Walnut Creek Driving Tour: February 23, 1981

[@markt87]

OK - I'm handing my computer over to my mom, Kathy Thomas, who was the hostess of this informative, entertaining piece. I just had the privilege of watching her and my dad watch the piece together, and now I'm coaxing her into saying a few words about her thoughts and feelings seeing this 35 years after it was recorded - mom, take it away: Sitting here in Reno now I really enjoy the memories of doing this tape. I miss Walnut Creek, what a great places to raise our family (6) children. I"m glad so many people have enjoyed this trip down memory lane, and in hindsight, I"m really glad Charlie Shepler and I took the time we did to assemble this tour. Maybe it will encourage more people to do the same, for the sake of future generations. Cheers to all!

[@johnschuster4101]

Tell your mom she was quite visionary prophesying 22 years in the future, now we are at the 37 year mark! Fist time to see this, recent transplant to town.

[@00zarzu00]

would be really cool to take the same tour with her nowadays and post the videos side by side

[@cherilevy]

I enjoyed your mom's narration and sense of humor 🙂 When they drove past Bullocks I recalled how me and my friend walked down to see him speak, we were about 10yrs old. Broadway Plaza Parking Lot and the surrounding area was packed with people. President Ford's visit, the Liberty Bell, the Bicentennial were a huge deal. Our back yard bordered on Olympic Blvd. When I got home my mom told me she was out tending to plants along the back fence and she saw Ford's limo approaching from downtown, going towards Rossmoor. As he went by, Ford stood up through the sunroof and waved to my mom. 🙂 Turned out my mom had a better view of Ford than me and my friend did trying to watch him speak. 😂

[@yeti3601]

This is the corniest comment ever

[@hellokittie9000]

Thank you We are Vukelich family from Walnut Creek

[@gregtheelder6313]

Anyone not from the bay area: "Boring" Anyone who grew up in the Diablo Valley: "This belongs in the library of congress."

[@Felixthecat888]

I grew up in Walnut Creek in the 80's and 90's. It was a wonderful place for me and my family. Since moving out, I've lived in several major cities all over the world, but whenever someone asks me where I'm from, I always reply "Walnut Creek" with pride.

[@AlexMerenkov2]

This made me so home sick. You can only handle so much Berkeley and San Francisco. Being a child and growing up in Walnut Creek sure was beautiful even if it was a bit boring. I recognize the bridge at the creek and the park and the bank building on Civic. My older sister took many classes in the building during Summer. I love Strawberry Creek in Berkeley but I wish I had time to visit the creek in Walnut Creek these are such treasures.

[@billmatthey6873]

Thanks for the video ride around my hometown. I don't live there and haven't been to WC in well over twenty years. It's 2023 and yes, I'm still alive.

[@Arctic740]

I live in Walnut Creek currently

[@NevadaGamingHistory]

Some nice scenes of my home town. Much the same as when I was five years old, changing but not overly different now in 2024.

[@flowergirl8760]

A great trip down memory lane. I had forgotten about Tarantino' s next door to Lupoi market. So great seeing everything the way it was when I was in my early 20's

[@billmason2785]

I came to Walnut Creek in 1971 and still have a home off Walnut Ave.... great City

[@Pontiac65Cat]

Wow. You could actually see patches of dirt! It's all concrete and buildings now 😥

[@derekthompson6550]

Pontiac65Cat You should go outside then.

[@trufflegoat]

No it’s not. There are so many trees and is even well. A mountain. Go outside

[@bullymaguire8665]

I was born 2006 in Walnut Creek and been living here ever since. I recognized every location but not the places. Crazy seeing it in the 80’s. The restaurant in downtown I work at wasn’t even built yet 😂

[@CraigBedell]

Memories! I miss Simon’s Hardware store, Arturo’s Mexican restaurant and the Copper Skillet…and the “good ole days”.

[@MrJONES925]

I saw the Beatles movie " Help" at the El Rey theater in WC. In the 70's the kids from nearby high schools used to "cruise" Main street on Friday nights just like in the movie "American Graffiti " . It's a wonderful place to live and grow up ....

[@bethgriesauer3825]

Joe Bloe - I cruised Main! What a blast that was.

[@markn3936]

Is this the music that was popular then?

[@bradleyb.3935]

Don't forget THe Rocky Horror Picture Show... that was a Riot!

[@FallonNeveCloverKilian]

Wow I was born here in 1988….its 2024 now and Walnut Creek has transformed into a mini Resort now. The energy is still the same!

[@kevinwilk2805]

Great to see this tour through the city. I hope there is one being made today to show in another 30 years!

[@billdedman2971]

Is there any way to reduce the volume of the piano music on that tape? It's a lot louder than tit needs to be, even obliterating much of the dialogue on the tape.

[@WalnutCreekGov]

bill dedman Wish we could improve the sound, but the video was made so long ago we don't have access to the original footage.

[@persianboy153]

Wow wow wow amazing someone should make a video today for the future

[@blonde_b3ar]

because the city has changed so much since then, i hardly recognize it!

[@IDRISIRIS]

Beautiful and great quality, love the audio. Greetings from London 🇬🇧

[@clovis-ti1yv]

The narrator was pretty. As a native Californian I hate how corporate this state has become.

[@johnschuster4101]

Too bad to see the Security National Bank (6:00) torn down. I liked the vintage scroll work on the exterior. No sentiment to save old buildings here, like most of California.

[@matthewburris769]

{ wish you could have driven down Northgate Rd. (leading up to Diablo). IT has changed SO much, Mc Mansions and roll out lawns, creeping up the hillsides. No more horses. It was nice seeing Boundary Oaks as the tennis club swas my hangout early 80's. My GOD this was shot pre-Nordstroms! What a big deal that was coming in. Heather Farm looks practiczll barren!! Oh my that was fun! as I moved to WC late '79 attending Valle Verde Foothill and NG.

[@richardodonnell7465]

Thank you for making this!!

[@ok-rn2un]

Insane to see the difference today

[@trufflegoat]

It’s weird to see the mountain I live near like 40 years before now

[@johnoflaherty2598]

Anyone know what make/model of car this was shot from? Lots of great vintage cars in this video, that were daily drivers of the day, but would be classics today.

[@ivanruiz2218]

2:18 "He's not drunk, he's been jogging. Everybody jogs. I wonder if they'll jog 22 years from now". I was born in 1988, growing up I didn't know jogging was a new thing.

[@WMAC_Master]

it's prettty crazy that bart still stands in the exact spot

[@DanaMichaels]

Thank you for posting this video! It was a blast to see WC in 1981 again. Your introduction was shot next to to the house I lived in as a teenager, and you later drove past one I lived in shortly after you shot the video. Having grown up there in the 1950s & '60s, the following over-development breaks my heart. There was a walnut processing plant on Trinity Ave., between Locust & what became California Blvd. The tallest building in town, then, was Capwell's -- 3 stories -- and the Ygnacio Valley (named for an 1850 resident) was mostly cow pasture. If anyone shot an 8mm film tour like this, back then (before videotape was invented) I'd love to see that, too. Wikipedia has Walnut Creek's history at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut_Creek,_California.

[@HaywardEntertainment]

Does anyone remember the section of the I680 freeway that was built really high up and that was demolished in like the late 90s We called it "The Tabaggon Ride"

[@EDHBlvd]

Yep, that was dope. I always enjoyed driving down it. Was so weird how they built that as just temporary structure.

[@bradleyb.3935]

that was a temporary bypass tucked under the BART Tracks, so CalTrans could modify all the freeway below. Its amazing to think that 2 lanes of cars used to fit in there.... and that was enough.... LOL!

[@lucaskjellberg5974]

everything was way more open with less buildings

[@lucaskjellberg5974]

i love hiw it says "the kids call northgate a prison" ; seems like things havent changed

[@davidmichmerhuizen4690]

You can still get spare ribs at Emil Villas in 2023🎉

[@SteveSiz]

Still Walnut Ave and Bancroft..

[@bethgriesauer3825]

Shame the video quality is so bad. Still, nice trip down memory lane.

[@AutoWorldzz]

Nice and Creative Videos， This is really my favorite channle.:). I really glad to see your post and your world was so brilliant. 🌴🌴🌴 excellent and Much appreciated!!🌴🌴🌴 🌴🌴🌴 🌴🌴🌴 🌴🌴🌴 from: Walnut City Los Angeles

[@blueshirt06]

Is this Walnut Creek California

[@adankim2232]

blueshirt06 It is

[@RhapsodyDax]

The year is 2022 and there's still a guy leaning on the sign. Only now he really is drunk..... and most likely on fentanyl. Just kidding .... kinda. I grew up in Concord Navy Housing in the 80's. This is a great trip down memory lane.

[@Lion_McLionhead]

Can still smell the exhaust from those old cars.

[@crosstownchord]

Perhaps some older residents of Walnut Creek can help me: my mother and I visited there in 1974 (I was 8 years old) from Australia while my father travelled to Dallas and Chicago for business. We stayed with a local family that we knew, and on the first night after flying into San Francisco, they picked us up and took us to dinner at a restaurant which *I assume* was in Walnut Creek, since it didn't seem to be very far from their home in the nearby hills. I remember there being a big fire pit in a sunken bar area - which, for a kid from Sydney in the 70s, looked like something out of a US TV show - and it may have been a steak restaurant. Any ideas where that may have been? Thanks in advance, and great video post - even 7 years after I was there, it's still largely how I remember it.

[@slmtp7186]

Michael McIntosh I didn’t grow up in “Dub-C” (yes that’s a nickname for Walnut Creek and no I don’t use it except just now!) but did nearby, and have lived on the border of Concord and WC for many years. Sorry, but unfortunately I’m not familiar with the restaurant to which you referred, I might have guessed Vic Stewart’s (steakhouse) which was housed in an old/renovated/relocated train depot on Broadway, but it didn’t open until 1989 so it wouldn’t fit the bill of your restaurant. Anyway, sorry again I couldn’t help, but at least wanted you to get a response to your question.

[@dirtydan442]

That sounds like the Peppermill, which was in neighboring Concord

[@slmtp7186]

Dan W Good call, I bet you’re right...I totally forgot about good ol’ Peppermill with the dim purple disco lighting and look/feel of the Peppermill casino.

[@everykneeshallbow]

The Black Angus. Thats my guess. They had a fire pit. And great beef ribs ! I don't recall if that was Walnut Creek or over the line?

[@bausin]

@@everykneeshallbow Black Angus didn't open until late 1975.

[@4kWalkinCanada]

Very nice video my new friend

[@grantdavis941]

Was this before Auto Focus?

[@hellokittie9000]

I grew up here 1859 Danielle Ct w.c.

[@williamf4544]

Im looking for Sarah Anne Egan ,Ruth Diane Egan , Virginia Nicols and Diane Lynn Nicols who lived and may well still live in the Walnut Creek area

[@michaelpace59]

Guess farmer phils didn't make it very long RIP

[@EDHBlvd]

Anyone remember the Copper Skillet restaurants?

[@jeanesingsjazz]

My boyfriend and I went on our third date to the copper skillet.

[@EDHBlvd]

@@jeanesingsjazz the one on Bancroft or the one that was downtown?

[@billmason2785]

I do by McDonald's...no longer there... Copper skillet was just great 👍

[@stanfordholman5301]

Copper Skillet in Sun Valley Mall…..

[@meganfitzpatrick1019]

Yes! I was a waitress at both restaurants in town! It wasn't in the mall. The owner was really mean...

[@billmason2785]

What car is she driving?

[@rajendraver4097]

My cousins live in walnut creeek

[@bodega-hive7996]

It’s 2021 and we are in a pandemic. 🤦🏽‍♀️. Has 1.25. Has now 5. We didn’t realize those were the good times. I’m from the Bay Area is nothing like that any more. We still 🏃🏾‍♀️ 😂

[@mouawyaa]

Nice

[@pauld724]

It's become the Rodeo Drive of CoCo County. nothing much but rich people. Locust street has closed down most of it's sports bars because of fights and Micro Breweries mostly now. They had a George Floyd Related riot in 2021 and then sadly Smash and Grabs over and over at the Broadway Plaza off of Broadway and Diablo Valley. I'm curious why she said the year 2003? Just happened to be the year we went to war with Iraq and pretty much The whole nation had heighten security after 2001.

[@hellokittie9000]

We’re 2023 now u talk of 2003

[@irishledden4924]

The Creek is a cesspool now. Graduated from Del Valle in 71 and couldn't wait to leave CaliFAGnia.

[@Robert-o6y7x]

70K people now and two 2 star Safeways and delis For groceries ? Guess W-M can't afford to build there Or get the permits 3 yrs. Later, makes sense for ca. i guess, nothings changed there

[@rajendraver4097]

Actually

[@scottterra8397]

CA…before open border!

[@5stardave]

It's so funny to hear someone that should know better say "Heather Farms (with an S) Park" instead of the correct "Heather Farm Park". That is one thing that hasn't changed.

[@selenescott5327]

"I wonder if you can still buy gas in 2003?" damn, we got a birdbrain!

[@troyhoffman6012]

for that price she said.

[@Pontiac65Cat]

Selene Scott she's talking about the price. Bird brain.

[@bradleyb.3935]

I hate birds

[@EDHBlvd]

@@bradleyb.3935 I hate Bradley B.