Where to live if working at SFO? (San Francisco, Hayward: apartment, rentals)

[TRACYCAREY]

My husband works for a Major airline & may be able to transfer from Savannah, Ga to (SFO) San Francisco International Airport. He makes $70,000./yr. We would be renting to begin with. Able to pay $1500.-1800. a month. We are looking for a good school district in a safe neighborhood in the suburbs, close to shopping, Wal-mart, & childrens activities. But also a short drive to SFO (less than 45 mins).
Is that possible? What cities? Thankyou all.

[sonarrat]

Castro Valley might work. It's about 45 minutes from SFO via the San Mateo Bridge in the worst case, you've got the Wal-Mart in Hayward right off the bridge, good schools, and there are nature parks and trails.

[TRACYCAREY]

Thankyou for your response. Our only response.
Well it looks like my husband is going to be able to transfer to SFO, probably sometime in April, & I am getting really discouraged & confused! I have been researching so many cities, reading these boards & looking @ rentals on Craigslist & looking @ the school performance maps, etc. I have been really looking @ Castro Valley, now for days then I find a post where someone says most schools in Ca do not have school busses!! What?? I was not expecting that!! I looked @ Castro Valleys' web site & did not find anything about school buses. Can someone tell me more about this?? Are there any towns with school buses around here?? I have also been looking @ the towns of Walnut Creek, Dublin, San Ramon, Danville. How are the commutes from these towns?
We just want to live in a nice, safe, family oriented place with good schools & things for families to do w/ their children. With no gangs or violence!! Is that possible.
what about Palo Alto, Los Altos, Sunnyvale??

Which of all of these cities will also be warmer than San Fran, like around mid to upper 70's low *80's in summer?

Thankyou for any help, I need all I can get.

[sonarrat]

I specifically mentioned Castro Valley because it's as safe as Palo Alto, but much more affordable and down to earth. Palo Alto is where you live if you want to pay extra for the privilege of saying you live in Palo Alto.

It is true that many areas do not have school buses, however I believe that Castro Valley does. Call the district and ask. Some of the local transit agencies provide special bus service during school days; for example, in San Mateo County the Samtrans 296 goes from North Fair Oaks to Sequoia High in Redwood City. AC Transit has some similar services in the East Bay.

[twins4lynn]

Burlingame would be a good choice. You can possibly find a 2 bedroom apartment for around 1800. The commute from Burlingame to SFO would be around 20 minutes. Burlingame has a real nice downtown area and lots of activities for kids through their Rec & Park. And the schools are excellent (elementary, middle and high school).

San Carlos is another city I'd take a look at.

[bayarea-girl]

To the OP this is not GA and so no they don't have the bus system you are used to. Some school buses in GA pick the kids up either right at home or very close to it. Walnut Creek would be my recommendation to you and rentals are in your price range but of course no bus. Some people pay a service to have their kids picked up & dropped off to and from school but it is REALLY expensive.

Good luck to you.

[artemis78]

Walnut Creek is a nice area, but is unfortunately not within a 45-minute commute of SFO, one of the OP's requirements.

Burlingame isn't a bad plan, or maybe San Mateo. Castro Valley is nice but the commute can be bad depending on the bridge (and there's a toll), so it's nice to live on the side of the bay where you work. I don't know if there are buses there---a few districts have them, but it's definitely not the norm in California. You may want to think about living near a school so you can walk, too (at least for elementary).

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by artemis78

I don't know if there are buses there---a few districts have them, but it's definitely not the norm in California. You may want to think about living near a school so you can walk, too (at least for elementary).

No school buses in either Burlingame or San Mateo. Most schools on the peninsula did away with bus service years ago as it's really not necessary.

[twins4lynn]

Regarding buses in San Mateo - at least for school year 2008/2009, the district provides bus transportation to all students living in the North Central area of San Mateo. SamTrans (public transportation) provides a public bus exclusively for students living on the east side of Polhemus Blvd. and the Laurelwood areas. (There is a fee for the SamTrans service.) Bus schedules are issued by the school district and specific information regarding routes and pickup times is available in our school office.

SamTrans also provides a bus (public transportation) to/from Burlingame Intermediate, primarily stopping around the east side of Burlingame. There is also a SamTrans bus that goes up Trousdale in Burlingame.

Most schools dont need bus service because the children attending are from their home district, usually within 2 miles of the school.