Contra Costa County's Real Estate Market:
Contra Costa County (Spanish for: Against the Coast) is a suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2000 census, it had a population of 1,024,319. The county seat is Martinez.
West County
The West County is the area near or on San Francisco and San Pablo bays. The housing stock in the region was extensively developed after the great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Much of the housing stock in these areas is becoming quite expensive. As an alternative to moving to either the expensive central county, or the too-distant East County, this area is becoming gentrified, with a mix of races and income levels — a character actively sought by some housing purchasers. The downside of this is a corresponding lack of affordable housing for those in lower paying service jobs — a problem endemic throughout the region. As the public schools are not of the quality seen in the central county, many of the middle class residents of the area send their children to expensive private schools, further limiting the availability of resources (especially well-qualified but unpaid volunteer classroom assistants and donated class support materials) to the public schools. There has recently been a housing boom or tract housing in Richmond and also in the Hercules areas. These gentrifying areas are the most diverse in Contra Costa County.
East County
Lower cost modern tract developments continue along Suisun Bay and into rural "East County" - new "bedroom" communities" to serve the now "edge cities". This results in some incredibly long and slow commutes for some county residents, as roadbuilding is unable to keep pace with the development patterns. Some political control has been established to restrict the development somewhat, with "urban limit lines" now established, but yet to prove their long term effectiveness. The building of new housing in the hot inland areas of California is straining the ability of power providers during hot weather, with peak power requirements statewide reaching levels not expected until 2010 in a 2006 late July heat wave.
