Visited and still have questions.... (San Francisco, Daly City: apartments, crime, schools)

[R6Guy]

Originally Posted by humboldtrat

Check out Millbrae or San Bruno - the farther away from the airport, the better. Nice middle class towns. You can get a 2 bedroom apt between $1600 to $1900. A house rental will cost more.

Am I missing something? How big is Millbrae b/c I checked Mapquest and the SF international airport is only 2 miles away.

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by R6Guy

Am I missing something? How big is Millbrae b/c I checked Mapquest and the SF international airport is only 2 miles away.

The airport noise is not that bad in Millbrae. Planes take off towards the northwest over part of San Bruno and S. San Francisco. You can also look into Daly City, but the fog (and the wind) can often be bad.

[R6Guy]

Originally Posted by humboldtrat

The airport noise is not that bad in Millbrae. Planes take off towards the northwest over part of San Bruno and S. San Francisco. You can also look into Daly City, but the fog (and the wind) can often be bad.

Although the noise maybe not be bad, the air quality letting off from the fumes is pretty bad. I know we live in CA and our air quality is already bad, but if it can be avoided, why not? haha.

So where can she stay in SF that can avoid:

1. Airports
2. Bad fog and wind (I understand it can only be avoided to some extent)
3. Bad crime.

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by R6Guy

Although the noise maybe not be bad, the air quality letting off from the fumes is pretty bad. I know we live in CA and our air quality is already bad, but if it can be avoided, why not? haha.

So where can she stay in SF that can avoid:

1. Airports
2. Bad fog and wind (I understand it can only be avoided to some extent)
3. Bad crime.

Well, you can stay in the eastern part of San Francisco (but that can be expensive) The western half of SF has lots of fog. Or you can live further south towards San Mateo, Belmont or San Carlos where you won't find airport noise and there is much less fog and wind. Check out Belmont and San Carlos - about 20 miles south of San Francisco - and not a bad commute. Both are nice, safe suburban towns.

By the way, there is a commuter rail line between SF and San Jose which stops in S. San Francisco and all towns on the peninsula www.caltrain.org/caltrain_map.html

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by R6Guy

Although the noise maybe not be bad, the air quality letting off from the fumes is pretty bad. I know we live in CA and our air quality is already bad, but if it can be avoided, why not? haha.

So where can she stay in SF that can avoid:

1. Airports
2. Bad fog and wind (I understand it can only be avoided to some extent)
3. Bad crime.

What about Burlingame (although the air quality will be the same a Millbrae). Airplanes take off/land over the bay, not over the city. The weather is nice and they have no bad area.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by R6Guy

Hmmm that sounds fair and still attainable. Which cities would be ones you can recommend?

I did some search on Brisbane (only 7 miles from Wholesale food market!) but it seems a little isolated. Also read it was near SFO? If so, it'll be too noisy.

Interestingly, Brisbane is not very noisy, San Bruno Mountain blocks the worst noise. The mountain also blocks the wind, making for a very nice micro climate ... shhhhhhhhhh!

Conversely, SSF and San Bruno (not to mention Milbrae and Burlingame) have a great deal of airport noise. Heck, even in San Mateo and Belmont you can hear it somewhat. SSF and SB are also more windy and prone to coastal stratus than Brisbane.

Also, Brisbane has a cute little downtown. For more major commercial needs most people hop over the hill to Daly City and SSF.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by twins4lynn

What about Burlingame (although the air quality will be the same a Millbrae). Airplanes take off/land over the bay, not over the city. The weather is nice and they have no bad area.

Under normal conditions planes take off both toward the NE (over the Bay) and NW (over SSF and DC). During a big storm, with strong southerly winds, they will take off toward the SE (also over the Bay). Very rarely, during the strongest storms, they will take off toward the SW (over Burlingame, San Mateo and Belmont). Also very rarely, during an extreme Santa Ana / Diablo outbreak they may take off toward the SE (and land toward the NE! really low over 101!).

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by R6Guy

There is so much I need to learn . Is it because San Bruno is in the foothills of some mountain? I did a little bit of reading, but I may be way off.

I'm ok with fog in the morning but not all day! (i'm from socal ). I'll look into Millbrae. Any more suggestion?

The Fog Is Clearing / New research fine-tunes our understanding of a signature Bay Area spectacle

No doubt you've noticed a less extreme version of this in SoCal.

[R6Guy]

Lots of great info I'm going to use this on my next trip up there (probably in 3 weeks) and really see how it is!

Humboldtrat: that map really made it easy for me to understan where these places are on a map. I think when we make our trip up, I'm going to start from San Carlos and work my way up stopping by each city.

Twins4Lynn: Burlingame seems like a great city, but I think its over her price range.

BayAreaHillbilly: Definitely going to check Brisbane out!

If everything works out I may be visiting SF more often!

Please keep the suggestions coming, can't ever have too much info!

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Under normal conditions planes take off both toward the NE (over the Bay) and NW (over SSF and DC). During a big storm, with strong southerly winds, they will take off toward the SE (also over the Bay). Very rarely, during the strongest storms, they will take off toward the SW (over Burlingame, San Mateo and Belmont). Also very rarely, during an extreme Santa Ana / Diablo outbreak they may take off toward the SE (and land toward the NE! really low over 101!).

Yep. We get the plans overhead coming in for a landing (over Burlingame/southern portion of Millbrae) about three times a year and usually for a very short period of time. The planes go right over my home. It's so rare that we usually watch the plans going overhead. During normal conditions we don't hear noise from the airport.

Some areas on the peninsula get noise from trains, too. Especially with their new very loud horns.