Please help: Where to move from NY to Bay Area? (San Diego: townhouse, to buy)

[max's mama]

Hello everyone!
A little background: my dear husband and I would like to move with our 2 year old son. Right now we live in Brooklyn, NY and we have been living here for many years and kind of fed up. We can't afford to buy anything here that's nice, because the areas of Brooklyn that we like are way overpriced. Forget living in NYC (not that we want to). So if we were to move somewhere in the state, it would be in Westchester area. Most of our friends moved to NJ, but we don't like Jersey.

My dear husband always dreams about moving to west coast. We both need to live near big cities because I work in Fashion and he works as a party planner. We had choices like LA, San Diego and SF. Anyone we asked for advice said the same thing: "San Francisco is the best choice for you. After moving from NY (we both work in NYC now), it would be ideal with it's culture, restaurants etc..." Obviously SF is ridicilously expensive, so we were considering Bay Area OR South of SF like San Mateo, Pacifica, etc...
In all honesty, we have never been there before and planning to go for vacation in January. Before we go, I would like to find out what suburbs should we visit?

Here is what we don't like in NY and looking to find in Bay Area:

Climate is awful. We both love hot weather and cannot stand NY winters.

Rat Race. I mean living in NY is tough. Honestly: the subways, the crowds, very little greenery. Brooklyn had become so dirty at parts. Sometimes I feel like: I need to get out of here or I'll die.

Nature: beautiful hikes, hills, ocean, parks...(I mean upstate NY also has some gorgeous scenery too)

Laid back people. We made a lot of friends here in NY/Brooklyn, but we have no friends in Bay Area now. I would love to move somewhere where it's family friendly, people are nice and more down to earth.

Also, working in NY and having a child is so hard. I'm looking to see if working in SF will be a little more laid back where families are priorities.

Look: I understand, every area has its flaws, there are no areas that don't have flaky stock-up people. So I'm not looking for miracles here.

Please tell me:
What area do you live in? How's the housing? Can we afford a decent, small townhouse for around 400K? Is there BART commute to SF? How long? How's the weather?
Any input whatsoever will be appreciated.

[ImRandy]

Most people wouldn't describe San Francisco as a warm city. What exactly do you mean by "hot weather"?

[max's mama]

Originally Posted by ImRandy

Most people wouldn't describe San Francisco as a warm city. What exactly do you mean by "hot weather"?

Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the whole area has micro-climates? Like if I want to live somewhere like Walnut Creek (hypothetically speaking) I will get much warmer weather then NY?
I know SF is like 60-70 throughout the year, but I'm not planning on living in SF.

[ImRandy]

Just wanted to put that out there and get a better idea of what you mean by hot. If it's heat you're after then Pacifica isn't what you want as it is considered cold and foggy. Areas along the pacific coast will be "cold" and foggy most of the year. Areas inland of the Santa Cruz Mountains on the peninsula will be warm but if you really like your heat I would focus on the East Bay. The East Bay tends to be warmer, often much warmer. Given your budget a place like Concord would be a good place to look. Much less expensive than areas closer to the bay and it's serviced by BART.

[ImRandy]

I forgot to add that it's about 35-40 min from Concord to SF by car and about 45 minutes by BART depending on where in the city you're going.

[max's mama]

Originally Posted by ImRandy

I forgot to add that it's about 35-40 min from Concord to SF by car and about 45 minutes by BART depending on where in the city you're going.

Thank you very much for advice. I read that some areas of Concord are not very nice. What do you think about Pleasant Hill or Berkeley? Walnut Creek? Too expensive?

[ImRandy]

Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek are very nice but pricey. Pleasant Hill and Concord physically touch so you often don't even know when you leave one and enter the other. There are areas I wouldn't live in Concord. Around the four corners section (you can see it on google maps) and west of 242 by the airport I wouldn't recommend. Just on the other side of 242 toward Port Chicago Hwy is a nice area. My in laws live there.