NYC to San Francisco (but commute to San Ramon) (Oakland: real estate, rent)

[Water 4 the Pool]

I am on the cusp of receiving an offer that I will likely accept at a large multinational there. SFO has always been on our list of possible places to move but we have no sense of what to expect when we get there.

1. How about city neighborhoods? We have three boys, ages 4 and under, so schools--public or private--are critical, as are a vibrant restaurant scene and local shopping options. For the sake of argument, let's pretend that price isn't an issue.

2. We like city living here in Manhattan, but are also open to smaller communities in the Bay Area (keeping in mind point 2, below).

3. Commuting to San Ramon from SFO? Do-able?

4. How feasible to keep a car in the city?

Thanks!

[gone down south]

That's a do-able commute, but has the potential to regularly become a "shoot yourself in the head" commute. Best case is about an hour each way, but at rush hour it could easily double.

[mayorhaggar]

SF would be a pain in the ass to get over the bridge and then deal with traffic in the East Bay. San Ramon is set in a really obnoxious geographic location behind hills that force you to go south through Pleasanton then drive north again.

If you don't mind suburban then I'd look at Pleasanton or the Walnut Creek areas, or Danville or San Ramon itself. Basically it's up to you if you want to save money on real estate and live in the burbs and have a short commute, or pay more for a smaller place in SF or the nice parts of Oakland and deal with a really crushing and expensive commute. If you're in the burbs you get good public schools, and you're 45 minutes to an hour away from SF if you want to go hang out there on the weekend.

Also SF is SF, and the area outside of SF is called the Bay Area. It's not like LA where everything in the area is often called LA, I think it's because city/town boundaries here are clearer than in LA where it's a lot of different little cities that blend together along with LA itself.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Water 4 the Pool

I am on the cusp of receiving an offer that I will likely accept at a large multinational there. SFO has always been on our list of possible places to move but we have no sense of what to expect when we get there.

1. How about city neighborhoods? We have three boys, ages 4 and under, so schools--public or private--are critical, as are a vibrant restaurant scene and local shopping options. For the sake of argument, let's pretend that price isn't an issue.

2. We like city living here in Manhattan, but are also open to smaller communities in the Bay Area (keeping in mind point 2, below).

3. Commuting to San Ramon from SFO? Do-able?

4. How feasible to keep a car in the city?

Thanks!

San Ramon is pretty much in one of the most annoying locations in the Bay (in terms of connectivity to other cities, outside of the San Ramon Valley). Your best bet would be to live in Walnut Creek. That is suburban, but they have some good restaurants and vibrant shopping district in Downtown Walnut Creek. It would take about 15 min to get to San Ramon most times of the day. And you could take BART into SF in about 40 min. Berkeley and Oakland are about 15-20 minutes away (depending on traffic or transit choice)

I'd recommend Alameda, but it is a pain to get to San Ramon from there.

Commuting to SR from SF would be really annoying. You'd either have to take the Caldecott (lots of traffic) or drive 580 to Dublin, then north to 680 for 3-5 miles.

I don't know how the reverse commute is over the Bay Bridge, but from Oakland via 580 it would take 30 minutes virtually any time of day. There isn't much AM traffic headed east on 580, you might run into some traffic for the last 3-4 miles, but you could take the city streets of Dublin or Castro Valley if it is too crowded. The way home would take longer in the PM, sometimes there is traffic over the "Dublin grade."

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by Water 4 the Pool

How feasible to keep a car in the city?

It's feasible but difficult. You may be charged extra to park your car off the street at the place you live at. Street parking is difficult and you may end up parking a block or two from where you live. Street parking overnight is not recommended - possiblity of damage or break-in.

Schools in SF leave a little to be desired. The public schools use a lottery and your child may be bused across town to a neighborhood you may not like.

BART is a commute option. BART - Station List

All in all, I recommend living in San Ramon, Dublin, Danville or Pleasanton. It's all nice semi up-scale suburbia and you can visit SF in your off time. The weather is also warmer (too much wind and fog in SF!)

[UrbanDecay]

Isn't SFO the airport?

[mayorhaggar]

Yes but people sometimes say SFO for SF, which doesn't make any sense considering it's an extra letter.

[Jasmine658]

We like Walnut Creek & Danville nearby.

I can't recommend SF schools. The concentration of the public schools are spending most of their attention on English as a 2nd language, drug and violence prevention programs. It's not the school system's fault, but the nature of SF, lots of new immigrants, and the low tax base leaves little for improving the schools. They do however, have some great language immersion programs.

Ok, you've been offered job in San Ramon...OMG - Greatschools ranks 10!!!!
See link: San Ramon Schools - San Ramon California School Ratings - Public and Private
But we think Walnut Creek & Danville are nicer, or Orinda is a favorite too, and are nearby.

You would be lucky to get your kids a school assignment in SF with a ranking of 2! Don't do it to your kids! We tried for years and only have horror stories. My advice is get nice home in east bay near good schools, near job. Then stay at a place like Wyndham Canterberry in SF from time to time. They sell points and are a timeshare system, but could try renting, and have suites for families - 2 bedroom units, etc. There's also Fairmont Heritage Place where can rent nice family 3BR, so I would just rent as needed when come into the city.

The commute would be LONG from SF to San Ramon, and possibly painful.

We are like you - love city culture, music, art, museums, etc, but kids must come first. We ended up getting home in Pacifica south of SF, has all great schools. I spent tons of time researching, and SF just would not work after years of trying.

[UrbanDecay]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

Yes but people sometimes say SFO for SF, which doesn't make any sense considering it's an extra letter.

Cool, can I say I am from SDO?

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Water 4 the Pool

1. How about city neighborhoods? We have three boys, ages 4 and under, so schools--public or private--are critical, as are a vibrant restaurant scene and local shopping options. For the sake of argument, let's pretend that price isn't an issue.

As others have suggested Walnut Creek might be a good alternative. It has a very large and active downtown. Also with 2 BART stations it has relatively easy, car free access into SF.