markonline1

After some picking of brains.
Currently, I live down on the Monterey Bay. Both me and the missus love it here. I truly believe it's one of the nicest areas on the planet. Trouble is, there is no work. The missus has had a job offer to move up within the company. They approached her, so it's looking good that the position is hers. It means working up in San Fran though. If we stay put, her chances of going any further are severely limited. Jobs wise for me, there is nothing!
So we're looking at relocating. Ideally somewhere near a BART station. We need a house, at least 3 bedrooms, and we need a yard for 2 large dogs and some chickens. We would also need a good school. Currently, the 6 year old is in a charter school, basically private education without the cost, so we want to try and get something the same up there.
I'm considering staying at home and becoming daddy day care for a few years, the wife will be on about 100k a year, so we don't have a lot to play with for the area we are looking at.
The area we are thinking is Concord. So, anyone live there or know the area? Are we wise, are there better areas, no go areas etc? I'm after as much info as I can get.

markonline1

Oh well, that went well LOL.

Hotscot

Mark

I've stayed up there quite a bit, lower cost than further down the Bay of course. I think there were/are issues with drugs/gangs in the past but don't know how bad it is. Seems lower middle class area..maybe equivalent to Salinas which as you know is close to you?

You also may like to look at the San Pablo Dam area..


How about the city data website?

markonline1

Seriously?????? That is about the worst thing you could have told me LOL. People go on about Fresno and Bakersfield, but Salinas is the real toilet of California. Monterey County has the highest homicide rate amongst males under 21 in California. When you think it contains towns like Monterey and Carmel, basically Salinas is almost single handedly responsible for that stat. I did check city-data. Some said ghetto, some said it's fine. I wanted to get an expats view of the place. I think I may have to persuade the missus to look at some other areas. Maybe forget about the BART and look at the Half Moon Bay area.

Hotscot

Just my impression...it's my go to place if I need a cheap Hilton within driving distance of the Bay.
To its credit they been doing some town centre developments, shops, etc that have brightened up the area but it's generally felt lower end to me.

Half Moon Bay? $$$ I imagine...

How about Plesanton, Livermore, near the Bart?

(I know you'd miss Monterey though.)

markonline1

I'm gonna miss Monterey terribly, as is the wife. But as I said, this place is no good for a career. I pretty much gave mine up when I moved out here, but the missus can probably go pretty far with Fidelity, but not by staying down here unfortunately. I did mention Pleasonton And Livermore but she's been looking online and it seems pricey. It sounds like we are gonna have to do some serious homework on the local hotspots. Concord is better than Oakland though, right?

N1cky

Sorry, my knowledge of that side of the Bay is only hearsay. I don't know anyone who lives in Concord. I know several people who have moved to Pleasanton, which seems a great place for families. Schools are good, houses relatively cheap... From looking on Great Schools, the schools in Concord are rather mixed.

Hotscot

I actually stay in Oakland a lot as I visit Berkeley often..never seen any trouble. But I think it's case of a which street you're on...

I'm surprised some of the Bay Area members haven't responded yet...

Morgan Hill? Gilroy?

N1cky

Morgan Hill and Gilroy are way too far to commute into the city (IMO).

N1cky

Have you looked at Burlingame? Hubby works there, it's got a little downtown area, houses are fairly cheap, and the schools seem decent. It's often under a blanket of fog though.

I think other areas further south like Foster City, would be out of budget on $100k

Hotscot

I think there's a BART for the commute though..

In all honestly 100K would be tough anywhere up there, although presumably you'd get a job Mark?

markonline1

FIL lives in Gilroy, the wife grew up in Morgan Hill. There is public transport into SF but it's about an hour and a half apparently. I'd be happy with Burlingame as I want to try and resurrect my career in the aviation industry. I think we'll have another look at Pleasonton to see if it's viable. I've heard it mentioned rather favorably here before which is why I originally mentioned it to the wife. Cheers.

Giantaxe

I wouldn't choose Concord myself unless it was solely for financial reasons. It's just kind of boring a place and is hot as hell in the summer. I have friends who live there so I do visit it periodically. If it were me and I needed a BART station in the East Bay for a relatively reasonable (in Bay Area terms) price I'd take a look at Pleasanton/Dublin (a lot more expensive than Concord though), Castro Valley, El Cerrito, and certain areas of San Leandro & Oakland. Oakland, of course, has "issues" but imo it's a mistake to write the whole place off.

markonline1

Unfortunately, cost is a major issue. Pleasonton and Dublin we are looking at a 2 bed apartment at best for the sorts of money we have. I guess we would be looking at no more than $500k right now.

Philgr

Yep - it would be impossible to get a single family house in Pleasanton for that. Apartment in Dublin is probably the best bet out of the Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton area. The schools in Dublin seem to be improving (whereas the Pleasanton ones, though good, are suffering from overcrowding).