Claremont Hills: Pros and Cons

Claremont hills are warm and sunny (too warm sometimes for my taste), nice views, pleasant, not really at all far from Elmwood/Rockridge/campus. We like it up here.

BUT for families with kids there are considerations: Many houses do not have backyards that are good for playing, because of the steep hills and the rebuilding to max size that happened after the 1991 fire. Most of this area is, I believe, legally Oakland, so your district is OUSD. Driving up and down the hill adds 10 minutes to everything, and it feels like a psychological hurdle to doing some things. And you will do a lot of that kind of driving--kids, selves, groceries, anything. You can walk, but it takes awhile and uphill is ugly. I have seen some e-bikes, more plausible, but taking a bike up Claremont or turning from Tunnel Road onto Alvarado at rush hour is scary. My experience is that neighbors are polite, but kids don't play together. There are no sidewalks. People stay in their home-bubbles (even without COVID). Some restaurants deliver, Amazon delivers. If I had a new baby, it might be too isolating--you can't really take a stroller on these steep hills with no sidewalks!

We know a family with elementary age kids that lives in the Claremont Hills. They send their kids to private school, which I assume a lot of the families in the area do. Homes there are zone for OUSD. The neighborhood school used to be Kaiser Elementary but that school has been merged with another school. The location a pretty convenient, close to college ave for all the shopping and restaurants. The OUSD ranked choice system might be similar to SFUSD and it was confusing for me the first time I had to navigate it. Good luck on your move. 

I think it really depends on what area of the Claremont Hills you are talking about.  We looked at a house several years ago off of Hiller Drive.  It was probably about 5 min up the hill from Tunnel Road.  It seemed quiet (in a good way), but not too isolated.  With that said, how far is the nearest store in case you need to make a late night run for milk?  What schools would you be zoned for?  Some of the area has a Berkeley mailing address, but Oakland services and schools, and Kaiser Elementary (OUSD) which served part of the area, was just closed.

Best of luck to you.

hi D Scott! I have a 1st grader at Hillcrest (OUSD) in Rockridge and we live just by Claremont Hills in Montclair. We LOVE it. It's not city living of course, but I found that I don't really miss the city to be honest. Downtown Piedmont, Rockridge, Montclair are all darling and full or character. Get an e-bike and you can get up and down the hills that way too. OUSD is not perfect but they do a lot of things really well and my son is on par (or ahead) of his cousins that go to private school, same grade. Happy to answer any additional questions you have. I believe that if you live in the school district, you're pretty much guaranteed in. You also rank other schools around you and could potentially get in to a stronger school out of district. That's what we found, and admissions was seamless. D Bitt

If it’s more in Oakland closer to rockridge then you will be going to chobot elementary school. Which is where I went and loved. I had a friend who’s parents took him out and into headroyce, a school known for gifted children, but would still come to chobot everyday after school and help us clean up our classroom!! He said how easy headroyce was compared to chabot! My nieces go there now. One has special needs and they’ve been absolutely fabulous. 

We've been living in the Claremont Hills for the last five years, and there are lot of great things about it. It feels like you're in the country with wild turkeys, deer, trees, etc. even though you're just five minutes from the freeway, 6 minutes from Rockridge, and 10 min from downtown Oakland. Compared to surrounding neighborhoods, it's a relative bargain on a $/sq ft basis. The houses are generally spacious and modern since many were built after the Oakland firestorm in the early 1990s. Our neighbors are very diverse professionals and we've made some really good friends. No problem at all with deliveries, we get anything and everything delivered up here. Pre-Covid we also used Lyft and Uber here as well. 

When we bought our home we didn't have kids and didn't know if we would ever have kids. Now that we have two toddlers, the biggest downside of living in the hills is that almost no homes have backyards, just decks. The lots are too sloped for yards. This is a major bummer during SIP. Regarding schools, the one local OUSD school (Kaiser) was just shut down this year, although I believe we've been reassigned to another school in Rockridge. Most if not all of our neighbors send their kids to nearby private schools. If you are on the Berkeley side of the border you might have other options. Also, you really can't walk to anything, so we always have to get in the car to go to parks, etc. 

I think the above reasons are why this area hasn't appreciated as much as some others, although that gap is closing. We love our house and it works really well for us even with two WFH parents. The weather is perfect, though it gets foggy in the mornings. Since SIP, we've noticed a lot more kids out and about in the neighborhood, which is really nice. If it weren't for SIP we probably wouldn't miss having a yard so much. You'll have to decide which of the above pros and cons are most important to your family, but hopefully this helps give you some more context for a decision.

Look at Orinda, Lafayette and Moraga. Great Public High Schools, close to BART, lots of open space. Right now you are only concerned with Kindergarten, before you know it, you will be thinking about high school. Oakland has good elementary schools but choices become very limited for middle and high school in Oakland. Good Luck!

Hi there! I don't live in Claremont Hills but I am very familiar with the area since I'm a 3rd generation Oakland/Berkeley native, a​n East Bay​ Realtor​​, and just have a strange obsession with neighborhoods in general. My take of the area is that it is highly sought after ​for its forest-like setting yet close proximity to desirable amenities ​in the flats. ​There are many families that live in the area but I wouldn't say it has a strong neighborhood community vibe. You will need a car!​ I grew up in the Oakland hills, Redwood Heights area. ​Living in the hills is slightly isolating but it is also extremely peaceful, and if you enjoy hikes, then you have hundreds of miles of hiking trails through gorgeous Redwood groves just minutes away.​ You are also close to Lake Temescal, which is one of my top five favorite spots for families in Oakland. Emerson​ Elementary and​ Claremont Middle​ are a couple of the best in Oakland (I'm considering trying to get my kid into Emerson even though I live in Berkeley!). You're also close to the best private schools in Oakland, Head Royce and CPS. In general, it is challenging to transfer to Berkeley schools unless you pay Berkeley taxes but there are many families who still find ways to get in. I ended up getting an inter-district transfer to attend Berkeley High, the secret is to sign your kid up for a year of Latin. Since no other school in the area offers it, you are more likely to get your transfer approved! And yes, I believe restaurants and groceries deliver to the entire East Bay Hills. Good luck! Happy to chat about other neighborhoods if you have any other questions. Best, Mikayla

We moved from Alamo Square to the Berkeley Hills last year and we're waaaay up next to Tilden Park. I was also worried about feeling isolated, and that can happen sometimes, but to be honest the tradeoff of having more space (indoors and out!) and amazing views is so worth it for us. Even all the way up here it only takes me 7-8 minutes driving to get to Safeway on Shattuck or to the one on Solano and there's of course tons of restaurants and stores in both areas too. We have never had a problem with grocery delivery and most restaurants deliver up here either themselves or through one of the delivery services. And in terms of community, in our neighborhood (which again is about as isolated as you can get in the hills) we see tons of people walking by every day, have gotten to know many of our neighbors, and are good friends with a few of them. Even found a few families with kids our daughter's age and a couple great teenage babysitters. I can't speak to the area you're considering specifically but just wanted to say that our experience has been wonderful and although I miss certain things about the city I don't regret the move one bit! Good luck! 

Thank you for all your really valuable insight into the area! We decided against the house we were looking at as $$ fire insurance was not an expense we had budgeted for. We are still looking nearby and Montclair/ Rockridge seem like good alternatives.