Coastal Real Estate and Lifestyles

Well maintained homes, wide streets, sidewalks, short distance to Half Moon Bay State Beach, the Coastal Trail.  Current asking prices for available homes are in the $900K-$1.6M range.  New listings are coming on the market reflective of recent market changes in this quartile  (Quartile report for HMB coming up so check back.).

Access from this neighborhood is terrific!  A resident or visitor could walk or bike across Hwy 1 in the handy crosswalk to Main Street in downtown Half Moon Bay for a warm drink, peruse a favorite bookstore, or to find a one-of-kind gift at a great boutique.  A short distance away across Kelly Ave., a bridge will take you on foot or bike to nearby Strawflower Shopping Center where you will find Safeway, Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Longs and more.  Plus, you are just a short drive away from Highway 92 to any destination “over the hill”.  Traffic can be heavy during commute/school drop-off hours; fortunately the Highway 92 road widening project is in process so we’ll see if that eases things a bit.

While this neighborhood suits all kinds of people, young families are drawn to it for the great Park and close proximity to Hatch Elementary School.  My own family has enjoyed many a birthday party or Mother’s Club play date at Ocean View Park.  It’s been upgraded in the last few years and still seems to be as popular as ever.  One of my closest friends lived on Valdez near the park and she loved the fact that she could look out her window and see her kids and their friends playing.  She lived in the cul-de-sac so the kids ran back and forth across the street without a worry of through-traffic.

View Larger Map  Here is a Google Maps link to explore further.

Alsace Lorraine runs smoothly into another nice neighborhood called Wavecrest, a.k.a. Arleta Park.  I’ll cover this one in another blog, but if you are house hunting now and you like a west side neighborhood with close beach and downtown proximity, this neighborhood is also worth a look.

I don’t know how Alsace Lorraine got its name but would be curious to know.  Feel free to leave a comment for all to learn the history of the name if you know…

When I show our community to out of town buyers, I make a point of sharing a few reasons why this area is so unique.  One of those reasons is the work of the Peninsula Open Space Trust whose mission is to preserve open space on the San Mateo County Coast since 2001.  You may not notice their hard work as a visitor, but we enjoy its benefits every day when you live here.  So far, 20,000 acres has been preserved from future development on the San Mateo County coast.  Oh my gosh, that’s huge!  And the most recent news reported by the Half Moon Bay Review this week, that POST purchased 206 acres of Wavecrest caused a community-wide collective sigh of relief.  This work will alter the future of the Coastside neighborhoods and communities forever.

Let’s talk about one of those neighborhoods today…Clipper Ridge is a quaint neighborhood of approximately 200 homes which sits at a corner of the base of the P.O.S.T. land Rancho Corral de Tierra (which is over 4200 acres, by the way), just north of the town of El Granada.  Henry Doelger, most known for his Daly City development, bought this land in the 1960’s and, according to historians, wanted to turn this area into a resort.  That may happen yet, with Harbor Village under way.  When it became clear that Doelger’s dreams would not materialize, he sold some of his lots and built single family homes on the rest.

The ridge directly behind the neighborhood has been a natural resource enjoyed by neighborhood residents and others for many years.  From the neighborhood, one can find themselves in another world of hiking trails, native wildflowers, and drop-dead gorgeous views, and the freedom to let your mind go… To get to the drop-dead gorgeous views will take you more than just a few minutes unless you’ve been in aerobic training.  It is a bit of a hike, but worth it once you get there.  Okay, just for you, my friend Cameron is hiking “cardiac hill” as locals call it to get the photo for you.  Enjoy…

The neighborhood was developed in the 1970’s of mostly 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom.  Mostly single level homes; there are a few with a second story, and/or 4 bedrooms.  Take a walk through Clipper Ridge on a weekend day and you are likely to see young families, dog walkers, or kids on their bikes headed to the (neighborhood) park.  Perhaps some even stroll down to nearby Café Classique, the Harbor, or Surfer’s Beach.