Antioch sits on the Delta (part river/part estuary), which means you can live here and live on the water. If you’re big into boating and boating culture (or you just like living on the water) then you’ll like it here. The nifty thing about the Delta is that it connects to San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific. This means you can motor or paddle your way to as many major spots in NorCal as your little heart desires. 

Antioch is a bedroom community and as such there aren’t jobs in town. That means you might have to navigate Highway 4 to get to work. This is one of the gnarliest freeways in the East Bay, an area notorious for bad traffic. Seriously, you don’t want to drive this road every day. Fortunately, there is a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) stop in Antioch so we can not recommend strongly enough to either work from home if possible or make sure your job is conveniently accessed via the train. 


Delta Dawn

LookyLOO Review of Antioch

As noted Antioch is a bedroom community but those beds sit in a pretty wide variety of homes. There are plenty of single-family homes but also tons of apartment/condo and townhome options. This means that while the city is geared towards families, the water culture and housing options bring a different energy to the city than most sleepy suburbs. Families have a lot to do here with the Antioch Water Park providing a fun escape from the summer heat. 

There’s also access to beautiful outdoor spaces at the Down Wetlands Preserve and Black Diamond Mines. Both offer amazing hiking and trail walking options nearby. In addition to lots of smaller parks, there is also the Antioch Community Park which has sports fields, playgrounds, camping, fishing, a wonderful beach, and a pool. You also have more adventurous entertainment options at the Antioch Speedway and Antioch Paintball Park. Perhaps even more important for singles, couples, and families is the amazing water play options with paddle-boarding, kayaking, boating, swimming, and more all at your doorstep on the Delta. 

To see what locals get up to for fun in Antioch check out the [calendar of events](https://www.antiochca.gov/calendar/list/). 

We highly recommend visiting Antioch and staying in the community in a [VRBO](https://vrbo.com/affiliate/p4JS4ZC) rather than a hotel to get a feel for living among the locals. You can receive discounted fares on travel via our [partnership with Expedia](https://expedia.com/affiliate/9NZ8LBQ) as well.


Lifestyle 

Antioch is a pretty big school district with a mix of strong and weaker schools with an overall average of C+ on [niche.com](https://www.niche.com/k12/d/antioch-unified-school-district-ca/ ) Geography is everything in terms of the quality of the schools for your kiddos. Most of the weaker schools are north and west and the southern and eastern neighborhoods have the pearls. It should be noted that even in some of the weaker areas and schools the teachers are generally praised for caring for the students and the knocks seem to come more from issues around resources for extracurricular activities. 


Schools 

Antioch is one of the least expensive cities in the Bay Area and that’s a huge plus in the craziness of Bay Area real estate. Add the fact that the city is on the Delta and gives you all the perks you get from living on a beautiful body of water and it makes Antioch worth a look. 


Waterworld on a budget

Why You Should Move Here Now?

**Anonymous**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉

I live in Antioch and was shocked at how nice it is since I also got the feedback people are giving on this thread. Go to Antioch anywhere in between Jame Donlon and the start of Brentwood (where the Target/ Barnes and Noble is on Lone Tree). From James Donlon on it’s mostly newer housing. It is really not bad at all. It’s just suburban. I have Contra Loma reservoir in my backyard and can walk around in the evening feeling safe. I moved here from Oakland, where I grew up, which I felt much less safe in. 

For more reviews of what living in Antioch is like from locals, check out [The Reviews](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/antioch/reviews).


Reviews of Antioch from Locals

Lone Tree Estates is one of the few developed family communities in Antioch that has all the amenities of master-planned neighborhoods. This includes a community pool, tennis courts, basketball court, playground, hiking trails and a wonderful Club House. The homes in the neighborhood were built in the late 1990’s and are designed with bigger and manicured lawns and mature trees to keep the streets cooler in the summer. 

There are plenty of parks in the area including Eaglesridge and Prewitt Family Park. Prewitt in particular, with 99 acres of walking and hiking trails, a summer swim area and tons of play and picnic areas. 


Families

Lone Tree Estates 

Not shockingly, one of the major pluses to living in Black Diamond Canyon is the direct access to [**Black Diamond Regional Preserve**](https://www.ebparks.org/parks/black-diamond). Living in this neighborhood means you live on the edge of one of the real gems in the park world in the area with 6,000 acres of stunning hiking/biking/camping and strolling at your doorstep. The neighborhood also has wonderful subdivisions like The Estates at Black Diamond, which has great big family-friendly homes with 4, 5, 6 and even 7 bedroom homes, which can come in handy for big families and those with two work-from-homers who need private space. Prices in the neighborhood are typically just below a million, which in the Bay Area, for homes this big and luxurious is a bargain. 

Black Diamond Canyon

Living in the Lake Alhambra neighborhood means you win the water lifestyle lottery twice. You’re near the Delta and you get to live in this charming lakeside neighborhood, with its peaceful, scenic vibe. The neighborhood surrounds the Lake so many of the homes are on the water and the rest have easy access to the wonderful boating, fishing, and walking trails that circle the lake. Homes here tend to be smaller (and less expensive) averaging in the high $500 to mid $600k range. Much of the neighborhood is filled with singles, couples and families that want that outdoor, water-centric lifestyle that comes from being on a lake that is less than a mile from the [Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge](https://www.fws.gov/refuge/antioch-dunes) that sits on the shore of the Delta. 


Families/Couples/Retirees

Lake Alhambra

Antioch

**Anonymous**
🦉🦉🦉🦉

It is a multi-cultural neighborhood that is a strong community of supporting the image of the town. Even though the community is not as economically wealthy as other towns it supports itself from the families that help support the town through education or community activities. Also, the town has been improving it's image as well as economy through the real estate that has made more affordable housing to new residents and creating a high demand of jobs for all workers.

**AnonymousPete23**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉

I have family in Antioch. Also, my former boss and his family live there. I honestly don’t think it’s as bad as people make it out to be. A lot of Bay Area folks make constantly say that it is a rough and dangerous city. Most of them are from the South Bay…so it’s not really a fair comparison.

There are other cities in the bay that are way worse. Antioch definitely isnt as bad as Oakland, in my opinion.

There are also a lot of huge houses in Antioch. Many of them have basketball and tennis courts, pools, guest houses, etc. Also, a lot of residents have more land than those in other parts of the bay. It’s definitely more affordable and you could live quite comfortably in this city.

I haven’t heard of shootings or murders happening in that area.

Also, it’s very close to the East Bay…barely 20 minutes from what I recall. A lot of people who live in Antioch commute to the east bay for work regularly. I think because of its location, it is very easy to avoid typical Bay Area traffic.

**Anonymous**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉

I live in Antioch and was shocked at how nice it is since I also got the feedback people are giving on this thread. Go to Antioch anywhere in between Jame Donlon and the start of Brentwood (where the Target/ Barnes and Noble is on Lone Tree). From James Donlon on it’s mostly newer housing. It is really not bad at all. It’s just suburban. I have Contra Loma reservoir in my backyard and can walk around in the evening feeling safe. I moved here from Oakland, where I grew up, which I felt much less safe in. 

Antioch, California

Gateway to the Delta

Looklyloo Score: 80

Reviews

What's it like to live in Antioch?