Street Scene: Queensbridge Court

Heading south along Old Almaden Road, a quick right onto dusty, rural Barnes Road surprisingly leads to upscale and lovely Queensbridge Way. Who knew? Very “shee-shee….”

The entrée to the neighborhood takes you past a dazzling array of the street's showcase designer homes. Then tap the brakes for a smooth slide “back down to earth” onto family-friendly Queensbridge Court.

Be aware, it's important to slow to a crawl. That's because more than likely, a generous pack of noisy neighborhood kids will be out on the street, playing baseball. And they're used to having the asphalt all to themselves.

Bright, but laid-back, Queensbridge Court is wide open.

Think of “Mom and apple pie” and …you know the rest. It's an all-American neighborhood where “residents” transform quickly into close friends. New homeowners are routinely absorbed into the welcoming fold of growing families, young and not-so-young.

Home prices along Queensbridge Court range between $569,500 and $850,000. One home is currently up for sale, quoted at $595,000.

Queensbridge resident Linda Nollette and her husband Jeff are raising their three children between the ages of 7 and 14 on the court. She loves her home and the surrounding area, describing it as “a great place to raise kids.”

Nollette works as a volunteer for Almaden Valley Counseling Service and is a member of the PTA board at Williams Elementary. She says there are very few problems along her street which affect her directly. But she does mention the possible rezoning of adjacent Almaden Road at Barnes as being something of a concern.

She is concerned that proposed new construction will burden the already congested roadways in the neighborhood, making it tougher to get where she needs to go on a daily basis.

Nollette is also worried about possible overcrowding of local schools if more new homes are built in the area.

A petition against the zoning change is circulating which claims the development would destroy the character of the neighborhood and eliminate the extension of Queensbridge Way, part of the city's general plan for the past 20 years. A review of the request should be completed by the first of the month.

There's also been a controversy over local children using a city-owned park at the corner of Meridian Avenue and Golden Oak for soccer games and practice. Some of the neighbors have shown a distaste for anyone other than themselves using the field.

That's one of the few drawbacks to living on Queensbridge Court. There are no city parks in the immediate area. That may be why the children who live there make do with the street…or a public park miles away.

On a brighter note, Nollette's friend and neighbor, Deb DuHadway, is a brand new Mom.

The DuHadways have lived on Queensbridge Court for nearly six years and “love it.” Over that time, Deb says she and her husband “have seen a lot of construction. It's destroying the feel of southern Almaden Valley. I like the rural part. I would hate to see that feeling change.”

DuHadway says she wanted to live as close to the country as possible without being too far out of town. That's why she and her husband chose their home on Queensbridge Court, because it snugs up next to farmland and rolling hills.

Maybe the DuHadways should take color shots of the surrounding area while it's still covered with farms.

That may be all the open space they have to show their four-month old baby someday… about what it was like to live on Queensbridge Court while you could still see, smell and enjoy country life in southern Almaden Valley.

–By Barbara Luis