Move to Hercules?

We live next door in Pinole, and in general love this area.  Hercules is newer than Pinole, with fewer of the cute 50's ranches we prefer, but plenty of newish to brand new homes.  It doesn't have as many amenities as Pinole either, and seems to lack a cohesive downtown area.  On the other hand, people flow really easily between Hercules and Pinole, so it shouldn't be a big deal that the Trader Joe's, Sprouts, and Peet's are all in Pinole. 

Hercules has a strong rec program through its parks, and an amazing waterfront trail that runs the full length of the shoreline through Hercules and deep into Pinole.  The Intermodal Transit Center is currently under construction, with a train station planned.  There's a lot of gorgeous scenery and it is super safe. 

The biggest drawbacks are commute, school district, refineries, and boringness.  We commute north to Vallejo and south to Berkeley and neither commute is too bad.  The school district doesn't have a great reputation, but we are thrilled with our elementary  school and know many people who love Ohlone in Hercules.  I wouldn't live in the neighborhoods off the Willow Ave Exit, because they're too close to the refineries and are zoned for Rodeo elementary schools, but the ones off the Highway 4 Exit are fine.  Hercules has one decent restaurant, Leila by the Bay, and a lot of mediocre ones.  There is zero nightlife.  The library is wonderful!

This area is neat, because it's close to everything but also far away from everything.  For example, I went into the city three nights last week to go out and was downtown in 35 minutes, but I also drank my coffee staring at gorgeous green hills and watching hawks fly in the sky above me this morning.  Hercules is also pretty close to Pleasant Hill/Concord and within striking distance of Marin.  Even Napa isn't too far away.  Katrena Prior is a good realtor, and Sunshine Playschool in El Sobrante is the best preschool.  It is seriously amazing.  If you don't need full time care, however, both Hercules and Pinole offer a preschool program through the city that is a few mornings a week and very reasonably priced.  

We considered both Pinole and Hercules when we were looking, and if we wanted a brand new house we would have gone with Hercules, but in our opinion Pinole was a better match and a more attractive city all around.  It  depends what you value, but you should definitely check out both places!

We moved to Hercules two years ago and we love it!  We live by the water walking distance from old town Pinole and the bay trail. 

The area is family friendly and laid back. We moved for affordability and closeness to grandparents (my parents in law live in Hercules) but we have gotten so much more. 

Our son went to preschool at La Casita Bilingue in Old Town Pinole and it a really excellent preschool where we also met new friends in the area. My son has finished kindergarten at Ohlone in Hercules and we have been really happy with it so far.

as the previous poster said, Leila by the Bay has a nice view but there is also a great Vietnamese restaurant (Anhs Kitchen), good Thai food, Indian and Japanese as well. There is a coffee shop we go to a lot in old town Pinole. The library is amazing and we have taken tons of sports programs at the park and rec. The Bay Trail is great.

We’ve found it to be very central. We can get to Berkeley easily. I commute to Marin which is tricky but fine if you go at the right time, and my husband commutes to Pleasant Hill (easy)

Good luck!

I taught in Richmond Unified for 30 years and had the opportunity to be placed in several communities. That's why I suggested my own son and his family move to Hercules. Their primary concern was diversity and safety as my DIL in from Mainland China and their little boy is "mixed". Hercules is really great in that aspect. And I knew from experience that the schools are excellent K-12. My grandson is in a super good preschool and has had wonderful experiences at the library. The Community Center sponsors lots of old fashioned fun for the family and long walks along the streets are a neat place to meet lots of neighbors. You'll love the place :)

Moved to Hercules in 2017 from Oceanside, but a native mid-western gal.  We've been in our home off Coronado and Refugio Valley Rd for almost 18 months.  Overall, happy with our Hercules/Pinole living experience.  The best thing about Hercules is the people - by far.  We've found the community to be very down to earth, diverse, welcoming.  It is a small town next to multiple Bay Area hotspots.  The quite, natural setting of the neighborhoods is nice to come home to after the 30-120 minute commutes you make depending on direction and time of day.  My bias is that I don't have any other ca bay area experience to compare it to.  I think that the up-and-coming nature of Hercules is what it is.  It is VERY MUCH a commuter town.  People are leaving early for work 4-6 am and most things are quite by 8pm. My husband included (commutes to SSF)  East Bay Coffee Co is a great spot to gather or to study/work.  If you are concerned your children might have exceptional learning needs beyond what general ed curriculum (ie. special or gifted education), WCCUSD is financially struggling to support these needs and you might want to look more closely at your options with WCCUSD.  There's a lot of walkers and recreational opportunities down Refugio Valley Road.  The park and city facilities are older many are in need of significant updating and maintenance.  But the recreation staff and school professionals have solid care and pride for our community.  To me, Hercules has a very eclectic vibe and is still figuring out who it is. Because there is so few places in the bay that do not cost less than a million dollars to own a home, Hercules is going to continue to become more popular and likely stronger home values.  Obviously take my comments for what they are - an out of state, transplants newcomer view.  Overall it's a good option in the East Bay.  agentmariama [at] gmail.com is someone who I had an interview with and liked her.  You will definitely get the most home bang for your buck in Hercules thats under a million dollars. Good luck!