Raising kids up in SF? (San Francisco, Fremont: relocating, budget, condo)

[mayjeff05]

Hello,
We are a young couple in our early 30's and currently live in the city of Boston. My husband will be relocating to SJ and wanted to get ppl's opinion about living in SF.
We both love the city but worry that when we decide to have kids we would come across an issue with raising kids up in the city? I've heard from reading some threads that it's not an ideal place to raise kids in SF? Is this true and why? We do plan on putting our kid(s) in private catholic school. Any in the city?
Also, are there any stroller friendly neighborhoods in the city with low crime rates? I would like to feel safe strolling my kids around the city. We don't plan on living in SF forever but maybe until our kid(s) get to their tween yrs then move out to the burbs with more space?
We looked at buying a single family in the city, preferably 3 to 4 bedrooms. What's your opinion regarding resale on single family homes in SF? Will the value still be as strong 5 yrs from now? What type of buyers are purchasing the single family homes in SF i.e. young couple, family, gays and etc... Also, is more desirable to have a 3 or 4 bedroom home in the city?

Thank you for your response.

[skiranger]

Hi, my husband and I are in our mid-30s. We have a 7 yr old daughter. We could be moving to the Bay Area soon if my husband takes up an offer frm his current employer, which is located in Milpitas.

My questions are :
(1) is there a variety of afterschool activites for kids frm 2nd grade onwrds? I have been searching for info on schools in Cupertino and Fremont from the web and have been unable to get info on after-school activities from any of the schools' websites. Some of the good pple here on the forum have been to schools in the Bay area and I'm hoping to get some valuable info related to schools in Cupertino or Fremont. Frm wot I hv read frm some of the schools' website, some offer football and volleyball and nothing else (which I found it hard to believe);

(2) I gathered schools in these two areas are competitive. Wot the odds are of being able to enrol in 2nd grade midway thru the semester;

(3) Does anyone out there live in Fremont and drive to Milpitas to work? By using Yahoo maps, I have been able to figure out that it takes abt 15 mins to drive frm a school in Fremont to Milpitas, using the freeway. Is it as easy as it looks from the Yahoo satelite maps?

Thank you so much in advance for takign time to reply to my queries!

[chadetroit]

I live in the East bay and can't comment too much on the stroller communities . I see women pushing them when I am heading to work in Pleasanton so you could probably get in with them if you were fortunate enough to work at home or be a stay at home parent. That is becoming very rare out here though due to the expense. I would think many say it is not ideal to raise kids here because it usually takes both parents working very hard just to support themselves let alone a child. That being said kids usually end up in daycare or with grandma all day while the parents work. The snowball effect is people work so much and socializing becomes harder and harder every year. Many communities the neighbors barely know one another.

I'm in my thirties and have been trying to figure out the kid equation for a couple of years and it is really hard so see where you would find the time to raise them, love them and instill in them some of your values if you have to have them in daycare or with someone else all day. You are just in charge of getting them dressed and feeding them at night. Anyway sorry to rant. Hopefully that gives you a viewpoint on why this is not the most kid friendly city in the US.

Now on to Fremont/Milpitas. I know the Mission schools in Fremont are highly regarded but that is about where my knowledge ends on that subject.

Commute form Fremont to Milpitas is a breeze and it is as easy as it looks. Would be an ideal location to live if your Husband worked in Milpitas. Plent of nice communities to choose from in Fremont.

[madt]

lots of questions...here's a few comments.

Fremont is a nice BORING suburb. I grew up there. Mission High School is only ranked high because all the upper-class kids go there. Fremont to Milpitas is easy drive. Milpitas smells really bad in the summer due to the landfill next to the freeway. No one seems to mention that. Most of the city smells on hot days.

SF not kid friendly. Schools suck. Not alot of parks/open space. We spent a few days there with my 7 month old last week and it was not stroller friendly at all. Bringing strollers on the bus, in the cab, etc.. Bunch of crazies hanging out on Market street.


On housing values...they have seem quite inflated for some time. You can easily drop $500k on a condo. Is the same condo really going to be worth $600k in 2-3 years? I find it hard to believe when you take the average salary in the bay area that home prices can continue to rise in that way.

[JakeDog]

"it's not an ideal place to raise kids in SF? Is this true and why?"

Terrible. Bad schools, no where to play. Streets are busy, etc. It is the equivilant of raising kids in the middle of manhatten. It can be done, but you better have a huge budget and be prepared for your children to have an unconventional upbringing. I guess Pac. Heights wouldn't be that bad, but the homes are 3 million plus.

[skiranger]

Tks vm for ur response so far. Frm wot I've read so far, Palo Alto seems to have some gd high schools and Gizmo mentioned it's one of the cities with a bit more character. It also has two distinguished high schools. I read that if kid goes to high school A, she needs to be enrolled into an elementary school that feeds into high school A, is that true? Is it possible to get her into any elementary school near to Mipitas (say, Santa Clara) and then when she gets closer to attendg high school, the family moves to Palo Alto? ( I plan to plan far)

[calmblue]

Originally Posted by skiranger

I read that if kid goes to high school A, she needs to be enrolled into an elementary school that feeds into high school A, is that true? Is it possible to get her into any elementary school near to Mipitas (say, Santa Clara) and then when she gets closer to attendg high school, the family moves to Palo Alto? ( I plan to plan far)

The rules in Palo Alto are, that children are not guaranteed to be put in their neighborhood school during the first year they move into a neighborhood (although they will be in a Palo Alto school, just not necessarily the one closest to home). The next year, they are guaranteed a spot in the neighborhood school. So yes, the best bet to avoid transition problems is to move a year before high school. (see more info at www.pausd.org) The big question is: will you be able to afford a house in Palo Alto? We're talking over $1 million for a 3-br house -- this year. In 5 years it will be much more.

[masalamomma]

I visited SF for the first time last summer and I was not impressed. I thought it was VERY kid unfriendly. Just a couple examples - it is kind of dirty, and you can be on a nice street, and then a block over run into a gang of prostitutes and drug addicts. I also thought it was inappropriate for small children because of the gay vibe. One example was a large billboard with two men in a provocative pose, with a heading underneath that said "Got Gay?"

Before anyone screams "Homo-phobe", let me just say that two of my best friends are gay. I just don't think it is an appropriate topic for small children. All things have their proper timing.

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

Despite San Francisco's reputation, it's frankly is not a great place to raise a family. Those doing so may prefer to be in a "safer" neighborhood, however there is no avoiding the open-air marijuana use, the panhandlers, or the uneducated people and bums cursing as if children are not around them.