lamorinda/alamo or marin county (San Francisco, Berkeley: crime, limousine, house)

[luckygrlllll]

Hi There,

We are new to the bay area and trying to decide to buy a house in the Lamorinda/Alamo area or Marin County (Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Larkspur) Which area is better for raising family, schools, quality of life, culture, restaurants, shopping. We are from westside los angeles originally and used to a lot of nice amenities where we live, along with good weather, and we have a 4 month old daughter so being family oriented is important.

I am looking for the inside scoop to these areas.

Thanks!

[RandalR]

Originally Posted by luckygrlllll

Hi There,

We are new to the bay area and trying to decide to buy a house in the Lamorinda/Alamo area or Marin County (Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Larkspur) Which area is better for raising family, schools, quality of life, culture, restaurants, shopping. We are from westside los angeles originally and used to a lot of nice amenities where we live, along with good weather, and we have a 4 month old daughter so being family oriented is important.

I am looking for the inside scoop to these areas.

Thanks!

I have lived in both areas and in my opinion Alamo/Danville/Blackhawk is superior to southern Marin. They are about equally expensive, Alamo is further from San Francisco and much warmer in the summer. But the housing stock is much newer, and the roads and public services seem superior. Though picturesque, Southern Marin can be cold and foggy a lot of the time, the commute to San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge can take a lot of time unless you leave early, and there are serious flooding problems in creekside areas during winter storms. And Marin isn't particularly family-oriented - a lot of local government actions are based on politics rather than pragmatism.

I think Alamo/Danville/Blackhawk is much more like West LA, so it should feel familiar to you.

[hsw]

Would suggest that LosAltosHills might be more similar to Brentwood/Palisades than Marin/Orinda area....and a far more desirable suburban corridor than other parts of SF region....

Dramatically higher education/sophistication levels in PA area (influence of the many Stanford/Harvard/Wharton alums and tech/financial execs who live in area; many young families; many who grew up originally in NYC/Chic/LA/TX, etc, as well as RoW).....

Easy 40-45 min rush-hr drive into SF (on 280-380-101-280 blitz from LAH to SF) or deeper into SV on 280 fwy; any major quake that disrupts the B&T's into SF can signif worsen the already weak traffic flow through E/NBay; Orinda requires one to drive through the high-crime Oak-area fwys to enter SF (analogous to driving 110 from PV into DLA)....

Excellent weather and air quality (Orinda area has SFV-like air quality)...

Easy access to both SFO and SJ apts, esp for those who fly often for business....

More sophisticated grocery stores on Peninsula (Draeger's Menlo) than in Orinda/Marin....and Stanford Shopping Ctr is a relatively civilized outdoor mall....

[N CA]

My husband grew up in Alamo, and it's very nice. His folks live on the Walnut Creek side (near Tice) (not in the newer housing developments). They have a 3,000 SF home on a .5+ acre lot. It's spacious and it feels like you're in the country. Deer, foxes. It's very nice.

[clongirl]

I'm in the Lamorinda area and I LOVE it. It's just a short BART ride to all that San Francisco has to offer, child- friendly, AND has the best weather. We get the morning/evening cooler temps and the sun and warmth in the day. It feels like we live in the country but very easy to get to typical chain stores/malls for shopping. Marin is also beautiful but you don't see as many families and it seems like all the young,outdoorsy types from the City invade the area on the weekends to be around nature (just like I used to do

[luckygrlllll]

It is not possible for us to live on the peninsula due to my husbands office being in Walnut Creek. It is too far. Marin seems more doable. We are not politically active or as liberal as a lot of people seem to be around here. Is there a place in the bay area where people dont really wear their politics on their sleeves?

[sav858]

Originally Posted by luckygrlllll

It is not possible for us to live on the peninsula due to my husbands office being in Walnut Creek. It is too far. Marin seems more doable. We are not politically active or as liberal as a lot of people seem to be around here. Is there a place in the bay area where people dont really wear their politics on their sleeves?

haha, too funny! Marin County is a bastion of pretentious, hypocritical limousine liberalism and I think it's more politically active than Lamorinda. Lamorinda might even be considered a tad conservative by Bay Area standards. I grew up in Walnut Creek and generally the area is not that political as the western Bay Area.

If you husband's job in WC then definitely go with Lamorinda, a commute from Marin is not going to be fun, especially if you take I-80 to get to get 580 and 24; the Eastshore freeway is HORRIBLE. And going up and around the other via Highway 4 is not going to be a great commute either.

Plus nothing in Marin County offers nearly as much shopping, dining, and culture as Downtown Walnut Creek. The quality of life and schools are both excellent in both areas and one isn't really better than the other in that department. Lamorinda will be sunnier and warmer too, but hotter as well in summer. Marin County gets tons of rain in winter, more so than any other place in the Bay Area.

[clongirl]

All my neighbors are liberal...everyone's got an "Obama" advert on their lawns. People don't generally discuss there leanings unless you're good friends with them. But if you are a conservative, please don't move near me and town...just kidding..

[luckygrlllll]

See that is what I am talking about. People up here (like Clongirl...sorry to point you out Clongirl) based on her post assume you think like her and if you dont they dont want you around. Where I am from, nobody cares if your viewpoint is different from theirs. I feel very lonely in the bay area because it is so 1 dimensional.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by luckygrlllll

See that is what I am talking about. People up here (like Clongirl...sorry to point you out Clongirl) based on her post assume you think like her and if you dont they dont want you around. Where I am from, nobody cares if your viewpoint is different from theirs. I feel very lonely in the bay area because it is so 1 dimensional.

get used to it, SoCal is less judgemental overall when it comes to politics b/c it's more of a mix and has more diverse views and politics than the Bay Area; you have liberal and conservative and moderate areas of SoCal. Every single Bay Area county is overwhelmingly democratic and sometimes the Bay Area feels like one giant ideological circle jerk to me. I'm not conservative but very moderate overall and I generally vote democrat but liberal takes on a new meaning here, some parts of the Bay Area are worse than others, i.e. SF and Berkeley.