Pleasanton Vs Lamorinda (San Francisco, Fremont, Concord: apartment, rentals, house)

[bayAreaNewComer]

Hello,
I am moving to the Bay area, and am looking for a place to live. My main parameters are:
a) Short Commute: I will be working in San Francisco, very close to the Embarcadero BART stop.
b) Good Public Schools: I have two children - one in middle school and the other in elementary ( will be in middle school in a couple of years).
c) Warm/Sunny Weather: Sun with temperature 70 and above is good. Hot weather is not an issue.
d) Safety
e) Some diversity in the community/schools: I am of Indian descent, and it would be good for my children to have atleast a few classmates who are Asian/Indian.
f) Renting for now, hope to buy later. Don't want to focus on property prices/budgets in this thread. I will look at it later.
I was considering Lamorinda very seriously, but it seems to lack point (e) diversity. I was toying with the idea of Pleasanton instead even though the ride from Pleasanton would be about 45 minutes vs about 30 minutes from Lamorinda.
Question : How would the following compare between (Orinda & Moraga Vs Pleasanton) ?
a) Commute: (How long would it take to get to the Pleasanton BART stop from a Pleasanton community with good middle and high schools Vs the 5-10 minutes if one lived in Lamorinda?)
b) Middle/High Schools:
c) Warm/Sunny Weather:
d) Diversity in schools:
e) Safety
f) Renting a house: (Seems to incredibly difficult to get a house to rent in Orinda/Moraga. It is always rented within hours of me calling. Are rentals moving so fast in Orinda/Moraga ? Or are they selective in deciding whom to rent to ?)

Thank you.

[mayorhaggar]

There are a ton of Indian residents in Fremont which is also about 45 minutes from downtown SF on BART. I think there's quite a few around San Ramon and Danville but that is more inconvenient to get to BART. Also it sounds like you need to move faster on finding a rental, and do it in person. The rental market is pretty hot especially in SF right now and I imagine the demand is percolating out into the burbs now. Show up to viewings and if you like the place and feel good about it, sign the lease immediately. You generally have to move quickly on rentals because if you don't someone else will take the place. You can't go to another viewing and then sit and think about all the places you've seen then make a decision two weeks later like you can in other rental markets, you have to take a place as soon as you can.

[cali925]

Lamorinda area tends to be a bit more expensive than Pleasanton, but much of Pleasanton is newer. Moraga is a bit out there though. Very long, curvy, slow moving roads through Orinda and Lafayette that seem to take forever are the only way in and out. . Although it would still be less time than Pleasanton to the city. Lafayette or Orinda would be my choice, next door Walnut Creek is also a great city with some really nice neighborhoods and an amazing downtown with much to do but if you don't like the occasional busy feel it might not work for you. As far as diversity, Pleasanton hands down would be a better bet. Lamorinda/Central Contra Costa has to be the whitest area of the east bay, but the bay area is pretty diverse in general. Temperatures are pretty much the same in both areas. Orinda can get a little fog on occasion but not as much as the other side of the tunnel in Berkeley. It might also be a bit more difficult to get rentals in Lamorinda since it is a highly desirable area with an easy and quick commute to Downtown SF. The majority seem to be homeowners too so there probably isn't a ton of inventory of rentals.

[tstieber]

I agree, there are very few rentals in Lamorinda compared to Pleasanton. The housing stock is older, and the population is smaller. Pleasanton would give you a lot of options including larger, newer apartment buildings.

Overall, I'd say Pleasanton is hotter than Lamorinda, and more similar to Walnut Creek or Concord. Lamorinda almost never breaks 100F in the summer, while Pleasanton will. It's probably 5 to 6 degrees hotter, and with less morning marine layer.

There should definitely be more people of Indian descent in Pleasanton, since there are very few in Lamorinda.