Boston -> Bay Area with Young Kids & Suburb-Averse: Foster City? San Carlos? (San Francisco: skateboarding, day care)

[Tailofdogma]

I have to agree with the aforementioned Burlingame vote. There's a decent little downtown, and the commute to and from Foster City wouldn't be much more than a few minutes. Heck, even San Mateo isn't bad.

I never much cared for Palo Alto, the people always struck me as being a big more smug than I would imagine. (I'm from the Bronx, so I was a bit unaccustomed to it.)

As for the whole high school thing, as a matter of full disclosure, I have no kids, but I think the whole "good bad" thing is a bit relative there. I would imagine nearly any school from Millbrae down to Mountain View (EPA and some of Redwood City excluded) would be decent compared to plenty of other parts of the country, or the east bay, for that matter.

I'd mention San Bruno, but it seems lots of people don't share my fondness for it...

[brookliner1]

thanks again for everyone's feedback. Should Mountain View be on our list? How would you compare Mountain View to these towns and relative to our criteria?

Thanks!

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Mountain View - a bit less stuffy with more of a "Pacific Rim diverse" vibe than PA. Schools not as good as PA (are comparable to SC). Slightly less expensive than PA. Furthest commute to FC. Almost too far from the City in my book (I used to live on the MV / Los Altos line, nothing fancy, just an apartment). Well served by transit - it's a junction between Cal Train and SV light rail.

[brookliner1]

Thanks, this is great feedback. Seems like PA could be a great choice, but based on the replies, still a little worried about the Desperate Housewives vibe potential .

How would you compare / contrast Burlingame vs. San Carlos vs. Belmont in terms of town center, schools, etc? Similar? Which has the most character / least strip mall feel?

When compared to PA are they that much different?

Thanks!

[RobertaWa]

Hey Brookliner1, I live in Coolidge Corner as well and am also California dreaming! I love it here but the weather is so horrible and this winter was the worst. I live right near Trader Joe's!

My aunt lives in Hillsborough, just up the street from Burlingame and my cousins in San Mateo also up the street from Burlingame. It is so nice there! And you can take the Bart into SF very conveniently. Although the BART is nothing like the Green Line. It only goes to a couple of places in the city and then you have to still figure out how to get from Point A to Point B.

But that is the area I would love to move to, if I ever do make it out there permanently. I am due for a trip in the fall and cannot wait!

Good luck with your move. I hope you find your dream!

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by brookliner1

How would you compare / contrast Burlingame vs. San Carlos vs. Belmont in terms of town center, schools, etc? Similar? Which has the most character / least strip mall feel?

Thanks!

Burlingame has a really REALLY nice downtown area (Burlingame Avenue), and Wasington Park (right near Burlingame Avenue) is a great park to hang out in (and has lots of kids programs at their Rec Center). The schools are excellent all the way through - elementary, middle and high school.

I don't think Belmont has a real downtown area.

Edited to add - do a google IMAGES search for "Burlingame Avenue" and "Washington Park, Burlingame" and you will get the feel of the downtown area.

[brookliner1]

@twins4lynn - thanks for the tip. Took your advice and found some great pictures. Looks nice really nice. Silly question - I assume airport noise must be an issue in Burlingame?

Thanks!

[twins4lynn]

[quote=brookliner1;9149864 Silly question - I assume airport noise must be an issue in Burlingame?[/QUOTE]

No. Airplanes take off and land coming over the bay on their way to SFO on normal and rainy days. They do change directions on very windy days and come in from the west (over my house in Millbrae, on the Burlingame boarder)! It's so rare that we enjoy watching them .

[gmkarr]

Just to add, I am from the East Bay, but recently lived in Cambridge, MA for five years so am familiar with Brookline and Coolidge Corner areas. Coming back to the Bay Area, I have been really impressed with the character of Burlingame and the downtown area, and what it has to offer. The only issue might be the cost of living there, which is preventing us from moving there at this time. It is all a matter of personal taste in the end, but it is so nice to see a Peninsula town with a good deal of character.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by brookliner1

Thanks, this is great feedback. Seems like PA could be a great choice, but based on the replies, still a little worried about the Desperate Housewives vibe potential .

How would you compare / contrast Burlingame vs. San Carlos vs. Belmont in terms of town center, schools, etc? Similar? Which has the most character / least strip mall feel?

When compared to PA are they that much different?

Thanks!

Burlingame you get a two fer ... there's the main down town consisting of Burlingame Ave as well as side streets south of it, pretty decent but with a slight cookie cutter vibe. The bonus is the Broadway business district which is essentially a second mini down town further north and ever so slightly less cookie cutterish than the Burlingame Ave one.

Belmont lacks a real downtown and the only business districts there are the El Camino strip (this stretch, contiguous with ongoing similar strips into San Mateo and San Carlos) reminds me of Ventura Blvd in LA (in a good way). Just west of the junction of Ralston and El Camino there is a small cross roads micro "downtown" with a few shops and restos. Then, further west on Ralston yet another micro cross roads node, Carlmont (newer, late 60s and later vintage). Schools are good through middle school. High School is Carlmont (although I've heard of a few people near the San Mateo border getting their kids into Hillsdale, not sure it's kosher or it's monkey business). Carlmont is OK and improving.

San Carlos has something in between Burlingame and Belmont - most of Laurel Street is down town type development, and near where it intersects San Carlos Ave it spills onto side streets and onto San Carlos Ave. As noted there is also the El Camino strip. Schools are good through middle school. High school is a mixed bag. If you are in the northern 2/3 to 3/4 of San Carlos you feed into Carlmont High, which is OK (but not as good as Burlingame or "Paly"). Watch out however for the southern most part, it feeds into Sequoia, which, while the namesake of the district is worse than Carlmont and shall we say, is quite diverse and I don't mean Asians.

Note - Burlingame is an oddity in that El Camino is residential there - the only other places where that is true is the northern part of San Mateo, and, Atherton.

Note 2 - The Sequoia HS district has bussing, but it's one way ... kids from rougher hoods such as East Palo Alto, Ravenswood (aka East Menlo Park) and parts of Redwood City are sent to Carlmont and Woodside in order to make Menlo Atherton and Sequoia "fairer" - there is no bussing I know of going the other way as both MA and Seq were traditionally the more overcrowded schools.