One more Question

[gizmo980]

Oh, and are you interested in San Francisco itself? And do you know where you'd be working (or going to school, etc.)?

[YakimaBelle]

Area is absolutely *critical* in the SF Bay Area. Fremont is on one side of I-880, Newark on the other. The differences include the simple fact that *17* Fremont elementary schools outscore the highest scoring school in Newark.

Within Fremont the high schools range from the incredibly good Mission High to one where the students tell the truth about their school, and write :**** High School diplomas, take one" above the toilet tissue dispensers in the bathroom stalls. Fremont has a long tradition of giving far more money per student to schools in "prestigious areas" while severely shortchanging students in less expensive neighborhoods.

[sliverbox]

Fremont is one of the last " affordable" places in the Bay Area... meaning a home can be bought for say... 475-550k. The reason is because it is borderline too far from everything. 20 miles from the East Bay alone.

That said, the only enemy you would have is the commute. if you're from NY, then you're already partially primed and accustomed to this.Me and my wife live in the East Bay and our way of beating the commute is easy. We leave the house by 6:00 AM, carpool to avoid bridge tolls and long lines. As a result, I can get to my job almost 40 miles away in 45 minutes. There are people who live half the distance away as I do, yet get up later and spend twice the amount of time in traffic. So ironically I actually beat most people in my office to work. The advantage is that I pay 50% less than most who live in the city, have cheap rent that costs 1/4th that to buy, and save a lot of money for the day that prices come down to sensible levels, which they are starting to do so as we speak.

I have heard good things about Fremont. Good idea to rent from the get-go because you might not like the commute. It doesn't bother me. I joined a gym and work out early and stroll into work and enjoy a cup of coffee.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by YakimaBelle

Fremont has a long tradition of giving far more money per student to schools in "prestigious areas" while severely shortchanging students in less expensive neighborhoods.

I think that's a standard all over. People who live in higher income areas see the incentive of good schools and fight for more money, and give more money to the schools. People in lower income areas are working hard and harder to keep a roof over their families heads, and don't have the time to fight or the money to give.

And, if you talk to some of the teachers I've talked to, people in poor areas use schools as a babysitter and don't care at all about the educational aspects.

So I don't think Fremont is the only city that does that.

[p-town]

I have to agree with gizmo890 on Pacifica (i too live in Pacifica). It is quite affordable compared to the other cities on the peninsula, despite the fact that you have these million dollar ocean views. add to that, its the closest quiet city in such a close proximity to San Francisco, and its a hell of a lot safer than South San Francisco and Daly City; the two cities that separate San Francisco from Pacifica. do some research, it is really your decision on where you move. good luck!

[YakimaBelle]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

I think that's a standard all over. People who live in higher income areas see the incentive of good schools and fight for more money, and give more money to the schools. People in lower income areas are working hard and harder to keep a roof over their families heads, and don't have the time to fight or the money to give.

And, if you talk to some of the teachers I've talked to, people in poor areas use schools as a babysitter and don't care at all about the educational aspects.

So I don't think Fremont is the only city that does that.

It isn't that people don't care; it is that the district is corrupt. It was so bad that they had to be taken to court to upgrade the other high schools in the ity. While they were planning and putting the kids at the other high schools on shifts, Mission was getting additional rooms added for a student body smaller than the other schools. One clue as to which district a house lies in in Fremont is the price; it can cost easily over a million for a three bedroom in the Mission High district.

Palo Alto has some of the best schools in the area; there are two and three bedroom houses there that rent for ten thousand dollars a month. The house we had there was a three bedroom, one and a half bath on a small lot and it sold a decade ago for almost one-half million. Recently similar houses in that area have sold for as much as a million.

The other option, one heavily employed by public school teachers here is find a house in a safe area with rotten schools where the rent or selling price are low - and then send the kids to private school. Somewhere around a quarter of California public school teachers have their children in private schools.

[YakimaBelle]

The people who were suing in Fremont about the poor quality schools were people who were software and hardware engineers, nurses, and middle level management. Fremont has a median family income of over $76K.