Suburban living + good schools, commute to Embarcadero, $2.5M budget (Oakland: for sale, house)

[vrr106]

With a $2.5M home budget, a need to have great schools for kids aged 11 & 8, and reasonable commute to Embarcadero - what are your suggestions?

[idr591]

I never understand why people with a 1M+ budget care about public schools. Send the kids to private school.

[HappyinCali]

Moraga, Orinda, Lafayette. they have some of the best schools in the state. You can commute to Embarcadero with Bart.

[artemis78]

You can do cities on the Peninsula or in Marin (ferry commute) at that price point too, although you'll get more house for your money in Lamorinda. Decide what you mean by "reasonable commute," eliminate the cities that are too far based on that, and go from there.

[clongirl]

Lafayette, Orinda, and Moraga as mentioned above. The public schools are excellent here. There are casual carpool pickups and BART stations in Lafayette/Orinda.

[ssmaster]

if you are in finance and on market time you can live in Piedmont
Lafayette, Orinda, or Moraga and drive into work.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by ssmaster

if you are in finance and on market time you can live in Piedmont
Lafayette, Orinda, or Moraga and drive into work.

Piedmont (a separate municipality from Oakland, by which it's surrounded), would be the top ticket, and next: Lafayette and Orinda. All are commutable via BART. The question then becomes: what type of weather do you prefer? Orinda & Lafayette are warmer (hot all summer), while the inner Bay Area is cooler. If private schools would be an option for you, your options for location would open up quite a bit. There are public schools in the Berkeley/Oakland hills that are "good", but that's a relative term. If you want your kids to get good college-prep skills: grammar, advanced writing skills, and such basics, private schools would be the way to go. Where do you live, OP? What's your definition of "great" schools?

[vrr106]

Thanks for the responses!
To clarify - Private schools could be an option, although I haven't researched these as much. I am used to seeing private school tuitions in the $25K range and was told schools in the SF area are twice as much, but I hope I am wrong. Where I currently live, a private school is not always better than the best public schools.
Weather - the hotter the better, I currently live in South Florida
Getting our kids college-prep skills is a priority, and if that can be balanced with living in a family-friendly, suburban environment, that would be ideal.
I don't work stock market hours, this is a tech gig.

[23windows]

Piedmont Piedmont Piedmont

Very safe and all of the nightlife of Oakland and Berkeley right there. Great schools, easy commute to the city. It is out of my budget, but you can buy a nice house with 2.5M...

The Piedmont housing market is super seasonal. Everyone puts their house up in the spring. I have seen times in the winter with not a single house for sale in the whole city.

[ssmaster]

Originally Posted by vrr106

Thanks for the responses!
To clarify - Private schools could be an option, although I haven't researched these as much. I am used to seeing private school tuitions in the $25K range and was told schools in the SF area are twice as much, but I hope I am wrong. Where I currently live, a private school is not always better than the best public schools.
Weather - the hotter the better, I currently live in South Florida
Getting our kids college-prep skills is a priority, and if that can be balanced with living in a family-friendly, suburban environment, that would be ideal.
I don't work stock market hours, this is a tech gig.

lafeyette,moraga and orinda have the suburban pool culture,but not as easy a commute as piedmont