Pleasanton or Saratoga? (San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara: how much, home builder, transfer)

[OrangeSunset]

Pleasanton is a very nice city and super family friendly. There are LOTS of families and a great group of stay at home moms. Pleasanton Mothers Club There are some other parents groups as well, just do a google search. The schools are top notch and there is no shortage of good parks including the Val Vista park which includes water feature for the kids to play in. It is super awesome!! Val Vista Water Park, Pleasanton, California

There are also many trails connecting Livermore and Dublin and a cute main street downtown. The Saturday Farmers Market is a huge bonus for living there.

One thing Pleasanton has and Saratoga doesn't is a BART station. You can take the BART and be in San Francisco in about 30 minutes. The car ride is about the same as well between 30 and 40 minutes to SF (weekends with no traffic).

The Berkeley Parents Network is also a great resource. Here is what parents have to say about Pleasanton:
Berkeley Parents Network: Living in Pleasanton, CA

And with your budget you can live pretty much anywhere and if you are looking to live large Ruby Hill is probably the most prestigious community in Pleasanton but you need to be a member to live there though. If you are into this type of thing, here is some info: Ruby Hill Living: What makes Ruby Hill a Great Community

I don't know much about Saratoga so I can't comment. If I were you I would pick the most kid/family friendly town. I would say Pleasanton is in the top 5 for the bay area.

[justinbro2002]

Am I the only one who sees that the OP says they can't afford $1.9 million. You are going to get alot more home for your money in Pleasanton. You didn't mention your budget but under a million in Saratoga will probably not get you a house it might get you a condo. In Pleasanton you can still find houses for under a million. I personally hate Stoneridge mall in pleasanton their is a bart station at the end of the parking lot and bart has stations in some of the worse neighborhoods in the bay area and they all seem to like to ride bart down to Stoneridge to cause trouble.

[OrangeSunset]

Originally Posted by justinbro2002

Am I the only one who sees that the OP says they can't afford $1.9 million. You are going to get alot more home for your money in Pleasanton. You didn't mention your budget but under a million in Saratoga will probably not get you a house it might get you a condo. In Pleasanton you can still find houses for under a million. I personally hate Stoneridge mall in pleasanton their is a bart station at the end of the parking lot and bart has stations in some of the worse neighborhoods in the bay area and they all seem to like to ride bart down to Stoneridge to cause trouble.

Stoneridge is not the best but it is far from being bad. It is safe and lots of families go there. I much prefer the outdoor malls so Paragon Outlets is a much better choice for me. But it is a matter of preference. There is nothing wrong with Stoneridge mall though.

Also, OP, Pleasanton is not "out there" although lots of people in this forum speak like it is. The tendency here is to think there is no better place to live than in the heart of Silicon Valley. It is a fine a approach but it is not a fit all approach. If you a stay home parent you probably want to live in a very kid friendly town. Not in a town where both parents will be at work all day. There will be fewer stay at home parents for sure. You can always rent in one of these towns and see how you like it before making a commitment to buy a home. Best of luck to you!

[chessgeek]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

C'mon guys. I know that it's fashionable to hate on San Jose in this forum, you know, the "San Jose" forum, but wouldn't it kill you to mention that OP can also head to SJ within 10 minutes, if not 5, depending on where she lives?

Does it kill any of you San Jose folks in here to boost your own city once in a while? The city of San Jose is practically made for SAHM, you know that, right? For that budget, OP and family can afford pretty much anywhere in the Bay Area, especially in the South Bay.

Or maybe I'm in the wrong forum and there are no San Jose folks in here, and this is actually the "Every Bay Area Cities Not Named San Jose" forum? If that's the case then I'll shut my mouth I'm sure the Forum Designer made a mistake with that San Jose title, which is often the only thing San Jose-related when looking at most of the threads here

Saratoga is only about 15 minutes from downtown San Jose (Sharks pro hockey, San Pedro Square) or west San Jose (Santana Row, Valley Fair Mall, Winchester Mystery House). The San Jose airport is probably a 20-25 minute drive and don't forget the other teams to enjoy in San Jose: San Jose Spartans football, San Jose Earthquakes soccer (Spartan Stadium) and San Jose Giants baseball (Municipal Stadium). Yes, it did not kill me to say that.

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by bobby_guz_man

C'mon guys. I know that it's fashionable to hate on San Jose in this forum, you know, the "San Jose" forum, but wouldn't it kill you to mention that OP can also head to SJ within 10 minutes, if not 5, depending on where she lives?

Does it kill any of you San Jose folks in here to boost your own city once in a while? The city of San Jose is practically made for SAHM, you know that, right? For that budget, OP and family can afford pretty much anywhere in the Bay Area, especially in the South Bay.

Or maybe I'm in the wrong forum and there are no San Jose folks in here, and this is actually the "Every Bay Area Cities Not Named San Jose" forum? If that's the case then I'll shut my mouth I'm sure the Forum Designer made a mistake with that San Jose title, which is often the only thing San Jose-related when looking at most of the threads here

Lol. I live in Pleasanton and I really like San Jose. I drive there at least once a week to go out to dinner. I wouldn't mind living there at all.

[charmed59]

Pleasanton isn't really far from San Jose, but there are times it might as well be. One of the worst commutes in the area is between North San Jose and Pleasanton on 680.

[bzmomofthree]

Originally Posted by OrangeSunset

Stoneridge is not the best but it is far from being bad. It is safe and lots of families go there. I much prefer the outdoor malls so Paragon Outlets is a much better choice for me. But it is a matter of preference. There is nothing wrong with Stoneridge mall though.

Also, OP, Pleasanton is not "out there" although lots of people in this forum speak like it is. The tendency here is to think there is no better place to live than in the heart of Silicon Valley. It is a fine a approach but it is not a fit all approach. If you a stay home parent you probably want to live in a very kid friendly town. Not in a town where both parents will be at work all day. There will be fewer stay at home parents for sure. You can always rent in one of these towns and see how you like it before making a commitment to buy a home. Best of luck to you!

>>Thank you OrangeSunset for your input. You have a good point there about Silicon Valley not having many SAHM. I visited a playground there once and saw so many Chinese nannies!

However, about Pleasanton, do you know if I will be able to get diverse grocery items there such as Thai/ Chinese/ Korean/ Mexican food ingredients? Or do I have to drive to other towns?
And I guess in the U.S., 30-min drive is not so far(I am a Korean who lives in Taipei currently) so I can probably visit my friends in the Silicon Valley during weekends...

[bzmomofthree]

Originally Posted by OrangeSunset

Pleasanton is a very nice city and super family friendly. There are LOTS of families and a great group of stay at home moms. Pleasanton Mothers Club There are some other parents groups as well, just do a google search. The schools are top notch and there is no shortage of good parks including the Val Vista park which includes water feature for the kids to play in. It is super awesome!! Val Vista Water Park, Pleasanton, California

There are also many trails connecting Livermore and Dublin and a cute main street downtown. The Saturday Farmers Market is a huge bonus for living there.

One thing Pleasanton has and Saratoga doesn't is a BART station. You can take the BART and be in San Francisco in about 30 minutes. The car ride is about the same as well between 30 and 40 minutes to SF (weekends with no traffic).

The Berkeley Parents Network is also a great resource. Here is what parents have to say about Pleasanton:
Berkeley Parents Network: Living in Pleasanton, CA

And with your budget you can live pretty much anywhere and if you are looking to live large Ruby Hill is probably the most prestigious community in Pleasanton but you need to be a member to live there though. If you are into this type of thing, here is some info: Ruby Hill Living: What makes Ruby Hill a Great Community

I don't know much about Saratoga so I can't comment. If I were you I would pick the most kid/family friendly town. I would say Pleasanton is in the top 5 for the bay area.

>>Thank you for so many great sites to look at!
My husband did say that Ruby Hill looked great. But at the moment, not many houses on sale with our budget. If not Ruby Hill, can you recommend any other area in Pleasanton? One post mentioned to stay away from the "Valley" area but not sure what that means...

[cardinal2007]

The OP listed a budget of under $1.9M so they can afford Saratoga, I used to work in Sunnyvale, near Yahoo!, and the traffic from there going in all directions is pretty bad in the afternoon. I knew people that lived in Pleasanton, and they said their commute was about 1hr each way, if the office is further south in Sunnyvale the commute will be even longer, I don't know how much the OP values their time but that is adding 10Hrs outside the home every week without anything to show for it, either the family life would take a hit or their career advancement would take a hit. So I would certainly pause before I suggest places over the hills so to speak.

I can't speak for the particular towns, but the commute to Sunnyvale from Saratoga will be 20-30 minutes depending on where in Sunnyvale you're talking about, Pleasanton will probably be about 1hr.

Is the Mission San Jose area of Fremont completely off the list, I had a coworker move there, from another part of Fremont when I worked in Sunnyvale, and he really seemed to like the area.

Either way it doesn't sound like you're familiar at all with the area, are you sure you want to buy something so quickly without first exploring the place?

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by bzmomofthree

>>Thank you OrangeSunset for your input. You have a good point there about Silicon Valley not having many SAHM. I visited a playground there once and saw so many Chinese nannies!

However, about Pleasanton, do you know if I will be able to get diverse grocery items there such as Thai/ Chinese/ Korean/ Mexican food ingredients? Or do I have to drive to other towns?
And I guess in the U.S., 30-min drive is not so far(I am a Korean who lives in Taipei currently) so I can probably visit my friends in the Silicon Valley during weekends...

we do have a ranch 99 market here in Pleasanton. It's a supermarket specializing in ( according to wikipedia)
"Although most of its customers are ethnic Chinese Americans and Taiwanese Americans, shoppers also include recent immigrants from China, ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, and others. The chain sells a wide range of imported food products and merchandise from Hong Kong, Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, (particularly Vietnam and Thailand).
Might right up your alley.

There is also a 2 story shopping center that caters to asians in Dublin which is a few minutes from Pleasanton. Dublin has a 99 ranch too.