Trees, good schools, low crime $800k 3 BR house? (Oakland, Napa: work, moving to)

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by vancouver canada

As a non resident I'm not up on the lingo, so please excuse my assumptions. I'm guessing Don Vito's peninsula is San Fran to Palo Alto rather than the mini Marin peninsula. Sounds like it's also very pricey though. We can afford more than $800k, but prefer not to since we dont need to drive to work. We would love to be within 30-45 drive to SF for dinners, etc. so that would elimate South Eastern areas like Castro Valley to Fremont. Earlier posts suggest Benicia could be ideal. Lafayette & Pleasant Hill sound nice, but in summer could be too hot. I spent a month in San Jose in August and thought I would die. Pacifica sounds lovely but perhaps too cool/foggy in winter.

Yes, "the Peninsula" is what we call the stretch below San Francisco - from just north of San Jose to Daly City, more or less. Pacifica is definitely on the chilly side, but it never gets TOO cold (below 40-ish)... perfect weather, in my opinion.

Given we also like access to Lake Tahoe... north of SF is better than South. Anyone know Novato, Petaluma, Napa ? Do they get hot in summer? I'll look up the stats, but any help would be great. This is a major life decision. Given all the variables and big $, we're thinking of renting a house for a year. Any idea on rent for a nice 3 BR in these areas?

I work in Napa right now, and it's a really nice little town... rent goes for around $1500-2200+ for a 3-bedroom, and there are plenty of them available. You can get to Tahoe in a little less time from there - you'd probably take 12E to Fairfield, hop on I-80, and follow that for about 2.5-3 hours to Tahoe. The weather there is a bit more extreme than San Francisco, with lower temps in the winter & higher in the summer... it averages around 80 degrees in summer, so it's still quite comfortable. I don't know much about the other towns up there, but I imagine they're a bit cheaper, and have similar weather patterns.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

I'm going to out on a limb here... I think the Montclair District of Oakland would be exactly what you are looking for. Eastbay home prices are down and inventory is up... not the case until recently.

Montclair has some good public elementary schools, very low crime, LOTS OF TREES, easy 30 minutes to the SF at all but commute times and Montclair has a very nice shopping/restaurant district called Montclair Village...

Time to Tahoe will also be 30 to 60 minutes less then leaving from San Francisco/Peninsula

Montclair is an excellent suggestion actually, especially if their budget is $1.5 Million. One of Montclair has many desirable features such as trees everywhere and a quaint alpine feel yet its very wealthy and sophisticated. The population is quite liberal and this part of Oakland is home to thousands of professionals, many pro athletes, noted scientists and scholars from UC Berkeley(located 3 miles away), high powered business executives, a number of famous artists(performing, visual and literary) etc.

This view home in Montclair has 4bd/ 3bth and is for sale at $1.129 Million



This view home in Montclair has 4bd/3.5bth and is for sale at $1.295 M



Another view home in Montclair with 4bd/3.5bth for $1.349M



I will tell you this though, despite all of Montclair's charms and obvious appeal, if you choose to live in this area, people you meet and tell them that you live in Oakland will automatically assume that you live in some rat-infested ghetto crawling with drug dealers and hookers.

Due to ignorance,( even by our most of Oakland's own neighbors), the city has the worst reputation of any city north of well, Tijiuana(LOL). Being born and raised there, I never understood what all the fuss was about by outsiders. To be fair, Oakland does have a very high crime rate overall, but Montclair and most of the hillside districts(collectively home to 100,000+ people)have a very low crime rates.

Much of the city's flatland is populated by lower income african americans and tens of thousands of immigrants from Latin America and Asia. Oakland's diversity is unparralled, even by San Francisco itself. Yet social issues remain.

Even so,
A huge chunk of Oakland has an excellent quality of life but usually it costs 7 digits.

[fizbin]

Both Montclair and Alameda are great choices (I've lived in both). And there are homes in Montclair significantly less expensive than the ones 18Montclair posted. Montclair is generally very woodsy. But your kids will be in the Oakland School District, which is not a good thing. Alameda is less woodsy for sure, but then again you can live right on the bay there if you want, and at most you are just a few blocks away.

[Ultrarunner]

I just did a quick check of 2 public elementary schools in Oakland's Montclair area..

Joaquin Miller Public Elementary School is rated a 9 out of 10 with a API of 856

Thornhill Elementary Public School is rated a 10 of 10 with a API 938

I personally know children that have attended these schools and they all received a top-notch education that has served them well.

As poster Montclair said, there really is a large affluent population of Oakland that is virtually unknown to outsiders.

[18Montclair]

well, this is a very vague measure, but here are the highest scoring elementary schools in SF, Daly City, South City, Millbrae, Southern Marin, Oakland, Berkeley, Piedmont, Orinda and Alameda-I think this gives some ideas of which public elementary schools are the most academically advanced.

Elementary Schools that earned a score of 900+ for its Academic Performance Index(API), for 2007

Let's just say that a score of 800-900 is excellent, and 900 or higher is the creme of the crop.

900+
Orinda-Sleepy Hollow Elem. 979
Oakland-Hillcrest Elem. 961
Orinda-Wagner Ranch Elem. 955
Tiburon-Bel Aire Elem. 954
Orinda-Del Rey Elem. 953
Orinda-Glorietta Elem. 950
Piedmont-Beach Elem. 949
Mill Valley-Edna Maguire Elem. 943
Piedmont-Wildwood Elem. 943
San Francisco-Yu(Alice Fong) Elem. 943
Mill Valley-Tamalpais Elem. 940
Oakland-Thornhill Elem. 938
Piedmont-Havens Elem. 935
Mill Valley-Old Mill Elem. 932
Oakland-Montclair Elem. 932
Mill Valley-Strawberry Point Elem. 926
Alameda-Bay Farm Elem. 920
San Francisco-Clarendon Elem. 920
Mill Valley-Park Elem. 919
Alameda-Earhart Elem. 918
Alameda-Franklin Elem. 917
Tiburon-Reed Elem. 914
Alameda-Edison Elem. 913
San Francisco-Lawton Elem. 907
Oakland-Chabot Elem. 905
San Francisco-Alamo Elem. 903

According to the CA Dept of Education
http://api.cde.ca.gov/reports/page2....submit1=submit

as you can see,Oakland has some of the best.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

well, this is a very vague measure, but here are the highest scoring elementary schools in SF, Daly City, South City, Millbrae, Southern Marin, Oakland, Berkeley, Piedmont, Orinda and Alameda-I think this gives some ideas of which public elementary schools are the most academically advanced.

Elementary Schools that earned a score of 900+ for its Academic Performance Index(API), for 2007

Let's just say that a score of 800-900 is excellent, and 900 or higher is the creme of the crop.

900+
Orinda-Sleepy Hollow Elem. 979
Oakland-Hillcrest Elem. 961
Orinda-Wagner Ranch Elem. 955
Tiburon-Bel Aire Elem. 954
Orinda-Del Rey Elem. 953
Orinda-Glorietta Elem. 950
Piedmont-Beach Elem. 949
Mill Valley-Edna Maguire Elem. 943
Piedmont-Wildwood Elem. 943
San Francisco-Yu(Alice Fong) Elem. 943
Mill Valley-Tamalpais Elem. 940
Oakland-Thornhill Elem. 938
Piedmont-Havens Elem. 935
Mill Valley-Old Mill Elem. 932
Oakland-Montclair Elem. 932
Mill Valley-Strawberry Point Elem. 926
Alameda-Bay Farm Elem. 920
San Francisco-Clarendon Elem. 920
Mill Valley-Park Elem. 919
Alameda-Earhart Elem. 918
Alameda-Franklin Elem. 917
Tiburon-Reed Elem. 914
Alameda-Edison Elem. 913
San Francisco-Lawton Elem. 907
Oakland-Chabot Elem. 905
San Francisco-Alamo Elem. 903

According to the CA Dept of Education
http://api.cde.ca.gov/reports/page2....submit1=submit

as you can see,Oakland has some of the best.

Let's see

Hillcrest is north of Piedmont, Rockridge area.
Thornhill is east of 13 in Montclair.
Chabot is in Rockridge again, just north of 24.

Those areas have very little to do with the interior of Oakland. They may as well be on another planet.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Those areas have very little to do with the interior of Oakland. They may as well be on another planet.

But they are indeed in Oakland and very much part of Oakland. You think people in Rockridge arent involved in Oakland culturally and politically? Sorry but such thinking would be incorrect. Oakland's upper class for the most part is very proud to live there-trust me.

Its like your saying Sea Cliff is practically another planet from the mission, but you wouldnt ever do that cause that diversity makes SF great, right? The same courtesy is not afforded to Oakland cause there is a huge double standard applied to Oakland by outsiders really will never understand.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by fizbin

Both Montclair and Alameda are great choices (I've lived in both). And there are homes in Montclair significantly less expensive than the ones 18Montclair posted. Montclair is generally very woodsy. But your kids will be in the Oakland School District, which is not a good thing. Alameda is less woodsy for sure, but then again you can live right on the bay there if you want, and at most you are just a few blocks away.

I posted the Oakland Public School Data in response to this post and 18 Montclair followed with a supplemental in much greater detail...

I've posted in the past how my college girlfriends parents had heard so many bad things about Oakland that they truly feared for her safety... that is untill I finally convinced them to come and see for themselves... her father kept saying that he couldn't believe he was in Oakland... it was so much nicer than he had imagined and yes I live in a diverse neighborhood make up of mostly professionals

Who are you going to believe... the media hype or the people that live there?

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Let's see

Hillcrest is north of Piedmont, Rockridge area.
Thornhill is east of 13 in Montclair.
Chabot is in Rockridge again, just north of 24.

Those areas have very little to do with the interior of Oakland. They may as well be on another planet.

To be fair, they weren't talking about the "interior" of Oakland. They are suggesting the OP live in Montclair, so the children would be attending Montclair schools... therefore those statistics are more than relevant!

[fizbin]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Oakland's upper class for the most part is very proud to live there-trust me.

That may be true but generally they send their kids to private schools, particularly high school. Not knocking Oakland - I love the place - but the Oakland public school system sucks.