Moving to San Fran, Looking for a Walking Toddler Heaven & Strong Community

I think Teresa is referring to Richmond, the city, not Richmond District in San Francisco. I agree with Jen. San Francisco is great, but expensive. I don't think you will find a two bedroom apartment in a good neighborhood for $1900. I too am a native Bay Area person. I love it here, but it's expensive. The Richmond District is closer to the ocean, so there is lots of fog. Tiburon, which is in Marin County, has more sun. Marin is also expensive. I don't know the going rates. I grew up in Marin. It was great, but moved to SF to go to school. Now I live south of San Francisco on the Peninsula. Lots of smaller cities, lots more families. The weather is better past Daly City or San Bruno. That's where the fog sort of stops. I think the Peninsula is cheaper than San Francisco and Marin. Your husband could take BART to downtown for work, but you would need a car. San Francisco has good public transportation. The rest of the Bay Area, not so good.

I live in the inner-Richmond District and love it! We are walking distance to the Academy of Sciences/Golden Gate Park, several playgrounds, cute stores, good food, and fresh groceries on Clement Street. Golden Gate Park closes their roads on Sundays so that families can freely and safely walk, run, bike, roller-skate, etc. There's also a group that offers free dance lessons. I saw it once and people were having such a good time dancing. Public transportation is good here and can get you to the beach, the zoo, downtown museums, etc. The inner-Richmond sees more sun than the outer-Richmond. We also love that we so close to the Marina District although we usually drive there, taking a bus there is definitely doable. The Marina District also has cute stores and great food. The Presidio is also close by. The Walt Disney Museum is there, walking trails, biking trails, tidal marshes and beaches. The Stonestown Mall is on the other side of the park and they have a farmer's market every Sunday. If you have other questions, feel free to PM me. Hope this helps.

We, husband and almost 2yo daughter, live in the Lower Haight/Duboce Triangle area of San Francisco. It's still a little edgy, but fantasitc for walking, parks, food, stores (clothing and food) and transportation. I have met a number of fantastic families, some with SAHM and some not. There are also a number of preschools in the immediate area, including less expensive co-ops. The weather is sunny more often than not. SF tends to get very foggy in the Richmond, Sunset and Glen Park districts. Rents are not cheap (we own), but not as expensive as some of the other parts of town.

I used to live in the baby belt of SF. That would, of course, be Noe Valley. It's sunny, warm, full of shops and little parks, farmers markets, hills and flatlands. It has bus routes from/to anywhere, bookstores and kids kids kids - moms groups, music together, art studios, bakeries, and more. It is probably not cheap to live there anymore (I moved 13 miles down the coast to be near the ocean with my son) but perhaps other nearby areas are still affordable. We lived in the Mission district. You could try Bernal (another mom/kid friendly neighborhood) or maybe Glen Park. If city life is not your thing I hear there is a mothers group here in Pacifica and what we offer is wide open spaces for hiking, scootering, biking, roller skating. We have tidepools, skateparks, surfing and safety. The weather has different climates depending on whether you are at the coast or inland. Happy hunting. I think you'll like it here...

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I used to live in the baby belt of SF. That would, of course, be Noe Valley. It's sunny, warm, full of shops and little parks, farmers markets, hills and flatlands. It has bus routes from/to anywhere, bookstores and kids kids kids - moms groups, music together, art studios, bakeries, and more. It is probably not cheap to live there anymore (I moved 13 miles down the coast to be near the ocean with my son) but perhaps other nearby areas are still affordable. We lived in the Mission district. You could try Bernal (another mom/kid friendly neighborhood) or maybe Glen Park. If city life is not your thing I hear there is a mothers group here in Pacifica and what we offer is wide open spaces for hiking, scootering, biking, roller skating. We have tidepools, skateparks, surfing and safety. The weather has different climates depending on whether you are at the coast or inland. Public transportation is limited. Happy hunting. I think you'll like it here...

Do not go to Richmond (Richmond, CA), they have a huge crime rate. Please, please check out Alameda, CA 94501. We have a beach with walking path and you can see the entire SF skyline, the bridge, San Mateo, etc. San Francisco is a BART ride away, you can ferry to SFO or Oakland, Jack London Square, the Oakland airport is 15 minute drive thru town. HUGE baby population here, with an "ol town" feel, people are really down-to-earth. We have Art/Wine fairs twice a year where they block off 5-6 blocks. Farmer's Market on Tues and Sat plus a larger one in Oakland near downtown. There is a baby/toddler group at the Veteran's Building M-W-F called Wee Play $6 from 10-1pm. Tons of baby-friendly venues, lots of parks and activities. There are always ads in the Starbucks ad case about new mom/baby groups forming. You would love it here. I have lived here all my life and have 2 babies now (10 mo and 22 mo), if you are looking for a nicer new house community, try Bayport by Warmington, with a new school, Ruby Bridges. Good luck.

I have lived in the Bay Area all my life and lived in the Inner Richmond neiborhood of SF for 6 years. It is wonderful and there are tons of fun things to do with kids but definitely more foggy than the Marina area. You would probably have to pay more for a place in the Marina, though. The Marina has great parks, shops, trails, close to the presidio, etc.

Oakland/Berkeley/Alameda all have better weather, as does Marin (although Mill Valley/Sausalito area can be foggy). I'm guessing that if you are coming from Hawaii, you may not like the colder weather. If you go farther East (Walnut Creek), South (Burlingame/San Mateo) or North (San Rafael/Novato) you will have warmer weather. Only problem with Marin is public transportation is scarce.

As for cost of living - the only families I know with kids over 5 that stayed in SF vs. moving out of the city make over $250K/year (hard to afford private school tuition on less).

Good luck!

SF has a lot to offer and there are a lot of activities for kids.
However, before getting into details of various areas, I strongly suggest that you do some research in regard to cost of living. It would be very unlikely for you to find a decent 2 bedroom apartment with washer/dryer and parking in good, family oriented neighborhood in the range that you are looking. I suggest you check craigslist to get an idea on pricing.
In terms of locations: M./Cow Hollow has lots of playgrounds, public library, I like Mascone playground. When we lived in the area, we rarely drove on weekends as everything was close by. However, for 2br you are looking at least $3500 and up a month. Closer to 4K would be more realistic.
I doubt that you can find anything decent with parking and washer/dryer for 2K in any good/kids friendly neighborhood in SF. Also, not sure of the age of your children but if they will be going to school soon, you should start looking into SF school system as you might need to budget additional $ for private schools as SF school system is not the best.