Bart access
I am yet to move to Bay Area, and I am expecting a job offer from a company based in SF downtown. I am thinking to rent an apartment in the following areas: 1. San Ramon 2. Pleasanton 3. Dublin 1. How easy or difficult to travel to SF downtown from the above places? 2. Which place do you suggest (among the above 3 places) for a family with school going kids? 3. Is it easy to park and ride from a BART station? My assumption is it is very difficult to get parking spot at Bart stations. Do we have any connecting buses to Bart stations from apartments? 4. Please suggest any good apartments where you stayed earlier (apartments that are in safe neighborhood, with good schools and easy access to Bart) My rent budget is about 3K to 3.5K. Thanks in advance.
All of those cities are safe. All of them have decent schools. Amador Valley in Pleasanton and Dougherty in San Ramon best ones at high school level. But even the worst school in that area will be decent from rankings perspective. For BART you'll need to be parked by 7:00, if not earlier to get a spot. If at possible, I'd live in Dublin or Pleasanton walking distance from Dublin/Pleasanton station. You could also head to West Dublin station which has more parking, but even one train down the line you'll likely have to stand all the way into SF.
Bart to your final destination is by far the most painful part of the commute. Seek to minimize that distance and be able to get to Bart without a car. Needing a car will exponentially worsen your situation. Typically parking is filled by 7am at these stations. San Ramon is not great. If you can get within a mile of Dublin stations, that’s the ideal
Are you single? Or moving in with family. Consider Oakland
San Ramon it is. Didn’t see you were looking for schools :)
Moving with family