Movin to the SF Bay Area with kids
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Anonymous
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DH is considering a job offer there. I've been looking at the real estate and Holy Crap I thought it was expensive here. He would be working in the city and I'm not sure where to focus our housing search. We'd need to be under 1 million. Lifestyle wise, I think we'd love Marin County, but the commute sounds hard. Should we be looking on the Peninsula or the East Bay? Will we be able to afford anything in an area with good schools?
I lived there post college but obviously have no knowledge of how to do it with kids. One kid is elementary age and one still in pre-school. |
Anonymous
| Friends live in Alameda and love it. |
Anonymous
| We used to live just south of SF on the peninsula. Its San Mateo schools, Mountain View Schools or Palo Alto schools - all are good. Upper San Mateo county is hilly (burlingame for example) and close to the city, the further south you go the flatter it becomes - think Palo Alto, Mountain View. The weather on the peninsula is windy all the time. The commute to the city is do-able but it also depends on WHERE in the city he will be working. If he's on the North East end, I would say move to the east bay. Its warmer there too. Oakland is dicey but areas like Walnut Creek, Orinda are beautiful and schools are good. Of course there's the Berkley area (great if you're very liberal) |
Anonymous
| You are so lucky. But you will feel poor and dumb. Lots of $ there and lots of very smart kids from those $ families or Asian families or both. |
Anonymous
| Hillsboro. |
Anonymous
| My sister lives in Tiburon and they take the ferry into work, so it's not just not a bad commute but actually pleasant. They have a coffee bar in the morning and a real bar coming home. Sounds nice to me!!! But yes, their 1500 sq ft home which needed a lot of work was $900,000. But the school system is amazing. |
Anonymous
| I have heard the California schools are the crappiest that there is. You really have to do a lot of research, or opt to do private |
Anonymous
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I have relatives with kids that live in Mill Valley, the mom is a SAHM and the dad is able to split his work partially working from home and partially commuting into the city.
My Dh grew up in the Concord area and thinks the commute into the city would probably take an hour--but says that you should look into BART (public transportation) because that might make a commute easier. He and his siblings attended private school, but that was 25 years ago, so probably not relevant to whatever the schools are like now. |
Anonymous
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My brother and his family live in Corte Madera and he commutes into SF on the ferry. The schools are good and I am totally jealous of the neighborhood - lots of families, the kids have SO many friends in the neighborhood. They have a lagoon in their backyard and have paddleboards, paddleboats, etc. It's very walkable and just seems like a great place to live.
No idea if you could find someplace under a million. I think they paid a little over $1 million for 4 br. A previous owner popped the top so they have 3 br 2 ba downstairs and the master suite upstairs. |
Anonymous
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We used to live in mill valley but I grew up in the east bay and have lived in Berkeley Oakland and near alameda. Here's the run down:
Marin if you can afford it. Public schools in larkspur and some parts of corte madera, and mill valley (though not as good as larkspur for high school) are the best. The charter schools in Novato have a very very good rep but the commute to the city is far and only by bus (or car). Forget about Sausalito if you have kids. Commuting is easy from southern Marin. I used to drive in to my job in the mission everyday and it was 30 min tops. My husband did golden gate transit/ferry/biked into the financial district. Ferry goes between Sausalito/sf and larkspur/sf. Golden gate transit is quick and reliable. I know a lot of people like alameda. It's very family friendly but really feels tired and run down (to me). Berkeley is a foodie city and very liberal- also pricey. Oakland is totally hip now, tons of hipsters and a loft will run you roughly 2000/month for an ok neighborhood. I wouldn't send my kids to public schools in Berkeley or Oakland. Commute time is pretty amazing from here though. I used to drive into the city from Berkeley- it's just over the bridge, like 10 minutes. Bart time is about 20 depending on your stop. Also the weather in this area is much cooler then the east east bay or north bay. It's more like sf weather. If I couldn't move to Marin I'd move to walnut creek or Lafayette. I was a public school kid in wc. Good schools and lots and lots of families. Definitely suburban though but safe and lots of sunshine, shopping, restaurants. You can commute via Bart and from wc it's like 40 min. Lafayette is one city closer. I wouldn't commute by car- the Caldecott tunnel can be a challenge. Hope this helps! Yes the Bay Area isn't cheap but it's a great place to live! |
Anonymous
| Wow, thanks pp. I know DH would love the lifestyle in Marin. |
Anonymous
Marin is really expensive. Buying a house for under a million will be difficult there. |
Anonymous
+1 . Lived in easy bay for years. Love Alameda, Bezerkly, Berkeley hills. |
Anonymous
Easy bay should be East Bay. Bezerkly was correct 
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Anonymous
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East bay: shitty schools unless you are in N Berkeley, Piedmont, all pricey 1 million plus. Plus, eternal spring year round. Berkeley High is rough.
Marin is better and has an actual summer the farther you get from the bay- look at San Anselmo, Larkspur, Mill Valley. San Rafael is kind of rough- Novato is a hell commute. Excellent public schools. Look for Drake or Redwood school districts. Penninsula is lovely farther south: Palo Alto, Redwood City, Menlo Park, Los Altos. Perfect weather but a long commute. |