Moving to San Fran from SoCal- Help! (Orange, Redwood City: how much, houses)

[EnglishAmerican]

We are moving to SF and are clueless as to where to live! My husband will be working in downtown SF but is fine about commuting up to 40 minutes or so. We have 3 boys (8, 4 and 4). We have no idea where to go! We're moving from Orange County, but politically are much more in line with SF. We want to live in a place with lots of other elementary aged kids, who play outside (does this exist or am I dreaming!) I really want somewhere where people are friendly (I lived in the south for 5 years and was so spoilt on that front)! I love the look of Marin, but the cost and rain concern me. Hillsborough etc look beautiful, but even more expensive. We considered Orinda, but I keep reading negative comments about it. Are those real? I'd love to live somewhere with trees and greenery after 5 years in the OC. We need public schools. After stretching to a bigger mortgage, there won't be anything left! Any advice would be really realy appreciated. Thank you so much.

[aklein]

I am from the OC too and love the Peninsula. San Carlos is probably one of the most kid-friendly areas I know of. Neighbors have bbq's and kids just drop by for playdates. They have a farmers market on Thursday nights and concerts in the park on Friday nights in the summer. Burton Park was just redone and is fabulous with a new water feature as is Stafford Park in Redwood City. Great schools also. Go to www.greatschools.net for more info on the best schools. It depends on your budget. Let me know if you need more info.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

This is not unlike the Southland in that the conurbation is wide ranging and consists of a series of communities / burbs with no physical gaps (other than the hills in some cases, and of course,the water). It's a megacity approaching 8M. So, really, a mini LA but obviously in a somewhat different natural setting (coast ranges and intermontaine valleys and coastal plains thereof, versus the transition zone between the transverse and peninsular ranges, etc). There are communities of all types, just like down south. The main decision will be how much commute pain you are willing to tolerate to achieve a given setting at a given price point. The usual trade offs apply (inland and further is cheaper, closer and more coastal is expensive).

[18Montclair]

negative comments about Orinda? Such as?

Orinda schools are darn near incomparable, is not nearly as pretentious as the peninsula, and the setting is almost rural. Plus Orinda has its own BART station.

Piedmont(another town whose schools are pretty much perfect) actually seems to fit you to a T.

[Jonotastic]

What's your budget?

[EnglishAmerican]

Thanks everyone so much for your replies. That really helps. We are flying up this weekend to look around. We will look at Marin (Mill Valley and up), Orinda and further east and also the Peninsula. Does anyone have any thoughts on Marin for families? I was glad to hear Orinda viewed favorably. It was folks on Berkley websites who were putting it, and everything further east, down. As for our budget, we are looking at up to 2 million, although that will be a stretch, so we'd prefer a bit less.

[clongirl]

I'd also say to check out Orinda, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, etc..anywhere on the BART line. Very family friendly places, semi-rural feeling in most parts, close to SF and the schools are good. You didn't mention budget, but houses can be pricey (not as quite as bad as Marin though). I haven't heard anything bad about Orinda (other than the downtown area being broken up by the freeway) ..it's REALLY nice if you can afford it...same for Lafayette (which I'm partial to).