Where Charm and History Abound

History flourishes in the Wood Streets.  Appropriately named after numerous
types of trees such as Elmwood, Rosewood, and Oakwood, it is a place of
tradition.

The Wood Streets neighborhood has one of those blocks where residents get
together and decorate their street with Christmas decorations.  It’s been
going on since the late 1940’s.

Then there are the homes.  Spanish-style homes with tile roofs, wood-framed
California bungalows, stucco Mediterranean’s; wartime tract homes and
American Colonial Revival are just some of the types of houses throughout
the neighborhood.  “This is not a tract development,” said Tom Emerson,
Whose grandfather built the white, frame house where he lives-what is called
a Frame Pacific Redi-Cut cottage.  “As lots were available, people bought
them.”

Price is a major Consideration.  On the Wood Streets, families can find a
house with “character,” and at a price most can afford.  Schools may be part
of the reason for the influx of young families.  Parents like “the track,”
referring to the three schools students will attend-Magnolia, Central Middle
School and Polytechnic High School.  It is quite too.  Except for a couple
of schools, markets and small businesses, the Wood Streets-generally bounded
by Grand Avenue and Olivewood Avenue between Jurupa Avenue and Riverside
Community-is primarily residential. The prices generally range from $325,000
to $700,000, with the prices of homes on Chapman Place climbing well past
$600,000.  The population of the census tract that lies wholly within the
Wood Streets has hovered right at the 5,000 mark, dipping and climbing a few
hundred or so every 10 years since 1960.

When Realtors market Wood Streets houses, they talk about the cedar linen
closets, brick fireplaces, breakfast nooks and hardwood floors.  Residents
say that they like the fact that there is a wide range of economic
backgrounds throughout the Wood Streets.  But the neighborhood is still much
as it was in the first decades of this century.  So much so that public
hearing are scheduled to see about setting aside a portion of the Wood
Streets as a California Historic District which would ensure that any
construction would be compatible with the rest of the neighborhood.