Tiburon vs Atherton (San Francisco, San Mateo, Redwood City: rental, lawyers, houses)

[Hobart]

Moving back to the USA with my family after having lived for 12 years in Asia. We don't need to commute to work as my wife and I operate our business in Taiwan from our home. Our kids are 3 and 1 so schools are a big consideration.

I like the fact that Tiburon and downtown Mill Valley have no franchise restaurants by town ordinance. I love most the views from Tiburon of the bay and downtown SF.

What I heard from someone else is that Atherton schools are as good or better. I also saw that Atherton looks cheaper in a way. The houses are similarly priced, but much bigger with much bigger lots(1 acre lots with 5,000sq. ft.). The lots don't have any views, but they seem perfect for families with sidewalks and flat streets. Tiburon is very hilly not conducive to riding bike or walking to your friends house. Belvedere is realatively flat especially on the lagoon, but the lots are so small and the houses are a little small too.

One other thing I like about Marin is the location. I have been out of the Tech industry for a while now and I want nothing to do with it. Marin seems quite out of the loop in terms of the IT industry. I like that I just go over the Golden Gate and I am in San Francisco. Also, I like that I just go North for quick access to Sonoma and Napa.

With all said, anyone know Atherton and (Tiburon, Belvedere, Mill Valley) well enough to help me make some comparisons. I haven't been to Atherton yet, but I spent 2 weeks in a vacation rental in Tiburon.

Please advise.

[sonarrat]

I currently live quite close to Atherton and I store my bicycle in their Caltrain station. Drive through there all the time on Alameda de las Pulgas. It's really striking - like walking into a Grimm fairy tale - but also completely constructed and fake. It seems like most of the residents are stuck-up NIMBYs who are scared to death of the relatively poor neighborhoods that surround the town, particularly on the northwest side. And your kids just go to the same schools as the ones who live in western (geographically southwestern) Menlo Park, so unless you really feel the need to have a pretentious address, Atherton is pretty pointless.

[gizmo980]

My father lives in Atherton, so I do have some issues with what sonarrat said - since my family is certainly not pretentious, snobby or "NIMBY" types. That being said, I personally wouldn't spend the money to live there, and agree that Menlo Park would be just as good. My father lived in MP as well, and it was almost as nice... but Atherton does have larger homes and lots, and is a bit quieter, which were the main reasons he moved (not for the "pretentious address" ).

In comparison to Tiburon, I think Atherton is more convenient to "stuff," while Tiburon has better views. Not sure about the price difference, but I'd guess they're almost equal - both very expensive! I would be perfectly happy in either one, so I guess it depends on your personal taste... do you prefer a quiet, centrally located Peninsula suburb (Atherton), or a waterfront, slightly isolated/rural-ish community?

[Hobart]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

do you prefer a quiet, centrally located Peninsula suburb (Atherton), or a waterfront, slightly isolated/rural-ish community?

Umm...pardon my ignorance, but what is Atherton close to and what is Tiburon isolated from?

According to Google maps if you type in Tiburon it is only 15 miles and 28 minutes away from San Francisco downtown. On the otherhand, Atherton is 38 minutes and 30 miles from San Francisco.

[sonarrat]

Well, you have to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and pay a toll every time you come into San Francisco from Tiburon. And it's very much isolated from the strip-mall mentality that predominates most of the SF peninsula. To be fair, Atherton is too. It has one little strip on El Camino Real, but the only thing on it I'd call downscale is the Chevy's mexican restaurant.

Atherton is bordered by Menlo Park on the south and Redwood City on the north - both good and bad parts of both towns. So it's far from homogeneous. The only thing all the parts of Atherton seem to have in common is a very dark, Black Forest kind of aura to the neighborhoods. Hillsborough, which is closer to San Francisco, is much more homogenized - it doesn't even have any bus service, and city ordinance requires any new property built in the town to be 2500 square feet on a quarter-acre lot, minimum.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Hobart

what is Atherton close to and what is Tiburon isolated from?

1. Target (Redwood City,San Mateo,Mountain View)
2. Walmart(in Mountain View)
3. Gold's Gym
4. Barnes & Noble
5. Stanford Shopping Mall
6. Tanforan Mall
7. Hillsdale Mall
8. Borders Books
9. Trader Joe's
10. Whole Foods(4)
11. K-mart
12. Good burritos on Middlefield Road
13. Downtown Palo Alto
14. Downtown San Mateo
15. Downtown Burlingame
16. Nob Hill Foods
17. Nijiya Japanese Market
18. 99 Ranch(large Chinese market)
19. Toys R Us
20. Frys Electronics
21. Best Buy
22. Annapoorna (best South Indian food)
23. KL Wines
24. Malibu Grand Prix
25. Armadillo Willys Texas Bbq
26. Carls Jr.
27. Office Depot
28. The Village Pub
29. Pamplemousse Patisserie
30. Draeger's Market
31. Home Depot
32. Century 20 Movie Theater

[whoIam]

Silicon Valley is not the place to go to avoid the tech industry, although I suppose running a business from home (via technology) makes it easier to avoid people you don't want to run into. What is there to avoid, anyway? I don't know if you are already aware of this, but Atherton is home to CEOs of the some of the giants of the Industry you want nothing to do with as well as the VC heads who finance its future generations. According to Wikipedia, listed among its many "notable residents" are:

* Eric E. Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google
* Charles R. Schwab, Founder and CEO of the Charles Schwab Corp.
* Thomas F. Stephenson, Venture Capitalist, Sequoia Capital
* Steve Westly, State Controller of California
* Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay
* Mark Hurd, CEO of HP
* Mark Kvamme, Venture Capitalist, Sequoia Capital
* Robert Fischer, Chairman, Gap
* Russell Pyne, Venture Capitalist, Atrium Capital

I'm not personally familiar with Atherton, but I noticed that city-data has some info regarding common occupations of males and females. For males, "top executives" was the most common for Atherton, and "lawyers" was the most common in Tiburon.

Originally Posted by Hobart

One other thing I like about Marin is the location. I have been out of the Tech industry for a while now and I want nothing to do with it. Marin seems quite out of the loop in terms of the IT industry.

[humboldtrat]

Also check out Woodside, not too far from Atherton. A very upscale town.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by capoeira

1. Target (Redwood City,San Mateo,Mountain View)
2. Walmart(in Mountain View)
3. Gold's Gym
4. Barnes & Noble
5. Stanford Shopping Mall
6. Tanforan Mall
7. Hillsdale Mall
8. Borders Books
9. Trader Joe's
10. Whole Foods(4)
11. K-mart
12. Good burritos on Middlefield Road
13. Downtown Palo Alto
14. Downtown San Mateo
15. Downtown Burlingame
16. Nob Hill Foods
17. Nijiya Japanese Market
18. 99 Ranch(large Chinese market)
19. Toys R Us
20. Frys Electronics
21. Best Buy
22. Annapoorna (best South Indian food)
23. KL Wines
24. Malibu Grand Prix
25. Armadillo Willys Texas Bbq
26. Carls Jr.
27. Office Depot
28. The Village Pub
29. Pamplemousse Patisserie
30. Draeger's Market
31. Home Depot
32. Century 20 Movie Theater

Id move away from Tiburon if all this stuff were nearby. Sorry, Tiburon is just the way we like it-close to THE CITY, but far enough where I dont have to be in the middle of Escalades and Louis Vuitton purses choking the class out of the place.

[Don Vito]

yea thats definatly NIMBY territory in atherton, tiburon is really nice.