Best NorCal areas for family, criteria inside (San Francisco, Long Beach: neighborhoods, buy)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Carpenter858

I must admit I was wrong on this one. I thought for sure Bernie would have won easily in the Marin 2020 Dem Primary like he did throughout Ca. But, he only got 26%, compared to Biden's 31%. Bloomberg next at 19%, Warren with 18%. Guess if you add up Bernie and Warren (both left-of-left), you get almost 50%.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/elect...-live-results/

The areas in Marin mentioned would work for you OP. I thought of myself as fiscal conservative, social liberal, until this last election. Hard to fit into that when there are so many left-of-left controlling the current clown in the WH. I almost voted for him until I saw 3 or so of his debates in the primary. Easy to tell he was a clown.

I don't think you'll find too many homes in Ross under $3M (here's one on Redfin). They exist, but you need to look at sales price to listing price on Redfin, as homes are typically bid way above the list price. I know they are in the Berkeley area.

https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Anselm.../home/56831764

All that said, while waterfront homes in NorCal have nice views, the ocean in NorCal sucks. It's great for surfing, and I do a little only in the summer, but I'll always prefer the warmer water in SoCal. You can barely go into the water up here in the Summer. without a wet suit. Even my kids don't really like it.

I'd focus on SoCal, but it's up to you. Not sure where you were looking, but plenty of places that a $3M budget could buy somewhat close to the beach, although prices have skyrocketed the last 2 years. A $1M home in 2019 is now close to $1.8M in the SD North County Beach areas. Closer to the beach will be closer to your $3M.

Best of luck. We lived in Tx (Dallas area for 4 years). Miss the people, but I miss people in SD and LA, but won't miss too many people from NorCal once we leave. Just too left-of-left leaning, and they're not tolerant at all in my area by Berkeley.

I'm assuming the OP meant Bayfront homes. There are plenty of those around Marin, as previously mentioned.

My experience in Marin is, that people don't talk about their politics. But that could be a YMMV kind of thing. But Tiburon and Belvedere would work fine for the OP.

Interesting voter breakdown in Marin. I wouldn't expect it would have too many Bernie airheads. I don't know why others expected that.

[vunderbar]

Tiburon, parts of Mill Valley, Belvedere, Sausalito -- these are extraordinarily beautiful places. High quality of life. Great schools, close to extraordinarily good universities. Access to world-class medicine and arts in San Francisco, three hours to world-class mountains; great coasts, redwoods & wine country in your back yard. OP, if you've got the money, go for it. This is as close to paradise as you can get, IMO.

[davdaven]

Surprised to see so much advocacy for Marin in this thread. I have worked in Marin for over 10 years, and while it's nice enough, the most heavily populated parts of it along the Bay side are not that appealing. Walkability is limited. Streets are winding and narrow, so your kids will never play with the neighbors unless you schedule park dates. People keep to themselves--the hot tub parties of the '70s are long gone. They do manage to keep a distance from the problems you find in SF and the East Bay, but Marin is very small by comparison (with a slightly shrinking population) and you will have to venture out for some services, at least to Sonoma County if not SF or the East Bay. And people will be up in your business all the time, at least so far as property rights are concerned.

There are other parts of the Bay Area that are more appealing, such as the outer East Bay (from Orinda east to Walnut Creek and south to San Ramon) and Peninsula (but $3 million only gets you so far). Being waterside is not a huge plus here like it is in So Cal, but water views are still a plus. Weather is much better by the Bay than it is by the ocean. The Peninsula is the closest match to your list of wants, with the outer East Bay coming in second and Marin a distant third. Outside of the Bay Area, I would place San Diego on the ranking list on par with the outer East Bay.

With regard to your kids sticking around later in life, the COL cannot be understated. Unless you fund their day-to-day lives as adults, they will most likely move away. Only the best-paid tech workers can make ends meet and also obtain any of the quote-unquote American dream. This has been a big shift in the past 10 years, and most of coastal California is going through this transition. I am in my late '30s and am at the tail end of people who were able to get something here without financial assistance from family.

[tikkasf]

Originally Posted by davdaven

Surprised to see so much advocacy for Marin in this thread. I have worked in Marin for over 10 years, and while it's nice enough, the most heavily populated parts of it along the Bay side are not that appealing. Walkability is limited. Streets are winding and narrow, so your kids will never play with the neighbors unless you schedule park dates. People keep to themselves--the hot tub parties of the '70s are long gone. They do manage to keep a distance from the problems you find in SF and the East Bay, but Marin is very small by comparison (with a slightly shrinking population) and you will have to venture out for some services, at least to Sonoma County if not SF or the East Bay. And people will be up in your business all the time, at least so far as property rights are concerned.

There are other parts of the Bay Area that are more appealing, such as the outer East Bay (from Orinda east to Walnut Creek and south to San Ramon) and Peninsula (but $3 million only gets you so far). Being waterside is not a huge plus here like it is in So Cal, but water views are still a plus. Weather is much better by the Bay than it is by the ocean. The Peninsula is the closest match to your list of wants, with the outer East Bay coming in second and Marin a distant third. Outside of the Bay Area, I would place San Diego on the ranking list on par with the outer East Bay.

With regard to your kids sticking around later in life, the COL cannot be understated. Unless you fund their day-to-day lives as adults, they will most likely move away. Only the best-paid tech workers can make ends meet and also obtain any of the quote-unquote American dream. This has been a big shift in the past 10 years, and most of coastal California is going through this transition. I am in my late '30s and am at the tail end of people who were able to get something here without financial assistance from family.

My physical therapist lives in Marin, with her husband and 2 kids. From what she is has told me, it sounds like she and her family are quite happy there. I have been spending time in Marin since the time before you were born. No it is not a utopia and not for everybody......but, going by what OP posted, I think it deserves consideration by OP. I suggested in a previous posting, that OP make a trip out here and see for himself/themselves if Marin might be a good fit.....I also suggested that Marin to be not the only area they check out on a trip out to this area

[MechAndy]

3M sure doesn’t go as far as it used to go.
There was a house sold on El Cerro in Danville a 1/4 mile east of 680 and it sold for 3.4M last year.
It was a tear down and completely redone so it’s really nice but it was on a busy road near the freeway with an average sized lot and 3.4M was the selling price.

Secluded waterfront or near waterfront in Tiburon, Belvedere or even Point Richmond for 3M are days long gone.

Right now there are yucky 1M homes right off of El Camino Real or off of 880,
Are three of those equal to one nice waterfront or nice and near water in the premier neighborhoods?
Not the way I do math.

[pathrunner]

On the west side of Marin (I don't mean near the coast I mean across from Belvedere Tiburon) that's true. The streets are narrow, windy and hilly but that isn't as much of an issue in Belvedere Tiburon.

[HiIQ]

Originally Posted by tikkasf

OP, I would also suggest considering the town of Mill Valley, in Marin Co. .....given your stated budget for a house ($ 3 million) I suggest making a trip out to Bay Area and see what you and your family thinks of Marin Co. Try to imagine what your life would be like on a day to day basis, living in one of the towns/cities in southern Marin Co. I would also suggest having another possible choice, decided on before hand, to check out during your trip to the Bay Area.....

Thank you, that's the plan. Did that with OC a couple years ago. Ended up not liking it. Seemed a bit pretentious, people not comfortable with money or themselves. Somewhat plastic (Newport Beach) or old and sleepy (Laguna Beach) or no oceanfront (Laguna Niguel), or too cookie cutter or industrial (Irvine).

[HiIQ]

Reposting my message below (may have been missed)

What about the below views some have on the Bay Area (and to an extent CA in general), how real a threat do they pose to quality of life:

-California is going to dry up (drought)
-The Bay Area is filled with leftists soft on crime resulting in unrestrained theft, looting etc (the closing of the SF Walgreens, example)
-The policies of the state make COL untenable

A lot of people have been moving inwards from the coasts and moving down south (TX, FL, AZ etc) in particular citing some of the above.

The fact that they are willing to uproot their lives/lives of family members and move is a little concerning tbh because I would basically be following the opposite trend. Essentially, my desire to move is a QOL decision, and I am essentially leveraging my financial position to afford the “luxury” of living in nature, in a moderate climate, yet close enough to all major amenities by considering the BA (I am also considering Vancouver, Canada). Perhaps i’m in a financial spot where I can afford the higher COL more than most moving to my state, yet not ultra wealthy to the point where the state income tax of CA (as opposed to TX), will be a deal breaker.

[HiIQ]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

3M sure doesn’t go as far as it used to go.
There was a house sold on El Cerro in Danville a 1/4 mile east of 680 and it sold for 3.4M last year.
It was a tear down and completely redone so it’s really nice but it was on a busy road near the freeway with an average sized lot and 3.4M was the selling price.

Secluded waterfront or near waterfront in Tiburon, Belvedere or even Point Richmond for 3M are days long gone.

Right now there are yucky 1M homes right off of El Camino Real or off of 880,
Are three of those equal to one nice waterfront or nice and near water in the premier neighborhoods?
Not the way I do math.

Hi, after COVID my plans are changing. I am selling businesses. Max budget will be 6M, more comfortably 4M. It would be possible to do this in cash.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by HiIQ

Thank you, that's the plan. Did that with OC a couple years ago. Ended up not liking it. Seemed a bit pretentious, people not comfortable with money or themselves. Somewhat plastic (Newport Beach) or old and sleepy (Laguna Beach) or no oceanfront (Laguna Niguel), or too cookie cutter or industrial (Irvine).

I’ve lived in Newport Beach and in Marin, and I think your impression/assessment of OC is accurate (FWIW, I’m a multigenerational SF Bay Area native (relatives on one side arrived in 1847), and I’ve had family in LA since 1905 and iNewport since the late 50s/early 60s)

IMO, Marin has many more people, percentage wise, who are both comfortable with money and with themselves.

I do think Dave has a point that there is, to a certain extent (and different people might experience it differently) a ‘keep to yourself vibe’ in Marin, but then I say that as someone who thinks the random (and unpretentious, IME) ‘chattiness’ of people in Texas is a positive and a hoot.