September 22, 2005

STREET SCENEDesert Flame Drive

Beginning on Camden Avenue, Desert Flame Drive snakes about half a mile down to Firefly Drive, crossing other smaller and equally charming streets such as Flax Moss Court, Paso Los Cerritos and Nancarrow Way.

Desert Flame features about 60 one-story and two-story homes. Many have been remodeled. Most have more than three bedrooms.

The homes on Desert Flame Drive originally cost about $60,000 when they were built nearly three decades ago. Now they’re selling for close to $1 million.

The street’s feeding schools are Los Alamitos Elementary School, Castillero Middle School and Leland High School.

Dan Dahmer, 20, a communications major at West Valley College, has lived on this street with his mother and older brother for about two years. He says it’s the kind of street where if someone loses a pet, neighbors will rescue the animal and go door to door to find out who the owner is, rather than calling the city’s animal-care center.

“It’s a pretty nice street. It’s pretty quiet,” Dahmer says. “It’s not a party street. It’s kind of low key.”

Monica Miller, a mother of three young children, has lived on this peaceful thoroughfare for about five years. She says although she hasn’t met all her neighbors, she keeps busy with the Las Madres neighborhood group for play dates. “People are friendly although we don’t do a whole lot outside of saying hi to each other,” she says.

The street, like many in Almaden Valley, has a good mix of families. Some have young children. Others are made up of retired couples that love to garden and beautify their surroundings with neatly manicured yards and facades. The street’s ethnic balance also reflects the ethnic makeup of the city. Many homes are already decorated for the fall festivities such as Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Most homes on this street are more than 2,000 square feet sitting on large 6,000-square-feet lots that often feature pools and big backyards. Most of the homes on this street are owner-occupied, although a few are rentals.
Shana Moore, 37, has lived on this street for about a year. She specifically searched for homes on Desert Flame Drive after returning to the neighborhood from Granite Bay, so that her children, ages 10 and 8, could attend Los Alamitos Elementary School.

“The school is so important to us. We had to wait five months to find a house that would actually feed into Los Alamitos because we love the teachers there and our friends’ children attend the school. Not only does Los Alamitos have good test scores, it also has a real community feel.”

She also says everyone on Desert Flame Drive is friendly on garbage night. Last week, for instance, a reckless driver plowed through many garbage cans and the neighbors came out and told Moore about it and worked together to clean up the mess left behind.

She says a new neighbor went to the same high school she attended and they know many of the same people.

“I love it here. We have so many friends from Los Alamitos that we really haven’t branched out that much here because we have friends from the school that we’ve known for so long,” Moore says.

Oak Grove High School teacher Cynthia Cariel has lived with her family here for 25 years. When Cariel bought the house, her subdivision phase was the last one on the long street. Her home, she says, is one of the largest. It’s 2,300 square feet.

“Neighbors look out for each other,” Cariel says, adding that the young couple that lives next door is courteous enough to notify her when they’re having a party. “They actually warn us to tell us that there will be people outside and if it gets too noisy to let them know. I appreciate that because in the summer time you have your windows open. It’s really nice.”

When neighbors go on vacation, they also notify each other so that they can keep a watchful eye over each other’s homes. Cariel’s daughter attends Castillero Middle School and her son attends Lincoln High School where he plays in the school’s orchestra.

—By Sheila Sanchez