Orinda guide

Orinda as a community not only offers a safe environment (the City has one of the lowest crime rates), great housing and schooling opportunities for families, but has created facilities and events for popular recreational activities and events. The internationally known California Shakespeare Festival has its regular season from June to October at the beautiful Bruns Memorial Amphitheater in Orinda. The Festival's conservatory operates throughout the year, featuring programs for children, teenagers, young actors, teachers and adults. The historic Orinda Theatre, a beautifully refurbished art deco masterwork, is the centerpiece of Orinda's Theatre Square, a retail, restaurant and office complex with more than 30 unique and wonderful stores. The City is also proud to have the main campus at John F. Kennedy University within the city limits. The Orinda community throws a fantastic Independence Day celebration every year. Be sure not to miss the fun!

Orinda is one of the most beautiful cities in Contra Costa County and a family-oriented community of 17,000 residents in a serene setting in contrast to the more urban existence of the surrounding communities. Orinda offers gracious country style living to homeowners who enjoy a rural setting and village style atmosphere. The tree-studded hillsides of the 12.8 square-mile City contribute to Orinda's aesthetic beauty. Natural beauty, excellent schools, safety, history, culture, serenity and its proximity to major San Francisco Bay locations and activities make Orinda a delightful place in which to live and an excellent place to buy your next home.

The city of Orinda is the first residential development on Highway 24 on the east side of the Caldecott tunnel. Homes in Orinda are attractive, well-maintained, ranging from modest, custom designs to opulent, but not ostentatious. All homes built in Orinda must go before a design review board. With about 7,000 residences (90% of which are single family homes), Orinda still maintains open land in many parts, adding the natural ambiance and beauty of the area. Between Orinda and Caldecott Tunnel is a scenic valley, called Gateway, which has an exit off of Highway 24. Recently the city council approved 225 luxury homes and a golf course (which will be designed by Jack Nicklaus) on 1,000 acres.

View houses for sale in Orinda.

For transportation without the hassle of a car, a BART station is located downtown, right next to the freeway, allowing quick, convenient access to the restaurants and cultural ornaments of Berkeley, San Francisco, Lafayette and Moraga. Orinda homeowners commute San Francisco and Oakland where they find unlimited employment opportunities.

Locally, the City is surrounded by several large park and regional preserves, including Tilden Park (one of the biggest and best in the Bay Area providing trails, a merry-go-round, playing fields, lake, golf course, and botanical garden), San Pablo Reservoir, Briones Open Space, and Lafayette Reservoir. This ideal location puts Orinda at the crossroads of many National and Regional Trail systems including The American Discovery Trail, The De Laveaga Trail, The East Bay Regional Park Trail System, as well as several local walking areas. (The City has  even received the designation of "Trail Town U.S.A." by the American Hiking Association.)

In 2000, ground was broken for a new library-community center. The annual book fair raises money for the library, and the Friends of the Library sponsor a writing contest for local students (which expresses a big interest in education and learning on behalf of the community). Thanks to these local contributions, Orinda is one of the few communities in the county that keeps its library open 40 hours a week.

Children use schools for ball fields, gyms and swim meets (swimming is popular in Orinda). There is also a farmers' market, large exercise club in Lafayette, and kindergym, seniors' activities, soccer, dance, art classes, and much more sponsored by the Community Center.

View websites in Orinda of things and places to shop.

As a result of strong community involvement and endorsement of the area's educational institutions, school rankings are among the highest in state. In 1995, Orinda voters approved a $16 million bond to renovate the district's schools. Thanks to taxpayers' support, all high schools and many  elementary/middle schools in Lamorinda (short for the cities of Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda) were renovated and upgraded with new equipment, adding amenities such as a new science wing, gym, large multi-purpose room, and music and computer instruction facilities to various schools. Buses are also available for public school students.

Three elementary schools and one intermediate school operated by the Orinda Union School District, (254-4901) Miramonte High School operated by the Acalanes Union High School District, 935-2800. There are also several private pre-schools including Montessori. John F. Kennedy University is also nearby.

Many parents work at the school daily and parents in general stay in close contact with teachers and administrators, and fund programs, extracurricular activities and the arts. When the schools need money, proactive parent associations run and support fundraising events. The dedicated efforts of parents and the community pay off: Miramonte High usually scores in the high 90s, in comparisons with other California public high schools. In 1999 SAT, only 22 high schools in the state scored over 600 in math. Miramonte was one of them (Campolindo and Acalanes also broke the 600 mark.) Miramonte recently added Mandarin as an elective. Overall with continued parental and community support, Lamorinda students usually find themselves accepted in the top schools in the nation.

For transportation without the hassle of a car, a BART station is located downtown, right next to the freeway, allowing quick, convenient access to the restaurants and cultural ornaments of Berkeley, San Francisco, Lafayette and Moraga. Orinda homeowners commute San Francisco and Oakland where they find unlimited employment opportunities.

Orinda lies on portions of the Rancho de Laguna de los Palos Colorados and the Rancho El Sobrante, which were Mexican land grants to the Moraga and Castro families. In the 19201s, when about 1200 acres were designated the town site Orinda, city people began building summer homes in the wooded hillsides. Only when the Caldecott Tunnel to Oakland, about eight miles away, was completed in 1937 did the area begin to develop.