Moving to Bay Area (San Mateo, Redwood City: apartments, rental, homes)

[movingnow]

My husband and I will be moving to the Bay area very soon for his job which will be located in San Mateo. We have a 10 month old son and are looking at various areas to rent in. Do you have any reccomendations? I will be staying at home with our son. What would be good locations if we have to live outside of San Mateo for commuting as well?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

[gizmo980]

I grew up in San Mateo, and there are some very nice parts of the city... of course you pay a price, so it really depends on your budget. Assuming you have an "average" amount in mind, I'd suggest looking at Burlingame, Foster City, San Carlos, Belmont (west of El Camino), Millbrae, and maybe the western parts of Redwood City. These towns are mostly quite safe & family-friendly, with slightly lower rental costs than certain others. The south Peninsula and East Bay will be even cheaper, but the commute can be a real bear! Foster City and Burlingame are probably the most expensive of these places, though Burlingame does have a few lower-rent - and thus slightly less safe - parts of town (generally around Broadway Ave. & California Ave.). But they're otherwise very nice, and will cost around $1300-1900+ for a nice 2-3 bedroom apartment. If you're interested in renting a house, expect to pay at least $1700/mo., depending on what neighborhood you're in & how big it is.

Within San Mateo itself, the areas known as San Mateo Park and San Mateo Hills are the nicest... east San Mateo (part of it's known as "Shoreview"), around Norfolk/E. Kehoe/E. Bayshore/ etc., is the least nice part of SM. The "Hillsdale" area is kind of in-between, with some decent apartments and homes to rent, especially around the shopping mall. It would help to know your budget, what type of place you want to rent, and how far you're willing to commute... but this should give you a good idea!