Walnut Creek vs. Pleasanton (Concord, Vista: relocate, budget, apartments)

[JCPTNH08]

I am planning to relocate to the East Bay area later this year. My location requirements are that the city is safe, has excellent schools and is on the BART. I love the looks of Lafayette and could afford to rent a house there. However, I would eventually like to buy a home and it seems that it will be a little too far out of reach for my budget. I love the looks of Pleasanton as well and it seems that there are houses available in all price ranges (well, $500K and up anyway). I was noticing the same thing about Walnut Creek. Both Walnut Creek and Pleasanton seem similar in size and are about the same distance from SF on the BART for commuting. So, for a young family with school age kids (8 and 12)... are either of these cities a good choice? Is one safer than the other? Have better schools? Plenty of job opportunities? They both look wonderful and I can't wait to visit.

One other question. Dublin looks like a nice place too, however, there is a ton of housing available and at a lower cost than it's neighbor Pleasanton. Why is this? Are the schools not as good or is it unsafe, or is this a city I should consider as well?

Thanks!

[sav858]

I grew up in WC so I am a little biased but I think it's better overall than Pleasanton. Safety, schools, and jobs they will come out pretty evenly. Both very safe communities, good schools, and good jobs nearby. Both are along a BART line but WC is closer to SF, so it's faster and cheaper to get there. WC just has more character to me. A lot of the homes there are custom and not as cookie cutter as Pleasanton, many streets don't even have sidewalks and it's more hilly and scenic with lots of nice open space near most neighborhoods. It has the best downtown east of the hills. It has a very walkable but large downtown with everything you need including a performing arts center, nightlife, shopping, dining, ect.... Pleasanton has Stoneridge mall which is just a typical INDOOR mall. I'd go with WC b/c it has more character to me.

And Dublin is cheaper b/c it has some semi-ghetto parts and there are some wannabe thugs there.

[bailieh]

I lived in Pleasanton for almost 3 years and I commuted from Pleasanton to SF. It's a longer ride on BART than if you were to live in Walnut Creek. I loved living in Pleasanton, but since I had to commute everyday to SF, WC would have been nicer. So, if you're working in SF, keep that in mind.

Both cities are comparable in terms of what you're looking for. I think Pleasanton is better for school age kids and for family activities though. It's also very community oriented. My husband and I don't have kids, so if we wanted to go out, we'd go to WC where there was more nightlife.

Dublin is the "ghetto" of the Tri-Valley area, which does not mean much. It is slightly cheaper than the other cities, but it's perfectly safe. I think it's less expensive because they've built a crazy amount of condos and houses, and there seems to be no city planning involved. So, if you buy a house in Dublin, you might be more concerned about the value of your home as opposed to a home in Pleasanton or WC where the values are higher and will appreciate more than in Dublin. The only complaint I had with Dublin was that it was windier. For some reason, the north side of 580, where Dublin is located, gets a lot of wind.

[tande1n5]

I'd say Walnut Creek is more crowded than Pleasanton, and that both have very nice downtowns, where Walnut Creek's is more chic and Pleasanton's is more Main Street USA. The Walnut Creek address might carry a little more cachet among the yuppie crowd. Schools for both cities are top-notch. The BART ride from Pleasanton is pretty much an hour to Embarcadero... then tack on time for getting to the station, waiting, and if BART's running slow that day... really the only downside.

I lived in an apartment in WC years ago for a summer while waiting for my house to get finished being built and I liked the place a lot... but I also love Pleasanton, because I remember marching down main street every year back in high school for the Foothill band competition.

I think Pleasanton might be slightly more family friendly, whereas Walnut Creek is preferable for the younger couple crowd... but it's not to say that WC is a bad choice at all.

[Rochellepotter]

Walnut Creek is more fun for shopping, but they both have plenty. Pleasanton has a mall and cute downtown shops.
I've noticed that they have about the same population, which surprised me. Walnut Creek has more of a city feel. Pleasanton has more of a suburb/town feel with a cute downtown area to walk in. Pleasanton has oodles of activities for kids and everybody has kids. It's SUPER safe and beautiful.
I live in Pleasanton and have lived in San Ramon and Concord. Let me know if you have any questions. I'm a mom of 2 little ones, so I may have answers.
As far as prices, I'm not sure that Lafayette has places to rent. It seems like it would be hard to find apartments there, you might get lucky and find a house, but it would probably be $3000/mo or more. Pleasanton has safe apartments. I live in Archstone Hacienda (3bed/3bath) and it feels like a home. We have gorgeous parks, right outside the door! I pay $1980. They advertise that it's like $2600, but once you talk to them, they conveniently find that all the apartments are "on special" for way cheaper than advertised. THey do that a lot here, I don't know why.
Dublin has a lot of big businesses, so it's more of a commercial city. Plesanton has Walmart and grocery stores. We go to Target in Dublin and the Huge movie theatre complex/Barnes and Noble/hangout (called Hacienda) is there. It's actually right across the highway from Pleasanton, so they are Almost the same town. I do my banking in Dublin bcs it's closer than the Plstn branch (downtown, only 5 min drive).

Pleasanton downtown is great, the library, farmers market (sat mornings), shops, restaurants are cute and fun. Pleasanton has REALLY nice/open parks. They have sooo much to offer as far as sports. They have a tennis center that has a million courts, a HUGE sports park (15-25 baseball fields. It's crazy!! You should drive around all of Pleasanton to get a feel. Make sure to hit the downtown and the sports park.
Anyway, I'm rambling, I just love it here!
I would say that Pleasanton would be better for the kids. It's more sheltered/not near big cities like Concord (walnut creek is). It's not that sheltered though, it's just really safe.
I'm going to stop now!
Post if you want to ask more questions.
By the way, are you coming from another part of the Bay area?

[JCPTNH08]

Wow, thanks for all the great advice! I'm actually moving out there from New Hampshire. My boyfriend is working in SF now, and will be taking the BART to the Montgomery station from where ever we end up. I like the sounds of Pleasanton a lot, but given the length of his commute, I think living up towards Walnut Creek will be better. The only thing that concerns me about Walnut Creek is the schools. I know that some a good and others not quite so good, so it's going to be hard to know what neighborhoods to look for to get the best schools. I have one entering 7th grade and one going into 3rd, so I need good elementary and middle schools. Any advice is appreciated!

[sav858]

Originally Posted by JCPTNH08

Wow, thanks for all the great advice! I'm actually moving out there from New Hampshire. My boyfriend is working in SF now, and will be taking the BART to the Montgomery station from where ever we end up. I like the sounds of Pleasanton a lot, but given the length of his commute, I think living up towards Walnut Creek will be better. The only thing that concerns me about Walnut Creek is the schools. I know that some a good and others not quite so good, so it's going to be hard to know what neighborhoods to look for to get the best schools. I have one entering 7th grade and one going into 3rd, so I need good elementary and middle schools. Any advice is appreciated!

What schools in WC are not considered good?? I've never heard of any school in WC doing that bad at all. Even Foothill Middle and Northgate High are good schools despite being in the Mt. Diablo School District, which included schools from Concord and Pleasant Hill. And I think I heard the WC schools in the MDUSD are trying to leave that district. Except for a few elementary schools in that area the rest of WC's schools are either in the WCSD or Acalanes Union High School District, which is a very good high school district.

Any school in the WCSD, which is 5 elementary and 1 middle school are all good. Maybe some of the schools in eastern WC might be considered bad b/c they are part of the Mt Diablo USD but I have never heard anything bad about schools in WC. All the schools in western WC in the WCSD or Acalanes district are good.

WCI is a great school and I recommend it. But all the other elementary schools like Buena Vista, Muirwood, Walnut Heights, and Indian Valley are all very good elementary schools.

[5stones]

we used to live in Lafayette, loved it. If I had to choose between Pleasanton (worked there) or WC I'd choose wlanut creek hands down. I like the outdoor mall area so much better.
I have never heard of anything bad about WC schools.

The biggest plus for commute in SF is that it's shorter ride and Drive (if you had too)

[18Montclair]

Id choose WC out of the 2. I prefer the centralized downtown area.

But Pleasanton is very nice too-if not a touch wealthier.

[DrippyDick]

WC is the clear choice. Live in Pleasanton if you like the boring life among all the local construction workers union.