Possible relo from Phoenix to San Francisco - I have some questions! (Oakland: apartment)

[eurocali]

Hello,

After living for 10 years in LA (Westside), I moved to Phoenix last year for a job, and I am now considering an opportunity in San Francisco (Union Square area).

Here are my questions, knowing that I am married with a 4 year-old boy:

- what would be a convenient area to live in, with a decent commute to Union Square (1 hour/day total max)? Could we consider the North Bay/Marin? I would need to be within driving distance to preschools/schools/parks/recreation for my child.

- what is an average rent for a 2 or 3-bedroom? It looks like it varies a lot by area. Are there any safe areas that would be less than $2,500/month and within a reasonable distance from Union Square?

- What is considered a comfortable income in the Bay Area?

- How are the public schools? What about preschools? Do they usually have crazy waiting lists? (it was the case in LA)

Thanks for your help!

[MaikeerinWA]

Locals will be in a better position to address your questions, but as a previous resident of the area, I would point out that BART does broaden your potential horizons when working in a place like Union Square. The on-train time is probably 90 minutes a day tops, for example, if you commute from Pleasanton in the East Bay to Powell Street.

BART - Station List

[batransplant]

Your best bet for good schools, preschools w/o huge waitlists, and decent commute in your price range would be Lamorinda. You would take BART to Union Square. Your door to door commute would be around 1 hour total...considering you drive to BART 5-10 min, 30 min. train ride, walk to work 5-10 min. You could get a modest 2-3 bedroom in this area for $2500.

Unfortunately, you will not find anything in a 2-3 bedroom in Southern Marin for $2500. Its really difficult to find anything there for under 3K. Though Marin also has great public schools, nice weather, and a great lifestyle. Its my favorite part of the bay area.

[mayorhaggar]

I agree with Lamorinda which is Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda. Walnut Creek is nearby and might work too. It is hot there in the summer though, like 100F on a lot of days but you might be used to that from Phoenix. Places that are closer to the bay are cooler, like Albany and Alameda, but I don't know if the schools there are good. Piedmont is supposed to have great schools but it is expensive to live there I think.

BART really is most convenient for you because if you take a ferry it drops you off at the Embarcadero which is over a mile from Powell Street, but BART drops you off right at Powell which is only 2 blocks from Union Square. You can take long-distance commuter buses from places like Santa Rosa but then you're looking at a long commute and also commuter buses generally drop you off at the Transbay Terminal which is also kind of a long walk from Powell.

The Peninsula could also be an option but you would have to take Caltrain which drops you off about a 20 minute walk from Union Square which is annoying.

[eurocali]

Thanks for your answers! Would San Francisco per se be totally out of the question for $2,500/month? Our kid (and the whole family, actually) is bilingual French/English, so we might consider one of the French schools. Most of them are in San Francisco.

[mayorhaggar]

You might find a nice 2 bedroom in a nice area in SF for $2500, a 3 bedroom might be pushing it. I know 2 bedrooms are around $1800-2000 on the low end.

[eurocali]

What would be some nice, "affordable" San Francisco neighborhoods, with an easy commute to Union Square? Is the city a good place to raise a child, or do most families choose to live outside?

[mayorhaggar]

The only issue is schools because the public schools in SF are mostly bad and have terrible waiting lists even for young kids, so most parents who can't afford private schools move to the suburbs. But you say you want to do private schools. After that an issue is that the city is very dense and noisy and full of weird people--criminals, the homeless, junkies etc, and a lot of parents wouldn't want their kids to deal with it. Many parts of SF are quiet and you don't encounter too many unsavory people but you never know what you'll run into.

So after that caveat, if you still want to live in SF, Noe Valley is stroller city and a lot of young (and generally pretty wealthy) families with kids there, also it has decent weather. It's about 20-30 minutes from Union Square on Muni light rail. The Richmond and Sunset are quieter but they get cold and cloudy and windy most of the time. They are pretty far from downtown and it would likely take 45-60 minutes to get to work on public transit. Glen Park and Bernal Heights could work too, Glen Park is near a BART station which is about a 20 minute ride to Powell St. and Union Square.

[eurocali]

Thank you, that's very helpful! We used to live on the Westside in LA, so overall a nice and wealthy neighborhood, but with its share of weirdos too

[mayorhaggar]

You might also want to look at Rockridge in Oakland, where I live. It is very family friendly, there are lots of 30-ish parents in my neighborhood with young kids, when I walk home from work all the moms are standing around talking while their kids all run up and down the block. You wouldn't see that in SF. Since it's Oakland I don't think the public schools are good here even though it's a nice area, but you could do private. Also rental prices are lower than SF, a friend of mine has a 2 bedroom for $1250, he says it's small but that is a lot cheaper than a small 2br in SF. BART from the Rockridge station to Montgomery (1 stop before Powell) takes me only 20 minutes. I do have to walk about 10-15 minutes to the BART station from my apartment though. Also it's a bit sunnier and warmer than anywhere in SF but it doesn't really get hot.