jackattack

Foster city gets great reviews in terms of quality of life, particularly for families with kids. But I think it was built on landfill so not sure about implications of that when the big shake comes.

md95065

Shouldn't be a major concern. Foster City survived the 1989 earthquake just fine. The property built on landfill that suffered serious damage (in both Santa Cruz and the Marina district of San Francisco) was all old construction built prior to about 1940.

Zez

Yes exactly that, the method of construction was different. Foster city council is trying to get the risk downgraded on the earth quake maps because of how well they survivesd the last quake and the fact that it was built differently. It was something we looked into and but it didn't concern us overly

The quality if life here really is great.

Zez

Of the areas near me Burlingame is nice too, v popular and feel v like Putney to me, but too urban feeling for us. The cafe culture is great though. People talk highly of the San Mateo hills. Belmont is popular for good schools (again v built up, can you spot a pattern for why we picked Foster City)

jackattack

Most people are mentioning living sound of the city (Foster City, Burlingame, San Mateo hills etc) but also take a look at north of the Golden Gate. Driving over the bridge every day would be a pain but there are commuter ferries which cross the bay and land right near your work. And most of the public schools up there are great.

We have some friends who commute on the ferry from Tiburon and they love it. They say that the commuters all get to know each other really well because it is the same people taking the same ferry together every morning - it's like a little club of friends who have a quick coffee together before work.
I personally love the idea of taking the boat to work.

So, just a thought. Check out Tiburon north of the Golden Gate.

S Folinsky

I don't know if this is still true, but back in 1972-3, the Tiburon ferry also had a bar. I was amazed at how some people would stagger off that damn boat. [I lived in the East Bay and then the City but I had many occasions to take the ferry].

There is also ferry service via Golden Gate Ferry to Sausalito and Larkspur. [Although it is since been developed, the reprise of the "Do you feel lucky" speech in Dirty Harry was filmed where the Larkspur Terminal is now located]. [p.s. The famous chase scene in "Bullit" looks somewhat strange when McQueen makes a turn in one part of the City onto a street in a completely different section] see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lbs_nYW3-o

Zez

A lot of my husband's workmates recommended Sausolito or Marin county (across the bridge) and they use the ferry to commute. We do a niche martial art and there was no school out that way so it was a no for us, but. Know it comes highly recommended!

kevntrace

I used to live in Alameda in the East Bay before moving a little further east to Dublin. Used to love catching the ferry from Alameda to the Ferry Building in downtown SF. It is a lovely way to commute.