Pros & Cons of Moving "Through The Tunnel".

"Through the tunnel" is how people living around here define the two areas separated by the Caldecott tunnel.  The Caldecott is a four bore tunnel via highway 24, which goes through the Berkeley hills.
One one side of the tunnel is Oakland/Berkeley and on the other side is Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga (also known as "Lamorinda") and Walnut Creek.

Oakland is urban, more traffic, more diversity, more restaurants, more things to do, higher in crime... just more urban.

Lamorinda is more suburban, more green, less traffic, more rancher style homes... less restaurants, some would say less diverse.

That's it in a nutshell.  They are both very different places in some regards, but also very similar because they are less than a quarter mile apart. (Actually, the tunnel is 3,610 feet, long, to be exact.)

The Lafayette Reservoir - popular hiking area.

And yet, people who live on either side will have lots to say about what it's like on the other side of the tunnel.  It can seem like they are two different worlds, these two sides.  But the truth is there are lot of people who have lived on either side and move back and forth. And let's not forget how short the distance between the two really is, so it's hard to imagine that it's all that different.

I have known people who have said, they will never ever want to live in Oakland, and then some who say they would never ever live in Lamorinda. But most people, I think, would be open to either.  And so the decision of on which side of the tunnel to live can be difficult.

American Kitchen - popular outdoor dining in downtown Lafayette

The public schools in Oakland are struggling.  Lamorinda has better public schools.  But some of the public schools in Oakland are good also, and there are some incredible private and charter schools there too.  Both places are beautiful.  Oakland has impressive bay views with all 3 bridges, or Lake Merritt views. Lamorinda has trees, rolling hills, nature, beautiful canyon views, the Lafayette Reservoir and warmer weather.

If you will be living in Lamorinda and working in Oakland or San Francisco - as many do - there's the commute to consider.  The tunnel itself can have some heavy bottle neck traffic.  But there is also BART (train) stations in Orinda and Lafayette, so that makes it convenient.

I have lived on both sides of the tunnel. I like them both and it's hard for me to chose which one is better.  As a Realtor, I get many clients who are relocating here and work in either Oakland or San Francisco and are debating on whether to live on the Oakland side or through the tunnel in Lamorinda.  I try to paint a picture of what either side is like, and try to guide them as to what will suite their lifestyle the best. (Are public schools the most important to them? Do they want a shorter commute to work? Is nightlife important?)

Lake Merritt - they have gondolier rides.

One fact is for sure; the Lamorinda side is hotter.  The weather is.  Sometimes 10+ degrees warmer. And I personally like that, but not everyone does.  Otherwise, you can't lose and we are lucky to live in the beautiful Bay Area at all!

Tips on Instagram for Business.

Is Social Media important for businesses?  Yes it is, and maybe soon people will stop asking that question. By now it should be a part of all marketing, advertising and PR plans.

Importantly, if your business is marketing to Gen Y or Millenials (those with birth years starting in 1980s to early 2000s), Instagram is an easy way to reach this audience and should be included in your business marketing strategy.

Is Instagram here to stay? Who knows, maybe not. But for now it's here and it's big with over 200 million users worldwide. So get on board.

Here's a quote by writer Lisa Hoover McGreevy from her article on "How to Rock Instagram."
"In a recent study of how users interact with brands’ social media posts, Forrester Research found that when it comes to engagement, Instagram is far superior to any other social network. While six of the seven social networks Forrester studied had an engagement rate of less than 0.1%, Instagram’s engagement rate was 4.21%."

The audience reach with Instagram can be huge. Some celebrities have over 12 million followers each, (@justinbieber and @kimkardashian, for example).  Major brands such as @starbucks and @adidas have 2 or 3 million followers.

What Is Instagram.  Instagram is an online photo sharing, video sharing social media platform.  You can use filters on the pictures to create all sorts of effects, put comments on pictures, tag people your pictures, and use hashtags. You "follow" accounts and get followed by others. You can comment on or "like" other people's pictures and videos, and you can share them too across other media outlets, such as facebook and twitter. It's fast moving in that people are uploading multiple pictures all the time. In Instagram time, yesterdays picture could be old news.  There's a hashtag for that, #latergram.

For just pure fun use, Instagram is easy and can be very entertaining. However, using Instagram effectively for your business takes some planning and thought.

Here are some basic steps that will help you get started:

Complete your profile. Your profile tells the world who you are and what your business is. Yes, you can write cute stuff here, but be sure include the important things such as your website, your phone number and your location. Instagram is global. Not everyone knows where "Your Town" is. Also use an appropriate profile picture, something that you want people to recognize your business with. Usually that is a logo.

What to post.  You should post images relevant to your business of course, but general interest pictures are also a good way to engage your followers. For example, if you are a chair manufacturer, don't only post images of chairs. That can get old after a while. One idea is to use "behind the scenes" content. Post pictures of what goes on in your chair factory, behind the scenes. Where does the wood come from, how are designs created, what are your employees like? The beauty of social media is getting a glimpse behind the curtain of peoples lives, or businesses.

@Oreo, the cookie, is often used as an example of a company that does its Instagram marketing well by "telling a story", using their brand in a million different ways.  Their message is not just "here's an Oreo cookie", but it's shows all the different ways their cookie is in our lives.  Their Instagram profile says, "OREO, see the world through our OREO Wonderfilled lens."  

Post Frequently. Schedule your postings, if you have to. Find what works, the more you post the more traction and publicity you'll get.  Remember, not everyone is viewing Instagram all the time, so your can get lost in the hundreds of other images on every one's feed. Don't hesitate to repeat a post; Chances are many of your followers didn't catch it the first time around and now maybe they will.

Write a caption for each image you post. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but it's better if you use some words. It's your first chance to write something about what you are showing. Don't let your clients/customers guess what you are posting about.

Use hashtags wisely. Hashtags are used for searching out topics and categorizing each post. If you're a realtor or a real estate agency and you keep using #oaklandrealestate for relevant posts, chances are, a potential client might find you when they search for "oakland real estate" in Instagram. So while #thisweatheriscraycray might be cute, it doesn't really serve any function to promote your business. Always use a hashtag for your product name or any relevant words for your business and/or tag your business name in your own post.

Take a good picture. Instagram is pretty amazing in that it can transform almost any bad picture into a work of art. But it can only do so much.  Make sure your product is clearly visible and in focus. Many of the filters Instagram provides will actually brighten up your picture significantly, making it pop.

Give photo credit. If you use someone else's picture, give them credit by tagging the photo or at least giving their name in the caption. It's an important courtesy that is easy to forget about.

Respond to comments. It is "social" media after all, so be social and interact with your followers whenever you can. Try to be interactive with others and always respond to direct questions, promptly. Depending on how busy your account is, you can also respond to non question comments. Use the "@" when responding so that the commenter knows you have responded to him or her. The beauty of social media is that customers can get an immediate response from you, and all the other viewers can see your interactions.

Get more followers.  The more followers you have, the bigger your audience is. You can pay to get followers or you can get them naturally. Following others will help you get followers. Apparently #followforfollow is the most commonly used hashtag of all hashtags.  Follow those that compliment your business and those that interest you personally.  If you are a realtor, you might want to follow architects, stagers, developers, home inspectors, other realtors, restaurants, etc.  Often if you follow someone, they will automatically follow you back. If you comment on other accounts, all those followers see your account. This increases your own account visibility and allows you to get more followers.

Here are my own favorite Instagram pictures that I have posted on my account @lwhitney25:

#lakemerritt #companymeeting #highlandpartners

#openhousesunday #piedmonthomes #realtorsigns

#highlandpartnerads #newlook

#cupkatestruck #saltedcaramel #schoolpicnic

#mylisting #oaklandrealestate #oaklandhills

The Lowdown on Upper Rockridge.

Here's how it goes for many families who live in the Bay Area...

You're younger and maybe single and move to San Francisco. You live in the city and you're living it up. Working, enjoying the nightlife, amazing restaurants, arts & entertainment and all your friends. Then you settle down and eventually your family grows, you have children and may realize you don't want to be in the city long term.  You start thinking about moving away for more suburbs, better school selections, larger living space for less money, easier parking and... more sun and less fog, perhaps.

The new Bay Bridge span. Connecting San Francisco with Oakland.

That was our story anyway. I remember having just given birth to our first child, ten years ago, and lying in my hospital bed at California Pacific Medical Center, just two blocks from our apartment we rented in San Francisco, and getting a call from our realtor that we got the house we bid on in Upper Rockridge, Oakland.  I was living in San Francisco for the past six years and really loved it there, but once baby #1 came along, we knew it was time to move away.

My husband and I had spent months before then cruising around Oakland, looking for homes. We wanted Oakland because we owned a business there and we were not ready to let go of urban life completely and go any further east for more suburbia.  Because he worked there, he knew Oakland pretty well, I didn't know it at all.  All the neighborhoods blurred together for me, and as I heaved myself out of our car, way pregnant, looking at all those open houses, I started to not really care anymore where we'd end up.

But luckily both of us were not pregnant, and his mind was clearer and so he insisted on really thinking about which neighborhood we wanted to end up in.  I even remember not really paying attention what school district the house was in, because I just couldn't wrap my head around caring about schools when I felt like I was so far away from being a Mom of a school aged child. I also didn't realize how different all the schools could be within the same public school system.

I'm glad we ended up with our first home in Upper Rockridge, an area as I describe as next to Rockridge, Piedmont and Montclair.  The lower side of where Highway 24 and 13 connect. Upper Rockridge is at the base of the Oakland Hills, the hills that overlook all of Oakland and the Bay.

This home we bought was about one block away from highway 13.  Our back deck had a view of a small valley, with houses all over the opposite side, facing us, and the highway buzzing down below.  I remember standing in the nursery, right by the window on the highway side, before we decided to put an offer in on the house, and listening for the highway noise and wondering if that would bother me. It's hard to predict those things, and ideally, before you buy a house, you could have a trial week living in it.  It turned out, the highway noise never bothered me, as it was a constant consistent hum.

We moved in with our little family, and it was the perfect house for us.

At first we were really worried if Oakland would bore us.  Would we miss the restaurants, the friends, the street fairs, the urban living of San Francisco?  The truth is we never looked back. Because unless you are ultra hip, your life with a baby and children changes and other things become important. I was now interested in visiting playgrounds, children's classes and meeting other Moms and having friends over at home.  (But of course it turns out Oakland has amazing restaurants and endless amounts of things to see and do. More on that in other posts.)

We only had one car then, because that's all you need in San Francisco.  And we lived for a whole year with one car in our Upper Rockridge home.  Husband would take it to work each day and I went on my way with baby and a stroller.

I walked to Montclair Village often.  I even did my grocery shopping that way; (Safeway and Lucky's are there), stuffing the stroller basket and a backpack with groceries. Montclair park was a few blocks from our house, with two playgrounds, a pond, (geese, ducks and turtles!), a sports field, the Wells Fargo carriage to play on, and a skating ramp. The park also has the Montclair community center, with lots of interesting classes for kids.  Most Montclair families with young kids know Miss Marilyn's dance classes there.

Wells Fargo stage coach play structure at Montclair Park.

Montclair has it's own little library, in an old tudor style house, where I spent many hours for Toddler Reading time.  The Village itself is unusual, in that it really is like a little village, about four blocks long, with lots of stores and restaurants and services.  I think the Village is pretty unique to the Bay Area.  It's gives the area a nice community feel with fun annual events like their Holiday Stroll, Halloween Parade and Art & Wine Fest and a year round farmers market on Sunday. When you're in the village you are bound to run into a neighbor or someone you know. It's that kind of a place.

I also literally stumbled onto Lake Temescal park one day.  A total surprise park, in our neighborhood, hidden off of Broadway Terrace, in a little valley, with grassy fields, a lake for swimming with a beach and lots of paved paths for biking or strollering.  A popular spot for birthday parties, play dates, fishing and walks.

We bought into this neighborhood because we liked the house we found there, but also because of the public schools. The three public schools in this Upper Rockridge area are Hillcrest (k-8th), Montclair Elementary and Thornhill Elementary.  All three of these are excellent schools (go to greatschools.org to see the details) and all the families attending put in tremendous effort and many volunteer hours to make them so.  Major fundraising happens at these schools, to raise money for things such as teacher aides, libraries, art, music, physical ed and more.

These schools are popular, and they are pretty small with just a few hundred students each. With the neighborhood demographics changing over the past decade, the schools are getting fuller and it's not always a guarantee that every resident will get to attend their neighborhood school.  It's always good to find out directly from the school what their enrollment situation is for that year.

One of the many schools in Upper Rockridge.

Besides these three public elementary schools there are also some great private schools within just a few miles of each other; including Aurora, Holy Names High School, and St.Theresa.  And there are lots of preschools and day cares, including Montclair Community Play Center (the preschool my three kids attended. The oldest co-op preschool in the West.), The Cottage Play House, Smile's Day School, Apple Garden School (Montersorri) and lots of others.

This area of Oakland was hit hard by the Oakland Fire Storm of 1991. A devastating fire that destroyed over 3,700 homes.  Large patches of Upper Rockridge had to be completely rebuilt. Sometimes you can see the fire line, by noticing where the older homes were spared. In some cases, like on Proctor Ave., one side of the street has new homes, and the other side of the street has the original 1940s era homes, (or "pre-fire" homes, as they are often referred to), which are usually smaller.  There are lots of beautiful tudor, cottages and colonial style homes in Upper Rockridge.

Upper Rockridge homes; a mix of new and old.

Now ten years, and two kids later (that's three total), I'm still happy in Upper Rockridge.  I love the weather, usually sunnier and clearer than across the bay in San Francisco. I love the people, the parks, and that it's centrally located to Berkeley, Lamorinda and San Francisco.

There's so much to do and see right here... I go months and months without ever going to the city. The incredible restaurant choices are endless, with College Avenue and Rockridge right down the hill from us. College Avenue, is a long road (going all the way to UC California Berkeley, thus the name), lined with fun shops, (luxury consignment shop I wrote about, Labels is here) gourmet food markets, and the Rockridge BART (train) station is there too.

Views from Mountain View Cemetery. 

Hiking in Upper Rockridge.

I'm glad we found our spot right here, for now I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. It's a big decision to decide where you want to start your journey of family life with kids, schools and new friends.  Do the research, ask around, hang out in neighborhoods that you are considering. You'll be able to tell if it feels like home.

Oakland Art Murmur - First Fridays

An especially fun event to go to is the monthly Oakland Art Murmur - First Friday, held on most first fridays of every month.  It's a great example of what makes Oakland great.

It's a night time festival (5-9pm) in Uptown on Telegraph Ave. between Grand and 27th, featuring open galleries, live music, food trucks and other vendors.  It's a constant scene of people watching and senses overload. Great fun.

Art Murmurers on the street.

When I went I made it a family affair with my three kids, 2, 5 and 8 yrs old at the time. Although not appropriate for all children, mine did fine and enjoyed themselves.

Cool cats and their hot rods.

The event, although organized by the city, seemed a tad unorganized and really run "by the people", which made it all the more interesting.  The vendors and musicians seemed to set up camp randomly where they wanted to.  Sometimes clashing music would be playing within feet of each other, but it all worked out somehow.

Stand up comedian, trying to gather his crowd.
Not sure what that cut-out monkey is about.

Rocking it in a school bus with strobe lights
and white masks. 

The people watching was great. Every single interesting looking person in the city was at the Art Murmur that night, it seemed.

My kids walked through old school buses converted into mobile art galleries, or little mini rock clubs, with bands in side playing (or on top of the roof), or vans used as a clothing boutiques that you can walk into.  They checked out the various vendors selling things like jewelry, installations, or displaying strange barbie doll art. They listened to tons of music, and danced around.

Barbie doll art.  Barbies on hats, and doll faces on pant legs.
The girls were amazed.

The first thing we did when we got there was head for a cupcake food truck.  And although the cupcakes looked appetizing, they were a big disappointment.

Standing in line at the not so good cupcake truck.

There were other food trucks there, but we had already eaten dinner before at home.

DJ-ing with old school stereos strapped to a frame.

Our friends underneath a dragon/horse/van with a DJ on top.
Still covered in dust from their Burning Man trip.

Dancing in the street.

We got back to our car at 9:30pm, and everyone was in a good mood, even our youngest, Austin who had missed his bedtime by two hours.  I love my kids for being such troopers!

Pork Belly & Off The Grid.

I'm a sucker for food trucks.  I'm always tempted by what they have to offer. 

With out the constraints and costs of running a traditional restaurant, food trucks are independent, nimble and extra creative in what they cook up. For me it's a great way to try quality food without the extra effort of going to a restaurant.  And the idea also is that they are a bit cheaper than a traditional restaurant, because of the low overhead cost.  But that's not really true, at least not in this area, as I find that most food trucks prices are the same as in a good restaurant, with just smaller food portions.

I regularly visit my favorite truck in Fruitvale, Sinaloa, which I wrote about here.  Sinaloa, makes the most amazing tortas (sandwiches) ever. Their $5 for a giant sandwich, is a steal.  I've tried tortas from many different places and they never compare to the ones they make there.

I have some friends refer to food from food trucks as "street meat", which always makes me laugh. Some people are too cautious to buy food from a truck.  Where is their kitchen, what really goes on in that truck anyway?  Food trucks, by the way, are regulated by the health department just as any restaurant is. 

Recently, one Saturday after a soccer practice I was finally able to go to a Off The Grid event. OTG organizes gathering spots for food trucks all over the Bay Area.  A "..roaming, mobile food extravaganza", they call it.   They are San Francisco based, and for a long time only stayed near the city. But recently they've come closer to Oakland and last summer they were in Alameda at a shopping center every friday.

When faced with a gathering of food trucks, the choices can be overwhelming. There is food from literally all over the world, tons of different types, lots of variety.  What to pick?

I walk around, take my time, reading the menus and I watch what others are eating.

I finally decide on Nicks Wheely Good Breakfast. Because....they have a pork belly sandwich!  Oh, I'm also a sucker for pork belly.  Pork belly is such a bad way to describe a cut of meat.  But it's the most tender, tasty, delectable part of the pig.  I never cook it and rarely, rarely order it. (Mainly because it's rarely on menus).  Their description on the menu; maple glazed, arugula, fried egg... convinces me to get it.  And a guy who just ordered one tells me that it's the absolute best and he always gets one when he can.   

So back to my Maple Glazed Pork Belly Sandwich.  I have to wait for ever for it.  But that means it's fresh and that's always good.  And when I see it....

Close-up of my sandwich.  Charlotte in the background.

I can tell right away that it's going to be good.  And it is.  Fresh foccacia bread, pork belly which is made into a tasty hash, with sharp arugula and a perfectly fried egg...all together.  A perfect blend of flavor and texture.  I'm oohing, and aahing while I'm eating.  It's incredibly rich, but not in a gross way. It's so flavorful and just melty. That awesome pork flavor that you can only get from pork.  It's the perfect meal in a sandwich. I'm so, so glad I tried it.  And I can't wait to track them down and get another one :)  And by the way, the price for this sandwich, $8 is really fair.  It's a big sandwich and top quality.  It's the kind of meal that stays on my mind all day.  An experience that lasts a while.  Really great.

The line was only two deep.  

Then of course I want to try desert.  And desert food trucks are not as common.  There are too many cupcake food trucks.  Anyway, I find this Pacific Puffs truck, all the way from San Francisco, it seems. Expensive, ($3.25) cream puffs.  I opted for the mini versions which are $2 each, so that it's easier for our family of five to share.

I really can't stand over priced food. It makes me a bit mad.  But these were good, and of course I wanted more than just half of a mini... I had to share theses with my three kids!

Three little cream puffs.

I can't wait to go to my next food truck gathering.  Be sure to go hungry, take your time and enjoy yourself.

Taco Truck - Sinaloa.

Once in a while I get obsessed with a food item and I keep on having to go back and back for more. I cannot get enough of it.  

More recently, for a few years now, one of my crazes is this amazing taco truck in Fruitvale area of Oakland, called Tacos Sinaloa.

And I'm not alone, it's got a ton of good reviews on Yelp.

I learned of this place, when I was working in the area a few years ago.  My husband took me there for lunch, and I have been hooked ever since.  Now, almost every time I'm in the area, I make sure to take a trip to "Sinaloa" (which, by the way is one of the 31 states of Mexico. I had to look that up).  I always get it to go, but there are little tables to sit at.  

My favorite taco truck.  Who is that lady?  I don't know her.

It's a taco truck, which if you've ever seen one, doesn't look very glitzy.  Some of my friends call it "street meat" and probably wouldn't be caught dead eating from it.  But the fact is that these trucks are regulated and licensed just as any restaurant is, and the food that comes out of them is amazing, and the prices are great.  When I go, I'm not their usual crowd.  Mostly Hispanics and mostly men eat there.  The reviews say it's in a not so nice neighborhood, but I don't think it's that bad.  

Sometimes I get the tacos.  Usually I mix it up with one each of pork, chicken and beef.  I love how they are nothing like the American tacos we know.  Served on small soft round tortillas, piled high with meat and finely chopped salsa veggies and spices, these tacos are a perfect bite of flavor.

I always, always, always get the same thing.  The Torta for $5.  It's amazing. Honestly, this truck was my first experience with the torta, so at first I thought tortas were always this good.  Since then I've ordered the torta at lots of different restaurants and it never even comes near to being as good as the one at Sinaloa.  That's when I realized this place is special.

Someday I'll try the other things on their menu.

Torta means sandwich.  And the torta at Sinaloa is made with a delicious fresh bun that is slightly toasted, topped with tender shredded chicken that has smokey, heavenly flavor to it.  There is some shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes and just the right amount of a white sauce on it too.  The white sauce is kinda tangy, sort of mayonnaise-y but much better than regular mayonnaise.  The ratio of all the ingredients is just right.  The flavors meld together, and every single bite is just scrumptious.  You don't have that left over just-bread part that many sandwiches give you.  I always order the torta "with everything", because it comes with a side of the best pickled veggies ever.  Carrots, sliced radishes, jalapeno peppers and a wedge of lime. I squeeze the lime on every bite as I'm eating and once in a while I bite into a jalapeno to get that spicyness I love. 

 

The torta.  With the yummie garnish that comes with it.

If you're ever in Fruitvale, you must visit Tacos Sinaloa.