5668 Broadway, Oakland

The two-bedroom bungalow at 5668 Broadway is a half-mile stroll from the Rockridge BART station and Market Hall, and not too much farther from Zachary’s (yes, we have our priorities straight).

5668 Broadway, Oakland Dining Room

While remodeled, the interior hasn’t been Dwell-ified and much of the original woodwork has been refinished and remains in place.  At the same time, the kitchen has been updated and redesigned.

5668 Broadway, Oakland Kitchen

The deck off the kitchen leads down to a landscaped yard, complete with an artisan fire pit and outdoor lounge.

5668 Broadway, Oakland Yard

Measuring 1,399 square feet on a 4,316-square-foot lot, 5668 Broadway is on the market and listed for $875,000 or $625 per square foot, the exact median price per square foot for homes that have sold in the 94618 zip code over the past 90 days and around 10 percent under the average list price for Rockridge alone.

24 thoughts on “Rocking The Rockridge Vibe, Lifestyle, And Value(s)”
  1. 10% under the average list for Rockridge is not surprising. Being on Broadway, which moves at 50 mph at that location, is probably a 25% shave — less here, given the remodel.

  2. Love those California bungalows over there in Oakland. They are really beautiful and perhaps safe from the affliction over here. Of course they have very ample rooms to begin with. Nice kitchen cabinets too. Compare with some of the other kitchens that have recently come up in remodeled SF. Thanks for the pretty pictures. Loved the Julius Castle by the way.

      1. I think they were going for tones that matched the rest of the house. You have a point ,but I think the ample cabinets and the layout override that. But I have a bias towards California bungalows.

      2. That back splash wouldn’t have been my choice, but it does sort of harken to backsplashes in many bungalows, though with more modern materials. I think it’s an attempt to meld the rather modern kitchen with the rest of the house. I wonder why the granite on one section of countertop… may a practical choice for rolling out pastry dough???

  3. Lovely home although Broadway is not the best street in Rockridge. Prefer Miles or Lawton… Seriously undervalued area compared to the price of homes in Noe. Also check out Haddon Hill in Oakland. You can actually buy incredible homes for under $1MM. There are alternatives to SF and the Peninsula!

  4. Why did they leave the wood original? Do the remodelers not know that it makes a house much more “fresh and clean” if they tear out every inch of the original wood or at least paint the whole thing white? Then they also failed to tear out all the walls and throw away the doors to make it an “open floor plan.” What purpose do those doors serve? At least they had the good sense to replace the old, probably ugly original chandelier in the dining room with a beautiful new, simple one made of paper. These people will never make it as flippers in the Mission or Noe.

      1. And single pane windows and a single edison bulb fixture per room.
        Perhaps a high tank in the water closet. A rack (A hook?) for the buggy whip.

  5. Great house for a couple, doesn’t work at all with kids. I lived around the corner from there about 6 years ago. Broadway is loud with very fast traffic. You also need an alarm and cameras to feel somewhat secure in a house there. Houses here get broken into frequently. A neighbor was robbed at gunpoint on Lawton when we lived there. We moved up into the hills. Same thing – everyone was getting their houses broken into. On one occasion I was traveling for work and a random car pulled into our driveway when only my pregnant wife was home. A couple guys got out and started walking around the house , looking in back, one rang the doorbell to see if anyone was home. This was at 11pm. At that point our dogs went crazy and they quickly got in the car and left. We did a lot wrestling with the idea we were over-reacting and if you live in an urban area you take the bad with all of the good but it got so we never felt relaxed going out of town or leaving the house empty during the day. Moved to the other side of the Caldecott Tunnel, but it was just too boring and we finally ended up in Marin. In a way it was a shame because Oakland is a great place to live in many ways.

  6. Many will scoff but there is *apparently* some recognition that Broadway might work better (define better as you please) with a central verge and one lane on each side converted to a dedicated – and protected (by a kerb) – bicycle lane as well as wider sidewalks, and plans are in motion to effect this change. We’ll see if it happens but if it does, it should positively impact properties on either side. Rumor has it that a similar change may be in the works for Claremont Avenue.

    1. No. We must maintain vehicular capacity for commuters. How dare you even suggest slowing TRAFFIC. Are you a COMMUNIST? LOL.

  7. That would make it much nicer to live on either street. It would also probably choke up traffic the area even worse than it is now. Those are the only real major in/out roads to that part of Rockridge.

  8. Are you interested in buying this home PVC? I doubt your anecdotes are typical for Rockridge or Montclair…

    1. Well I lived in Rockridge and Montclair for a number of years but left when we started a family. I can’t speak for everyone, but crime was a very big issue for our neighbors in Montclair. My “anecdote” about having our house cased was incredibly common for Montclair. The neighborhood email list backs that up – every day there would be multiple posts about this or that suspicious vehicle or people, what house had been broken into, etc… Both are great neighborhoods in many respects, but you do have to live with the constant and very real threat of (usually, but not always non-violent) property crime.

  9. I am looking at homes on both sides of the bay, and the crime/noise stories jibe with what I’m hearing on Rockridge. Don’t know if you have looked at crime stats in San Francisco, but it is no different…lots of robberies and break-ins. This is pretty common in most urban areas. The alternative is sterile Marin or lily white Lamorinda. It is all about tradeoffs I guess.

    1. Crime is not similar in Oakland and San Francisco, if that is what you are trying to say. Do you believe that crime in Rockridge is comparable to San Francisco as a whole? That might be true, I would have to take a look.

    2. This is why I love living in Piedmont. On the bay side of the hills, an easy bus/bike-ride/drive to everything in Oakland, a 25-minute commute to work in the FiDi, and what little crime we have is down 33% year-over-year. Of course, not cheap — but cheaper than SF (by the square foot).

        1. That was a hot topic on the Montclair email lists when we lived there – residents paying for cameras and neighborhood in/out points, additional lighting or security services. Piedmont pays for this stuff and crime is much lower as a result. Also, the OPD was so understaffed the response time for a crime in progress to the hills hovered around 20 minutes when we lived there. Piedmont is much shorter because they have their own police force.

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