Walnut Creek California - Homes, Schools and Community

Walnut Creek California - Homes, Schools and Community

Of the city of Walnut Creek lies directly over the intersection of I680 and Highway 24 just north of Danville in Contra Costa County. It 60 miles east of Oakland and the San Francisco Bay area and serves as a hub for the neighboring cities with in the county due to its central location and junction of the highway. There are approximately 65,000 residents in Walnut Creek.

History

First inhabited in 1772 by Spanish explorers, Walnut Creek grew into the city it is today and California became part of the United States territory in 1850. It was first known as "The Corners", with the two roads leading from Lafayette and Pacheco converged and continued growth led to the establishment of the US Post Office in 1862. The community was renamed "Walnut Creek" and some of the oldest building that were constructed in 1860 still stand today.

Walnut Creek entered into a massive era of growth in the 1950s with the Broadway shopping center, one of the first major retail centers in Contra Costa County. In 1956 the city Council adopted a master plan that analyze the community's transportation problems and the need for street improvements. With over $2 million program that included the construction of Broadway and California Boulevard's more growth continued in this area and in 1962 the Bay Area Rapid Transit System or BART was approved and provided train travel to and from Walnut Creek. Since then, Walnut Creek is grown into a beautiful little community, numerous parks, city centers and community facilities and continues to grow into a well versatile city of the future.

Schools

Walnut Creek is part of the Walnut Creek school district and offers five elementary schools, one middle school and one high school as well as additional charter schools and private schools. Because Walnut Creek is so spread out it also utilizes the Mount Diablo unified school District with four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school and the Acalanes Union high school District covering the Los Lomas high school, Del Oro high school which is a continuation school and the Acalanes Center for Independent Study, an alternative program with flexible schedules.

Walnut Creek is also home to several private schools including the Berea and Christian high school, Contra Costa Christian schools, numerous Montessori schools, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception school and the Walnut Creek Christian Academy. This is just a small sampling of the many private K-12 programs in Walnut Creek. Learn more about the Schools here

Things to Do

The Broadway Plaza is one of the premier shopping centers in all Contra Costa County and of course, Walnut Creek. It inhabits certain department stores such as Nordstrom's, Macy's and Neiman Marcus and is part of the downtown retail and restaurant district. It's easy for pedestrians and shoppers to travel from place to place either by bicycle or by pedestrian walkways perfectly lined with beautiful trees as well as free shuttles provided by the city to and from the BART station.

Walnut Creek also features three performance spaces, galleries, the Center Repertory Company, California Symphony, the Festival Opera Association, the Bedford Gallery, and Company C Contemporary Ballet and the Clay Arts Guild. 

There are numerous fun and amazing things to do in the city of Walnut Creek. The Sunday farmers market is always a fun weekend adventure as well as the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, the Railroad Museum, Castle Rock and Heather Farms. There are also over 17 parks in Walnut Creek and surrounding areas many with beautiful lake views, picnic pavilions, sports fields and courts and open green space. Click here for a complete map of the Walnut Creek parks.

Walnut Creek has plenty of open space as well as numerous parks and nature preserves in town and surrounding the city. It owns more open space per capita than any other community in the state of California. Take the iron horse trail throughout the city and the neighboring towns and communities or bike to some of the local parks such as the East Bay regional Park District, the Lime Ridge open space and Shell Ridge open space. If you're looking for open space, Walnut Creek is the place to be.

Probably one of the only drawbacks to Walnut Creek is the parking in downtown. People sometimes say that it is a hassle to find parking and make sure the park legally so that you can avoid a ticket. There are also new rates and new programs for downtown parking so if possible, grab the shuttle or one of the trolleys into downtown.

Real Estate

At any given time Walnut Creek has about 250 properties for sale throughout the community stretching from Pleasant Hill to Alamo and Lafayette. Home condominium prices range from about $60,000 to $2.6 million depending on size, condition and location. The average listing price in Walnut Creek is about $680,000 with a median sales price of $647,000. The average price per square foot is roughly $415. Some of the higher end neighborhood such as Meadowcreek and Diablo Hills offer average listing prices between $800,000 and $1.5 million. Some of the lower-priced communities such as Somerset and Rossmoor have an average listing price between $400,000 and $600,000.

This truly is one of my favorite places in Contra Costa County. With so much to do, see and explore, you may never experience all the Walnut Creek has offer but if you're interested in relocating to this area over just like more information about the city of Walnut Creek please give me a call today. You can visit my website to see all the current listings for sale in Walnut Creek or to learn more about the area.

Images by "Heather Farm Park - Walnut Creek, California" by Utilizer - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons  "Old Borges Ranch - Walnut Creek, California" by Utilizer - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons -