Fremont’s Five Districts - An Overview

I’ve gotten a number of requests from prospective homebuyers to provide more information about Fremont.  So, I’ve put together a brief overview below that describes the five districts (Mission San Jose, Irvington, Niles, Centerville and Warm Springs) that comprise Fremont.  Each district has its own atmosphere and unique attributes, making the Fremont experience greater than the sum of its parts.

See my previous post for more information about the Mission San Jose district.

As well as being a great place to find a home, the Irvington district is Fremont’s largest shopping area, with everything from small locally-owned shops and restaurants to the mainstream shopping stores available at The Hub shopping center and Gateway Plaza, both located close the BART station.  Irvington is also home to Lake Elizabeth at Central Park. The park and recreation area was recently ranked by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the best urban outings in the Bay Area (March 5, 2009).

The Niles district, another of Fremont’s historic districts, was Hollywood before there was a Hollywood.  It is the famous home of many of the Charlie Chapin and Bronco Billy films. Proud of its history, Niles is a community within a community. Located along Mission Blvd (old Highway 238) and tucked below the green foothills, the homes are both some of the oldest and some of the prettiest in Fremont. Niles is the small town inside the big suburb. It is also one of the best places to find antiques in the East Bay.

The Centerville district is currently one of the more affluent of Fremont’s districts and has one of the most diverse ethnic populations in Fremont.  Containing the newly developed Ardenwood neighborhood, with the high scoring Ardenwood elementary school, it has become the go-to place for many working professionals looking to buy their first home. Centerville is rich with multi-cultural pride.

Warm Springs at the south end of Fremont is the newest of the five districts and the closest to Silicon Valley.  But simply calling it a great place to live while you work in San Jose or Mountain View would overlook its own importance in the Bay Areas economic boom. Within the Warm Springs district, you’ll find the headquarters of many high-tech companies including Nielsen Norman Group, Corsair Memory and Lexar, Elitegroup Computer Systems, Asus and many of the country’s top bio-tech firms. The district is also home to NUMMI, Fremont’s largest employer (a joint automobile manufacturing plant for General Motors and Toyota). With well respected elementary schools, Warm Springs has become a highly desirable place to raise children.  Warms Springs will soon have a new Asian Shopping center near the interchange between highway 680 and highway 880.  What’s more, it is now home to the large Pacific Commons Shopping Center.

Including all the schools listed above, Fremont is served by the Fremont Unified School District. Fremont has 29 elementary schools, five junior high schools and six high schools: Mission San Jose High School — which was ranked as the 49th best high school in the nation; American High School, Irvington High School, Washington High School,Robertson High School and Kennedy High School.  Alsion Montessori Middle/High School and California School for the Deaf are also located in Fremont as well as a number of private schools.  For advanced studies or summer enrichment courses, Stanford, the UC Berkeley main campus and University East Bay in Hayward are within 35 minute drives.  UC Berkeley also has an extension campus located in Fremont. And as I mentioned, Ohlone College is a top community college with highly regarded nursing, computer science and green technology programs.

Fremont is a wonderful place to live with a great deal of home buying opportunities currently available. As a Fremont realtor with over 15 years of experience here, I’d be glad to provide you with more information on the Fremont real estate market.  Feel free to get your Fremont homes search started on my website today.