Large Family Relocating to Palo Alto & Needs Advice (Fremont: rental, house)

[FriendlyFamily8]

Hello to everyone who posts on this thread!

My husband will be relocating at the beginning of next year to a company in the Palo Alto area. I have a MSW (clinical/family), but have not begun the job search yet. We have a large family of young children, one of whom is physically challenged (needs a wheel chair to get around), and a dog. The kids and I would be joining him there by the end of May (so our kids can finish the school year here).

We are extremely excited about this move and are very grateful for this opportunity. However, we do not know anyone in California or the area where his company is located.

If there is anyone out there that can give us any advice, we would greatly appreciate it. We are open to it all! Reading about the area on the internet is one thing, but the experience and advice from those of you in the area helps a lot more. Some of the many things we were wondering about include:

Where to live (we need a house with a good sized yard and hopefully some mature trees)
Family doctors/children hospitals/speciality doctors/physical therapists
Dog friendly areas/parks/vets/supply stores
What to expect with the weather
Schools (preschool to middle school)
Parks/recreation/kid friendly areas and activities
A good, strong, supportive church (any denomination)
Safe areas as well as areas to avoid
Is there bad traffic on certain freeways/are certain roads an easier way to travel?
Are the people friendly?
How accepting is the area of physically challenged kids? Are there adaptive sports or support groups in the area?
Where is the best shopping at reasonable prices?
What is your (anyone who posts) favorite aspect of the area or California in general?

Thank you to everyone who replies to any part of this post! The time you took to do so is very much appreciated.

[mayorhaggar]

The main issue will be your housing budget, Palo Alto and its surrounding area are extremely expensive. Maybe look into Fremont for cheaper rental housing, it's across the Dumbarton Bridge from PA.

Otherwise everything you need will be in the Bay Area, it's a very wealthy and developed and diverse area so I don't think you'll have trouble finding what you want in terms of doctors and pet stores so long as you can afford rent or housing prices. I would come out for a visit to see what it is like.

Highway 280 is generally way better than 101 but they are far apart in some parts of the Peninsula/Silicon Valley.

[jaypee]

What's your budget? Where are you moving from?