Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill with a kid (Concord, Vallejo: apartment complexes, to rent)

[eldrolo]

Hello
I got a job proposal to move to Vallejo, and I would like to find a small city, affordable to live. Considering that I will move with my wife and a small kid (3 years).
After reading many threads, best places seems to be: Walnut Creek-Pleasant Hill and Berkeley (north Berkeley or Albany).
My priorities to take the decision are: well communicated with Vallejo (no traffic jams, not expensive toll), good preschools and elementary schools (very fan of alternative ones: Montessori, reggio, project-based...), safe community (we live in a small town in France). We'd like to rent a house, with a budget of around 3 k$.
Also, it will be nice to have a nice community and things to do, as we are a couple in our thirties.
I appreciate all your comments, to make the final decision of moving.

[Shelacious]

Traffic is nearly unavoidable in the Bay Area any more unless you live and work in the same city or have alternate hours. There are bridge tolls and traffic to both Walnut Creek-PH areas and Berkeley (and lots of traffic to Berkeley/Albany, although you'd be in the reverse commute, not that there's not much difference anymore along 80). You should consider Benicia, Vacaville, and Napa if you don't want to consider Vallejo at all (which I would if I were you--there are good neighborhoods in Vallejo). If you're willing to deal with the highway 37 traffic you can extend your search to some Marin County cities.

[Ruth4Truth]

Benicia. You couldn't ask for a shorter commute, nice small town on the Carquinez Straight, better schools than Vallejo, great town for kids. Walnut Creek has excellent schools, but the commute isn't recommended.

[sav858]

The commute from WC/PH to Vallejo is fine, there isn't any traffic at all. Only traffic you might encounter is in the PM if you live in South Walnut Creek south of Hwy 24.

Benicia is tiny and definitely lacking in the "things to do" department.

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by Shelacious

Traffic is nearly unavoidable in the Bay Area any more unless you live and work in the same city or have alternate hours. There are bridge tolls and traffic to both Walnut Creek-PH areas and Berkeley (and lots of traffic to Berkeley/Albany, although you'd be in the reverse commute, not that there's not much difference anymore along 80). You should consider Benicia, Vacaville, and Napa if you don't want to consider Vallejo at all (which I would if I were you--there are good neighborhoods in Vallejo). If you're willing to deal with the highway 37 traffic you can extend your search to some Marin County cities.

There are not great schools, however.

Benicia if you're going to be on that side of the Carquinez. It does avoid the the $5 toll, but 680 between Vallejo and Walnut Creek doesn't have bad traffic in either direction. I'd vote for either Benicia or Pleasant Hill/Martinez.

I like Albany/North Berkeley (more socially radical but fun places), and Walnut Creek is nice, but they're not in a $3,000 budget. You could find a townhome or something VERY small and run-down in Walnut Creek but it's not going to be nice by any stretch. Albany and Berkeley are even more expensive, although Berkeley has the ghetto which maybe you could find something. Doesn't sound like the OP wants to live in the ghetto though.

[sav858]

Actually there is traffic on southbound 780/680 from Vallejo in the AM going across the bridge then again at the 242 merge continuing south. Then the reverse in the PM. But OP isn't looking to do that commute anyways.

Also be aware tolls will likely increase in the next few years by as much as $3.

[eldrolo]

Vallejo was dismissed due to bad schools.

Benicia: I thought to include it on the list, but i'm concerned about pollution from the oil refinery.

Walnut Creek/PH: I can increase housing budget up to 3500$, i think that i could find some house at this budget. My main concern is about commuting to Vallejo. Pros: good schools and hospitals and BART.

Albany/north berkeley: as well dismissed due to long commuting and, not on my budget.

Expanding horizons, I'm considering Martinez/Concord or Novato (Marin county), do you have any feedback on these regarding schools, commuting to Vallejo and housing prices?

Any other recommendation will be appreciated

[Ruth4Truth]

I think we need more info on the oil refinery issue as it relates to Benicia, and whether the problem (if there is much of one) affects all parts of town, or not. It seems that urbanization is growing in the direction of Vallejo, so I wonder if a location can be found that's in-between Benicia and Vallejo. I know there are apartment complexes off the north end of Benicia, but I don't know what that area is like. And btw, there's an even bigger refinery in Concord. Benicia would be preferable, by comparison.

I recall someone posting here who said there's a part of Concord bordering on Walnut Creek, where it's possible to use Walnut Creek schools. Not sure how that would work; maybe someone else here could chime in. I don't know if commuting from Novato would be a great idea; let's see if we can get you a closer commute. Also, there's a commuter bus that goes between Napa, Vallejo and Concord BART that could save you the trouble of having to drive your route yourself.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Also, there's a commuter bus that goes between Napa, Vallejo and Concord BART that could save you the trouble of having to drive your route yourself.

There are no commuter buses that serve Concord BART. Commuter buses from Napa and Vallejo serve El Cerrito Del Norte BART and one from Vallejo serves PH and WC BART.

[eldrolo]

This commuter bus from PH/WC to Vallejo, is Route 78 from Soltrans, and it could work but it ends up at Vallejo ferry terminal, quite far from my job, even I'm not very good with scheduling.

I checked traffic cameras this morning on road 37 (Novato to Vallejo) and there was a big mess at peak hour, I don't know if it's the same everyday.

Also checked on 680 (from WC to Vallejo) and there were no issues.

Regarding oil refinery in Benicia, I read a thread (//www.city-data.com/forum/san-f...icia-kids.html) that concerned me. Someone talked of cancer risks and health risks for children within 5 miles away.

Do you think that maybe Fairfiled could fullfill my needs?