Due to my husband work we need to move to San Francisco. Which one is the best suburb for a medium class family? I'm looking for an area with good schools, low crime and where I don't need to learn Spanish to commmunicate with neighbours. Please, share any info that you have. Which areas are the best and which to avoid, anything you know will be a great help. Thanks in advance!
Thank you all for the great answers. A BIG thanks to all of you who didn’t assume right away that if I’m looking for a place “where I don’t have to learn Spanish” I have something against the Spanish speaking community. Thank you for not accusing me of being racial because some of you did. At the moment I do speak in Korean with my wonderful neighbor and I feel bad that I know very few phrases to communicate more efficiently with her husband who is Chinese. I do talk in Russian with my hair-dresser and believe me, he does take extra care of my hair. I do speak in German with one of my best friends because she is German and I’m proud to be the only person here that her husband can talk in Dutch with. I can practice my French with my Canadian friend and I’m getting use to the accent of my other neighbor who is Australian. I also speak Flemish and Bulgarian but so far I haven’t found anybody to refresh it over coffee and some Flemish gossips. So, please, do not look for an elephant under the fly, because you won’t find it there. Is it really so difficult to assume that someone is so nice that she would like to speak in Spanish with her Spanish neighbors?
I've lived in Foster City (San Mateo County) for the past 3 years. It's pretty pricey, but otherwise has everything you are looking for.
Pacifica especially in the valley and Linda Mar Area is just about 15 miles south of SF and on the beautiful coast. Plenty of commute transportation buses, 5 minutes to BART and 10 minutes to SFO. The schools are excellent and people are friendly and really into keeping their children into activities like sports and dance and performance classes. I am sure it is much less expensive than living in SF also. Good luck.
Are you thinking of moving to the east bay or to San Francisco? SF is a pretty expensive town to live in. If you can afford it, look into the avenues. If you want to live in the east bay, I would look at Berkeley, Albany and El Cerrito.
Marin (Mill Valley, etc.) -over the GG is gorgeous, but pricey!
If you are going to live in SF, I suggest Richmond or Sunset districts. There are many communities outside of SF that also works if your husband will communte. I also suggest you lose the attitude about language. We are very diverse and consider it a strenght. If you don't like it go somewhere else. Is it only Spanish you don't like? What about one of the Chinese languages, Russian, one of the Indian languages, Farsi - just to name a few.
You can look at Contra Costa county - I don't know the schools well, but BART makes it easier to get to SF. Marin (further north) might work too. Oakland, Vallejo - avoid (although I hear the Oakland hills are nice). Napa is nice - you don't have to learn Spanish, but there is a significant population of Hispanic people. American Canyon is diverse (including Filipino), and has some very new schools ( high school opening this fall).
In San Francisco itself, I'd look into the Richmond and Sunset districts. They are not downtown, more like suburbs. Public transit makes it easy to get downtown when you'd like. And both areas have a lot of families, are a lot less expensive (relatively) and are quiet and low crime.
San Francisco and the surrounding communities are very diverse and you might want to drop the attitude about language differences before you move here. Maybe look into some cultural sensitivity training online. As far as which "suburb" to move to, in San Francisco proper I would direct you to the Sunset or the Richmond districts--we don't really have suburbs that are referred to as such--but if you're looking outside the city then your question is very broad. The Bay Area is a metropolis and there are many, many areas to consider. Will your husband be working in downtown SF? Is he willing to commute by train or on BART?
Be prepared for real estate sticker shock, and be aware that pricey real estate doesn't always mean that you'll want to send the kids to the local schools. It'll also be helpful to determine what your price range is, how far your husband is willing to commute, what type of house/yard you prefer and how much time/$ you're willing to invest to fix things up (most of the areas closest to SF are older homes and often in need of fixing up and are frequently smaller/on smaller lots than newer homes that tend to be in suburbs that are further away)
If you're looking in the city of San Francisco itself, be aware that commuting from the Sunset or Richmond district to downtown SF can take almost as long as commuting in from some suburbs.
The areas in the East bay (across the bay bridge from SF) most frequently mentioned for their quality school districts are Albany, Piedmont, and the Lafayette/Orinda/Moraga ("Lamorinda") area. If you're willing to drive further, the Pleasanton/Dublin/San Ramon area has a lot of good schools and the homes are larger/newer and you'd probably get more house for your money, but the commute will be longer. Feel free to email me directly if you have q's. Good luck!
It depends on whether you mean San Francisco or the Bay Area. For San Francisco itself (you want to live close to the city), consider communities along the Peninsula like San Mateo or across the bridge in Marin County. Keep in mind that these areas will be extremely pricey, though. If you're just working in SF, consider communities along the BART line. I grew up in Fremont and my high school (Mission San Jose) is ranked among the best in the country for public schools. You do pay a premium to live in that neighborhood, as is always the case with the top schools.
I grew up in the Bay Area and never felt compelled to learn Spanish, so I don't think that will be an issue at all for you.
I lived in Contra Costa county in Walnut Creek and in San Ramon. Both are beautiful, wonderful communities. I didn't have kids at the time but would have no problems putting my kids in the schools there.
Every "suburb" you have been directed to is great, and I do believe you will get great schools, but may have to pay for private school at some. You may not necessarily require learning spanish, but you WILL be surrounded by asian-AMERICANS, irish-AMERICANS, russian-AMERICANS, black-AMERICANS, and many more to name just a few. So before you move out here i suggest you prepare yourself for a culture shock. Oh, and please don't be surprised if your asian or spanish speaking neighbor, wait wait, speaks english!
Good luck, and congrats for getting the opportunity to live in such a amazing city and letting your children get some culture!
