Family Friendly small towns near San Francisco (Daly City, Alameda: 2013, rental)

[strepanier]

My husband works for a company from San Francisco (we currently live in Northern Wisconsin), we are looking to move to San Francisco within the next year or two and I wanted to start some research on what area would be good for our family and possibly have some job opportunities for me as well.

We are looking for a small town between 100-5000 people with good schools that is in range to commute to San Francisco. It wouldn't need to be a daily commute as he works from home, but I also don't want him to have to drive hours to get to work.

I work in newspapers as a paginator but my field is much broader so anything falling under Graphics Communications will be fine. I would love to stay in layout and design but will apply for other jobs of course.

We currently live in a tiny rural town of about 50 people, which is fine with us.

The biggest thing that would make a town stand out is the school system. We have an 8 year old daughter who loves school and plays as many sports as she can so schools are a top priority. She currently goes to a very good school and I would hate to put her into one that isn't.

So, if anyone can think of any towns we could check out online to help narrow our search for when we visit in December that would be great. Also, and this isn't such a big deal, if you could also let me know the median price for a 2 bedroom rental in a not seedy neighborhood in the area you mention that would be amazing.

Thank you all for any help you can give me, I am a planner by nature so looking up these towns/areas now will ease my mind more than you can know.

-Strepanier

[jade408]

The closest small towns are about 90-100 miles away, and are either too big for you or have schools that aren't great or where most kids do not speak English at home. Small town is more like 8x the size you are looking for in commuting distance to SF, with the exception of wealthy enclaves that are for CEOS.

You also need to give us your hubby's salary range as well.

[Tex N Cal]

Marinwood. A small, close-knit community north of San Rafael. It's not a town, but there is a great family vibe to this community.

[beb0p]

Just to give you an idea about SF Bay, when I think of small town, I think of Half Moon Bay (population 12,000), San Anselmo (pop. 12,000) and Fairfax (pop. 7,000). The only town that I can think of that has less than 5,000 people is Brisbane, but only because Brisbane itself is tiny and it doesn't have good schools even though the area is safe and quiet.

The thing with small town (if you can find one) is that they can't support their own schools so their schools are usually bunched with other cities.

I think your best bet is somewhere in the Marin County. The only one I can think of is Fairfax, which as a population of around 7,000. Rent for a 2 bedroom is around $2,000 to $2,800; but they're hard to find. Fairfax usually has bigger 3 bedrooms single family homes.

Also how "good" is a good school to you? There are usually three types - good, great and US News awarded.
.

[pch1013]

Originally Posted by beb0p

Just to give you an idea about SF Bay, when I think of small town, I think of Half Moon Bay (population 12,000), San Anselmo (pop. 12,000) and Fairfax (pop. 7,000). The only town that I can think of that has less than 5,000 people is Brisbane.

Well, Colma has a population of only 1,792. Or 1.5 million, if you count dead people.

I have no idea what it's like to live there. I imagine it must be rather quiet. But it might not be suitable for families, unless your last name is Addams.

[pch1013]

One place that meets most of the OP's criteria, except the population one, is Alameda. It is renowned for its great schools (or at least it used to be; I believe there have been complaints about them recently) and family atmosphere. It's hard to believe there are 75,000 people living there -- much of the city feels like Mayberry to me.

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by beb0p

The only town that I can think of that has less than 5,000 people is Brisbane, but only because Brisbane itself is tiny and it doesn't have good schools even though the area is safe and quiet.

Also how "good" is a good school to you? There are usually three types - good, great and US News awarded.
.

Brisbane schools appear to be fine - they gave one elementary & one middle school located in Brisbane. Both have API's in the 800's. There is another elementary school in the Brisbane School District, Panorama, which is actually located in Daly City (and described as a "small school". It is a K-5th grade school with only 109 students). There API is 784, dropped from 794.

API County List of Schools

[beb0p]

Originally Posted by pch1013

Well, Colma has a population of only 1,792. Or 1.5 million, if you count dead people.

I have no idea what it's like to live there. I imagine it must be rather quiet. But it might not be suitable for families, unless your last name is Addams.

Ah yes, Colma. I never thought of Colma as a town, it's basically a neighborhood in Daly City. I imagine living there is just like living in Daly City, except you're closer to the dead.

[drewjube]

Moraga.

[twins4lynn]

El Granada is small, I think with a population just a bit over 5K.