Trestle Glen

Trestle Glen is not really known for much. Its close proximity to Lake Merritt and its reasonably priced homes makes it somewhat ideal for families of middle-class status. Technically speaking, Trestle Glen is bounded by Windsor Avenue to the west. Park Boulevard to the east, Lakeshore to the north and Highway 580 to the south. The area is almost exclusively a residential district except for the occasional random neighborhood business and a string of exquisite italian restaurants along Park Avenue.

The properties for each house are rather large, giving adequate space for families to play in their yards. The streets are windy, lawns are pristinely cut and homes are predominately two-stories, although prices vary from north to south (northern houses being more expensive). Those that lie on the hillside give way to elegant staircases that carve along the steep incline, climbing up to the front porch. Many of these homes seem to tower over those on the adjacent side (especially on Rosemount Road). Moreover, the area is filled with lush green sidewalks and elegantly sculpted bushes. Trestle Glen’s side streets are narrow, which may cause problems for street parking. Although, many locals boast two-car garages and enough driveway space to fit one or two more cars.

The neighborhood also offers a great school system which includes Edna Brewer Middle School and Crocker Highlands Elementary (the school technically lies just outside Trestle Glen). Many locals vouch for both schools’ relatively high marks and appeal amongst the community.

Trestle Glen is an upscale residential neighborhood straddling Highway 580 just south of Lakeshore near Lake Merritt. The neighborhood keeps a fairly low profile—I rarely hear it mentioned, but it has beautiful historic homes (2/3 built before WWII) along its sprawling hillside streets. You have the distinct feeling of discovery as you turn corners in this neighborhood to find renovated Craftsman Bungalows that perch up over road sides with long stairs leading to the their shady front porches. Other lanes flatten out and give you wood beam ribbed Tudors with quaint big paned windows and tall pointy roofs. Still other lanes mix Mission Revival homes with their distinctive red tiled roofs and more classic squarish manorly homes (still not sure how to identify these kinds of old beauties). Many of the homes have leafy back lawns with rows of trees used for privacy property demarcation. All of these homes have been adapted to suit the hilly landscape and peculiarities of the sometimes irregular lots on which they were built. The effect is quite pleasing and you can see why the well-heeled flock to live in this neighborhood.

Not to mention that you are just a hop skip and a jump from Lake Merritt and the entertainment and restaurants of the area. As you might expect, rents and home prices in this area vary greatly from the areas nearest to the freeway, where they are closer to $1,000 (the neighborhood is firmly middle-class) to the areas farther up into the hills where they climb to over $2K on average. Home prices show a similar variation, with the smaller, squatter California Bungalows at the edge of the neighborhood costing in the vicinity of $700K (back in 2008—so this is probably inflated); while the larger Tudors on the interior eastern neighborhood climb to $1 Million (again in 2008 prices).

The other factor that makes this a great family oriented neighborhood are the strong schools. Edna Brewer Middle School, for example, well liked by local residents partly because the administration there goes out of their way to try to keep parents involved. Many student clubs and organization keep morale positive and protect students from things like bullying (there are for example a school approved gay awareness organization and African American clubs on campus).

There are a couple of churches and a synagogue down by Park Ave. at the southern end of the neighborhood and a day care center or two on the border approaching Piedmont.

There is also a cute little strip of shops up Park Ave. by the corner with Glenfield where you can get a pizza or some film developed, that sort of thing—if you don’t want to brave the crowds along Lake Merritt.

In a nutshell, this is the place to live if you are looking to raise a family and want to stay near the Lake Merritt area (here and anywhere in nearby Piedmont, of course).