Where to live(rent): Young couple with 1 kid, job around 1 Market St.

[clongirl]

I'll echo much of what Mayorhaggar said...Pleasant Hill or Walnut Creek.

It's affordable by Bay Area standards, a safe family oriented kind of place, lots of parks/open space, has a BART station, AND the best Sichuan Restaurant in the Bay Area is located there (Sichuan Fortune House). Walnut Creek even better but a little more expensive.

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by thecooler

I'd suggest Millbrae, you can take Bart or Caltrain to work, very safe, lots of shopping nearby (3 big grocery stores in Millbrae - malls and big box stores in nearby surrounding towns), TONS of chinese food.

I agree with this. Also San Bruno and South San Francisco have apartments near the BART stations (google Archstone apartments in those towns). The San Bruno BART station is next to Tanforan Mall The Shops at Tanforan :: 1150 El Camino Real, San Bruno, CA. 94066 :: 650.873.2000

BART BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit stops at the Embarcadero station in San Francisco which is a short walk to 1 Market St.

[planet-ocean]

Thanks a lot, guys! That's a lot of nice infor/suggestion, and I did some research according to all your advices. Right now, it seems I slightly prefer south bay than east bay, and at the moment, the most attractive place for me is: Millbrae. (though Walnut Creek is not bad, either, however, it's a little too far away from work)

Now, narrowing it down to Millbrae, is there any area I should avoid there? Ideally, I want to living in a walking distance to the Millbrae Bart Station, however, supposed I can't, is it easy/hard to park around Millbrae station?

Thanks a million, guys, really appreciate it!

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by planet-ocean

Now, narrowing it down to Millbrae, is there any area I should avoid there? Ideally, I want to living in a walking distance to the Millbrae Bart Station, however, supposed I can't, is it easy/hard to park around Millbrae station?

The Millbrae BART/Caltrain station has a 4 story parking garage. I don't know if they charge for parking. In Millbrae, I would avoid the area along the 101 freeway, the train tracks or along El Camino Real (Hwy 82) as much of it is commercial (and close to the airport). Most anything west of El Camino is OK. There are some newer apartment or condo buildings just west of El Camino.

[planet-ocean]

Now another choice: Pacifica, how do you guys think of it? I figure I most probably will have to drive to Bart Station anyway, so a little further might be OK. how does Pacifaca compare to Millbrae? Is the jet noise a big problem in Millbrae?

By the way, my wife and I are among the minority who do not mind clouds and fogs(she actually prefer it).

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by planet-ocean

Now another choice: Pacifica, how do you guys think of it? I figure I most probably will have to drive to Bart Station anyway, so a little further might be OK. how does Pacifaca compare to Millbrae? Is the jet noise a big problem in Millbrae?

By the way, my wife and I are among the minority who do not mind clouds and fogs(she actually prefer it).

The noise from SFO isn't a problem in Millbrae. It's a very safe community, has no bad areas, and has very good schools. It has BART and Caltrain (and the station would be a very short drive from anywhere in Millbrae, or within walking distance depending upon where you live).

However, if you like drizzly mist/fog and cloudy days, Pacifica would be ideal.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by twins4lynn

The noise from SFO isn't a problem in Millbrae.

If the noise is not a problem in Millbrae,why did they have a special city program to pay for noise abatement measures on Millbrae homes?

"Millbrae is shutting down a program under which it outfitted 1200
houses with noise-reducing improvements such as thick windows,
insulation, heavy doors and even baffles over vents because funding
has run out."

San Francisco Bay Area Transportation News

"The airport is located within approximately 1,700 acres of
unincorporated land east of Highway 1 adjacent to San Bruno and
Millbrae, and generates substantial noise impacts on the cities
of Brisbane, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae,
Burlingame, Foster City and San Mateo, and less significant
noise impacts on Daly City, Colma, Pacifica and Hillsborough"

http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/plannin...%20Hazards.pdf

https://whispertrack.com/airports/ksfo

However,Millbrae is the best place on the peninsula for authentic Chinese restaurants.

The northern part of Pacifica is the foggy part but it is not as windy as western SF. The worst fog seems to be around the Lucky supermarket near Highway 35. The sunny part of Pacifica begins where the freeway ends. Check out the Park Pacifica neighborhood and the playground at Frontierland park. The problem with this area is that they are few apartments for you to rent. Also the southern part of Pacifica only has 1 road in and it does get jammed at rush hour.

Pacifica is good for a Bart commuter since Highway 1 has an exit (D Street) directly to the Colma Bart before it merges with the 280. Unfortunately,there is no decent Chinese food in Pacifica. For Chinese food the closest is the 99 Ranch complex or Tai Wu in Daly City.

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by planet-ocean

Thanks a lot, guys! That's a lot of nice infor/suggestion, and I did some research according to all your advices. Right now, it seems I slightly prefer south bay than east bay, and at the moment, the most attractive place for me is: Millbrae. (though Walnut Creek is not bad, either, however, it's a little too far away from work)

Uh, Millbrae is a 40 minute BART ride to Embarcadero. Walnut Creek is 35 minutes. Millbrae is closer to SF but the BART route isn't as direct. And you should get more bang for your buck renting in WC versus Millbrae. On the other hand, summers in WC are very hot (in the high 90's and low 100's) when it would be more like in the 70's and low 80's in Millbrae.

[uptown_urbanist]

FWIW, and perhaps some other posters have up-to-date information on this, but my guess is that you'll have an easier time finding a place in the East Bay right now than in the Peninsula (can't overstate just how tight the market is right now!), and I assume you're also going to get more for your money.

How about somewhere like El Cerrito? Lots of families, cooler than the inland areas, pretty affordable, lots of Chinese food, easy commute via BART.