Rockridge, Oakland, California
Encyclopedia
Rockridge is a residential neighborhood and commercial district in Oakland, California
. Rockridge is generally defined as the area east of Telegraph Avenue
, south of the Berkeley
city limits
, west of the Oakland hills and north of the intersection of Pleasant Valley Avenue/51st Street and Broadway. It is known for being one of the wealthiest areas of Oakland. Rockridge was listed by Money Magazine in 2002 as one of the "best places to live".
It lies at an elevation of 187 feet (57 m). Some residential portions of the neighborhood consist mainly of relatively large homes built between the 1920s and the 1950s, although some homes date even earlier to 1909–1912. Other portions of the neighborhood consist of small bungalows and cottages. In other sections, multi-family apartment buildings add density which supports nearby transit and retail.
on the northern end. The College Avenue strip running through Rockridge is home to more than 80 restaurants, cafes and upscale retail stores, including several bookstores specializing in used and rare books. Rockridge Market Hall
, a collection of gourmet food establishments, is located there.
Dreyer's Ice Cream maintains its international corporate headquarters in Rockridge on College Avenue, and operates its only retail ice cream parlor on the premises, where it offers visitors the opportunity to test new flavors and products.
The Rockridge Branch of the Oakland Public Library is one of the most visited establishments in the neighborhood and is home to an extensive collection of children's books and audio/visual materials.
Rockridge is often mentioned in tourist guidebooks on Oakland and the East Bay.
Rockridge has been the subject of several academic and government studies regarding the integration of public transportation and residential neighborhoods. The Rockridge BART station has been cited as the model of weaving retail, commercial and residential interests into a workable neighborhood. The area around the Rockridge BART provides transportation by train, bus, and casual carpool
to all Bay Area airports, downtowns, and entertainment districts, while surrounded by open air markets, cafes, bars, shopping, and homes. The Rockridge BART station is located in the center of Rockridge, where College Avenue passes under the Grove Shafter Freeway (Highway 24)
. AC Transit
bus lines 49, 51A and 51B serve the center of the neighborhood, while line E runs along Claremont Avenue and lines 1, 1R, 12, CB, and V run along its edges.
BART travel times from Rockridge to Montgomery Station near San Francisco's downtown financial district
average 22 minutes. Travel times to downtown Oakland average 8 minutes.
According to the 2010 US Census, the two census tracts that cover Rockridge are among the least diverse in Oakland. The tracts are also tied as the whitest in all of Oakland, with roughly 77% of residents identifying as White/Caucasian. Oakland as a whole is only 34.5% white.
.
Chabot Elementary School in Rockridge, founded in 1927, serves grades kindergarten through 5th grade. Chabot consistently scores high in statewide assessments, and the Chabot PTA offers extensive after-school programs including language immersion classes and arts and music classes.
Claremont Middle School (formerly Claremont Junior High School) has occupied its campus on College Avenue in the heart of Rockridge since 1913. The original building was demolished and rebuilt during the 1970s as part of a statewide program of retrofitting schools for earthquake safety. Claremont now serves more than 400 students in grades 6–8.
Rockridge students in grades 9 through 12 attend Oakland Technical High School
.
An “alternative” public school, Far West High School, is a visual arts-focused campus for grades 7–12. It occupies the site of the former Rockridge Elementary School on Broadway Terrace, across the street from the California College of the Arts. Perhaps acknowledging the decline in the local population, the Oakland School Board made the decision in 1979 to close and demolish Rockridge Elementary School because of declining enrollment (less than 150 students) and fears for the earthquake safety of the original school building, a two-story structure built in 1923. The original auditorium was torn down in the 1950s, and the current one (still in use and doubling as the cafeteria) was constructed in 1959.
Post-secondary education is offered by the California College of the Arts
, formerly the California College of Arts and Crafts. The school was founded in 1907 and has been located at its present site, at the intersection of College and Broadway, since 1922.
Professional education for Roman Catholic priests and friars is offered at St. Albert’s College, a Dominican
institution located on Birch Court near Claremont Middle School.
formed by the Hayward Fault which encloses the linear valley in which the Montclair
district of Oakland is situated. An example of this rock can be seen at an abandoned quarry adjacent to the Rockridge Shopping Center on Pleasant Valley Road. This quarry was operated well into the 1950s and is now used as a reservoir for the Claremont Country Club. Prior to the construction of the shopping center in the late 1960s, the Broadway side of the shopping center had a used car lot. Additionally, Pleasant Valley Avenue did not cross over the hill to Piedmont Avenue. Instead, there was a short street called "McAdam". Mather Street, which intersects Broadway near Oakland Technical High School, formed the continuation of what is now the downhill side of Pleasant Valley Avenue.
Like many neighborhoods, Rockridge has had its ups and downs. Prior to the completion of Highway 24 in 1964, Miles Avenue and several other streets were laid out differently. Residents living in the area at the time, once known as "Little Italy" because of a large number of Italian immigrants, saw the decline of the neighborhood's human scale into the 1970s due to the separation of the neighborhood caused by the SR-24 freeway. In the mid to late 1970s, some storefronts on College Avenue were boarded up. However, due to the success of a number of new businesses, who together formed a "critical mass" of commercial attraction, the Rockridge commercial district began to thrive again.
Until the 1950s, electric trolley trains ran along College Avenue on what is now AC Transit
bus routes 51A and 51B. Additionally, as late as 1959, the railroad tracks of the Sacramento Northern Railway
ran along Shafter Avenue, crossed College Ave. near where the Rockridge BART station is now and ran along the corridor of what is now state Highway 13 (the portion after Ashby Ave.), through Montclair Village and over into Contra Costa County. Film footage of this route has been broadcast over local PBS TV station KQED in a 1990s documentary on the development of the East Bay.
The Oakland Firestorm of 1991 came within 1/2 mile of College Avenue, destroying a large part of the Upper Rockridge area east of Broadway. A memorial wall was created under the Rockridge BART station, located on College Avenue, following the fire.
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. Rockridge is generally defined as the area east of Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue
Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic downtown district of Oakland, California, USA, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of California campus in Berkeley, California...
, south of the Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
city limits
City limits
The terms city limits and city boundary refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limits is sometimes called the city proper. The terms town limits/boundary and village limits/boundary mean the same as city limits/boundary, but apply to towns and villages...
, west of the Oakland hills and north of the intersection of Pleasant Valley Avenue/51st Street and Broadway. It is known for being one of the wealthiest areas of Oakland. Rockridge was listed by Money Magazine in 2002 as one of the "best places to live".
It lies at an elevation of 187 feet (57 m). Some residential portions of the neighborhood consist mainly of relatively large homes built between the 1920s and the 1950s, although some homes date even earlier to 1909–1912. Other portions of the neighborhood consist of small bungalows and cottages. In other sections, multi-family apartment buildings add density which supports nearby transit and retail.
Commerce
The main thoroughfare in Rockridge is College Avenue. The district is bounded by 51st Street on the southern end and Berkeley's Elmwood districtElmwood, Berkeley, California
The Elmwood District is a neighborhood of the City of Berkeley, California. It is primarily residential, with a small commercial area. The district does not have set lines of demarcation, but is focused around College and Ashby Avenues...
on the northern end. The College Avenue strip running through Rockridge is home to more than 80 restaurants, cafes and upscale retail stores, including several bookstores specializing in used and rare books. Rockridge Market Hall
Rockridge Market Hall
Rockridge Market Hall is a market hall in Rockridge, part of Oakland, California that contains nine stores including a caterer, a pasta shop, a flower shop, a winery, a produce shop, a coffee shop, a fish shop, a butcher shop and a bakery. The mall is right next to the Rockridge BART station...
, a collection of gourmet food establishments, is located there.
Dreyer's Ice Cream maintains its international corporate headquarters in Rockridge on College Avenue, and operates its only retail ice cream parlor on the premises, where it offers visitors the opportunity to test new flavors and products.
The Rockridge Branch of the Oakland Public Library is one of the most visited establishments in the neighborhood and is home to an extensive collection of children's books and audio/visual materials.
Rockridge is often mentioned in tourist guidebooks on Oakland and the East Bay.
Transportation
Slugging
Slugging, also known as casual carpooling, is the practice of forming ad hoc, informal carpools for purposes of commuting, essentially a variation of ride-share commuting and hitchhiking. While the practice is most common and most publicized in the congested Washington, D.C. area, slugging also...
to all Bay Area airports, downtowns, and entertainment districts, while surrounded by open air markets, cafes, bars, shopping, and homes. The Rockridge BART station is located in the center of Rockridge, where College Avenue passes under the Grove Shafter Freeway (Highway 24)
California State Route 24
State Route 24 in the U.S. state of California is a heavily-traveled east–west freeway in the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay Area of northern California that runs from the Interstate 580/Interstate 980 interchange in Oakland to the Interstate 680 junction in Walnut Creek...
. AC Transit
AC Transit
AC Transit is an Oakland-based regional public transit agency serving the western half of Alameda County and parts of western Contra Costa County in the western, Bay-side area of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area...
bus lines 49, 51A and 51B serve the center of the neighborhood, while line E runs along Claremont Avenue and lines 1, 1R, 12, CB, and V run along its edges.
BART travel times from Rockridge to Montgomery Station near San Francisco's downtown financial district
Financial District, San Francisco, California
The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, that serves as its main central business district. The nickname "FiDi" is occasionally employed, analogous to nearby SoMa.-Location:...
average 22 minutes. Travel times to downtown Oakland average 8 minutes.
Community character
Many Rockridge residents are involved in their neighborhood's political, educational and cultural life. Rockridge has several community organizations including the Rockridge District Association and the Rockridge Community Planning Council. The Rockridge News is published monthly and hand delivered to every resident's home.According to the 2010 US Census, the two census tracts that cover Rockridge are among the least diverse in Oakland. The tracts are also tied as the whitest in all of Oakland, with roughly 77% of residents identifying as White/Caucasian. Oakland as a whole is only 34.5% white.
Education
The Rockridge neighborhood is served by the Oakland Unified School DistrictOakland Unified School District
Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district which operates elementary schools , middle schools , and high schools in Oakland, California.-History:...
.
Chabot Elementary School in Rockridge, founded in 1927, serves grades kindergarten through 5th grade. Chabot consistently scores high in statewide assessments, and the Chabot PTA offers extensive after-school programs including language immersion classes and arts and music classes.
Claremont Middle School (formerly Claremont Junior High School) has occupied its campus on College Avenue in the heart of Rockridge since 1913. The original building was demolished and rebuilt during the 1970s as part of a statewide program of retrofitting schools for earthquake safety. Claremont now serves more than 400 students in grades 6–8.
Rockridge students in grades 9 through 12 attend Oakland Technical High School
Oakland Technical High School
Oakland Technical High School, known locally as Oakland Tech, or just simply "Tech", is a public high school in Oakland, California, and is operated under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Unified School District.-Background:...
.
An “alternative” public school, Far West High School, is a visual arts-focused campus for grades 7–12. It occupies the site of the former Rockridge Elementary School on Broadway Terrace, across the street from the California College of the Arts. Perhaps acknowledging the decline in the local population, the Oakland School Board made the decision in 1979 to close and demolish Rockridge Elementary School because of declining enrollment (less than 150 students) and fears for the earthquake safety of the original school building, a two-story structure built in 1923. The original auditorium was torn down in the 1950s, and the current one (still in use and doubling as the cafeteria) was constructed in 1959.
Post-secondary education is offered by the California College of the Arts
California College of the Arts
California College of the Arts , founded in 1907, is known for its broad, interdisciplinary programs in art, design, architecture, and writing. It has two campuses, one in Oakland and one in San Francisco, California, USA...
, formerly the California College of Arts and Crafts. The school was founded in 1907 and has been located at its present site, at the intersection of College and Broadway, since 1922.
Professional education for Roman Catholic priests and friars is offered at St. Albert’s College, a Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
institution located on Birch Court near Claremont Middle School.
History
Rockridge is named for the outcroppings of rock at the northern end of the long shutter ridgeShutter ridge
A shutter ridge is a ridge which has moved along a fault line, blocking or diverting drainage. Typically, a shutter ridge creates a valley corresponding to the alignment of the fault that produces it. Shutter ridges occur exclusively at strike-slip faults...
formed by the Hayward Fault which encloses the linear valley in which the Montclair
Montclair, Oakland, California
Montclair is a neighborhood of Oakland, California. Montclair is located in the hills east of Piedmont in a valley formed by the Hayward Fault...
district of Oakland is situated. An example of this rock can be seen at an abandoned quarry adjacent to the Rockridge Shopping Center on Pleasant Valley Road. This quarry was operated well into the 1950s and is now used as a reservoir for the Claremont Country Club. Prior to the construction of the shopping center in the late 1960s, the Broadway side of the shopping center had a used car lot. Additionally, Pleasant Valley Avenue did not cross over the hill to Piedmont Avenue. Instead, there was a short street called "McAdam". Mather Street, which intersects Broadway near Oakland Technical High School, formed the continuation of what is now the downhill side of Pleasant Valley Avenue.
Like many neighborhoods, Rockridge has had its ups and downs. Prior to the completion of Highway 24 in 1964, Miles Avenue and several other streets were laid out differently. Residents living in the area at the time, once known as "Little Italy" because of a large number of Italian immigrants, saw the decline of the neighborhood's human scale into the 1970s due to the separation of the neighborhood caused by the SR-24 freeway. In the mid to late 1970s, some storefronts on College Avenue were boarded up. However, due to the success of a number of new businesses, who together formed a "critical mass" of commercial attraction, the Rockridge commercial district began to thrive again.
Until the 1950s, electric trolley trains ran along College Avenue on what is now AC Transit
AC Transit
AC Transit is an Oakland-based regional public transit agency serving the western half of Alameda County and parts of western Contra Costa County in the western, Bay-side area of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area...
bus routes 51A and 51B. Additionally, as late as 1959, the railroad tracks of the Sacramento Northern Railway
Sacramento Northern Railway
←The Sacramento Northern Railway was originally a electric interurban railway linking Chico in northern California to the California capitol of Sacramento The original name of the line was the Chico Electric Railway, or CERY. CERY was sold after a few months of operation to the Northern Electric...
ran along Shafter Avenue, crossed College Ave. near where the Rockridge BART station is now and ran along the corridor of what is now state Highway 13 (the portion after Ashby Ave.), through Montclair Village and over into Contra Costa County. Film footage of this route has been broadcast over local PBS TV station KQED in a 1990s documentary on the development of the East Bay.
The Oakland Firestorm of 1991 came within 1/2 mile of College Avenue, destroying a large part of the Upper Rockridge area east of Broadway. A memorial wall was created under the Rockridge BART station, located on College Avenue, following the fire.
External links
- Rockridge Crime & Safety
- Rockridge Community Planning Council
- Rockridge Interactive Map – Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau.
- Rockridge District Association
- Oakland City Councilmember, District 1, Jane Brunner, who represents Rockridge