Oakmore, Oakland

Most of Oakmore was built in the 1920s and 1930s, in the years when the Key Route carried commuters across to San Francisco. The Key System was a main user of the Leimert Bridge, which connects Oakmore to Park Boulevard.

The bridge is the reason the neighborhood exists. In 1926, a group of developers led by realtor Walter H. Leimert planned a new subdivision, Oakmore Highlands, on hills that were hard to reach across the deep canyon of Sausal Creek. That same year they finished the Leimert Bridge, a concrete arch designed by engineer George Posey, the engineer behind the Posey Tube to Alameda. It spans 357 feet and stands 117 feet above the creek, and it carried cars, people, and Key System streetcars into the hills, which is what turned open hillside into a place to live.

Oakmore is a neighborhood with many old, charming homes, most built in the 1920s and 1930s. You'll find Mediterranean, Tudor, and craftsman styles throughout the hills.

What goes wrong in an older Oakmore home? Like many hilly Oakland neighborhoods, drainage and foundation issues can show up in homes here. Worth checking before you write an offer, especially on a hillside lot. Much of the Oakland hills is inside the City's Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, which the City kept in place in 2025, so check the address: a sale in the zone includes defensible space paperwork under state law, and it is worth getting insurance quotes early.

Two things to plan for in an older Oakmore home are the sewer lateral and the layout. Oakland is part of the East Bay's regional private sewer lateral program, which requires a compliance certificate for the sewer line from the house to the street when a home is bought or sold. If the home doesn't already have a current certificate, the line gets tested, and it may need to be repaired or replaced. Many homes here also keep layouts from another era that don't fit how people live now, which is worth thinking through before you buy.

Buyers who look at Oakmore usually want a quaint, charming older home with a local community of restaurants and a market close by, on a winding hillside street. Dimond Park is a big part of the draw too. Neighbors use it to meet friends, hike the trails, and play in the creek. It's genuinely a neighborhood gathering spot, not just a nearby park.

Oakmore's 1920s and 1930s homes on sloped lots draw buyers who will ask about the foundation, drainage, and layout, so it helps to know the answers before listing. Oakland's steps come with the sale. The City's transfer tax is charged in tiers on the whole price, plus Alameda County's own transfer tax. The sewer lateral needs a compliance certificate or a time extension certificate before escrow closes, and the sale triggers a sidewalk compliance certificate, with some exemptions. Who brings the sewer lateral and the sidewalk into compliance, the seller or the buyer, is negotiated. A home in the City's Very High fire zone adds defensible space paperwork. My page on selling your home in Oakland covers each step.

Tanja Odzak has sold homes in Oakmore and can help you weigh a hillside lot's real condition, not just its view. If you're thinking about buying or selling here, that's worth a conversation early.