Advice on communities for job in SF, family with a teen
Hi everyone! My husband recently took a new job in the San Francisco financial district. We live in CT and he currently commutes to NYC. His commute is about 2 hours (on mass transit). We are looking to cut his commute to about an hour (on mass transit). We are looking for decent schools (they don't have to be top notch super competitive). We want a community that is down to earth and chill. Diversity would be nice as would a downtown area and walkability. I understand our house will be smaller with less land there. We would like to keep the home price under $1m. My older two daughters are in college so it is just my 13 year old who will be in high school next year. She is a softball player so a good travel team would be nice or a community that is easy to commute to fields from would be nice. She also plays trumpet so a school with a strong music program would be a good selling point.
We like the sound of Alameda but my concern is getting off the island for practices, dr appointments etc. Also not sure about the housing inventory there.
I like the sound of Balboa school in Southwest SF but the school system and policies in CA confuse me. Here in CT you go to the school in your town no option other than private school but in CA it seems like there is some sort of choice. Not sure how much choice we would have moving in August though.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Parent Replies
El Cerrito would definitely fit all your criteria! BART or bus to San Francisco is 30 minutes each way. It is a walkable city. El Cerrito High School has an excellent music program and a softball team. The local travel softball team is called the Crossfire and a few ECHS players are also on Crossfire. El Cerrito High School is so diverse that there is no majority ethnicity. Plenty of down to earth community events though the city and the community center. Homes will be under 1M. By BART or driving it is easy to get to Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco for more variety.