help moving close to Palo Alto from East Coast (Sunnyvale: rental, house)

[mouradusa]

Hi
We are moving from Long Island New York to Palo alto.
We are a family with three kids (11-7-7) so I was wondering if you can give me some hints about a nice place to settle in this area with a good school district.
We would like to rent a house close to "dowtown" meaning close to some activities.
We are right now renting a 4bdr 200 sqrft for 3300$/months in a small village. I was looking at something around Mountain View, Sunnyvale to the south or Redwood City and San Carlos to the north.
Can this be possible in this area?
or any other interesting suggestion?
Thks
Moumou

[gizmo980]

I'm pretty sure (not 100%) the best schools among those four would be in Sunnyvale - followed by Mountain View, then San Carlos, and lastly Redwood City. Mountain View would probably give you the best "downtown," with Castro Street being a safe & vibrant area with some great non-chain establishments. San Carlos has a really cute downtown too, it's just not quite as extensive as Mtn View.

Check craigslist for an accurate idea of rental costs around here, but you should be able to find something decent in that price range. Sunnyvale is slightly more expensive than Mtn View, San Carlos possibly falls between those two, and Redwood City kinda depends on the neighborhood... east of El Camino is cheap, and for good reasons, but anything closer to Woodside/Emerald Hills can get fairly pricey.

Other ideas? Depending on how far you're willing to commute, the following might be other towns to consider: Redwood Shores (technically part of Redwood City, I believe), Belmont Hills, Foster City, and Menlo Park or Palo Alto itself if you can find anything in that price range. Good luck!