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)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-20-2015, 09:29 PM
 
Location: Pound Ridge, NY
10 posts, read 12,305 times
Reputation: 13

Advertisements

We (my husband and 3 daughters (ages 4,2 & 9 mths) are relocating from the suburbs of New York (Westchester County) which is a woody type of area, with land between the houses and back yards to Northern California where my husband will be working in Foster City. We only had a weekend to house hunt and have narrowed our search to San Ramon, Dublin and Danville. My general feeling during the 30 mins I saw of Dublin, was that the houses were packed together, it lacked character, trees and back yards but was extremely diverse. The positive was that there were a lot of parks near residences, so your kids could play there even if they didn't have much of a yard. (The big pull to move to CA was the weather, but it's ironic that there is no yard to sit and enjoy the weather). Danville had a downtown which looked like a cool place to hang (and had some shade) but of course Danville is more expensive and further away from Foster City. I have also read in a few threads that Danville is not diverse. I am confused.

I have been in the states for 10 years, born in the UK, raised in Australia and am of Indian (Asia) heritage. I have no problem with being in non-diverse neighborhoods, but don't want to stick out like a sore thumb, or have people stare at me when I walk into a restaurant. Please shed light as to what Danville is like as I never got a chance to walk around Danville (just looked at it through the car window and few homes). I would hate for my daughter to start school and be the only Indian (or even non-white) looking kid in class as kids can be mean and if they are not exposed to different races, they can tease or give her a hard time....meanwhile, I don't know if I would be comfortable in a neighborhood where almost everyone was of Indian descent. Not racist against my own, just never lived in a neighborhood like that. When I say "diversity", I mean diversity amongst all races. Any help would be most appreciated.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-20-2015, 09:56 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,126 posts, read 107,402,364 times
Reputation: 115947
You were looking in the wrong areas. Those are much too far away for commuting to Foster City. Are you buying? Renting? Try Fremont and Union City, for starters. They're a little cheaper than the rest of the inner East Bay area, are close to the bridge that goes across the bay to Foster City, and there are a lot of South and East Asians there. On the down side, the houses are fairly jammed together, but there are yards. There's no downtown, but there are coffee shops where people hang out, and some nice parks and lakes. You could also try Castro Valley, which would be more affordable, but still a close enough commute. (Trust us; you don't want to extend your commute any more than necessary. It can be miserable.)

On the other side of the Bay, affordability-wise, there's Pacifica, which is on the ocean. It tends to be foggy, but there's a side of town that gets more sun. Aside from that, everything will be very expensive, much more so than where you were looking.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 10:08 PM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
474 posts, read 526,958 times
Reputation: 686
I used to live in Dublin, so I feel that I can provide you with some more background on the city.
1. The two sides of the city, east and west, are actually quite different. Generally, the east side is the wealthier, more diverse, newer side, and while the west side is relatively less affluent, much more white, and also significantly older.
2. Danville is by far the most walkable and quaint of the three, but you do in reality have to sacrifice less diversity (~10.5% Asians, less than where I currently live in Illinois) and also extra money, since it's the most established suburb.
3. San Ramon and Dublin are significantly more Asian than Danville, with ~40% and 30%, respectively. In my experience, though, East Dublin is very similar to most of San Ramon in terms of the size of the Asian demographic- Dublin Boulevard is lined with ethnic businesses (like Ulferts Center), and a handful of Indian businesses as well (an ice cream shop (?), Indian bazaar, and restaurant). I don't think you should be overwhelmed in either city, though. Dublin does have a rapidly growing Asian population, though (I'd estimate that side of town to be ~50-60% Asian), with even more Asian businesses to come in the future. I don't know about San Ramon.
5. Dublin has the worst traffic, but it is also the closest to Foster City, and a commute to Silicon Valley would require that you pass through it anyways.
6. Dublin has a problem with overcrowding- schools in particular have not been able to keep up with the rate of development, with many of the elementary schools having to use portables because of insufficient classroom space. This is only exacerbated by the fact that the district is now funneling multiple elementary schools with a growing population of K-5 graders into the one high school, DHS. This will be a problem when your children reach that age.

Anyhow, this is only in my experience having lived in Dublin the past two years, and I'm sure you can garner more information through your own experiences in the area. Out of the three, I think Danville is most like Westchester (but I don't know if that's what you're going for).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 10:19 PM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
702 posts, read 951,303 times
Reputation: 1498
I don't know why you would voluntarily subject yourself to that drive every day. You know there's traffic here, right?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 10:23 PM
 
Location: Pound Ridge, NY
10 posts, read 12,305 times
Reputation: 13
Thank you so much, you have been extremely helpful! You have no idea how much insight you have provided me with, it really does help! The reason we selected neighborhoods further away from Foster City than we would have originally liked is because of the highly rated schools and what we can afford. It is for this reason that Fremont and Union City are not on the short list. I know that there are some good schools in Fremont, however I was also informed that if we do not register in time, we could be pushed into a lesser rated school. As we won't know exactly where we want to stay by February, it is too big a risk for me to take for my daughter. I think a place similar to Westchester County could work, perhaps a few more Indians would be nice. That being said, we live in a neighborhood where we are the only Indians and it sounds like we would not be the only Indian looking people in Danville, there should be at least one other family ;-)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 10:26 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,126 posts, read 107,402,364 times
Reputation: 115947
Try Castro Valley, then. I don't know how the schools there rate, though. Besides, at 4, your oldest wouldn't be registering for school yet. She'd be in a nursery school/pre-school not connected with the school district.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 10:27 PM
 
Location: Pound Ridge, NY
10 posts, read 12,305 times
Reputation: 13
With respect to traffic, my husband's company will be offering shuttle buses to and from Foster City, so we figured that he won't actually be driving, so it probably won't be that bad. In addition, they would be able to take advantage of the diamond lanes and use the wifi on the bus.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 10:30 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,126 posts, read 107,402,364 times
Reputation: 115947
Quote:
Originally Posted by NY2CARelocation View Post
With respect to traffic, my husband's company will be offering shuttle buses to and from Foster City, so we figured that he won't actually be driving, so it probably won't be that bad. In addition, they would be able to take advantage of the diamond lanes and use the wifi on the bus.
Well, if he won't be driving, then obviously, it would be less stressful. It would still take more time out of his day, but that's up to him. It's all a matter of priorities.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 10:35 PM
 
Location: Pound Ridge, NY
10 posts, read 12,305 times
Reputation: 13
I just checked out realtor.com for Castro Valley (as per your suggestion) but there doesn't seem to be much inventory in our price range. Things are crazy expensive out there!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 10:43 PM
 
Location: Pound Ridge, NY
10 posts, read 12,305 times
Reputation: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
Try Castro Valley, then. I don't know how the schools there rate, though. Besides, at 4, your oldest wouldn't be registering for school yet. She'd be in a nursery school/pre-school not connected with the school district.
She is actually 4.5, so she will be 5 by the time to school year begins. Registration for the new school year apparently starts in Feb and is open through Sept. The thing is, everyone registers early, so as not to miss out on the school they want to send their child. We have to get in quick and make a decision, but it is so hard to do based upon a weekend trip. We are opting for corporate housing to get a feel for it, but I still have to tell the company what neighborhood ( so I can get a feel and also register my daughter before she misses out), although, if we pic the wrong neighborhood and don't like it, she will probably miss out on the right school anyways....so hard. I don't want to give her the wrong start to her schooling and she is already being transported across the country. (even though it is for the best).
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. The time now is 03:16 AM.

© 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