Quick Appraisal Knowledge (QAK #13)
The City of Walnut Creek is located in Contra Costa County, which is located 16 miles east of the City of Oakland. Walnut Creek serves as a hub for the neighboring cities within central Contra Costa County, due in large part to the BART station and freeway corridors serving Sacramento and San Jose via Interstate 680 and San Francisco/Oakland via Highway 24. The city's total estimated population is 67,673. Walnut Creek is bounded by Pleasant Hill to the north; Lafayette to the west; Mount Diablo and Clayton Valley to the east; and Alamo and Danville to the south.
Walnut Creek's downtown area features a mix of independent retailers and restaurants as well as more corporate entities, with a majority of those chain retailers and restaurants located within the Broadway Plaza shopping center and the surrounding area. Anchored by Macy's, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus, Broadway Plaza houses major retailers and restaurants including Banana Republic, Victoria's Secret, J. Crew, and P.F. Chang's. Other major businesses in the surrounding area include Tiffany & Co., an Apple Store, Gap, The Cheesecake Factory, Pottery Barn, and Anthropologie.
Walnut Creek is served by both the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill BART stations, and is a 30 minute ride to San Francisco’s Financial District. Free bus routes connect the Walnut Creek BART station to downtown and the Pleasant Hill BART station.
Most of the residential development in the city is low density, single family housing, and much of the commercial development is retail and office related. The city has supported development of mixed use projects in and around the downtown area that have combined retail, restaurant, office and entertainment uses.