SF bay area (east side)

[brgnmom]

my DH may have a job offer in the east side of the SF bay area, so we may be moving again in less than a year. Can anyone offer advice/feedback about Emeryville, Concord, Fremont, Pleasanton, Walnut Creek, or San Leandro? I grew up in the SF bay area, but in a different section of the bay area completely, so I'm unfamiliar w/ the east side. I'd appreciate your help. Thank you.

[crl]

We are in the city so I'm far from an expert. But I pretty consistently hear good things about Walnut Creek schools. Emeryville is pretty, umm, I guess industrial is the word I'm looking for. I think it was on a gentrification kick until the housing market burst.

Catherine

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i'm sure people will have great advice here but for this kind of question (comparison between various cities), i think city-data.com forums are really helpful as well. i remember using those forums a lot when we were moving, to get advice on neighborhoods, schools, etc.

[katydid1971]

Which city is you husband's offer because those towns are kinda spread out. If its on the west side of the tunnel then I would consider Berkeley or Alameda, both have great schools. I use to live in Alameda and LOVED it, if DH got a good enough offer I would love to move back there. If you are on the east side of the tunnel Walnut Creek, Danville, Pleasanton, etc. are all nice but not very diverse. I personally wouldn't consider Emmeryville or San Leandro. Oakland has some great neighborhoods (but some ghetto ones too of course). That being said my two top East Bay cities would be Alameda and Walnut Creek hands down!!!!

[brgnmom]

the company he'd be working for has local offices in the east bay cities I listed. Alameda and Walnut Creek sound promising. Thank you all for your advice and thank you ms. pacman for referring me to the city-data forums for additional feedback. :)

[sariana]

Of the areas you mention, I would consider only Pleasanton or Walnut Creek. (We lived in San Leandro for a few years in the late 90s. I wouldn't want to raise a family there.)

But you also should look at Livermore, Castro Valley (stay to the east), Dublin, and Brentwood.

I agree with the PPs, except I don't know anything about Alameda.

[Alice523]

I PM'd you. Did you search for old threads? There was one last year with good info.

[brgnmom]

I PM'd you. Did you search for old threads? There was one last year with good info.

Just PM'd you back. Thank you! I'll try searching through old threads.

Does anyone know anything about Fremont? I think this office location is closest to my relatives in the peninsula/south side of the bay area.

[codex57]

What nationality are you?

As PPs have mentioned, some of those cities are awfully homogeneous. I'm a certain ethnicity so some of those cities, while I get their appeal, I wouldn't be caught dead in for my own sanity.

I just don't get the same feeling of nonchalant tolerance that's a hallmark of other parts of the Bay Area. I mean, I really feel my skin tone, income level, etc in many parts of the East Bay.

[wencit]

I used to live in Pleasanton, and it was recently ranked #63 on CNN Money for best places to live. I have to personally agree, as the schools are excellent, and the city is wonderfully family-friendly. I've since moved to the East Coast, and I long to move back to Pleasanton. :)

Walnut Creek is also a nice town, as is San Ramon. I would consider looking into those 2 areas as well.

Fremont is huge, area-wise. I think, despite it being relatively unknown, it is something like the 9th biggest city in the U.S. in terms of square footage. There are some bad areas (think Newark), and one pocket of super desirable housing that feeds into by far the best school in the area (Mission San Jose HS). Other than that, Fremont is pretty blah, IMO. It's good for commuting to the South Bay area because among the cities you listed, it's the furthest south, so lots of people who work in Silicon Valley live in Fremont. Consequently, traffic is a nightmare during rush hour.

Feel free to ask me more questions. I went to school in Berkeley and lived in Pleasanton for a few years, so I'm fairly familiar with the East Bay. :)

[brgnmom]

What nationality are you?

As PPs have mentioned, some of those cities are awfully homogeneous. I'm a certain ethnicity so some of those cities, while I get their appeal, I wouldn't be caught dead in for my own sanity.

I just don't get the same feeling of nonchalant tolerance that's a hallmark of other parts of the Bay Area. I mean, I really feel my skin tone, income level, etc in many parts of the East Bay.

I'm third generation Asian-American, born & raised in the bay area (the peninsula, specifically), and my DH is Chinese. I've heard that Oakland is not very safe, and I actually haven't been to the other cities in the east side.