City, Contra Costa County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Code: 94564
Quiet,
middle-class bedroom town in West
County. School rankings middling plus, crime low, commute fair but in recent
years improved with freeway expansions and Richmond Parkway to San Rafael
Bridge. www.mccormacks.com
Pronounced
approximately, Pin nole or Pin knoll.
Population 19,383, starts at San Pablo Bay then moves back in a
rectangular shape into the hills. Many good views of San Pablo Bay and Mount Tamalpais in Marin County. Well-maintained town.
State
in 2009 counted 7,032 residences: 5,172 single homes, 498 single-attached,
1,347 multiples, 15 mobiles. Adding a few homes here and there, some down by
the bay but not many. In the 1990s, town's population increased by about 1,500.
Through 2009 of this decade, Pinole has added about 350 people.
Pinole started its housing boom in the late 1950s and 1960s, moving east from a small cluster of homes around an old downtown.
Many of the 1960s homes feature design touches from that era, foremost A-frame picture windows, pseudo bird nests and low rancher profiles. City is generally clean and well maintained. Many of the homes are built on gentle hills to the north and south of Pinole Valley Boulevard, the main east-west road.
Many homes west of Interstate 80 command views of San Pablo Bay (upper San Francisco Bay). Although the town fronts the water, access to the Bay is hampered by two rail lines. These lines made it impossible to build housing on the water.
Conservations and government agencies for decades have been raising
funds and setting policies to ring the Bay with parks or public trails.
Pinole and Hercules, benefiting from this effort, have several linear
parks on the water.
Click for regional or detailed map
Median
age of residents is 39. Children and teens under 18 make up 25 percent of
population. Family town showing gray hairs.
Bowling alley, library, sports fields on
Pinole Valley Road, movie complex, community theater, youth center, seniors center. Many activities for kids,
seasonal swimming, Tiny Tots program. Small waterfront, nice for evening
stroll. Large park on the east side is densely wooded and adds a little country
flavor.
Shopping in downtown, which the city is trying to turn into a Victorian
Village. Utility lines have been buried, sidewalks fixed up, buildings
renovated, restaurants opened, historic murals painted. The Antlers Bar, an old favorite, still stands.www.mccormacks.com
For
more intensive shopping, residents head to a large plaza, called Pinole Vista,
at intersection of Appian Way and I-80. Hilltop, the regional mall in Richmond,
is one freeway exit away.
Among new additions, a large Kaiser clinic near Interstate 80 and the old downtown.
West of the freeway and south of Pinole are
unincorporated neighborhoods, Tara Hills and Seaview. Middle class, much like
Pinole. Once you leave Pinole going east it’s almost all country— pretty.
West
Contra Costa Unified School District. Compared to other California schools,
scores generally above the 50th-60th percentile. Catholic elementary in
downtown. See Schools.
With
opening of high school in Hercules, enrollment pressures eased at Pinole Valley
High. In last few years, residents have approved four bonds totaling $890
million — a lot — and in 2004 a measure that saved many electives
and sports. The bonds are being used to
renovate just about every campus in the
district and, possibly by 2012, to rebuild from top to bottom Pinole Valley High, which is showing its age.
In 2009, school district won a local vote to increase taxes to maintain programs undermined by the recession. The state, short of money, cut its allotments to school districts; the tax increase will make up some of this loss.
High school fields a popular performing arts program.
Pinole
straddles the freeway, 14 miles to Bay Bridge. Buses to BART stations at El
Cerrito and Richmond. Highway 4 to East and Central County is a mile away. In
2001, Highway 4 was widened and greatly improved. www.mccormacks.com
Four homicides in 2008, three in 2007, two each in 2006 and 2005. Two young men shot to death at park in
2005; upset town. Suspect arrested. Surveillance cameras installed at park. Zero homicides in 2004. For previous
years, 0, 2, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0. See Crime.
In
response to the park shootings, Pinole residents in 2006 voted to increase
their sales tax by a half cent, which will raise $1.8 million a year. The money was used to hire more cops, upgrade video surveillance, remove graffiti,
repair sewers and streets and improve the city’s readiness to handle disasters.
A
good deal of tax increase will be paid by outsiders — people in the
region who shop at the Pinole Vista Mall.
Chamber
of commerce (510) 724-4484.
•
County animal shelter located in Pinole. Good place to adopt a dog or cat.•www.mccormacks.com
• Large parks about five miles east of Pinole. Boating, fishing, hiking, biking. Popular.
West Contra Costa School District: www.wccusd.k12.ca.us
City
web site: www.ci.pinole.ca.us
March 8, 2010
