Where to live for young Indian family close to San Francisco downtown? (San Jose: townhouses, neighborhoods)

[davdaven]

Your best bets will be the cities of Fremont and Berkeley, both of which have BART stations. Berkeley also has AC Transit "Transbay" buses. BART and AC Transit provide easy commute access to SF.

Fremont is very quiet and suburban, but it has a huge Indian population. The commute into SF will not meet your time requirements, as it takes about an hour each way. Rents are extremely high because Fremont is a bedroom community for Silicon Valley. On the plus side, you can become part of a very strong Indian community.

Berkeley is an old, established city (much like Oakland) that has many of the enjoyable aspects of city life (restaurants, public transit, etc.) without many of the disadvantages (high rents, noise, etc.). Berkeley is very ethnically diverse, so the Indian community is not as obvious as it is in Fremont and Sunnyvale, but they are there. There are countless Indian restaurants around town, and there are several Indian stores and at least two markets that cater to Indian customers, primarily on the west side of the city along University Avenue. The commute from Berkeley to SF takes 25-30 minutes, and rents are more affordable than Fremont or SF.

If you decide to move to Berkeley, I do not particularly recommend North Berkeley or the suburban towns to the north (Albany, El Cerrito). You want some hustle and bustle, and those areas are as quiet as Fremont! Try looking in the downtown area. $3K per month will get you a nicely updated 2-bedroom house there or a little to the south (towards Oakland) or west (along University Avenue).

General note: I have Indian friends scattered around the East Bay (Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, etc.) and they all enjoy it. They are single, however, so I am not sure if their feelings would change if they had a young child. There is no shortage of Indian people and culture in the area if that is your concern.

[timsi]

Thanks a lot ..
We've come to the conclusion that we'll need to relax our commute requirement i.e. settle for a suburban location about 40-50min away from downtown (powell station) via reliable public transport. We'd also like to live in a location which is in walking proximity to the station - so we dont have to drive to it.

Newer apartments are nice to have but not a must.
Safety is of course the top priority.
Suburban locations with parks, lakes etc are obviously preferred.

What we are thinking of doing is to try out a few short-term (10-15 days) apartment rentals at some suburbs before committing to any one.

Here is the suburbs that I've shortlisted basis what I have heard so far...
- Fremont
- Pleasanton
- Dublin
- San Jose
- Sunnyvale

How does that all sound?
Is there any on the list that aren't worth looking at/do not meet our criteria?

thanks for all your help guys....

[timsi]

Originally Posted by capoeira

This was probably the F Tram which caters to tourists going to Fisherman's Wharf. The K,L & M trains are fast (for Muni) since they go underground at West Portal and have limited stops. The N is slower with less distance underground. Bart is much faster than the Muni trains but it covers much greater distances.

We actually used the N & J lines.

[timsi]

Originally Posted by davdaven

Your best bets will be the cities of Fremont and Berkeley, both of which have BART stations. Berkeley also has AC Transit "Transbay" buses. BART and AC Transit provide easy commute access to SF.

Fremont is very quiet and suburban, but it has a huge Indian population. The commute into SF will not meet your time requirements, as it takes about an hour each way. Rents are extremely high because Fremont is a bedroom community for Silicon Valley. On the plus side, you can become part of a very strong Indian community.

Berkeley is an old, established city (much like Oakland) that has many of the enjoyable aspects of city life (restaurants, public transit, etc.) without many of the disadvantages (high rents, noise, etc.). Berkeley is very ethnically diverse, so the Indian community is not as obvious as it is in Fremont and Sunnyvale, but they are there. There are countless Indian restaurants around town, and there are several Indian stores and at least two markets that cater to Indian customers, primarily on the west side of the city along University Avenue. The commute from Berkeley to SF takes 25-30 minutes, and rents are more affordable than Fremont or SF.

If you decide to move to Berkeley, I do not particularly recommend North Berkeley or the suburban towns to the north (Albany, El Cerrito). You want some hustle and bustle, and those areas are as quiet as Fremont! Try looking in the downtown area. $3K per month will get you a nicely updated 2-bedroom house there or a little to the south (towards Oakland) or west (along University Avenue).

General note: I have Indian friends scattered around the East Bay (Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, etc.) and they all enjoy it. They are single, however, so I am not sure if their feelings would change if they had a young child. There is no shortage of Indian people and culture in the area if that is your concern.

This is EXTREMELY helpful! I will add Berkeley to my list of suburbs to try out... the commute time is quite attractive and it seems to tick all the other boxes too.
Just so I am sure of the exact location within Berkeley that you're recommending, could you point out some landmarks? like close to Downtown Berkeley bart or something like that? thanks a LOT!

[04kL4nD]

I'd avoid downtown Berkeley personally. It's pretty grubby and hectic and it's right next to Cal and BCC. The Elmwood District would be my ideal choice. It's cleaner, safer, quieter, and has great restaurants/shops, plus it's not too far from the Rockridge BART station.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by timsi

What we are thinking of doing is to try out a few short-term (10-15 days) apartment rentals at some suburbs before committing to any one.

Is this even possible?

[timsi]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Is this even possible?

Why not?!
I have airbnb in mind... not real 'rental'..

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by timsi

Why not?!
I have airbnb in mind... not real 'rental'..

Ah, that makes more sense.

[timsi]

Originally Posted by capoeira

Millbrae is a peninsula option with good schools and a Bart station. For lots of Indian stuff one would probably be driving to Sunnyvale on the weekends. Burlingame is an ideal peninsula city with good schools, excellent weather, and an upscale downtown. From here one would have to drive to Millbrae Bart or take Caltrain which comes into SF at a less convenient location south of downtown.

San Bruno may appear to be promising if one does not mind the downsides. There are some newer apartments near Tanforan Mall and the Bart station. This is a very convenient location but is subject to lots of airplane noise. There are also some brand new apartments off Skyline Blvd but this location is very foggy and windy.

Hi, would you suggest I add Millbrae/Burlingame and San Bruno to my list of suburbs to try out, basis my criteria?

thanks a lot!

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by timsi

Hi, would you suggest I add Millbrae/Burlingame and San Bruno to my list of suburbs to try out, basis my criteria?

None of them exactly meet all your criteria. The advantage of San Bruno is that one can get a nice newer apartment near Tanforan Mall. This location is very convenient to the Bart train(25 minute ride to Powell) and to highways. A big disadvantage to this location is airplane noise. I am not sure about the schools in this location. The best schools in San Bruno are in the area near Skyline Blvd.,an area with zero walkabilty and colder weather. It is amazing how much the weather changes with a 1 or 2 mile difference in distance to the ocean.

Millbrae has good schools. It is a 31 minute ride to Powell on Bart or a 17 minute ride on the "Baby Bullet" Caltrain to SF. The Caltrain station is about a mile south of Powell Station in downtown SF. Millbrae has a large Chinese community.

Burlingame has superb schools. From here you would probably drive to Millbrae station to commute. Burlingame has a Caltrain station but it does not get the express lines.

These places are all closer to SF than places like Fremont, Dublin or Sunnyvale. Also the Bart ride from Millbrae or San Bruno will not be as crowded as the Bart ride from East Bay. Overall they are an excellent choice for many people but since being close to the Indian community seems important for you, they probably are not your best choice. San Bruno has one Indian grocery store that I know of. It seems that (Long commute + large Indian community) > (medium commute + very small Indian community).

I suggest adding Mountain View to your list. Mountain View is right next to Sunnyvale. Mountain View has an interesting walkable downtown. It is a 45 minute ride to SF on the Baby Bullet Caltrain. Caltrain is a more comfortable ride than the packed cattle cars of the Bart system however the Caltrain express train runs only once an hour. If you could find a location walkable to the Caltrain station in Mountain View that would be ideal.

Places like Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Dublin & Fremont are all around 55 to 60 km. from San Francisco so there is no getting around the long commute from these places. San Jose is even farther so it is not recommeded. Berkeley might be a good choice for some but personally I would not want to deal with the huge traffic jam every weekend on the 80 freeway whenever I want to go somewhere. I suggest looking for a place within San Francisco to minimize the commute or a place in Mountain View/Sunnyvale or Fremont for the best access to the Indian community. You could try living close to work in SF for a year and take your time finding the location with the ideal school for your child.