of San Francisco; and I dream of building my own, contemporary home from scratch, perhaps a prefab in the Oakland hills with sweeping bay views.
But the home I recently bought fits none of those descriptions. It is resolutely old—99 years to be precise—very traditional (Craftsman architecture), and very much in the (Berkeley) flats.
Home shopping when kids are in the picture is, to some extent, a story of compromise, common sense and rationalization.
In my case we decided the priority was proximity. Proximity to friends and community; schools; shops and transport. Ideally walkable to as many places as possible. Hence the fact that my new home scores 89/100 on Walk Score.
A “family friendly” neighborhood can be difficult to find. It’s not often one chances on an area where children are playing in the streets or hopping over, and under, each other’s backyard fences to find playmates.
The increasing tendency to schedule kids’ activities, in particular organized sports, and the rise in the “couch potato” variety of video-game playing child, has led one Bay Area parent to devote himself to the promotion of “free play.” With his Playborhood website and campaign, serial entrepreneur and father of two Mike Lanza, aims to build a nationwide community of parents committed to re-introducing children to what they do best—imaginative, free play with minimal parental involvement.
Lanza himself is looking to buy a new home in Palo Alto and has been stymied in his attempt to find an area where anyone—whether adults or children—is visible on the streets. (That’s our car culture for you.)
The latest installment of Playborhood is a Berkeley site (full disclosure: I am an occasional, voluntary contributor to the site). On it you will find writing on pertinent issues by parents, teachers and child experts as well as links to useful local resources.
It should prove helpful to anyone looking to buy a home in Berkeley and its neighboring areas with kids in tow. Neighborhood reviews supplied by readers home in on the addresses of houses that are currently on the market. Anyone is invited to get involved, such as contributing reviews—which rate a particular street for kid-friendliness—and the more inside information the site gathers up, the more valuable it will become as a home-hunting tool.
Who knows? One day real-estate agents may include a “playborhood rating” in their listings.
Here are three current Berkeley listings that I think qualify as being in kid-friendly patches (let me know if you disagree).
1178 Colusa Avenue: (pictured below) this 3/2 cottage/bungalow has been remodeled and comes with a cook’s kitchen, lots of period detail and a formal dining room. It is a few blocks away from a pool, tennis courts and playground, as well as King Middle School. Price: $850,000 ($632/sq ft).
2440 Prince Street: this 2/2 Victorian comes with updated kitchen and bathrooms, an appealing front porch to hang out on with neighborhood friends and a big back yard for children to play in. Price: $799,000 ($617/sq ft).
2415 Eunice Street: (pictured) a 3/2 mid-century house that is one of three units on a leafy compound — so lots of room to roam around for little ones. Walking distance to Cordonices Park and Oxford Elementary School. Price: $935,000 ($601/sq ft).
