Peter Bruno

Hello Keith,

Couldn't agree more with you, although we are not looking in Berkeley or SF, but rather in Silicon Valley. We noticed that many of the new constructions is what they called "cottage" style. They are basically 1500 sq ft houses sitting on a 700 sq ft of land - what I call "mini rises".

First, these houses don't have a backyard, because that space is taken by the garage. Second, in order for you to move from one room to another, you need to take climb steps. You start with garage, then go up a few steps to a living room, then you need to go up another set of steps to get to the dinning room and kitchen, then a few steps up to a bathroom, and then finally more steps to the bedroom. And these houses are suppossed to be "starter" homes, for families with young children. How could one put their kids in a house full of steps and hazards and no backyard to play in? - Mon Jul 27 2009, 19:45

Toyota confirmed today that it will pull out of the NUMMI plant in Fremont and in essense dissolve and shut down their manufacturing operations there.

Very sad news for all 4700 workers employed there and a sad day for Fremont as well. Hopefully, they will all be able to move on to other jobs quickly.

This impacts obviously beyond to these 4700 workers, but also to the suppliers and the local businesses that depended on the plant. - Thu Jul 23 2009, 15:29

Does anyone know how many Fremont residents work at the NUMMI plant? Now that the plant is planning to close, I wonder what is the impact that it will have on communities like Hummingbird, which is only 2 miles away from the site.

It is not Detroit, but certainly around 5000 jobs will be lost, plus the suppliers that work with NUMMI. - Sun Jul 12 2009, 21:51

Hello User_buy,

I went to take a look at these houses yesterday and this is my opinion:

Pros - good school district (2nd best in Fremont), good floorplans, easy access to 880 and 680

Cons - the biggest being the gas station next door, then the depilated shopping centers facing the three other corners (one of which is currently empty, another one is practically empty and has one bar, and the other has an auto shop), the older houses surronding the neighboorhood, ceilings are a bit low for my taste. - Sun Jun 7 2009, 17:05

Hello Hjchen,

I have a friend of mine who lives in that community and I was over there for a visit a few days ago. I was surprised how little noise you can hear from the airplanes even when you are outside. Because the houses are not in the flight path, all you will hear is a slight humming.

On the trains, The Grove is actually across the street from Encanto, which is directly adjacent to the tracks. So, you might only feel some rambling in the Grove, but again very light.

If those are your main 2 concerns and you like your peace and quiet, I would say that unless you are extremely sensitive to noise, they won't bother you.

Now, you ask what are the negatives about The Grove - and to me the most important is the school district. Unfortunately, the school API's to which the community belong are below average.

Hope this helps. - Tue Jul 21 2009, 11:32