Places to live near Walnut Creek? (San Francisco, Oakland: houses, public schools, prices)

[maddog14]

My wife and I are looking at some engineering firms in Walnut Creek. We are moving from Utah. Walnut Creek's houses seem to be priced just higher than we would like. Is there a community relatively close by that would be a little more in our price range, but would still be a good area to raise a family? Is this area a good place to raise a family? What is the atmosphere and attitude like? Please help.

[gizmo980]

Walnut Creek is one of the nicest East Bay towns, but I understand your problem with the costs! Some less expensive (yet still safe) towns to consider would be Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, Dublin, and Concord... these will be do-able commutes to WC, and I think they're all on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) line, which makes it easier to get around. As for the attitude, these are all pretty typical suburbs, with a slightly more slow-paced feel than San Francisco/Oakland/etc. But it's still part of the Bay Area, so expect lots of traffic, road-ragers, and an overall feeling of being stressed out! It's a great place to live in general, but we do have our issues to deal with... though you'll also see our good side, like the open-mindedness, friendliness, culture, and everything else we have to offer. Oh, and of course the great weather.

[fishstix3]

Pleasant Hill is right "next door" to Walnut Creek, as well as Lafayette, but if you don't like WC prices, stay away from Lafayette, Danville, Alamo. While Pleasant Hill isn't cheap, you can find some affordable spots -- especially nice is "Poet's Corner" -- an area bordered by Boyd Rd., Patterson, and Oak Park Blvd. Depends on what you are looking for, but that area characteristically has bigger yards -- smaller homes unless you find one that has been remodeled, which many have. The area IS more laid back than SF per se, but we are looking to leave because it has become much less laid back then when I was younger -- lots of pressure for kids to excel at everything and to be very busy, a decent amount of traffic (although much less than most of WC). Some nice public schools that rate very well, although the middle and high schools are less attractive. Hope that helps!