Los Altos vs Palo Alto - The Showdown (Sunnyvale, Pleasanton: rental, crime)

[mparker23]

Give me your thoughts. I have two kids i want to raise to be good citizens, and thinkers, preferably not gang members and drug addicts.

I hear Palo Alto and Los Altos are great communities next to each other, with Sunnyvale and Mountainview being a step down if not two or three steps down.

Thoughts on raising a young family (kindergarten, elementary age) in Palo Alto vs Los Altos. What's the difference?

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by mparker23

I have two kids i want to raise to be good citizens, and thinkers, preferably not gang members and drug addicts.

But...then how are they going to make any money?

[hsw]

PA is too communist a town for many (eerily SF-like); too close to various slums along 101 corridor (and PA itself has many low-rent areas) that bring in street crime and violent issues in public schools

LA is a bit too close to dumps of Mtn View, etc; don't know if elem schools draw from lower-rent nearby suburbs as LA itself may not have many kids

Would rather live in a more modest rental house in hills W of 280 in Portola Valley or Los Altos Hills (also look into Saratoga and Los Gatos)...more young, well-educated families; chk elem schools for areas that just draw kids from hills; many who can afford it send kids to private school by middle school onwards, to avoid kids from families that neither value education nor seek upward mobility

[mparker23]

thank you for the honest thoughts HSW. Coming from small town america, i'd hate to throw my kids in a situation with some streetwise rough kids, so many bad things could happen.

Portolo seems a bit out of my price range.

What is the commute like from Saratoga to Menlo Park? Google maps says 30minutes w/ traffic, could that be right? It looks farther to me.

[sonarrat]

HSW is on crack. Kids from the ghetto don't go to Palo Alto schools.

The difference between the two is primarily the university crowd, since Stanford is on the same street as a major social focal point around University Ave / El Camino Real. There's also another major hangout spot on California Ave. Palo Alto is for if you've made it, but you're not ready to die yet. Los Altos is much sleepier and suited for the more private affluent person.

[mparker23]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Palo Alto is for if you've made it, but you're not ready to die yet. Los Altos is much sleepier and suited for the more private affluent person.

Eh, that's not quite the worldview/frame of mind i'm coming from. that's more the twentysomething / eightysomething conversation. I'm more the Dad who wants to raise his kids to be both well educated and firmly grounded, not well educated but out of touch or in prison. Sleepy sounds great from that perspective. Rip-roaring, screwed up, drunk, lead headed college kids and out to lunch professors who go to sunday worship at whole foods doesn't sound so great...but again, that's just my perspective.

[Mach50]

It sounds like you want something like Pleasanton; a nice, safe, comfy, conservative town, shielded from all the bad influences in the Bay by a mountain range.

[AlwaysLooking]

If you're choosing between only PA or LA, I'd go with Los Altos. There is a small town attitude that you won't find with Palo Alto IMO. It is affluent so the housing is high but the schools are great and crime is low.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

HSW is on crack.

Yes. Those who try to manufacture kids by moving to the perfect, sheltered, educationally correct community free of all influence from the 'little people', invariably get disappointing results. There's little to sweat about PA or LA. Woodside ain't too shabby, either.

Prevent Snobbery in Your Family.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by mparker23

Eh, that's not quite the worldview/frame of mind i'm coming from. that's more the twentysomething / eightysomething conversation. I'm more the Dad who wants to raise his kids to be both well educated and firmly grounded, not well educated but out of touch or in prison. Sleepy sounds great from that perspective. Rip-roaring, screwed up, drunk, lead headed college kids and out to lunch professors who go to sunday worship at whole foods doesn't sound so great...but again, that's just my perspective.

Then it doesn't really sound like you're the Los Altos or Palo Alto type. They are status areas first and foremost. They do have high-performing schools, but that's due in large part to the hefty donations to the PTA that are expected and to the pressure to volunteer. You could get the same results even in East Palo Alto schools if you just get involved and get your kids involved.