5.6 out of 10

Sterling Downs

37.5270136199908 -122.278114095449
Great for
  • Schools
  • Safe & Sound
  • Clean & Green
  • Neighborly Spirit
  • Peace & Quiet
Not great for
  • Childcare
  • Shopping Options
  • Eating Out
  • Parks & Recreation
  • Resale or Rental Value
Who lives here?
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Professionals
  • Students
  •  

Reviews

3/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 4/5
  • Safe & Sound 5/5
  • Clean & Green 3/5
  • Pest Free 4/5
  • Peace & Quiet 3/5
  • Eating Out 3/5
  • Nightlife 3/5
  • Parks & Recreation 3/5
  • Shopping Options 2/5
  • Gym & Fitness 5/5
  • Internet Access 5/5
  • Lack of Traffic 3/5
  • Parking 4/5
  • Cost of Living 3/5
  • Resale or Rental Value 3/5
  • Public Transport 4/5
  • Medical Facilities 4/5
  • Schools 5/5
  • Childcare 2/5
2yrs+

"Very Servicable Middle Class Neighorhood"

Sliced between El Camino Real and the Bayshore Freeway, the Sterling Downs neighborhood is a flat relatively nice middle class neighborhood. There are a fair number of homes on the eastern end of Sterling Flats that would be considered tract homes, I suppose. These are Ranch style homes with red tiled roofs and stucco walls (although that makes it sound worse than it actually is). The streets in these sections are wide and the front lawns are well kept often with well-maintained topiary.
Basically Sterling Downs is quiet though fairly average neighborhood.

Other sections of the eastern end of the neighborhood also have similarly nicely kept Ranch homes. The homes on the southern end of the neighborhood tend to be a little bit shabbier than those on the northern end.

About 90% of the homes for sale in this neighborhood right now are on sale due to foreclosure. The median price for a home here is around $550K.

There are also some apartment buildings on the western end of this neighborhood. I believe they go for about $2200 for a 2-bedroom.

This is, however, a very safe neighborhood with little more than the occasional theft from a vehicle and the schools are strong, from Union Elementary through Carlmont High School.

The main drag in this section of Belmont is El Camino Real, where you can find a number of businesses including a ballet school and a restaurant or two—a sushi place, a creperie and a tavern. It is not a particularly attractive area, but it pretty much gets the job done as far as being a functional neighborhood.
Pros
  • Good Schools
  • Solid Middle Class Feel
  • Close to Belmont Cal Trains
Cons
  • Bland
  • Lots of Foreclosures
  • Kind of Flat and Unappealing
Recommended for
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
3/5 rating details
  • Neighborly Spirit 3/5
  • Safe & Sound 3/5
  • Clean & Green 4/5
  • Peace & Quiet 4/5
  • Nightlife 2/5
  • Lack of Traffic 2/5
  • Cost of Living 3/5
  • Schools 4/5
2yrs+

"Too average, too ordinary"

Sterling Downs is a flat, modest looking neighborhood cornered at the northeastern side of Belmont, California. The district is mostly overrun with a couple rag-tag blocks of adequate residences, bushy communal spaces and unremarkable residential aesthetics. The area is, however, a bit more affordable than other communities that lie in the heart of the city and within minutes of the San Francisco Bay. And, there is Belmont Plaza, a small shopping area on the other side of El Camino Real which offers the basic commercial needs. The community also has a somewhat dense population circling around 4,000 within an area spanning 0.5 square miles. Of that, there is a large white demographic with a somewhat sizable asian and hispanic minority.

Sterling Downs’s residential quarters are a bit too bland and old to really garner enough attention. For one, the community is saturated with early 1950 rancher homes with a couple eye sores dotting the area. Properties are a bit too squarish with shallow, but relatively well-maintained front yards. They yield enough space for a two-car garage, two cars in the driveway and plenty of street parking. As for the price, most homes usually sell between $500,000 to $750,000, a bit lower than the average Belmont community. Also, rents are upwards of $1,300/month (some nice-looking apartment buildings lining Old County Road) while median household incomes are estimated at $80,000.

If you travel along Old County Road, you’ll hit a bland commercial space that includes a couple automotive repair depots and ugly, unmarked warehouses....nothing too spectacular. For commuters, Sterling Downs is huddled between US Route 101 and El Camino Real, both of which are convenient to travel up and down the San Francisco peninsula. Elsewhere, the Belmont Caltrain station anchors the southern edge of the community. And for young families, children will most likely attend--in order--Nesbit Elementary School, Ralston middle School and Carlmont High School, the latter two have garnered a 9-out-of-10 on greatschools.net.
Recommended for
  • Professionals
  • Families with kids
  • Retirees
  • Students

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