Where to live?

[artemis78]

If you like Milton, you might also like Albany, CA in the East Bay--it's a smaller residential city, but immediately adjacent to Berkeley (and a BART station into the city) with excellent schools, parks, etc. I don't know the Peninsula communities well, but I hear good things about Burlingame in that regard as well. I think Albany is less expensive, but also probably has fewer large homes available as many are pre-WWII bungalows (versus the Peninsula, which grew a lot after the war).

Piedmont is much more affluent and less diverse than Milton, so it depends on what you're going for. (Think upscale parts of Newton and Brookline, Chestnut Hill, a little bit of Wellesley, etc.) It has a well-earned nickname of being a "City of Millionaires"--but the homes are lovely and, in some areas, estate-like, and it has some of the best parks (and schools and services) around. You get what you pay for, I guess!

[kimadrew]

Albany is a great little town- Liberal, diverse, no snobbery, but also without the anarchic craziness of Berkeley. Schools are up there with any Bay Area district and great shopping strip along Solano Avenue. Also, you can walk to K-12 schools and virtually anywhere in the town.

For my family, though, the BIG stumbling block is that there is nothing close to 4/3, with 2500 sq.ft. The median house is between 800 and 1500 sq.ft. And the homes are built on an old-fashioned scale so that everything looks minaturized to about a three-quarters scale. Can anyone think of a town in the Bay Area that would approximate Albany, but where it is possible to find a 2000 sq.ft. home?

[gizmo980]

What about Alameda? Not sure if the houses there are any larger, but it seems to be similar to Albany (based on your description). I also don't know much about the schools, or if they even have a school district of their own.

[MercySunshine]

Originally Posted by artemis78

Piedmont is much more affluent and less diverse than Milton, so it depends on what you're going for. (Think upscale parts of Newton and Brookline, Chestnut Hill, a little bit of Wellesley, etc.) It has a well-earned nickname of being a "City of Millionaires"--but the homes are lovely and, in some areas, estate-like, and it has some of the best parks (and schools and services) around. You get what you pay for, I guess!

I like the houses/schools/ and general feel of Newton but could not tolerate the snobbery. I chose Milton because it is a bit affluent but lacks much of the snobbery that you find in so many upscale NE towns. Personally I could tolerate just about anything but I have to factor in that in a few years I'll have children and want them to be level headed and not worry about keeping up with what others around are doing. Maybe I'll get a little of this no matter where I live but I think the more down to earth the town the better. Right now it seems that Burlingame has most of what I'm looking for so I will concentrate my search on that area (unless someone provides me with a town that has similar qualities). Thanks for your input.

[humboldtrat]

Some Burlingame photos. The train station is still used by Caltrain.

Burlingame Pictures - California stock photos, fine art prints by QTL

[18Montclair]

I dont really consider Burlingame "close to the City" in the sense that its almost a urban suburb-in fact its quite removed. That area is definitely suburban but very nice nonetheless.

One thing about that entire area that just turns me off is the airport being so close and huge airplanes always flying overhead. Not really that bad in Burlingame the way it is in Millbrae, San Bruno and South SF, but it is a factor that I dont like.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by kimadrew

Albany is a great little town- Liberal, diverse, no snobbery, but also without the anarchic craziness of Berkeley. Schools are up there with any Bay Area district and great shopping strip along Solano Avenue. Also, you can walk to K-12 schools and virtually anywhere in the town.

For my family, though, the BIG stumbling block is that there is nothing close to 4/3, with 2500 sq.ft. The median house is between 800 and 1500 sq.ft. And the homes are built on an old-fashioned scale so that everything looks minaturized to about a three-quarters scale. Can anyone think of a town in the Bay Area that would approximate Albany, but where it is possible to find a 2000 sq.ft. home?

Albany is awesome if your trying to raise kids to have progressive values. One of the best all around towns in the Bay Area, absolutely.

Oh, and Rockridge is just perfect too.

YouTube - Rockridge

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

I dont really consider Burlingame "close to the City" in the sense that its almost a urban suburb-in fact its quite removed. That area is definitely suburban but very nice nonetheless.

One thing about that entire area that just turns me off is the airport being so close and huge airplanes always flying overhead. Not really that bad in Burlingame the way it is in Millbrae, San Bruno and South SF, but it is a factor that I dont like.

Burlingame is about 20 miles from SF - about the same distance between SF and Piedmont and other East Bay places mentioned and there is no bridge to cross. And face it, the bay bridge is often a slow crawl during the commute hours.

Also, planes rarely fly over Burlingame or San Mateo. To land, they approach the airport over the bay - about 2 miles east of Burlingame. Planes taking off from the airport, fly directly over San Bruno and South San Francisco at full throttle which is very noisy .

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by humboldtrat

Burlingame is about 20 miles from SF - about the same distance between SF and Piedmont and other East Bay places mentioned and there is no bridge to cross. And face it, the bay bridge is often a slow crawl during the commute hours.

Google Maps says Piedmont is 11.5 miles from the Transamerica Pyramid and Burlingame is 18.1 miles from the Pyramid.

True the Bay Bridge is really bad, but if a person in Piedmont takes BART at Rockridge, they get off right on Market Street, whereas someone from Burlingame would take CalTrain and get dropped far away from the Financial District/ Union Square area. From the station they'd actually have to take a bus to get into the heart of DT.

But its more than just distance, there's a state of mind in the East Bay is just as progressive as San Francisco and far more so than the Peninsula. Piedmont may be rich, but walk a few blocks in any direction and your surrounded by neighborhoods with lots of gay & lesbian couples, interracial families, immigrant communities from Ethopia to Korea, hipsters, scientists and poets, feminists, politically minded intellectuals, eco-conscious, cosmopolitan people, dare I say, a bit more cosmpolitan than what one would find in and around Burlingame.

Dont get me wrong, when my dad immigrated to America, he lived in San Mateo and I have lots of relatives who live there. Its a nice place indeed. Burlingame is in a nice area and surrounded by other nice suburbs.

Also, planes rarely fly over Burlingame or San Mateo. To land, they approach the airport over the bay - about 2 miles east of Burlingame. Planes taking off from the airport, fly directly over San Bruno and South San Francisco at full throttle which is very noisy .

I know, I was on Sneath Lane one time when a huge Asiana 747 boomed by.....just scary. LOL

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Albany is awesome if your trying to raise kids to have progressive values. One of the best all around towns in the Bay Area, absolutely.

Oh, and Rockridge is just perfect too.

YouTube - Rockridge

That was a cute video. Thanks for sharing. Can you tell that I am devouring anything I can about the Albany area? The square footage of the houses in Albany are not a problem for us. We need less than 1600 sq ft for our family for sure! I don't feel like I am stealing this thread since the OP hasn't been on since June of last year. So many people seem to join, post a few messages and never return. Perhaps that means they found their place. It would be nice to hear an update from people though so we know where they landed.