Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Francisco - Oakland
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 05-04-2013, 04:15 AM
 
12 posts, read 17,142 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Hi we are moving to California. My husband's company has given a temporary housing in San Mateo for now.

Please suggest us areas that are good to live in. Here are the criteria we are looking at.


1. We are looking to move to an area that has good elementary public schools and good school districts (the older one will turn 5 in september).

2. Good day cares (reasonable pricing of day care) Our second one is 10 months old.

3. It should be close to San Mateo (my husband's office is here) & San Francisco (downtown) (my office is here)..we are moving from WA.. so, any commute > 20mins is far for us but looking at CA, I get a feeling that everything is far The other main reason is to get back from work quickly so that we can pick up our kids on time

4. Can pay rent up to 3000$

5. Prefer a single family home or even a spacious town home with at least 3 bedrooms. We have our parents living with us as well.

thanks in advance for your help!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-04-2013, 11:42 AM
 
24,407 posts, read 26,956,157 times
Reputation: 19977
I already answered your thread in the California forum, but just check out rent prices in San Mateo.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-04-2013, 12:52 PM
 
104 posts, read 190,334 times
Reputation: 79
If Craigslist is any indication, $3k probably won't get you a 3 bedroom in a good school district within 20 min of San Mateo. It seems like $3.5k-4k is about the budget you will need. Almost anywhere within 20 min of San Mateo will have good schools, with pockets here and there to avoid (EPA, east Menlo Park, parts of RWC, Shoreview). I personally would choose west-side San Mateo.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-04-2013, 01:01 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,211 posts, read 107,904,670 times
Reputation: 116159
Here's a listing on Craigslist for a house in SM for $2300/mo. 3 br, 1 ba.
One Bath+Three bed+1289sqft House In SM-w/carpet*&*tile floor

OP, search the listings yourself, and check them every couple of weeks, because new listings come up. You may find something to your liking within your budget. Don't take anyone else's word for it, do the research yourself. I've noticed that people on the forums tend to overestimate rent rates. Once you arrive in the area, it'll be easier to check properties/neighborhoods out, of course.

Here's another listing for a 3 br. townhome in a good neighborhood of SM.
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/apa/3779115883.html
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-04-2013, 05:05 PM
 
12 posts, read 17,142 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
Here's a listing on Craigslist for a house in SM for $2300/mo. 3 br, 1 ba.
One Bath+Three bed+1289sqft House In SM-w/carpet*&*tile floor

OP, search the listings yourself, and check them every couple of weeks, because new listings come up. You may find something to your liking within your budget. Don't take anyone else's word for it, do the research yourself. I've noticed that people on the forums tend to overestimate rent rates. Once you arrive in the area, it'll be easier to check properties/neighborhoods out, of course.

Here's another listing for a 3 br. townhome in a good neighborhood of SM.
Large Clean Townhome - safe quiet community
oh, awesome! thanks so much everybody. I think I will look more in craigslist. At least i know which neighborhood to start the search from. I did look in CRAIGSLIST once but seems like the apt/house go out pretty quickly1
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-04-2013, 05:24 PM
 
3,245 posts, read 6,300,862 times
Reputation: 4929
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
Here's a listing on Craigslist for a house in SM for $2300/mo. 3 br, 1 ba.
One Bath+Three bed+1289sqft House In SM-w/carpet*&*tile floor
Be very careful with San Mateo schools. The school for this listing is Park which is rated a "2" (On a scale of 1 to 10). Almost all of the good schools in the San Mateo district are west of El Camino. Be sure to check directly with the school district to verify attendance zones and do not rely on any other 3rd party info. I recommend Burlingame or Millbrae for the schools.

California School Ratings, school profiles, test scores - San Mateo County

Park Elementary in San Mateo , CA - ranking, school information, ratings, test scores, test results

San Mateo-Foster City School District: What school will my child attend?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-04-2013, 05:46 PM
 
104 posts, read 190,334 times
Reputation: 79
If you find something for under $3k, I would take a careful look at the location. That listing is not in a very desirable part of town, and is not in a good school district (and thus doesn't meet your criteria). Millbrae is majority Asian so that may or may not work for you. API scores don't tell the full story, ie curriculum, extra curricular activities, funding, parent teacher ratio, and so forth, it is purely based on standardized test results. You'd still probably want scores of say 7 or better.

Last edited by funtimessf; 05-04-2013 at 06:24 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-04-2013, 06:34 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,211 posts, read 107,904,670 times
Reputation: 116159
Quote:
Originally Posted by capoeira View Post
Be very careful with San Mateo schools. The school for this listing is Park which is rated a "2" (On a scale of 1 to 10). Almost all of the good schools in the San Mateo district are west of El Camino. Be sure to check directly with the school district to verify attendance zones and do not rely on any other 3rd party info. I recommend Burlingame or Millbrae for the schools.

California School Ratings, school profiles, test scores - San Mateo County

Park Elementary in San Mateo , CA - ranking, school information, ratings, test scores, test results

San Mateo-Foster City School District: What school will my child attend?
This is why this forum is so valuable. OP can check listings, then get back to us with what she's found, for feedback. I was just trying to help her get started, and show that her rent budget can work, especially if she doesn't mind a condo or townhouse.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-05-2013, 12:06 PM
 
12 posts, read 17,142 times
Reputation: 10
That's great info everyone. Thanks for telling me about the SD as well.. we are newbies for schooling here (obv and also as we didn't go to school in US) and still learning how systems work. But I had done some research on SD in WA. So, I do realize a few things; Our home address will have a already school assigned. Do CA schools have lottery system? We are obviously late to register my kiddo to KG as the enrollment period is already over for this year. Just wondering if we could still get her in a good school.

My husband (who just started off there last week) did go to a school where the management said that they would put her in waiting list (but are not sure if she would get through). This was in Foster City SD (I think)

Also, is 7 a good rating? really?

Last edited by Vids; 05-05-2013 at 12:53 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-05-2013, 12:08 PM
 
12 posts, read 17,142 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by funtimessf View Post
If you find something for under $3k, I would take a careful look at the location. That listing is not in a very desirable part of town, and is not in a good school district (and thus doesn't meet your criteria). Millbrae is majority Asian so that may or may not work for you. API scores don't tell the full story, ie curriculum, extra curricular activities, funding, parent teacher ratio, and so forth, it is purely based on standardized test results. You'd still probably want scores of say 7 or better.

thanks
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Francisco - Oakland
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top