Where to live in SF? (San Jose, San Francisco: for sale, apartments, rentals)

[Dunners]

It looks like we'll be relocating to San Francisco in the Fall, moving from North West England, so something of a change!

If it goes ahead, my husband will be working in the Financial District and I will be hoping to find a job either in the city or in Silicon Valley. He'd be willing to commute by train, so we'd probably want to live out of town.

Can anyone recommend good websites/books/anything else to help us choose a place to live? We've found craigslist but it's hard to check out the property listings without knowing about the areas.

We do know that we will have to get a rental (not the norm for Brits) and it's going to be expensive!

Thanks in advance
D

[humboldtrat]

I suggest checking out places such as San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos and the western part of Redwood City. These nice, middle class places are more or less halfway between San Francisco and Palo Alto. Caltrain, a commuter train runs between San Francisco and San Jose and stops at all places mentioned - www.caltain.org (broken link). And you're right - renting will be a little expensive compared to other areas. Nice homes in this area are selling for $750K to $1mil.

[californianative63]

Walnut Creek is nice but can get warm (90+) in the summer. It has a great mini "Beverly Hills" downtown, tons of great places to eat, shop, etc... Great schools, low crime, award winning hospital, close to Diablo Valley College and UC Berkeley. Great place to raise a family. It sits very close to Mt. Diablo (3,849 feet), S.F. is 25 miles west and San Jose 45 miles south. Bart trains runs to S.F., but S.J. commute will need to be by car or vanpool. Surrounding towns like Pleasant Hill and Martinez offer middle class options as well. Alamo and Danville are nice if you have the $$. You can check the home prices at realtor.com. All areas mentioned are relatively "close in" and won't suffer from fog and extreme heat/commute as the communities of Antioch and Brentwood to the east.

[Dunners]

Thanks to you both for the advice. Next step is to get a very good map!

Best wishes
D

[GreenGirl]

If your husband is working in SF and you're thinking about the Silicon Valley the towns you'll be looking at will either be on the Peninsula or in the South Bay. A city is always classified by its relation to the bay, just a little bit of lingo that will help you know the locations of the Craigslist ads.

It's not just on Craigslist. If you ask someone in SF where they live, they're likely to answer - "East Bay" or "North Bay" whatever... It actually tells you a lot, each area is very different. But for where you and your husband will be working, Peninsula or South Bay.

[laini]

THE website to use for anything (housing, jobs, forums, services, etc.) in the bay area is craigslist: san francisco bay area classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events. You can check out rentals on this site.

[odellgiustirda]

I live in Concord, Ca. About 14 miles east of SF. Nice place, relatively low rents. There are lots of places in the east bay available. All with different environments and costs. Still nowhere is that inexpensive and commutes are crowded.
Check out Welcome to Concord, California or any of the other web sites for cities on your map.
Weather east of sf is hot in the summer and mild in the winter. Did I say it gets hot?
Take care