HELP finding great family place to raise kids! (San Jose, Fremont: real estate market, rent)

[tatirkc]

Hello Everybody! As most people here, I am looking to relocate from cold MA to East Bay. My husband will work from home, so commute is not a problem here. I am looking for a kid friendly safe town, where there are a lot of stay home moms (I am one), great public school system and the town has to have great weather. (I heard that SF and everything before the tunnel can be foggy and cold). A town with a cute town center, outdoor kids concert, involved and nice parents... etc. I was focusing on Lamorinda area initially (heard that Lafayette is better because of the downtown), but the home prices there definitely scares me! Ideally I would like to be bellow $1.6M. Any other town that I should look into? Thank you for any input!

[ssmaster]

Danville ,Pleasanton and lamorinda

[sav858]

Aside from Lamorinda I would look into Walnut Creek, Danville, Alamo (no cute downtown but close to Danville and WC).

[clongirl]

Lamorinda is great- exactly what you're looking for, but you're right---prices have dramatically increased.

Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill would be really good, less expensive alternatives. Moraga would also be less pricy than Lafayette or Orinda. You can always rent and wait out this crazy real estate market (but who knows how long that will go on for?)

[Chuck5000]

You need to define "great" weather. If you like it very warm (i.e. lots of days in 90s, but dry, and a few 100+ days, yep, Tri Valley is great and fits your wants (which are a pretty tough set of wants, BTW - everybody wants an in-town shopping experience with great schools). If you want it mild and cool yet sunny with some warmth (i.e. perfect) , you're looking at the most expensive locations in the Bay Area (shoreline areas inland like Tiburon, northern Santa Clara county like Palo Alto or Redwood City) where 1.6 would not get you much from your list.

You could look at prime areas of Fremont. You might try Marin, which I normally would not recommend due to commutes to SF being long and limited, and from which you can't commute at all to Silicon Valley. What I would do in your situation is give up the in-town dream and move to a place well out of commute range (Novato? Petaluma? Hilly areas of Alameda County?) - and you'd get much more for your money. Actually, wait - Petaluma has a great downtown. Check it out.

[Ruth4Truth]

Walnut creek. But that whole area, including Orinda and Lafayette, get really hot in the summer.

[dmode]

Originally Posted by tatirkc

Hello Everybody! As most people here, I am looking to relocate from cold MA to East Bay. My husband will work from home, so commute is not a problem here. I am looking for a kid friendly safe town, where there are a lot of stay home moms (I am one), great public school system and the town has to have great weather. (I heard that SF and everything before the tunnel can be foggy and cold). A town with a cute town center, outdoor kids concert, involved and nice parents... etc. I was focusing on Lamorinda area initially (heard that Lafayette is better because of the downtown), but the home prices there definitely scares me! Ideally I would like to be bellow $1.6M. Any other town that I should look into? Thank you for any input!

I would recommend Mission San Jose neighborhood in Fremont

[tatirkc]

Thank you everybody for the input. I have been searching Danville and it seems very nice family community. I understand that the commute from Lamorinda Area to SF and access to BART is better, but you definitely pay premium for the convenience. As I mentioned before, my husband will have a home office... so it is all right on the commute... I am sure we will use the weekends to venture to SF but daily commute is not on our radar for now.
Is it fair to say that Danville is like Lafayette, but more "affordable", and without the convenience of been close to SF ? Also, I heard that the Blackhawk Gated Communities is not good for kids... am I right? I read a lawsuit online where the HOA didn't allow Trick or Treating or kids playing outside... Any Danville and Blackhawk opinions/tips is highly appreciated! My husband and I hope with buying "newer" built homes (more available in Danville) would be more earthquake retrofitted than the older homes in Lafayette?? Thank you!

[imageryz]

We live in Moraga which is part of Lamorinda- (Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda- that is why it's called that) as we relocated here a few years back. Very expensive and you need to get ready to pay a ton of money for a house that was built in the 70's. No new homes here though we are building some new homes that should be ready in the fall for about 2.5.

Blackhawk in Danville is filled with ghost homes.....homes that overseas families purchased and live in once a year. You need to be careful about what area you go into if you are needing community support. We don't have neighborhoods here. Just houses on hills. Get ready for that change.

Danville is super hot in the summer but more choices than closer in Lamorinda. San Ramon would be my next area I would look. Super hot though.

Also get ready for the high utility bills and the water shortage. They don't tell you about that part when you move here.

Nor do they tell you that you can't get a parking spot at the BART station after 7am. You can't buy a pass because you would be about 2000 on a waitlist.

We have seen an increase of about 30% more people out here in the last 5 yrs.

Good luck to you in your relocation.