Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Francisco - Oakland
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-26-2011, 08:52 PM
 
84 posts, read 142,851 times
Reputation: 41

Advertisements

My husband is planning on relocating from Seattle to the Bay Area for work. After talking to friends and researching online, we have decided that Berkeley and Oakland are the best places for us to consider settling down in.

But of course, these are large areas with lots of different neighborhoods, and we are feeling completely overwhelmed. We're headed down for a couple of days in early December to check out different areas, housing, etc. With so little time to investigate these cities, what should we be sure to do? We're looking for advice on neighborhoods to hone in on, good public elementary schools, restaurants to check out, and great family-friendly walkable areas with retail and parks.

Our current situation:

We're in our late 30's with two kids, 2 and 7.
We currently live in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, which is quite walkable and safe.
We want to send our kids to public schools.
We love good food, arts and cultural activities, and being around lots of people.
Being from Washington, we'd like to avoid seriously foggy regions of the Bay Area. If we're going to move, we'd better get more sunshine.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-26-2011, 09:04 PM
 
Location: The Bay
6,914 posts, read 14,694,532 times
Reputation: 3119
Quote:
Originally Posted by snarkadoodle View Post
My husband is planning on relocating from Seattle to the Bay Area for work. After talking to friends and researching online, we have decided that Berkeley and Oakland are the best places for us to consider settling down in.

But of course, these are large areas with lots of different neighborhoods, and we are feeling completely overwhelmed. We're headed down for a couple of days in early December to check out different areas, housing, etc. With so little time to investigate these cities, what should we be sure to do? We're looking for advice on neighborhoods to hone in on, good public elementary schools, restaurants to check out, and great family-friendly walkable areas with retail and parks.

Our current situation:

We're in our late 30's with two kids, 2 and 7.
We currently live in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, which is quite walkable and safe.
We want to send our kids to public schools.
We love good food, arts and cultural activities, and being around lots of people.
Being from Washington, we'd like to avoid seriously foggy regions of the Bay Area. If we're going to move, we'd better get more sunshine.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!


What's your budget?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-26-2011, 09:22 PM
 
84 posts, read 142,851 times
Reputation: 41
We are planning on renting for a while, just to be sure, but when we buy we'd like to aim for $750,000 - $950,000. 3 br, 2 bath is great. A little yard would be the cherry on the cake for sure.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-27-2011, 12:33 AM
 
Location: SW King County, WA
6,404 posts, read 8,241,347 times
Reputation: 6575
Rockridge/Elmwood is where I'd start looking
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-27-2011, 04:56 AM
 
Location: South Korea
5,242 posts, read 13,043,351 times
Reputation: 2957
Yep, Rockridge sounds perfect for you. It's a nice area, lots of families with young kids. Houses are around $600,000 and up.

Oakland elementary schools are supposed to be decent but the student body gets scary once you get into middle school and high school, Berkeley is probably similar. If you want better schools from elementary through high school but still want to avoid the cookie-cutter suburbs, I'd check out Albany and Alameda.

There's not really any good big parks in North Oakland. Lake Merritt is really nice but is way down by downtown. If you can drive, then Lake Temescal, Tilden Park, and Redwood Regional Park are nearby. Otherwise there are small parks with playgrounds here and there in North Oakland and Berkeley.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-27-2011, 08:08 AM
 
84 posts, read 142,851 times
Reputation: 41
Rockridge is definitely at the top of our list (from what we have heard/read online).

We're also considering Piedmont, Elmwood, and Claremont, Montclair, Oakmore and Glenview. Any thoughts?

Also, FWIW, I am a high school English teacher who has taught in both public and private schools - and I really, REALLY would prefer to avoid the whole private thing. Am I crazy for thinking I could send my kids to middle and high school in Oakland or Berkeley? I know some people think I am crazy for sending my 2nd grader to public school here in Seattle (which is ridiculous in my opinion).

Thanks for the feedback!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-27-2011, 10:34 AM
 
3,441 posts, read 5,221,207 times
Reputation: 3159
All of the areas you're considering are great neighborhoods that are similar in vibe, demographic, housing, and culture to what you're used to. The farther south you go in Oakland (Oakmore and Glenview), it becomes somewhat less urban, with fewer or smaller neighborhood districts, but housing tends to be less expensive for the same quality, and it is noticeably warmer and sunnier. Just a touch more suburban, but far from tract home suburban. Nice, older neighborhoods with character. Elmwood would be your coolest, foggiest of the locations, as it's the closest to Berkeley. And by "foggy," that means morning marine layer, not visibility-obscuring ground fog, which is very rare in the area. Not sure what you get up in Seattle in that regards.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-27-2011, 01:20 PM
 
Location: The Bay
6,914 posts, read 14,694,532 times
Reputation: 3119
Quote:
Originally Posted by snarkadoodle View Post
Rockridge is definitely at the top of our list (from what we have heard/read online).

We're also considering Piedmont, Elmwood, and Claremont, Montclair, Oakmore and Glenview. Any thoughts?

Also, FWIW, I am a high school English teacher who has taught in both public and private schools - and I really, REALLY would prefer to avoid the whole private thing. Am I crazy for thinking I could send my kids to middle and high school in Oakland or Berkeley? I know some people think I am crazy for sending my 2nd grader to public school here in Seattle (which is ridiculous in my opinion).

Thanks for the feedback!

You wouldn't be crazy at all if you lived in Oakmore or Glenview and sent your kids to Sequoia Elementary or Glenview Elementary, two of the best and most diverse public elementary schools in the East Bay. Edna Brewer (in Glenview) is the best public middle school in Oakland, and Skyline High School (A neighborhood or two above Oakmore) is the best public high school in Oakland. It's also fairly easy to switch districts from Oakland to Berkeley High if you find Berkeley High a better fit. If you do end up deciding to do private though, some of the top-ranked private schools in the country - Head Royce School in the Lincoln Highlands (12 minute walk from Glenview) and College Preparatory School (10 minute drive from Oakmore) - are right in the area.

All of the neighborhoods you're looking at are very nice... be aware though that Piedmont is an entirely separate city from Oakland with its own school district. I would also add Trestle Glen (Oakland) to your list; it's one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the Bay Area and its right by Downtown Oakland.

Going back to your OP, there are a ton of great parks in the Glenview/Montclair/Oakmore area... Dimond Canyon Park, Joaquin Miller Park, W.D. Wood Park, Shepherd Canyon Park and Montclair Playground are all excellent parks.

Oakland is definitely a food city... you can get just about anything here and the vast majority of it is really good. Some restaurants you'd do well to visit include:

- Zachary's Pizza (Rockridge)
- Marzano's (Glenview)
- Soi 4 Bangkok Eatery (Rockridge)
- Fenton's Creamery (Piedmont Avenue)
- Pizzaiolo (Temescal)
- Plum (Uptown)
- Bakesale Betty's (Temescal)

^Those are some of the more upscale places to grab a bite... Oakland is actually more known for the quality of its mid-range and street fare offerings though. You can find everything from Cambodian to Vietnamese to Laotian to Mexican to Salvadorean to Soul Food to Nigerian to Senegalese to Ethiopian and it's all great...

Last edited by Nineties Flava; 11-27-2011 at 01:43 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-27-2011, 02:43 PM
 
84 posts, read 142,851 times
Reputation: 41
Quote:
Originally Posted by tstieber View Post
Elmwood would be your coolest, foggiest of the locations, as it's the closest to Berkeley. And by "foggy," that means morning marine layer, not visibility-obscuring ground fog, which is very rare in the area. Not sure what you get up in Seattle in that regards.
Interesting. A morning marine layer is not a problem - it's the soul-crushing, nearly-constant dark, gray drizzle that is sucking the life force out of me and my family up here in the Emerald City. THIS we'd like to avoid.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-27-2011, 02:47 PM
 
84 posts, read 142,851 times
Reputation: 41
Nineties Flava - that makes Oakmore and Glenview much more attractive for sure. What's it like to drive from these areas to places like Rockridge or Temescal for dinner? This sounds like a weird question, but I'm trying to decide how much I am willing to give up as far as walking to shopping and good food is concerned. We have a great situation now in Seattle, but I don't necessarily think we need to replicate it.

And there seems to be a little bit of an edge when East Bay residents mention Piedmont...am I imagining things?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Francisco - Oakland
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:14 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top