My world is shrinking .... and I love it!

Although I may wish my reference was to my waistline, it's actually about one of the many things that make Alameda a remarkable place to live.


Before arriving in Alameda I lived in the South Bay, growing up in Mountain View and then on to San Jose. The lay of the land was quite different in the neighborhoods I resided in especially when you compare them to the great island we live in today. Most of the time there were no corner stores, neighborhood coffee shops or local restaurants close to where we lived. If you wanted to go anywhere, you jumped in the car and drove. One area I lived in was close to stores, but nothing personal, it was all chains no personality.

Then we arrived in Alameda. Initially we lived on the west end of town, our floating home was under construction and we didn't have a kitchen for months. So what did we do, we headed out the front door and walked to Chevy's, Larry and Della's (before the fire) and of course Pasta Pelican - ...hmmm, my earlier comment about my waistline is starting to make more sense! We quickly settled into a new hair salon, About Beauty, and could take a quick trip to the store - or Baskin Robbins - with ease simply by heading to Marina Village, by foot! .
Five years later we became landlubbers moving into our current home on Encinal between High Street and Fernside. For a while I would actually drive "all the way to the other end of the island" - how comical is that statement - but it wasn't long before I discovered Kim's Nails, Katie's Hair Design and Cafe Au Lait, not to mention the Encinal Market! I was back on foot again. Not only that, we were now close enough to really enjoy Park St on a regular basis, Woo Hoo, more restaurants!! Not to mention the movie theater, Tuckers Ice Cream, Peet's and Starbucks with that occasional glorious trip to Sumbody. When I need something special, it's a trip to Daisy's, 3 Wishes or Books Inc.

About a year or so ago, a friend asked what our favorite restaurant was and I listed off a handful of local spots; Asena, La Penca Azul (you know, La Pinata!), Bugermeister, Linguini's, when she stopped and said "No, I meant off the island!" I stopped, thought about it and finally realized I couldn't remember the last time we left Alameda. On one hand it seemed criminal seeming that we can reach San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland in no time at all. But the bottom line is, I love my neighborhood, my Park St, my South Shore and my West End. I love bumping onto people I know giving a quick hello or a fast update on the latest news. I'll take that over a trip in the car any day of the week!

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Tonight marks the end of the first quarter of 2011. I'll be analyzing the sales data for the last 90 days in comparison with the same period last year. Stay tuned to see if the Alameda real estate market is continuing on its path of improvement. One thing I can tell you is the number of properties in contract has increased almost 20% since Measure A passed on March 8th. Lets hope that's a sign of more good things to come!

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Alameda is an amazing community!

Please indulge me with this weeks post. Its been a while since my last writing as I've been a little busy with this thing we call Measure A. As the campaign kicked into full gear, something had to give, and my Blog was it. So now I find I just need to say a few things before moving on .. and I promise I will!

Serving as Fundraising Chair for Alameda SOS will go down as one of the most incredible experiences in my life. From the very beginning, when Alamedans packed the School Board meeting pleading with the Board of Education to give a Parcel Tax one more try, vowing to support and do the work necessary to pass a Measure to maintain quality education in Alameda to the very end, standing in a jam packed Tucker's celebrating the glorious news - Measure A passes! - I witnessed remarkable acts of understanding, compromise, giving and perseverance.

When I state hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of Alamedans were behind the construction, financing, campaigning and passing of Measure A, I am not exaggerating. The time given by volunteers attending numerous meetings, knocking on doors, calling from phone banks surpassed anything this community has ever seen. These same volunteers, and many others, opened up there checkbooks to ensure our community didn't fail our children. The in pouring of contributions was astounding, t-shirts, buttons and wristbands were purchased by the hundreds, tickets were bought for events and some of the youngest Alamedans set up Lemonade Stands so they could help too!

Throughout the campaign there were those who did everything possible to turn this into a public mud wrestling event. However, the communication network developed to keep everyone informed, in touch and involved helped all of us hang tough, stay focused on what was important and ensured we got the job at hand done and done with dignity.

Without taking anything away form all those who worked so hard to pass Measure A, it would be hard felt to imagine us having had the opportunity to fight for our schools if not for the work done by the School Board, in particular President Ron Mooney, and the district led by Superintendent Kirsten Vital. I can only begin to imagine the total number of meetings held with members of our community, residents and business owners, sharing information, concerns and ideas on our communities, schools. The result, a Measure that balances the communities responsibilities and benefits, the "reasonable compromise" AUSD set out to achieve from the very beginning.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love being right. I've always said Alameda was an amazing place to live, so thanks to all for proving me right!!

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So where do we go from here? Not to worry, there are still many ways to help support our schools.

Mark your calendar and join the Alameda Education Foundation on April 29th for the annual Salute to Education This year we'll gather at Rock Wall Winery as we recognize the teachers, staff and volunteers who make Alameda schools so special, as well as community volunteers and local businesses who support our schools.

Several PTA's have annual fundraising events coming up; Edison and Otis Annual Auctions and Night at the A's for Washington and Edison

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You may be asking why a Real Estate Blogger is going on and on and on about schools.

Personally, I believe education is the backbone of our society. We must do all we can to ensure our students receive the highest quality education we can proivide. I can't teach, but I can advocate!

Professionally it is my opinion, and the findings of both the National and Califorina Association of Realtors, schools are an intricate part of any community.  Buyers will seek out and pay more for homes located in communities with high quality schools. Therefore, anything I can do to help Support Alameda Schools benefits me, my clients and our community.

It just doesn't get any better than that!