Understanding Berkeley vs Alameda vs Lafayette school districts

My husband and I are struggling to determine our ideal location to move to a bigger house.  We have one toddler and are expecting another and value public school systems.

Any parents choose Berkeley (north Berkeley or elmwood area) or Alameda (fernside area) over further east like Lafayette or Walnut Creek and why?   I grew up in San Ramon, did really well academically, took many advanced courses and went to top UCs for undergrad and grad school.   While I will continue to strive to be open minded to where my kids futures will lead them,  I also can’t help but owe a lot of my success to the resources, teachers, courses, friends and support I got through the school system.   My parents were supportive, but being first generation made it difficult for me to leverage their knowledge about navigating the system.

It seems like Lafayette/Walnut Creek are similar to San Ramon, but will Berkeley or Alameda school system be so different than what I experienced? Is there way to understand these differences and trade offs?do you have insights that will help me?

I have gone down many rabbit holes of research, forums, posts on parents groups to understand school options, and the nuances feel near impossible for the everyday parent to understand and make trade offs.   I understand and value that Berkeley would offer more diverse student base where families might come from more varied economic or racial backgrounds.  Also that Berkeley zones to multiple schools rather than one near your house (but it seems the schools are all equally preferred?).   Sometimes I read that if a child is academic or gifted Berkeley has no programs - but this is hard to determine when children are so young and trying to understand what these programs would or wouldn’t provide.  We obviously just want the best for our kids.