sparkle30

Hello We are relocating to CA with my husbands job,at the moment we are looking at Pleasanton CA.
So just wondering if anyone here lives there or "knows" the area?
Thanks

Mummy in the foothills

Bay Area, busy roads, that all I know!
Where is work in relation to Pleasanton? Some may have other suggestions for a good commute location.

sparkle30

Husband will be based ( when in the US and not travelling) in Santa Clara.

Michael

Any of the cities on the east side of the foothills are very hot during the summer.

As a suggestion, have you looked at Fremont in the Mission San Jose area. Anywhere along Mission Blvd (2 miles on either side) are nice areas plus you are near the foothills. The commute will be about 20 minutes to Santa Clara instead of about 45 minutes from Pleasanton and the summer weather will be much cooler (normally you don't need an air conditioner) because of the cooling night time fog from the bay which can cool your home to below 60 F (15 C) in the morning if you have the right exposure. In Pleasanton the air conditioner will likely be running 24 hours a day during the summer.

Schools in the Mission San Jose area are ranked very high (registration started in March for the fall session and is probably filled so your children may have to attend other not as well ranked schools in the Fremont Unified School District for the first year). Your street address indicate which school you will attend (unless previously filled). Click on the symbol in the following map to get more information about the school.

http://schoolperformancemaps.com/ca/...13223%2C12%2C1

Steerpike

How much time traveling? If he's traveling 80% of the time, and will be allowed to work flexible hours, then Pleasanton could work but otherwise, the commute will kill him. What is making you pick Pleasanton?

I happen to love the weather on the east side of the foothills - Walnut Creek, Danville, Pleasanton, etc - but if you don't also have a job there, the commute situation is not good. I'm currently commuting from Walnut Creek to San Mateo and it's abysmal.

If you do really want to be in that area for some reason, I'd recommend Walnut Creek over Pleasanton as WC has a great downtown (over 45 'non-chain' restaurants in the 'older' section, plus another 15 or so fancy chains in the newer section) - however, commuting to Santa Clara would be even worse ...

Fremont (as suggested by Michael) may be a better commute option. And they have the best Indian restaurants there!

E3only

-good downtown area with access to most of the things you can imagine
-not that far away from SF nor the south (Fremont, Pleasanton, Danville etc)
-free bus ride from downtown to BART
-county connection buses

Philgr

I live in Pleasanton and commuted down to the South Bay every day until recently - it's not bad - just depends what you are used to. I'd allow about 40 minutes each morning and 50-60 minutes on the way home assuming "normal" commute hours. Friday nights would always be worse.

If you have a family, Pleasanton is a great place to be - all the schools are good, the community is more established than a lot of East Bay cities (less new housing stock), house prices more stable, lower crime rates etc. If you don't have kids, you may find it pretty quiet.

I love the weather - yes, you need AC during the Summer (doesn't run all day if your house is well built/insulated), but it's rare that the heat gets oppressive and I prefer being able to sit outside in the evenings rather than being driven inside by the cold/fog. It's personal choice though.

Giantaxe

I did the WC to SC commute for a couple of years. It really grinds you down after a while. Even from Pleasanton, you're going to be saying "Sunol Grade" through gritted teeth sooner or later.

Michael

Yes, that is one of the disadvantages of sitting outside in the evening around the bay. Most nights, I would probably need a jacket after sundown.

The commute is the biggest disadvantage. Also as I have gotten older, I can't take the heat very well but it didn't bother me much when I was in my 20s or 30s.

sparkle30

Thanks, I believe he is going to be travelling 50% of the time,maybe a bit more for the 1st year or so.
Then will be able to work from home a couple of days a week.

sparkle30

Hi and thank you.

My husband is used to travelling does about 30 min now from a previous of an hr and half.
We are a family of 5 the kids are 12,6 and 4.
I have heard of a toll road/lane being put in from Pleasanton to Santa Clara??

sparkle30

Thank you,will have a look at that

Philgr

Yes - I think it is due to open in September - but I seem to recall it will cost ~$6 per day to use so the cost will rack up if you use it everyday.

Funnily enough, someone just told me yesterday that CNN Money decided Pleasanton was the 63rd best place to live in the US - these ranking are all completely bogus of course but this one supports my view so I'll post it

Poppy girl

On my way to Mill Valley today with a stop off in Pleasanton very nice area.

Giantaxe

I worked there for a while. It's got a nice downtown area with a bit of character. The rest of it is a bit "ho hum", imo, with too much new housing, which tends to mean big houses a few feet away from the next big house. There's also a relative paucity of mature trees given the age of much of the place. It's amazing how it's grown in the last 25 years. Another thing to bear in mind is that along with Livermore, it tends to have the most polluted air in the Bay Area. The area is in kind of a basin, surrounded by hills, which tends to trap pollutants, especially with a prevailing westerly wind. Like Steerpike I tend to prefer Walnut Creek (and the western parts of Alamo and Danville). But Pleasanton does have the advantage of a shorter commute to the south bay, plus like WC it's on a BART line to SF.