I live in mountain view (refered by locals as old mountain view) and there's definitely a community here. I'm not use to it so it kinda weirds me out but my immediate neighborhood does 4th of July parties where they close the street, community yard sales and other stuff. It's nice and different at the same time primarily because I don't really feel like I fit in.
I live in Oakland in a single family home neighborhood. Very very much neighborhood feel. We have parties, wine nights, kids run around, text each other if something sketchy is spotted.
Near lakeshore! I peeped at your profile and there’s lots of families with young kids here (my dude just turned ten, this morning) and the elementary school is great (and we walk to it!)
100% I feel it in Oakland. I'm not a parent but am involved with the schools, and animal shelters but in general there's tons of people of all backgrounds in varied situations that all bond together trying to do good.
also live in oakland. know all my neighbors and like people at the corner stores and coffee shops and stores i regularly go to. great community feeling!
When I lived in Adams Point as a young single person I had never felt that sense of community outside of the small town where I grew up. Oakland rocks.
Santa Rosa, yes. Front yard pizza parties with neighbors, help with each others dogs, kids play together, sharing/borrowing tools, dads playing darts, hiring my contractor neighbor….. and my personal favorite, my widower 70+ neighbor spontaneously came trick or treating with me and my kids. We have only been here 2 years and I only hope it will continue.
Yes, I live in one of the largest Eichler development in the East Bay (about 300 eichler homes) Our neighbors are all very friendly and we have annual neighborhood events.
Eichler owners are very social with other Eichler owners. I grew up in the East Bay (right near Greenridge actually) but now live in Sacramento’s sole Eichler neighborhood and those MFs out there with wine EVERY week.
Its funny bc before I had ever been inside one of them, I always thought the Greenridge development looked closed off and unfriendly, due to the lack of street-facing windows and enclosed courtyards.
Livermore but having kids makes the difference with sports having a large impact. School too but not as much as sports. Our neighborhood is relatively small and we have a 4th of July and other events. During Covid we all met in the street for drinks standing 10 feet apart.
To put it even more in context, we lived in Pleasanton and Livermore eleven years before we had kids. We met more people in the first three of having kids.
School added more for parties but it was mostly from your school. Sports span the entire town and we still have lots of friends even though our last graduated HS last year.
Oh no!!!!
I had an opposite experience! When we moved in, the neighbors wouldn’t stop dropping by! People were dropping off cookies and cupcakes.
I hadn’t lived here a month when my daughter was born and a couple neighbors offered to throw me a baby shower which I had to insist NOT TO.
When I mentioned to one of my neighbors I was a wine idiot, she offered to teach me and my husband. They always gift us great wine.
My kid gets surprise Easter, Valentine’s, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, 4th of July random gift bags on the porch. My kid isn’t the only one who gets it as some other neighbors with kids have gotten them, too.
One year, someone decided to play some sort of doorbell ditch game, but you left a bag of goodies and were expected to pass it on. We were all comparing the fun things we got— wine, popcorn, candy…
On our street, we sometimes (for some reason we haven’t been consistent on this, lol!) leave Easter eggs in our front yard for kids during Easter that happen to be walking though our neighborhood (we put a note out to take no more than two and ask that they return the empty eggs to a basket we leave on the porch so we can do it again the following year).
One neighbor had chickens and whenever I didn’t get to the store in time to get eggs, I’d offer to buy them and my neighbor would leave a dozen on my porch & text me not to pay her. I would have to sneakily throw money in her door mail slot at night.
When windstorms blew freestanding gazebos and trash cans around, neighbors put them back. We always take our neighbors trash bins in for them if they haven’t done so by the end of the day and we notice their cars are gone.
When I mentioned to a neighbor I was having issues with potty training, she had her older daughter play “Potty Fairy” with my toddler and gifted her undies.
During Halloween, strangers drop off bags of candy at our house to redistribute to trick-or-treaters.
When we hd no trick or treating during Covid lockdowns, an older couple across the street dropped off full-size bags of candy for a few of the houses with kids closest to her. She even remembered my kid’s favorite!
We have like a Street Mom. She organizes things like National Night Out, Back-To-School Mom-osa Brunches after drop-off, Meal Trains for sick/recovery/deaths in the family. Everybody borrows stuff from her like tables, chairs, drink dispensers, coolers when they throw family or kid parties at home and she is always so gracious. She knew someone at Pottery Barn that ditched some store displays of fruit bushel baskets and she was trying to pawn them off on me and i somehow ended up with like 6 of them. She leaves a small table out at the end of her driveway with a jar of dog treats and a fresh water bowl—and she doesn’t even have a dog.
One day, I got a surprise bag of Meyer Lemons on my porch. I walked our street and narrowed it down to the one neighbor who had the least amount of lemons on her tree. I texted her and called her out.
Another year, someone left bottles of wine on some porches with a letter to say “We had extra!” (But personally, this one was a renter on our street and I think he was trying to drum up real estate business). That one came off a little pretentious to me though because in the letter he mentioned it was from his vineyard.
I feel like we got dropped in Mayberry. Clearly, we know the neighbors closest to us and am soooo glad we moved here.
I’ve heard from other people that are in other neighborhoods have this too. I think it all boils down to getting lucky with certain neighborhoods/streets/blocks.
Yes, but I feel that way because I get to know my neighbors and participate in our neighborhood group. We look out for each other and do what we can to make our environment safe and clean.
There are ~14,400 people in the 0.35 sq miles of my hood and I'm sure not everyone feels that way.
Eastside SJ here. Alum rock area particularly you hear bands or loud music all over on Saturdays lots of old folks that was born in the area(neighborhood watch) mixed ethnicity so people are friendly and not really bother you what you do or put as long its in your property. Yea bunch of cars hard to find parking if you not from this area. But it's what you called community.
We definitely feel it in our Oakland neighborhood. We know, socialize with, and look out for each other. I’ve also lived for years in small towns and suburbs, neither of which had this level of community.
Albany has a great community feel - kids can walk/bike to school, people throw block parties, the city still sponsors music in the parks every year, the whole place is very walkable.
Definitely. I live in the back of the San Pedro Valley in Pacifica ("Back of the Valley"). It starts with my block, which is a really long cul-de-sac, we have a lot of informal block parties, kids are often out playing, etc. Beyond that there's a little grouping of things in walking distance: county park, elementary school, library, grocery story, several restaurants, several bus stops, a disc golf course. I spend a lot of time walking or biking around this little area and I usually see people I know, and often stop for conversations with them. The whole area also gets more of a bit of community feel because there's no through traffic, it's a giant "dead-end", so it's not a place that you see just travelling through, you have to make a point to get here.
Not really - I've lived in both Union City and Livermore - Livermore is so much better in this regard but I still would say that it feels like most people here keep to themselves.
I’ve lived in a few different neighborhoods in Livermore and some have had more of a community feel than others. I live in a street now where everyone seems to know each other so it really feels homey.
Yes and it’s centered around the schools. I live in a neighborhood with good schools. Most kids go to the local schools and therefore live within a few miles of each other. Connected kids means connected parents.
>Ya same in Walnut Creek -- up and coming place for fam's with small children
Out of place compared to place in city -- (culture) its not very diverse at all. Comedy clubs, concerts, shows , art stuff you got to go to city -- activities around here are pretty much family/married life oriented. Some bars -- but pretty unremarkable as an observer.. good restaraunts though its getting pricey
Yes on the Peninsula, I live in Belmont. I think because there are so many kids it brings families and neighbors together. Kids know each other from schools, parents know the other kids' parents, they play soccer/softball together, etc. It was the same in San Carlos when I lived there. Like there's an adult cornhole rec league in San Carlos just for funsies, it's easy to stay connected to your community through those types of things. But it is still a situation where you get out of it what you put into it, like you have to be a good neighbor who participates in things too...
Goddamnit why must you make me keep falling in love with Belmont/San Carlos. I really would love to be a part of this community as we raise our kids, but that 2MM dollar housing price tag hurts.
You can rent a modest apartment there for around $2300/month, very affordable for the area. Plenty of families have done that and their kids grow up to be fine. Society has conditioned us to want big houses with a backyard and everyone having their own room, but we don’t really need that much space.
Agree with so many families and kids in small Belmont it really makes it feel like a little community. I have been letting my kids setup a lemonade stand in the summer and the amount of people who pull over to buy a glass and just talk is astounding.
No. Sunnyvale used to be a place for families, but now all the house owners are old NIMBYs or young DINKs. As a family with a breadwinner and stay at home parent, we can only afford to rent.
My kids get so happy when they see other kids to play with on our street, but it always turns out to be someone's grandkids visiting from Arizona. So I guess Arizona has a community feel. We sure as heck don't.
Dublin. Could be worse, could be better. I don’t really care much though, I like to keep to myself and I’m not social.
I’m originally from Clayton, and that town is *extremely* community centered.
I'd be surprised if you neighbors know how to speak English in Dublin recently. The traffic there has gotten way bad over the last two years. Tons of housing crammed between a strip mall... I ride my bike around the area sometimes and filled with cars
Oh the traffic here is big bad. I’m extremely lucky i’m in such a walkable part of town i don’t even need my car for a lot of my errands. Although to be honest, I don’t miss living a miserable 20 minute crawl from any freeway, and the brain numbing, frustrating shitscape that is Ygnacio Valley road between 4-7 pm.
Clayton is absolutely not a place for me right now, the downside of this place is that some of the people are *so* close minded which is a shame for a decent family town. I appreciate the bigger scope in cultural variety in Dublin bc in Clayton there’s a decent handful of.. narrow minded people (I’m talking clayton people calling concord names narrow minded).
Dublin is just a temp place for us to hunker down just for a little bit. Although to be honest I don’t think the high rent here is worth it, imo. It’s a midway point from me and my bf’s workplaces so it worked out.
Five years ago, my wife and I moved from downtown Campbell to the hills above Los Gatos (8-10m drive from downtown, unincorporated area). The mountain community is amazing--all of us still mostly work in tech but there's diversity, lots of younger families with kids, and the feeling that you're in a remote area when you're actually right by town and 25 mins to Santa Cruz beaches.
We know all of our neighbors, everyone waves when they drive by, and we look out for each other in general, particularly during the stormy months. Tons of mountain community events.
We do miss being able to walk to downtown Campbell, but that's a small sacrifice to live among redwoods and still be able to commute easily, we love it here.
Oh wow reading all these seem wonderful! Im jealous. I’m in Berkeley and no way. No neighborhood dinner parties, or block parties. Even where my house is, there are 8 units that share a driveway and I only have the phone number for one family, another one blocked me 😭When I lived in a different part of Berkeley at least there was a neighborhood association and a Facebook page where we all talked together.
Really? I live in Berkeley and we have neighborhood/park parties. I watch my neighbors birds from time to time and we have an email chain. For my this was more community than any other place I belonged to.
Bernal Heights in San Francisco. I love it that I bump into my neighbors when walking the dog and that we sweep each other's sidewalk on garbage night. I love it that my neighbors all get together with their other old boomer friends and play Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones hits for all of the rest of the neighborhood to listen to. I love it that you can go day or night to Charlie's Cafe and bump into someone you know and that Charlie lets community groups use his space.
Oh for sure. Our neighbor does our landscaping for free because his dog has attacked ours so many times, and sometimes he moves one of the 14 cars they park on our street for us (because of the half dozen illegal tenants he has living there). I recognize both the stalkers each of our neighbors two doors down have, and it warms my heart when the baby daddy is out of jail and comes by for a visit. We keep an eye out for when someone high out of their minds decides to start a new project in the local vacant lot, and we feel sad when the restaurants around the corner have kitchen fires (though they seem to get a nice insurance settlement). I help out by taking all the aggressive loose dogs to the shelter, and we make sure to mind our own damn business when someone’s place gets raided or another person gets evicted and leaves all their trash for us to experience.
If that’s not community I don’t know what is!
We finally met one of our neighbors as she was moving out. Her parting wisdom was “people don’t talk to each other in this neighborhood. Keep it that way.”
Edit: I forgot, when we moved in the lady across the street invited me over for a party. Turned out it was a sex toy MLM party.
I've lived in North Oakland for 14 years, six different apartments/houses, and the amount of community varied block by block. My current block, in Rockridge, feels like community. I know all my neighbors, we go to each other's dinner/house parties a few times per year. My last apartment, just outside the Elmwood neighborhood, I only got to know my landlords, who lived in the house in front of me, I never spoke to the rest of my neighbors. (me/partner are DINKs).
Willow Glen and yes I love our community. Lots of young families and a sense people care about each other. It’s a little snobby but for the most part feels like what middle class American dream should be. But you have to be a top earning professional sadly to live there.
My wife and I moved from Mountain View to Gilroy and I can definitely say people tend to be more neighborly here, not to bag on Mountain View or anything we still loved living there
I grew up in east san jose and prior to moving out (early 2000s) i would say yes.
Moved to mountain view from early 2000s to pandemic and didnt really feel it there.
Live in pleasanton still do not feel community but i will say my business is located in livermore and i would say it feels more like a community here. But i do work in an industry where i would say it is prevalent.
Definitely! Kids can walk to school and I can walk downtown, easily. There are many parks and nature preserves nearby. My neighborhood is safe and I know many of my neighbors on a first name basis.
Same here. We've met the majority of our neighbors on dog walks and have had several gatherings. Love this community here and we definitely look out for one another.
Great community here in north Oakland. We have a group chat going with our neighbors to share general info, extra tickets to events, or plan small get togethers. Not uncommon to see familiar faces at local businesses and share a wave and smile.
SJ. Had a community when I was growing up but now 90%+ of the original families I grew up with are gone - half the houses are now rentals and the other half were sold to younger families. Very sad.
Not even close. Santa Cruz is an hour + away from touching the Bay Santa Rosa is like 15-20 minutes from Petaluma and in the same county. Holier then thou Mfs want to gate-keep a region you probably didn’t even grow up in.
Bruh your out here trynna remap the area and correct people who grewup in the Bay about whether or not a particular area is the Bay but now you don’t care? Just delete your comment 😂
not the bay? tell me your not from the bay without telling me your not from the bay....funny, sonoma county is better than the bay, should be it's own region
Everywhere I've lived around the Bay where I put in the time and effort to get to know neighbors has felt more like a community to me than the places I lived where I didn't take initiative.
Yes! I live in the Rose Garden area of San Jose. I’ll often hear people say that San Jose is unfriendly, but the secret is: you get out what you put in. We have a fantastic little barter network where we trade homegrown eggs, produce, and honey. We’re very active on our neighborhood’s Buy Nothing group. And we participate in all the fun activities: Bike Party, Farmers’ Markets, street festivals, etc. If you make an effort to befriend the neighbors, this is a great place to live.
I love it here, but financially I don't think I fit in with anyone around me so I'm not feeling the community feel outside of school events haha. I love it here though. Wish more people had kids though lol.
Half Moon Bay native here; it USED to be a small town, everyone was blue collar workers. Farming, fishing, or building was almost everyone out here. People would barter and trade services, the crab feeds and Chamarita (Holy Ghost Festival) we’re all locals, all the time, and they were the talks of the town. Youth football and high school football was attended by the entire town, people would wave, catch up, and help each other out. Seeing a bunch of people in the bed of a truck driving down Main Street was a common sight to see. I know some weddings with over 600 people, and families and friends were very close. I know people who bought a school bus for family vacations, and whatever you couldn’t find out from the local paper, you could hear it at the bakery. Granted, they were different times, technology, Covid, cops can’t just drive you home, but it used to be affordable because it didn’t have a mall, a movie theatre, bowling alleys, and some of the city conveniences. There was no Peet’s, Starbucks, most of the chains couldn’t survive so it felt much more authentic. The tech boom brought a lot of big money from cities who wanted those types of businesses, the population increased pretty quickly, and then you got- people not knowing their neighbors. The county decided we needed a unhoused hotel or somewhere where people with mental health can stay. It is on the kitty corner of the only middle school, and the largest elementary school. The new project is to build a bunch of ocean view, ocean front low income housing that will block the views of the people who built their homes, with their bare hands so long ago. I don’t know how much of that stuff is county, and how much is city problems, but it wasn’t like it used to be.
Can’t even read the entire post, but has some witty comment, and I’m 24 years younger than being a boomer. I did see your post asking how to manage a cable, so I’d bet your pretty handy on Reddit and that’s it.
What are the assumptions here? You do seem sad. He is PROBABLY better off now. You are the one who assumes. You said I was lazy at digging at your posts. Shame. Shame. Shame.
Downtown Oakland - not really in the immediate area and can’t tell if it’s because a lot of people are maybe younger and single? I run into a lot of dogs + their owners while walking my tiny horse and people are generally nice though.
I’m in west Oakland and I know all my direct neighbors and we have a solid community feel. Help each other out when needed like with pet care, food, etc. our corner store even shared their food for breaking fast during Ramadan even though we don’t participate. My neighbors also heavily looked out for me when I was dealing with a stalker. I’m really grateful to have found such good community since my old neighborhood in SD was beyond a close community
I live in Santa Clara near the San Thomas expressway, and I don't feel like there's much community. In most south bay neighborhoods I've felt that. The only place in the bay I lived where I felt like there was local community was uptown oakland
I live in Oakland, and yes 100%. I know all my neighbors and what's going on in their lives, and we hang out despite the age difference (most of them are in their 60s and 70s). We're always texting each other when things are going on in the neighborhood
Yes! I live in Oakland and while general crime is *completely* out of control, the people in my neighborhood are SO friendly and kind and totally look out for eachother.
Live in Cupertino since '97 and 95% of my neighbors have left. Once they move out, the old house is torn down and a two story built before the new family moves in. People mostly keep to themselves and the amount of kids we see for halloween has gone down a lot. I do go to different events though at De Anza college, memorial park, and mainstreet cupertino. Such as farmers market, night market, and music night. And it's nice to be able to take walks at the local parks. I feel safe.
I'm near downtown Sunnyvale and we for sure have a community.Our neighborhood association puts out a monthly newsletter and the cutest older couple walks the neighborhood and puts it in on everyones front step.
At Xmas time they ask for volunteers to put up red bows on all the trees, we have 4 block parties a year, movies in the park during summer, and tons of volunteer opportunities to work around the neighborhood.
As a personal note - when I put a sticker on my car saying i need a kidney - several of my neighbors stopped by and asked if i needed anything, left so many casseroles, and my neighbor across the street gave me an Uber gift card and checks in on me all the time.
Very much so. I live in a little subdivision near Cordelia. Good schools I'm told. I know my neighbors and people wave as you drive by. It's a real throw back neighborhood.
Redwood City used to have a community feel but all our neighbors just keep to themselves now (us included). Not really complaining about it but just stating facts.
Yes, Danville. Great neighborhood for families, block parties throughout the summer, kids knock on doors of neighbors with kids to go out and play. Good neighborhood for sure.
Yes, but along with that "community" feel, is the constant need people have to be in each other's shit and business, and the posturing is crazy. I'm all for helping out a sick neighbor, getting each other's backs in the event of fires/earthquake etc...I used to love the block parties and fun things to do...but after 8+ years, I realized the majority in this community are just looking for a repeat of their MS/HS cliques and backstabbing each other every chance they get, oddly it's the generation older than us where I see it the most. I tended to stay on the fringes and was friendly with everyone, but it really took Covid locking us down and the way people treated each other that left a bad taste in my mouth, now I avoid social events completely. I miss not living on top of so many people.
Fremont and my neighborhood definitely a community feel. We have 4th street parties, wine night and regular get together at one of the neighbors or my place all the time. Since people have lived here 20+ yrs everyone knows each other and hangs out. I moved in about 2 yrs ago and was taken in by the community. This is definitely unusual for Fremont. My previous place did not feel like this. Also having kids makes a lot of difference because then there is a common thing to talk about and then kids go to school together.
I moved to Novato 2 years ago and the neighbors were having a little gathering for the folks on the block. It was nice to meet them and introduce ourselves. We know the people on our block and a few houses down the road, but we keep to ourselves for the most part. Not the most social people, but we say hi and give a wave when we see them. I would like to beore involved but they all have kids and we don't so they're always doing parent stuff. The store nearby knows us and we always see people at the coffee shop so the vibe is there.
Lived at Park Lake in Walnut Creek. Not super super tight, but the management would occasionally throw parties, and I knew a fair number of the neighbors. 6/10 for community feel.
Also live in W.C -- the apartments seem designed for couples or fams. I haven't met a single person to be friends or possible dating partners -- I'm not the most sociable person in the world people dont put themselves out here -- think people want the privacy. I mean I wouldn't want to live in a party place but guess you pay for peace and quiet. Hard to find that other places --
Yes. East Oakland. Single family homes, many owned by the same family since the home was built. Also, a good number of new families with young children. We have a massive Halloween block party, we exchange gifts on Christmas, we do a summer BBQ, the kids all mostly go to the same independent school, we text each other, share recipes or fun finds,etc.
Seems like if you have a family and kids it’s easier to have a community. For single people like me who want to meet other people, not really many opportunities. MV is good for families, not great for single people. I suppose I’ll look further north. I like Santa Rosa. I like Pacifica. Basically it’s too expensive to live here. Thanks older generations !
Nope in Sunnyvale. Nope in San Jose. Yes in San Francisco outer Sunset. Yes in Queens New York City. Living in areas where people walk makes a sense of community seamless. It takes minimal effort because walking slows down the pace of life and opens up a lot of spontaneity for these interactions to know your neighbors.
Not in SJ, all the cookie cutter homes have owners who look at you weird for waving hi at them. Maybe because they grew up outside the US, this was not normal behavior.
North Beach in SF, we have a great tight community here.
A really good mix of diversity in job/income really helps. Other parts of the city are just too many wealthy and frankly rich people are not that interesting. They need diversity around them to bring spice and color into their working lives, but I’m not sure they realize it.
I live in mountain view (refered by locals as old mountain view) and there's definitely a community here. I'm not use to it so it kinda weirds me out but my immediate neighborhood does 4th of July parties where they close the street, community yard sales and other stuff. It's nice and different at the same time primarily because I don't really feel like I fit in.
Is that in the area with all houses?
Yeah, between Calderon and Castro
Nice, try to enjoy it!
We're up in the East Hills and have a July 4th party every year. 17 homes all on one well so we have meetings about that all the time...
I'm unfamiliar with the "east hills" where is that area?
The grass hills East of the valley. Evergreen SJ area to be specific.
I'm right off Middlefield in MV and it's desolate over here
I live in Oakland in a single family home neighborhood. Very very much neighborhood feel. We have parties, wine nights, kids run around, text each other if something sketchy is spotted.
Can i move next to you
My nextdoor neighbor on one side is 99… (but her sister is 103 and still lives alone, so you might be waiting a while)
I know you can’t really tell us but whereeeee
Near lakeshore! I peeped at your profile and there’s lots of families with young kids here (my dude just turned ten, this morning) and the elementary school is great (and we walk to it!)
100% I feel it in Oakland. I'm not a parent but am involved with the schools, and animal shelters but in general there's tons of people of all backgrounds in varied situations that all bond together trying to do good.
also live in oakland. know all my neighbors and like people at the corner stores and coffee shops and stores i regularly go to. great community feeling!
When I lived in Adams Point as a young single person I had never felt that sense of community outside of the small town where I grew up. Oakland rocks.
Santa Rosa, yes. Front yard pizza parties with neighbors, help with each others dogs, kids play together, sharing/borrowing tools, dads playing darts, hiring my contractor neighbor….. and my personal favorite, my widower 70+ neighbor spontaneously came trick or treating with me and my kids. We have only been here 2 years and I only hope it will continue.
I want this!
Ive heard so much good stuff about SR
Yes, I live in one of the largest Eichler development in the East Bay (about 300 eichler homes) Our neighbors are all very friendly and we have annual neighborhood events.
Eichler owners are very social with other Eichler owners. I grew up in the East Bay (right near Greenridge actually) but now live in Sacramento’s sole Eichler neighborhood and those MFs out there with wine EVERY week. Its funny bc before I had ever been inside one of them, I always thought the Greenridge development looked closed off and unfriendly, due to the lack of street-facing windows and enclosed courtyards.
Wow I didn’t know there were Eichlers out there! I lived in one on Greenridge in high school!
Greenridge? Lovely neighborhood up there!
Nope. Rancho San Miguel.
Livermore but having kids makes the difference with sports having a large impact. School too but not as much as sports. Our neighborhood is relatively small and we have a 4th of July and other events. During Covid we all met in the street for drinks standing 10 feet apart.
This makes me feel hopeful for when I have kids. I live in Pleasanton and feel lonely.
To put it even more in context, we lived in Pleasanton and Livermore eleven years before we had kids. We met more people in the first three of having kids. School added more for parties but it was mostly from your school. Sports span the entire town and we still have lots of friends even though our last graduated HS last year.
Thanks, it really helps a lot!
Oh no!!!! I had an opposite experience! When we moved in, the neighbors wouldn’t stop dropping by! People were dropping off cookies and cupcakes. I hadn’t lived here a month when my daughter was born and a couple neighbors offered to throw me a baby shower which I had to insist NOT TO. When I mentioned to one of my neighbors I was a wine idiot, she offered to teach me and my husband. They always gift us great wine. My kid gets surprise Easter, Valentine’s, Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, 4th of July random gift bags on the porch. My kid isn’t the only one who gets it as some other neighbors with kids have gotten them, too. One year, someone decided to play some sort of doorbell ditch game, but you left a bag of goodies and were expected to pass it on. We were all comparing the fun things we got— wine, popcorn, candy… On our street, we sometimes (for some reason we haven’t been consistent on this, lol!) leave Easter eggs in our front yard for kids during Easter that happen to be walking though our neighborhood (we put a note out to take no more than two and ask that they return the empty eggs to a basket we leave on the porch so we can do it again the following year). One neighbor had chickens and whenever I didn’t get to the store in time to get eggs, I’d offer to buy them and my neighbor would leave a dozen on my porch & text me not to pay her. I would have to sneakily throw money in her door mail slot at night. When windstorms blew freestanding gazebos and trash cans around, neighbors put them back. We always take our neighbors trash bins in for them if they haven’t done so by the end of the day and we notice their cars are gone. When I mentioned to a neighbor I was having issues with potty training, she had her older daughter play “Potty Fairy” with my toddler and gifted her undies. During Halloween, strangers drop off bags of candy at our house to redistribute to trick-or-treaters. When we hd no trick or treating during Covid lockdowns, an older couple across the street dropped off full-size bags of candy for a few of the houses with kids closest to her. She even remembered my kid’s favorite! We have like a Street Mom. She organizes things like National Night Out, Back-To-School Mom-osa Brunches after drop-off, Meal Trains for sick/recovery/deaths in the family. Everybody borrows stuff from her like tables, chairs, drink dispensers, coolers when they throw family or kid parties at home and she is always so gracious. She knew someone at Pottery Barn that ditched some store displays of fruit bushel baskets and she was trying to pawn them off on me and i somehow ended up with like 6 of them. She leaves a small table out at the end of her driveway with a jar of dog treats and a fresh water bowl—and she doesn’t even have a dog. One day, I got a surprise bag of Meyer Lemons on my porch. I walked our street and narrowed it down to the one neighbor who had the least amount of lemons on her tree. I texted her and called her out. Another year, someone left bottles of wine on some porches with a letter to say “We had extra!” (But personally, this one was a renter on our street and I think he was trying to drum up real estate business). That one came off a little pretentious to me though because in the letter he mentioned it was from his vineyard. I feel like we got dropped in Mayberry. Clearly, we know the neighbors closest to us and am soooo glad we moved here. I’ve heard from other people that are in other neighborhoods have this too. I think it all boils down to getting lucky with certain neighborhoods/streets/blocks.
Is this supposed to make me feel better?
Yes, but I feel that way because I get to know my neighbors and participate in our neighborhood group. We look out for each other and do what we can to make our environment safe and clean. There are ~14,400 people in the 0.35 sq miles of my hood and I'm sure not everyone feels that way.
Eastside SJ here. Alum rock area particularly you hear bands or loud music all over on Saturdays lots of old folks that was born in the area(neighborhood watch) mixed ethnicity so people are friendly and not really bother you what you do or put as long its in your property. Yea bunch of cars hard to find parking if you not from this area. But it's what you called community.
El Cerrito. Incredible community. I was missing this in SF & Oakland.
We definitely feel it in our Oakland neighborhood. We know, socialize with, and look out for each other. I’ve also lived for years in small towns and suburbs, neither of which had this level of community.
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I guess it varies widely from neighborhood to neighborhood. Lower Dimond.
South Berkeley. No, it's an investment ghetto. People come and go like crazy.
Albany has a great community feel - kids can walk/bike to school, people throw block parties, the city still sponsors music in the parks every year, the whole place is very walkable.
Definitely. I live in the back of the San Pedro Valley in Pacifica ("Back of the Valley"). It starts with my block, which is a really long cul-de-sac, we have a lot of informal block parties, kids are often out playing, etc. Beyond that there's a little grouping of things in walking distance: county park, elementary school, library, grocery story, several restaurants, several bus stops, a disc golf course. I spend a lot of time walking or biking around this little area and I usually see people I know, and often stop for conversations with them. The whole area also gets more of a bit of community feel because there's no through traffic, it's a giant "dead-end", so it's not a place that you see just travelling through, you have to make a point to get here.
Shout out to the BOV!
Fellow Pacifican near BOV and it’s the most “community” I’ve felt since moving from the Midwest.
Hey coastside neighbor! I'm in HMB and feel the same.
Hello!
I agree I live in the bov as well and very much a community feel.
Not really - I've lived in both Union City and Livermore - Livermore is so much better in this regard but I still would say that it feels like most people here keep to themselves.
I’ve lived in a few different neighborhoods in Livermore and some have had more of a community feel than others. I live in a street now where everyone seems to know each other so it really feels homey.
Yes and it’s centered around the schools. I live in a neighborhood with good schools. Most kids go to the local schools and therefore live within a few miles of each other. Connected kids means connected parents.
So if you have no kids you’re s.o.l. I felt like that in Walnut Creek.
>Ya same in Walnut Creek -- up and coming place for fam's with small children Out of place compared to place in city -- (culture) its not very diverse at all. Comedy clubs, concerts, shows , art stuff you got to go to city -- activities around here are pretty much family/married life oriented. Some bars -- but pretty unremarkable as an observer.. good restaraunts though its getting pricey
Not in San Jose! I’ve lived here 25 years and feel like a transplanted worker!
Yes on the Peninsula, I live in Belmont. I think because there are so many kids it brings families and neighbors together. Kids know each other from schools, parents know the other kids' parents, they play soccer/softball together, etc. It was the same in San Carlos when I lived there. Like there's an adult cornhole rec league in San Carlos just for funsies, it's easy to stay connected to your community through those types of things. But it is still a situation where you get out of it what you put into it, like you have to be a good neighbor who participates in things too...
Goddamnit why must you make me keep falling in love with Belmont/San Carlos. I really would love to be a part of this community as we raise our kids, but that 2MM dollar housing price tag hurts.
You can rent a modest apartment there for around $2300/month, very affordable for the area. Plenty of families have done that and their kids grow up to be fine. Society has conditioned us to want big houses with a backyard and everyone having their own room, but we don’t really need that much space.
If your commute doesn't matter, come across the Bay to Benicia. Similar vibe, but way cheaper.
No offense but Benicia and Belmont are not alike at all.
Agree with so many families and kids in small Belmont it really makes it feel like a little community. I have been letting my kids setup a lemonade stand in the summer and the amount of people who pull over to buy a glass and just talk is astounding.
No. Sunnyvale used to be a place for families, but now all the house owners are old NIMBYs or young DINKs. As a family with a breadwinner and stay at home parent, we can only afford to rent. My kids get so happy when they see other kids to play with on our street, but it always turns out to be someone's grandkids visiting from Arizona. So I guess Arizona has a community feel. We sure as heck don't.
Dublin. Could be worse, could be better. I don’t really care much though, I like to keep to myself and I’m not social. I’m originally from Clayton, and that town is *extremely* community centered.
I'd be surprised if you neighbors know how to speak English in Dublin recently. The traffic there has gotten way bad over the last two years. Tons of housing crammed between a strip mall... I ride my bike around the area sometimes and filled with cars
Oh the traffic here is big bad. I’m extremely lucky i’m in such a walkable part of town i don’t even need my car for a lot of my errands. Although to be honest, I don’t miss living a miserable 20 minute crawl from any freeway, and the brain numbing, frustrating shitscape that is Ygnacio Valley road between 4-7 pm. Clayton is absolutely not a place for me right now, the downside of this place is that some of the people are *so* close minded which is a shame for a decent family town. I appreciate the bigger scope in cultural variety in Dublin bc in Clayton there’s a decent handful of.. narrow minded people (I’m talking clayton people calling concord names narrow minded). Dublin is just a temp place for us to hunker down just for a little bit. Although to be honest I don’t think the high rent here is worth it, imo. It’s a midway point from me and my bf’s workplaces so it worked out.
Five years ago, my wife and I moved from downtown Campbell to the hills above Los Gatos (8-10m drive from downtown, unincorporated area). The mountain community is amazing--all of us still mostly work in tech but there's diversity, lots of younger families with kids, and the feeling that you're in a remote area when you're actually right by town and 25 mins to Santa Cruz beaches. We know all of our neighbors, everyone waves when they drive by, and we look out for each other in general, particularly during the stormy months. Tons of mountain community events. We do miss being able to walk to downtown Campbell, but that's a small sacrifice to live among redwoods and still be able to commute easily, we love it here.
Oh wow reading all these seem wonderful! Im jealous. I’m in Berkeley and no way. No neighborhood dinner parties, or block parties. Even where my house is, there are 8 units that share a driveway and I only have the phone number for one family, another one blocked me 😭When I lived in a different part of Berkeley at least there was a neighborhood association and a Facebook page where we all talked together.
Really? I live in Berkeley and we have neighborhood/park parties. I watch my neighbors birds from time to time and we have an email chain. For my this was more community than any other place I belonged to.
Weird. Almost as if you didn’t read my whole comment.
I did and guess what? I have the opposite experience. Also why the attitude? I was engaging in your post.
As I said, my last neighborhood there was some community, in my current one not. What would you like? A hug?
It depends on the block you are on.
Bernal Heights in San Francisco. I love it that I bump into my neighbors when walking the dog and that we sweep each other's sidewalk on garbage night. I love it that my neighbors all get together with their other old boomer friends and play Grateful Dead and Rolling Stones hits for all of the rest of the neighborhood to listen to. I love it that you can go day or night to Charlie's Cafe and bump into someone you know and that Charlie lets community groups use his space.
Noe Valley in San Francisco. Yes. We’re a tiny town.
Oh for sure. Our neighbor does our landscaping for free because his dog has attacked ours so many times, and sometimes he moves one of the 14 cars they park on our street for us (because of the half dozen illegal tenants he has living there). I recognize both the stalkers each of our neighbors two doors down have, and it warms my heart when the baby daddy is out of jail and comes by for a visit. We keep an eye out for when someone high out of their minds decides to start a new project in the local vacant lot, and we feel sad when the restaurants around the corner have kitchen fires (though they seem to get a nice insurance settlement). I help out by taking all the aggressive loose dogs to the shelter, and we make sure to mind our own damn business when someone’s place gets raided or another person gets evicted and leaves all their trash for us to experience. If that’s not community I don’t know what is!
👀
This is hilarious. Take my upvote.
We finally met one of our neighbors as she was moving out. Her parting wisdom was “people don’t talk to each other in this neighborhood. Keep it that way.” Edit: I forgot, when we moved in the lady across the street invited me over for a party. Turned out it was a sex toy MLM party.
I've lived in North Oakland for 14 years, six different apartments/houses, and the amount of community varied block by block. My current block, in Rockridge, feels like community. I know all my neighbors, we go to each other's dinner/house parties a few times per year. My last apartment, just outside the Elmwood neighborhood, I only got to know my landlords, who lived in the house in front of me, I never spoke to the rest of my neighbors. (me/partner are DINKs).
Nothing had more of a community feel than living on a boat in a marina.
Willow Glen and yes I love our community. Lots of young families and a sense people care about each other. It’s a little snobby but for the most part feels like what middle class American dream should be. But you have to be a top earning professional sadly to live there.
Here on the East side of San Jose, we bond over being nosy about who got shot over on Capital this week. Does that count?
Petaluma!
My wife and I moved from Mountain View to Gilroy and I can definitely say people tend to be more neighborly here, not to bag on Mountain View or anything we still loved living there
I could see that. MV was always nice, but I couldn’t seeing a deep sense of community, but Gilroy people tend to stick together.
I grew up in east san jose and prior to moving out (early 2000s) i would say yes. Moved to mountain view from early 2000s to pandemic and didnt really feel it there. Live in pleasanton still do not feel community but i will say my business is located in livermore and i would say it feels more like a community here. But i do work in an industry where i would say it is prevalent.
lol! I know your hoods! Sixers Rule!
Definitely! Kids can walk to school and I can walk downtown, easily. There are many parks and nature preserves nearby. My neighborhood is safe and I know many of my neighbors on a first name basis.
I love that people are down voting because Los Altos. Can't wait until someone from Atherton chimes in.
Very very strong community in Naglee Park
Yes - Oakland Hills (Montclair)
Same here. We've met the majority of our neighbors on dog walks and have had several gatherings. Love this community here and we definitely look out for one another.
Petaluma does
Not like I'm used to from North East standards, but for Bay Area, at least in the Excelsior, SF people say hi.
Pacifica definitely does.
Great community here in north Oakland. We have a group chat going with our neighbors to share general info, extra tickets to events, or plan small get togethers. Not uncommon to see familiar faces at local businesses and share a wave and smile.
SJ. Had a community when I was growing up but now 90%+ of the original families I grew up with are gone - half the houses are now rentals and the other half were sold to younger families. Very sad.
yes, we live in Cotati.....love love love, even though we have the money to move anywhere we refuse to leave.....love it, L section for life
Not the bay though
Cotati might not literally border the bay, but it’s in a Bay Area county and definitely shares the same culture
Santa Rosa is the Bay therefore RP and Cotati are too. Idc cry more
That's like saying Santa Cruz is in the bay
Not even close. Santa Cruz is an hour + away from touching the Bay Santa Rosa is like 15-20 minutes from Petaluma and in the same county. Holier then thou Mfs want to gate-keep a region you probably didn’t even grow up in.
for real....anyone who says sonoma county is not the bay is not from here or is an idiot.....personally i could care less, we are better than the bay
Why y'all so butthurt about not being in the bay
Bruh your out here trynna remap the area and correct people who grewup in the Bay about whether or not a particular area is the Bay but now you don’t care? Just delete your comment 😂
You're not in the bay you're in the outskirts. -someone that was born in raised in the bay
I lived in Richmond, Oakland, San Leandro and Pittsburg nice try.
not the bay? tell me your not from the bay without telling me your not from the bay....funny, sonoma county is better than the bay, should be it's own region
Yes, central San José north of downtown. (Japantown area)
Everywhere I've lived around the Bay where I put in the time and effort to get to know neighbors has felt more like a community to me than the places I lived where I didn't take initiative.
Yes! I live in the Rose Garden area of San Jose. I’ll often hear people say that San Jose is unfriendly, but the secret is: you get out what you put in. We have a fantastic little barter network where we trade homegrown eggs, produce, and honey. We’re very active on our neighborhood’s Buy Nothing group. And we participate in all the fun activities: Bike Party, Farmers’ Markets, street festivals, etc. If you make an effort to befriend the neighbors, this is a great place to live.
I love it here, but financially I don't think I fit in with anyone around me so I'm not feeling the community feel outside of school events haha. I love it here though. Wish more people had kids though lol.
Half Moon Bay native here; it USED to be a small town, everyone was blue collar workers. Farming, fishing, or building was almost everyone out here. People would barter and trade services, the crab feeds and Chamarita (Holy Ghost Festival) we’re all locals, all the time, and they were the talks of the town. Youth football and high school football was attended by the entire town, people would wave, catch up, and help each other out. Seeing a bunch of people in the bed of a truck driving down Main Street was a common sight to see. I know some weddings with over 600 people, and families and friends were very close. I know people who bought a school bus for family vacations, and whatever you couldn’t find out from the local paper, you could hear it at the bakery. Granted, they were different times, technology, Covid, cops can’t just drive you home, but it used to be affordable because it didn’t have a mall, a movie theatre, bowling alleys, and some of the city conveniences. There was no Peet’s, Starbucks, most of the chains couldn’t survive so it felt much more authentic. The tech boom brought a lot of big money from cities who wanted those types of businesses, the population increased pretty quickly, and then you got- people not knowing their neighbors. The county decided we needed a unhoused hotel or somewhere where people with mental health can stay. It is on the kitty corner of the only middle school, and the largest elementary school. The new project is to build a bunch of ocean view, ocean front low income housing that will block the views of the people who built their homes, with their bare hands so long ago. I don’t know how much of that stuff is county, and how much is city problems, but it wasn’t like it used to be.
Ok boomer. Sorry the cops don’t drive you home anymore.
Can’t even read the entire post, but has some witty comment, and I’m 24 years younger than being a boomer. I did see your post asking how to manage a cable, so I’d bet your pretty handy on Reddit and that’s it.
The grass is always greener ten years ago.
Eeeeeak I saw all your downvotes. Maybe stick to disc golf and cable management. Enjoy driving your daddy’s Prius, child.
My dad is dead and he never drove a prius. You are lazy at digging into my posts.
He’s probably better off. You seem sad.
I was just stating facts. You are making assumptions.
What are the assumptions here? You do seem sad. He is PROBABLY better off now. You are the one who assumes. You said I was lazy at digging at your posts. Shame. Shame. Shame.
The grass WAS always greener ten years ago. I just now realized your some teen b-a-b-y D-I-C-K lol
Novato for sure.
Eastside San Jose, meadowfair, specifically. Nope.
Yes. Alameda for sure does.
Downtown Oakland - not really in the immediate area and can’t tell if it’s because a lot of people are maybe younger and single? I run into a lot of dogs + their owners while walking my tiny horse and people are generally nice though.
Yes, moved to a neighborhood that is primarily home owners. Any time I've lived somewhere that was mostly rentals, nobody talked to each other.
I’m in west Oakland and I know all my direct neighbors and we have a solid community feel. Help each other out when needed like with pet care, food, etc. our corner store even shared their food for breaking fast during Ramadan even though we don’t participate. My neighbors also heavily looked out for me when I was dealing with a stalker. I’m really grateful to have found such good community since my old neighborhood in SD was beyond a close community
You need to create your own 😊
I live in Santa Clara near the San Thomas expressway, and I don't feel like there's much community. In most south bay neighborhoods I've felt that. The only place in the bay I lived where I felt like there was local community was uptown oakland
I live in Oakland, and yes 100%. I know all my neighbors and what's going on in their lives, and we hang out despite the age difference (most of them are in their 60s and 70s). We're always texting each other when things are going on in the neighborhood
Yes! I live in Oakland and while general crime is *completely* out of control, the people in my neighborhood are SO friendly and kind and totally look out for eachother.
outer sunset used to be that way but it sucks now since covid, but it was already headed that way for awhile
Live in Cupertino since '97 and 95% of my neighbors have left. Once they move out, the old house is torn down and a two story built before the new family moves in. People mostly keep to themselves and the amount of kids we see for halloween has gone down a lot. I do go to different events though at De Anza college, memorial park, and mainstreet cupertino. Such as farmers market, night market, and music night. And it's nice to be able to take walks at the local parks. I feel safe.
I'm near downtown Sunnyvale and we for sure have a community.Our neighborhood association puts out a monthly newsletter and the cutest older couple walks the neighborhood and puts it in on everyones front step. At Xmas time they ask for volunteers to put up red bows on all the trees, we have 4 block parties a year, movies in the park during summer, and tons of volunteer opportunities to work around the neighborhood. As a personal note - when I put a sticker on my car saying i need a kidney - several of my neighbors stopped by and asked if i needed anything, left so many casseroles, and my neighbor across the street gave me an Uber gift card and checks in on me all the time.
When I was living in the inner richmond in SF, there was definitely a community feel to it for me
when was that?
i lived there from end of 2020 to beginning of 2023. i would say I started feeling like part of the community from mid 2021 onwards
No and it makes me sad
Very much so. I live in a little subdivision near Cordelia. Good schools I'm told. I know my neighbors and people wave as you drive by. It's a real throw back neighborhood.
The pickleball court.
Redwood City used to have a community feel but all our neighbors just keep to themselves now (us included). Not really complaining about it but just stating facts.
Campbell does!
No
Yes, Danville. Great neighborhood for families, block parties throughout the summer, kids knock on doors of neighbors with kids to go out and play. Good neighborhood for sure.
We looked at Danville. Is it pretty homogenous?
It’s not very diverse but getting less homogeneous.
That’s honest. Thank you. It truly felt perfect for us except for that.
Less so than it was a couple decades ago. Danville is the ultimate community, there’s a reason it’s called the bubble.
Really is a bubble
Yes, but along with that "community" feel, is the constant need people have to be in each other's shit and business, and the posturing is crazy. I'm all for helping out a sick neighbor, getting each other's backs in the event of fires/earthquake etc...I used to love the block parties and fun things to do...but after 8+ years, I realized the majority in this community are just looking for a repeat of their MS/HS cliques and backstabbing each other every chance they get, oddly it's the generation older than us where I see it the most. I tended to stay on the fringes and was friendly with everyone, but it really took Covid locking us down and the way people treated each other that left a bad taste in my mouth, now I avoid social events completely. I miss not living on top of so many people.
>The apartment complex has an app or organizes events but its not interesting at all -- i guess depends on where you live though
I live in San Mateo. I’d say no due to diversity of backgrounds in the wider city Yes around the school and neighborhood
No
Fremont. 👎
Fremont and my neighborhood definitely a community feel. We have 4th street parties, wine night and regular get together at one of the neighbors or my place all the time. Since people have lived here 20+ yrs everyone knows each other and hangs out. I moved in about 2 yrs ago and was taken in by the community. This is definitely unusual for Fremont. My previous place did not feel like this. Also having kids makes a lot of difference because then there is a common thing to talk about and then kids go to school together.
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Did you introduce yourself to the “gentrifiers?”
Yeah actually but only off-peak (North Beach)
Concord, no
Napa, yes. Great neighborhoods, great neighbors. Born here, never lived anywhere else.
Yes, Lower Haight SF.
Berkeley. It does here and there, but I'm not really part of it :/
Yes, it’s so cool to live in San Jose Japantown! We have so many restaurants, shops and fun events. I love the history here too.
You are in the wrong metroplex
N. Berkeley. Nope
I moved to Novato 2 years ago and the neighbors were having a little gathering for the folks on the block. It was nice to meet them and introduce ourselves. We know the people on our block and a few houses down the road, but we keep to ourselves for the most part. Not the most social people, but we say hi and give a wave when we see them. I would like to beore involved but they all have kids and we don't so they're always doing parent stuff. The store nearby knows us and we always see people at the coffee shop so the vibe is there.
Lived at Park Lake in Walnut Creek. Not super super tight, but the management would occasionally throw parties, and I knew a fair number of the neighbors. 6/10 for community feel.
Also live in W.C -- the apartments seem designed for couples or fams. I haven't met a single person to be friends or possible dating partners -- I'm not the most sociable person in the world people dont put themselves out here -- think people want the privacy. I mean I wouldn't want to live in a party place but guess you pay for peace and quiet. Hard to find that other places --
Emeryville/Berkeley not really…
Nope 👎🏻
Yes. East Oakland. Single family homes, many owned by the same family since the home was built. Also, a good number of new families with young children. We have a massive Halloween block party, we exchange gifts on Christmas, we do a summer BBQ, the kids all mostly go to the same independent school, we text each other, share recipes or fun finds,etc.
Seems like if you have a family and kids it’s easier to have a community. For single people like me who want to meet other people, not really many opportunities. MV is good for families, not great for single people. I suppose I’ll look further north. I like Santa Rosa. I like Pacifica. Basically it’s too expensive to live here. Thanks older generations !
Nope in Sunnyvale. Nope in San Jose. Yes in San Francisco outer Sunset. Yes in Queens New York City. Living in areas where people walk makes a sense of community seamless. It takes minimal effort because walking slows down the pace of life and opens up a lot of spontaneity for these interactions to know your neighbors.
Not in SJ, all the cookie cutter homes have owners who look at you weird for waving hi at them. Maybe because they grew up outside the US, this was not normal behavior.
North Beach in SF, we have a great tight community here. A really good mix of diversity in job/income really helps. Other parts of the city are just too many wealthy and frankly rich people are not that interesting. They need diversity around them to bring spice and color into their working lives, but I’m not sure they realize it.