Foster City? Burlingame? Lafayette? Albany? Other? (San Francisco, Oakland: rentals, house, find a job)

[Maiat]

We are a family (3 young kids - 6, 5 and 1.5) moving to the Bay area for my husbands Post Doc at UCSF Parnassus Campus. Looking for a good neighborhood with good schools, easy access to the city and nature atmosphere. Would be happy to find a laid back, non formal, welcoming, family friendly, community - too much to ask for?

[gone down south]

That's entirely possible... but not on a student's income! In the Bay Area, you need to define your rent budget before everything else. That's always the major limiting factor.

[mayorhaggar]

Also commute time and how you want to commute (public transit vs. driving) are major keys to finding a place to live here.

[Maiat]

Still trying to figure things out, but I assume we will have about 3-3.2K for rent. Still "entirely" possible?! Regarding the commute - indeed a consideration... ideally, wouldn't want more than 45 minutes door to door. Eventually, I will need to find a job too (yet another consideration), and I have worked for many years in large, gloabl hi tec companies as an organizational consultant.

[mayorhaggar]

You're probably looking at somewhere in the northern Peninsula like Millbrae. SF doesn't have reliably good schools, Marin is really expensive (and requires a bridge toll) and commuting from the East Bay would suck and also requires a bridge toll.

[18Montclair]

Out of that lot, Lafayette by far.

UCSF has shuttles that bring in workers from all over the Bay Area.

[tstieber]

I'd also vote for Lafayette as the best compromise of community and housing cost. It's affluent, but the housing isn't as insanely pricey as the peninsula. However, the commute could be a drag.

[Maiat]

Lafayette looks great - Can you tell me a little bit more?

[Maiat]

Lafayette seems great to us (from what we have gathered) any more info would be appreciated. Housing? Schools? Commnity life? Commute to city or south of it?

[clongirl]

Lafayette is a fantastic place. The schools are top notch with a lot of parent participation and donating time/money. There's actually a good mix of people here--from the very wealthy to the middle class, hippies and conservatives etc. The residents all seem to be very educated--lots of CAL graduates end up here. Seems like a lot of folks come to raise there kids here after being in San Francisco or Oakland most of their lives. It's the kind of place where you get to know your neighbors and you'll always run into people you recognize around town. There are miles and miles of paved and unpaved trails for biking or hiking. It's also somewhat rural with deer, wild turkey, raccoons, coyote, etc wandering into the backyards.

The downside imo, would be your commute. Personally I think it's too far and perhaps too much of a hassle to get to UC Parnassus. The BART will only take you to the other side of the city and then you'll have to transfer to the N Judah MUNI line. It seems that that has the potential to take over an hour. I could certainly be wrong about this however.

The other downside would be actually finding a rental. VERY difficult here. There just aren't many rentals available. I have friends that pretty much had to take the first and only house on the market and are paying far more than seems reasonable, imo.

If you get stuck and can't find a place, add in Orinda, Moraga, or even Pleasant Hill in your search. These towns are all very close with the first two having exceptional schools as well.