Looking to relocate/Schools & Commute in Hercules, Concord, Martinez
Greetings! I'm new here and looking for advice as we plan to purchase a house (find schools) in the bay area. We are relocating from overseas after over 10 years. I have been doing a lot of research into schools in the cities were we think we can afford a home. We will have two high school aged children (would enter Freshmen and Junior years, respectively). We continue to work through our understanding of the cities/neighborhoods. As of now, based on schools and home prices, we are looking at Hercules, Martinez, Concord, Pleasant Hill, and Benicia. The rising HS Junior is more a math/science kind of kid and the school system we will be coming from abroad is very strong.
Our deciding factors include: Strong/decent school (I've been looking a lot at greatschools.org as well as school websites and other measures I come across); possible community college nearby as the HS Junior might be taking college courses while finishing HS courses; in a neighborhood where my husband can get to public transport/drive or bus to BART or the ferry in Vallejo in order to reach city center as that's the most likely place he'll find a job in his field. Yes, we know the commutes may be brutal.
So, can people help me by commenting on these combos and the pros/cons:
Hercules in the neighborhood west of the 80 where husband can walk to a bus stop to transfer south to the BART then change BART in Walnut Creek to get into the city. It's Hercules High School which as pretty strong test scores and AP offerings, a far more diverse student population (Asian/Pacific Islanders and Blacks more represented than at the other schools...). My Concord realtor isn't big on Hercules. To me, it looks like it's up and coming and has further plans to increase public transportation (even possibly a ferry in the future?). But is the school growing stronger or wavering? Know anything about the leadership? We once bought in a place we thought was "up and coming" and it never arrived. Not too interested in repeating that poor housing investment.
College Park HS (Martinez/Pleasant Hill) is a very strong school, but it looks as though the commute from that school district area might be longer since we'd have to drive to the BART. The realtor claims Hercules traffic is so terrible along the 80 that Concord/Martinez, even with a car commute to BART will be quicker overall. Realtor thinks Concord/Benicia are much better areas and better investments.
Almador HS and Alcanes HS do not have housing we can afford in their district (budget under 650K for at least a 3bed 2 bath house).
Finally, Benicia HS looks good too. Husband likes the idea of the ferry better than BART. But, realistically, couldn't it be a 30 minute commute to the ferry?
Very appreciative of any light/insight/input families can offer to help us understand how to hedge our bets toward a livable place. Also, would love to hear actual commute times to city center for anyone living in these areas.
Parent Replies
Commute from Benicia to SF is a two-bridge commute. Long days, regardless of mode of travel. When I worked there, the people I knew who commuted to SF typically drove to Pleasant Hill BART, parked there, and took BART from there. I think Hercules High is pretty strong (that is my school district). People there either take the 80 express bus to SF, or drive to Del Norte BART, park there, and BART into SF from there. Not as familiar with the central county high schools. I would suggest one of you nail down your job first and pick the area to buy in second, because if you end up working in Oakland, that's a more reasonable commute from all those communities. Otherwise I personally would prefer not to be commuting to SF from Benicia or Martinez because of lack of transit options.
Hi, there. I don't have any useful information to share on those particular schools, neighborhoods, or commutes. However, there is a very useful tool which you can check out on your own from where you are now: http://511.org/. You can use it to map out actual commutes using public transportation from each of the places, and see what the estimates are on how long it would take. Be sure to try it out on several days at rush-hour to compare. Given that you can't be sure whether or not to take your realtor's word, this should help! Best of luck to you.