Where to live in Pleasanton? (San Jose, Oakland: sales, apartments, to rent)

[ayanna2106]

I am thinking of moving to Pleasanton. For traffic reasons I was told to try to live somewhere south of 580. Does anyone know which areas of Pleasanton are better than others? I am in the market for either renting an apartment (an attached garage is a must), renting a small house, or possibly buying a condo. I have been looking online and it seems as if there are properties/apartments scattered all over which makes the decision even harder. I am going to be going down there this weekend to drive around so if anyone has any suggestions on neighborhoods to take a drive through that would be SO helpful!!

Thanks!

[socketz]

First off, I'm new to the area and have been researching Pleasanton myself.

This answer to this one is tough because while Pleasanton is somewhat small, there are like 6-7 different sub communities in the area. And while there is no true bad area in Pleasanton (i.e. there is no real crime there), certain areas do certainly have better resale than others.

Generally speaking, west of the 680 is off limits because of price.

The northern part near the 580 is not as desirable because there is both a water treatment plant in this area and some of the developments built in the northern area did not configure the drainage properly and inturn have settling/foundation issues. That's the local spin, personally, I fear getting near the 580/680 interchange because the traffic in this area is problematic. This area also lacks the charm of the areas to the south. That's my opinion of course.

As for apartments, the best apartments in town are 'The Kensington' right off Bernal (you can see the 680 from the apartments). However, the development lacks the attached gararge you seek.

There are also alot of apartments over off Vineyard and Main, but according to the locals, that's the most undesirable area of Pleasanton. There are some new Townhomes in this area that are slowly selling as well...these have nice large attached garages. Check out Birchterrace.com.

For me, I like the areas to the South: Birdland, Shadow Cliffs, Jensen Tract....

Do note that most of what I've learned thus far was obtained from a few realtors I spoke to that grew up in the area. I've also done alot of driving around there....if you need a good Realtor, I can refer you to one.

Good luck.

[ayanna2106]

Thank you so much! This is amazingly helpful. I would love any referals to good Realtors as well. It is such a daunting task trying to find a new place in a city you have never been to. Thanks for giving me a great starting point!

[ayanna2106]

Hi again!

I was wondering if you know why the area near the birch terrace condos was undesirable.

[socketz]

If I didn't have kids, the Birch Terrace development would be just fine. However, with little ones, I think there are much better areas in Pleasanton to live.

Check your inbox on City-Data for a Realtor recommendation (the one I used).

[DrippyDick]

Pleasanton is NOT as pleasant to live as the name suggests. First of all, most of the area around Pleasanton (with the exception of the area west of 680) are really ghetto. You'll see 2-3 Pickups in every other house in nearly all of the neighborhoods. It gives me the feeling of being in a housing project for the Local Construction Union Chapter.

Curbside appeal is apparent in some of the streets but is definitely lacking in most due to the lack of trees lining the streets. And the foundation...don't even get me started. I had planned on making some offers recently until I started reviewing the disclosures for 5 different houses in the Val Vista and Valley Trails area. All 5 of them had foundation problems that either require immediate attention or were "fixed" within the last 3 years. I'm told by my realtor that the foundation in these area needs to be checked and adjusted every 3 years or so. That's REDICULOUS! So, when we get the next big one, all these houses in the area are going to "migrate". Furthermore, the prices in Pleasanton are unreasonably high. That's why the home prices have dropped dramatically in the area and I predict it'll drop another 30% in the next year or so before any recovery judging by the 200% decline in sales during the last 6 months.

If you're going to rent, I guess that'll be fine. But if you're considering owning a property, look at San Ramon instead, where the prices are much more reasonable, schools are much better, and the foundation of houses are built solid. Just my 20 cents (due to the devaluating dollar)

[clongirl]

I'm no fan of Pleasanton (because it's too suburban, small town feel for my tastes) but I've got to respectfully disagree with the pp that there are any "ghetto" areas. So I'm really trying to figure out where the previous poster is referring to. Maybe the area near the 580/680 split on the other side of Stoneridge shopping mall? Though I've never ventured over to that side, I can tell you that there aren't really any bad areas off the Bernal exit, on either side of the freeway. San Ramon is pretty, but soooo sprawlish with acres and acres of blah, oversized housing estates overlookin this golf course. Very safe though and probably plenty of new apartments. It really seems like there's a lot of keeping up with the Jones'es (just my own personal perception though- I could be wrong too). I'd say for Pleasanton, look for areas near the Pleasanton Sportspark or anywhere near the downtown area (with the exception of Vineyard- those ones look a bit run down imo). One thing about Pleasanton (which can be taken as a positive or a negative) is the high visibility of police. They are everywhere! Good luck!

[socketz]

Ghettos in Pleasanton.

I think I've heard everything now.

But then again, look at your handle....WTF

Also, Pleasanton has some of the best schools as a whole in the the entire Bay area.

Valley Ridge and Val Vista have some settling/foundation issues, but pretty much everyone there knows. It's not really a secret, hence why those homes cost less than the others to the south.

To me, Pleasanton looks like CA cicra 1956....that's the charm. If you need a Crate and Barrel or over-priced mediocre swanky food joints, take a trip south to Santana Row...place gets old about the 3rd time you visit....I know, I live there.

If you want to ***** about the commute on the 680, that's legit. However, if you are looking for something that feels the least like San Jose, then Pleasantonis your place.

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by DrippyDick

Pleasanton is NOT as pleasant to live as the name suggests. First of all, most of the area around Pleasanton (with the exception of the area west of 680) are really ghetto. You'll see 2-3 Pickups in every other house in nearly all of the neighborhoods. It gives me the feeling of being in a housing project for the Local Construction Union Chapter.

Curbside appeal is apparent in some of the streets but is definitely lacking in most due to the lack of trees lining the streets. And the foundation...don't even get me started. I had planned on making some offers recently until I started reviewing the disclosures for 5 different houses in the Val Vista and Valley Trails area. All 5 of them had foundation problems that either require immediate attention or were "fixed" within the last 3 years. I'm told by my realtor that the foundation in these area needs to be checked and adjusted every 3 years or so. That's REDICULOUS! So, when we get the next big one, all these houses in the area are going to "migrate". Furthermore, the prices in Pleasanton are unreasonably high. That's why the home prices have dropped dramatically in the area and I predict it'll drop another 30% in the next year or so before any recovery judging by the 200% decline in sales during the last 6 months.

If you're going to rent, I guess that'll be fine. But if you're considering owning a property, look at San Ramon instead, where the prices are much more reasonable, schools are much better, and the foundation of houses are built solid. Just my 20 cents (due to the devaluating dollar)

I'd say you ought to research a little bit better. You haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about.
There are some extremely desirable areas east of 680. Vintage hills, the neighborhoods near downtown, ruby hills all have homes that exceed the 2 to 3 million dollar mark. How can you call that a ghetto? Prices stay relatively high because of the demand.
The last time there was a housing drop, pleasanton took one of the smallest hits of any city. Extremely family oriented, low crime, and very good schools. San Ramon really isn't any better for schools.
I have looked at homes in San Ramon with serious soil and foundation issues, so you can stop acting like pleasanton has them and san ramon doesn't. The last house I looked at in san ramon was sliding off the foundation and was on a level lot.
30% in the next year? Only if the nation collapses as a whole economically. If you said that about antioch it would be a possibility, but the whole tri valley area is a good area. I sold 2 houses in pleasanton 2 years ago. Similar homes have sold between 3 to 8 percent less than what I sold them for. I would say that a 1.5 to 4% drop per year is not as dramatic as you would lead people to believe.
You obviously didn't do a good job of picking you realtor. If you did they would have pretty much told you that all the assumptions you made about pleasanton were incorrect. If you thought east of 680 was ghetto, you never even saw all of pleasanton.

[LetsGoA's]

Heck I think its funny when people call Parts of livermore, dublin, and concord ghetto. Pretty much all those places get seedy at worst (and we arnt even talking daylight tenderloin seedy here) Well MAYBE a slumplex/trailer park here or there in concord but COME ON, ghetto? Puleaze. It's like these people who say these things have never been to the real ghetto's on the other side of the hill in Oakland or Hayward. Is it really THAT easy to walk around with a glass bubble around you your whole life? From some of the people Ive met from college from the bay and the people on these boards, it seems so.