Chris Anderson, former Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine, said his family has met more neighbors in their first four weeks in Orinda than they had met on their street in 17 years in Berkeley.
One of Orinda’s newest residents, Chris Anderson, has achieved notoriety by championing the new while predicting the future. Based on initial experiences with his new community, he’s predicting good things for Orinda.
Anderson is the CEO of 3DR (a drone software company) and former Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine. His 2006 publication, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, gained a strong readership.
Throughout his career, Anderson has made predictions that came true. He predicted Amazon’s ascension and how future events could create niche markets.
Chris, Anne and their five kids moved from New York in the early 2000s to the Berkeley Hills. As a returning Cal alum, he found Berkeley both exciting and familiar. The family looked at a few houses in Contra Costa at the time but saw it as too removed from the urban vitality.
Once COVID-19 hit, however, they opened their eyes to alternatives. Anne kickstarted the process by grocery shopping at Orinda Safeway. Soon, both she and Chris realized that Orinda offered many benefits with a less hectic lifestyle.
They moved to Upper El Toyonal in September, and, so far, they have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of life in Orinda. They traded the city views from their Berkeley home for thoughts of horse country. Chris goes out every day to take a picture of that view and credits it for helping reduce his blood pressure.
Chris and Anne have a daughter at Orinda Intermediate School. After the spring semester in Berkeley and the fall semester in Orinda, the family continues to be impressed by how much better prepared Orinda Schools are with technology and curriculum preparation. Chris said, “OIS is incredibly well organized; they have great communications. There are demonstrable advantages to coming here.”
Orinda’s friendly reputation has also proven true for the Andersons. Finding El Toyonal to be a perfect walking and running area, they have been able to meet most new neighbors out on a stroll. Between the local email lists, NextDoor and zucchini bread deliveries, Chris believes “we’ve met more neighbors in our first four weeks in Orinda than we had on our street in 17 years in Berkeley.”
One of the biggest surprises for the Andersons is that it’s easier to get to the city than from North Berkeley because they are now closer to the highway and BART. Chris said, “People don’t realize that while Orinda technically is farther east than Berkeley from San Francisco, because it’s so well linked with the improvements to the tunnel and BART, it’s actually faster to get there.”
One more thing Chris likes best about Orinda? “I love the newspaper! It’s such a small-town gift – reassuring, lovely – a great antidote to the rest of the media. I’m encouraging everyone I know to look to the East Bay.”
