UNDER THE RADAR
Buyers often bypass Cotati, El Cerrito -- perhaps they shouldn't
Barbara E. Hernandez, Special to The Chronicle
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Gritty, up-and-coming El Cerrito takes its bay vistas ser... Cotati council member and former Mayor Lisa Moore works w... A sheep and a chicken coop share space with one of the mo... Cotati landmark Church of the Oaks will have its 100th bi... More...
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While the hinterlands of Vacaville, Fairfield and even Tracy offer relative bargains, would-be homeowners could be missing living in a modern-day Mayberry or an up-and-coming urban center.
Although these days the term "affordable" is relative, some small towns exist in the shadows of their more well-known and expensive neighbors, where homes can be had for less than $500,000. And many people in the Bay Area drive right past them in their search for new-home nirvana.
The tree-lined streets of Cotati could be Mayberry, if Aunt Bea voted Green and taught a creative visualization class.
And El Cerrito would be the smart, streetwise kid in school, sitting next to affluent Albany and Kensington, who might ask if he can teach them the latest skateboard moves. On a Sunday afternoon, Cotati is a mixture of Sonoma State University students discussing who was arrested and who drank too much at a party Saturday night, and the back-from-church crowd having a morning mimosa and a plate of Tubby rings at Tubby's diner.
And serving them all will be Councilwoman and sometimes Mayor Lisa Moore, who waitresses at the well-known spot on the weekends. "It's a great place to work, I get to hear everything," she said.
The town of Cotati in southern Sonoma County is historically known for being a community of progressive thinkers and creating an almost commune-like atmosphere. Its Freestore, which lasted until the 1980s, was a place where people could come in and pick up cast-off clothing, shoes and accessories for free.
Its small town center is always filled with new blood, as Sonoma State imports a batch of students every year, so much so that Cotati seems like a university village. The campus with its 7,979 students is technically in Rohnert Park, but it's just a half mile away from Cotati's town center.
"It's a small town. It's quaint," said Rhonda West, 31, a single mother who moved to Cotati five years ago from Anaheim. "Everybody knows everybody here. You see the familiar faces, and it's comfortable."
West, a Sebastopol drug store manager, likes Cotati for its slower way of life and affordable prices. She was watching her small son play in La Plaza Park on a recent Sunday afternoon.
"I think it's much more livable here. There's a local grocery store where everyone goes, and it's always a short walk to downtown from anywhere," she said. "And people who live in this town are for this town."
But that doesn't mean everyone in Cotati gets along. Debate, heated and otherwise, is always welcome in the streets of Cotati.
Moore moved to Cotati more than 20 years ago as a young woman and said she "fell in love" with its activism and openness.
"We have lively conversations, that's part of our culture. It's hard not to talk about religion or politics," Moore, 41, said. In Cotati, council members trade turns as mayor. Moore finished her stint just a week ago.
Cotati is a small town, only about 2 square miles, wedged between Rohnert Park, Highway 101 and stretches of farmland.
Most of the people who live in Cotati tend to commute south, work at the university or freelance. The telecommunications bust affected the economy of the small town, but Moore said many laid-off workers have found work as independent contractors.
Downtown Cotati is active with multiple bars, restaurants and stores offering everything from vintage clothing to knitting supplies. Thursday nights cater to the college crowd, with live music and plenty of beer on tap.
"I think people in the cities are nostalgic for the rural life or the small-town life. They find that in Cotati," said Amanda Messbarger, 35, owner of Cotati Clothing.
It's one of the few places in the Bay Area left with tight rent control and a big emphasis on affordable housing. The law requires that every new development set aside 20 percent of its housing stock for low- or moderate-income housing.
The city is also planning to provide detached workforce housing for professionals such as nurses, teachers and police officers who could be priced out of the area.
"We have one of the strictest inclusionary housing rules on the books," Moore said.
And many people seem to like it. Cotati grew 4 percent last year, making it the fastest-growing city in Sonoma County. Luckily, that growth only means another 283 people, bringing its 2005 population to only 7,337.
Sale prices for single-family, detached homes start in the mid-$400,000s. In November 2005, the median home price was $435,000.
The small city is now building mixed-use housing and retail at a proposed stop on the new Sonoma-Marin Area Rapid Transit, a passenger train service that will run about 70 miles from Cloverdale to Larkspur Landing.
The agency just completed its draft environmental impact report and was to hold public hearings last week in Santa Rosa and San Rafael.
"Complacency is fine for some people, but that's never going to be Cotati," Moore said.
Another city under the home buyer radar is El Cerrito. First started as a village for refugees from the 1906 earthquake, it's probably the biggest up-and-coming city you have never heard of.
Just under four square miles, it has two BART stations, is only minutes to Berkeley or Oakland and has more than 125 acres of parks and open space. Its sidewalks are packed with stores, and the newly remodeled El Cerrito Plaza shopping center is giving its mostly working-class residents their first taste of the sweet life.
"Traditionally, it's been families and a large senior citizen population, but with more people trying to find a place in the Bay Area, the demographics are beginning to change," said Karen Pinkos, assistant to the city manager.
Pinkos said the demand for city day care and recreational classes has risen from a single program to three or four programs, all with waiting lists.
"We now have a Trader Joe's," Pinkos said. "And once you bring in a TJ's, you know you've arrived."
Cathy Baca, 59, moved to El Cerrito from nearby Albany.
"I love being able to walk to the Plaza and the BART station without moving my car," she said. "And if you need to commute to the city, it's pretty convenient."
At Wonderland Books, owner Allan Friedman said he has noticed a few more people stopping by his used bookstore to say they have moved into the neighborhood.
Friedman, who lives in nearby Berkeley, said that El Cerrito still has some of its "working-class roots," with plenty of starter homes and young families.
Mayor Janet Abelson said El Cerrito is still creating its identity, which may revolve around the Cerrito Theater, an Art Deco masterpiece on San Pablo Avenue that is being painstakingly restored.
"We're also planning on a new library, senior center and ultimately, a new City Hall," Abelson, 59, said. "So in the next five years, we're going to look a lot different."
Diana Muaka and Joytika Raj, both 18, grew up in El Cerrito and are freshmen at San Francisco State University. They both live with their parents and are a 45-minute BART ride away from classes.
"It's a nice neighborhood, but not too expensive. ... But not too cheap so that anybody can live here," Muaka said, eating ice cream with Raj at an outdoor patio at El Cerrito Plaza.
Pinkos said El Cerrito offers a more urban and gritty alternative to the antiseptic suburbs of eastern Contra Costa County.
But the El Cerrito City Hall makes the city self-conscious. City government has been administered from several portable buildings for the last 18 years, ever since City Hall was deemed seismically unsafe.
"But we're getting closer and closer to getting a building," Pinkos said.
El Cerrito does have more expensive houses higher in the hills with clear bay views, but modest homes with water views still sell in the low $500,000s. In November 2005, the median home price was $550,000.
And ocean views are taken seriously. A city ordinance bans planting trees that block a neighbor's view of the bay.
El Cerrito's crime index is higher than most of Contra Costa County, but Pinkos said the comparison is ludicrous.
"We're on the border of a large city (Richmond), how can you compare us with Danville?" she asked.
Bryan Lee, 27, and Nicole Sattler, 24, moved from Berkeley to El Cerrito because they were able to save about $300 a month on rent. "I've noticed a lot of people go to school in Berkeley and live here," she said. Both said that compared to their previous apartment in Oakland, the crime rate seemed "pretty low."
Like Muaka and Raj, both Lee and Sattler said El Cerrito nightlife is pretty sparse.
Until the Cerrito opens (scheduled for this summer), there's no movie theater. And there's little of the fine-dining, live music and medium-to-high-end shopping that many people in the Bay Area take for granted.
But as many are quick to point out, all that is only a BART station away.
E-mail Barbara Hernandez at barbara.hernandez@gmail.com.
