Live in Pleasanton, work in Redwood City?

[leapfelt]

Thank you so much for everyone's comments on Fremont vs. Pleasanton.

Just to throw another city in the mix, we are also looking in Alameda - a city we like very much. If you had to choose between the commute in Alameda or Pleasanton to Redwood City, which would you choose? They seem about the same to me. Alameda also happens to be closer to the grandparents, so that is a plus.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

Leapfelt. . . . I have a buddy I met in my gym in Pleasanton. He is a Redwood city cop and his wife also works in redwood city. I asked him why he just didn't live in redwood city as they both work there. he said it was all about the schools. He said if he lived in redwood city he would have to pay for Private schools but here in Pleasanton he feels the schools are great so he lives here.
My other buddy teaches at MSJ in fremont. If you want to be well rounded I don't think MSJ is for you. It's all about academics and the asian kids push hard schoolastically, but often at the expense of being well rounded.
Fremont is not a bad area at all, but I grew up here in the bay area ( 52 years) and I would take Pleasanton over Fremont any day, but that's just me.

Redwood City does have some nice Elementary/Middle public schools, it is just that the High Schools are pretty bad. However, even Sequoia High School that everyone loves to criticize is a 7/10 school with an API of 737. That's actually not bad.

Sequoia High School - Redwood City, California - CA - School overview

But yes in RWC your children will most likely attend school with ESF kids, RWC is not a sterile upper middle class community like Pleasanton, it is a real city with a diverse range of salaries and people.

[leapfelt]

Mach50, many thanks for your insights. We don't particularly want a sterile community - grew up in a very diverse area of the Bay Area myself. However, having been a teacher for six years (though not anymore), I see that the schools are in a state of crisis. If we can head toward a better performing school, I think my son will be better off. I am not looking for the very top API scoring schools - but would like a strong school with some community resources to support things like art, pe, and science as well.

[NorCal Dude]

7 out of 10 is not really that good of an api score. All it means is they were in the top 40% of all high schools in the state. Mediocore at best, and in a state like California that is 46 out 50 when compared to other states k-12 education, 7 out of 10 is not what I would consider good enough for me. I would not settle for anything less than the top third or an '8'. Alameda would be a rough commute, accross the bay bridge into the city (with a daily toll), and than hectic city and penninsula traffic to red wood city. I'd stick with pleasanton or fremont.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

7 out of 10 is not really that good of an api score. All it means is they were in the top 40% of all high schools in the state. Mediocore at best, and in a state like California that is 46 out 50 when compared to other states k-12 education, 7 out of 10 is not what I would consider good enough for me. I would not settle for anything less than the top third or an '8'. Alameda would be a rough commute, accross the bay bridge into the city (with a daily toll), and than hectic city and penninsula traffic to red wood city. I'd stick with pleasanton or fremont.

Notice I didn't say 7/10 was good, I just said it wasn't bad, but RWC is also on the rise. Sequoia was a 5/10 now it is a 7/10. My daughter is only 2 so we have time .

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by leapfelt

Just to throw another city in the mix, we are also looking in Alameda - a city we like very much. If you had to choose between the commute in Alameda or Pleasanton to Redwood City, which would you choose? They seem about the same to me. Alameda also happens to be closer to the grandparents, so that is a plus.

Id say the commute is about the same.

Alameda definitely has that downtown you are looking for in Park Street-which is lively and has tons of restaurants and local shops and lots of character-plus it has a small town feel-you'd never know you were on an island in the heart of the Bay Area. It also has streets lined with mature trees that provide a beautiful canopy and shade, a mix of architecture that does not exist in Pleasanton, but like Pleasanton, Alameda is safe.

You also have bayfront access which is a major plus and that also means you have a significantly milder summer than Pleasanton. Two other things, Alameda slants to the left where Pleasanton slants to the right and Alameda is middle to upper middle class where Pleasanton is upper middle to upper class. Also, Alameda is also more diverse socioeconomically and racially.

Alameda High is right in the little downtown area and reminds me of some movie-set from the 1950s. The student body is very diverse and its API is 810 which is not really that much less than Amador Valley(867) and Foothill(878) in Pleasanton.

Furthermore year over year, Alameda High's API increased while the two in Pleasanton slightly decreased.

Still, it all depends on your comfort level and where you feel is best. I would really go to these schools and take a tour or something.

[aklein]

Clifford school in Redwood City just released very good API scores and the houses around there are more affordable. Laurel in San Mateo is a distinguished school as well with good scores and affordable housing. Areas with very good schools are of course going to be pricier that's what people are paying for. Here is a link to the just released API scores. Let me know if I can help.
County List of Schools

[leapfelt]

What is the best way to commute from Pleasanton to Redwood City? Is it generally 580 to the San Mateo Bridge to 101? Or is there any chance it can work on the Dumbarten Bridge? The San Mateo Bridge always has such a huge backup on the Hayward side...

[sonarrat]

The Dumbarton Bridge can work, as on the Menlo Park side there is the Bayfront Expressway to bypass the 101 traffic getting into Redwood City. But the 92 commute is pretty tame in the morning; it's in the evening that I would want to avoid that bridge due to the bottleneck getting onto 880.