Advice on Danville, San Ramon, Pleasanton
Hello,
We currently live in Oakland (Montclair) and contemplating a move to either Danville, San Ramon and Pleasanton. We have 2 grade school children who currently go to a great elementary school but our concern here is middle and high school. I realize its not about the test scores but Ive actually toured some of these schools and unfortunately there are some underlying issues with OUSD that I dont think will change. Nearly 95% of the kids in our neighborhood go to private school and no one plays in the front yard. We are hoping to move to a neighborhood where our kids can have a yard, ride their bikes around the neighborhood and hopefully make some friends that live on the same street that go to the same school etc. Not mention that Oakland is getting fairly expensive and its cheaper in certain areas of Danville, San Ramon and Pleasanton. We also dont have to commute to SF no more so no need to be as close. With that was hoping to get any advice on Danville, San Ramon and Pleasanton. Overall thoughts on culture, community. What are the differences in area ie the seperation of the 680. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Parent Replies
Hi there!
Our family is going through a similar transition we lived in Oakland, moved back to the San Francisco for work, and now we are finally landing in Dublin / Pleasanton due to our toddler's school. For us, the crime in certain parts of Oakland (that we lived in) has reached a point that we can't understand for the price point, and the city was no longer a necessity due to permanent remote work now. I realize not everyone has this option, but that's what drove our move to the Dublin/Pleasanton area the most.
We honestly never spent much time in the area before now, but we have been really surprised with how much we like it. We are actually paying less than San Francisco with a much larger house and are still close to the amenities (Whole Foods, Target), and beautiful parks nearby. While our child is attending private school in Pleasanton for now, we figured we would make the jump now and start to explore the top rated public schools in the area for him to eventually attend. We also don't need to be closer for a better commute to SF, but it helps to know if we ever need to in the future that we are close to BART and highways that are easily accessible.
We're a mixed family, racially and culturally (Black/Hispanic), so I don't know if that is what you mean by thoughts on culture and community. I will say that the teachers at our child's school go out of their way to make sure everyone feels included, safe and multiculturalism is celebrated. Our child has come home with amazing artwork celebrating Jewish, Sikh, and American traditions. But I do think this area is overall more conservative compared to Oakland and SF.
Since the area is very family oriented you will find that most of the area is pretty safe and geared towards a calmer lifestyle which we appreciate.
Best of luck! :)
I wouldn't call this advice, but the grapevine in the Cupertino area (South Bay), at least a couple years ago, says that the general migration pattern is towards San Ramon.
My sister lives in Alamo with her two girls and they love it. They use to live in Oakland and made a move for similar reasons. Even though it is cheaper out in some of those areas, a large portion of the people are still fairly affluent. I like the convenience of being able to walk to places in Berkeley but I totally get wanting to have a yard that your kids can play in.