Moving from Oakland to Peninsula - a good idea?
Now that it looks like offices may be reopening soon, and now that our kid is nearly kindergarten age, we are strongly considering a move from Oakland to the Peninsula. Would love to hear stories about families that moved from one area to the other - what did you love about one place over the other? What did you miss? I'm worried that we'll miss the diversity, the natural beauty, and the relative affordability of the East Bay, but I'm attracted to the Peninsula for the schools, neighborhood safety, and much easier commute. I'm also guessing the Peninsula will feel more tech saturated in terms of the occupation of parents we'd meet - that's not our industry so I wonder if that will feel isolating. Thank you for any advice or thoughts!
Mar 7, 2022
Parent Replies
Hi- Our family moved from Berkeley to Millbrae about 3 years ago for our jobs (one of us works in San Jose and one works in SF) and we really love it here. We definitely miss aspects of Berkeley (diversity, biking paths, family nearby) for sure but Millbrae has been a surprisingly great place for our family. Neither of us works in tech and there are certainly lots of folks in tech but I've also met plenty of healthcare workers, teachers, and folks in other industries as well. The things we like are: proximity to San Francisco- especially Golden gate parks and parks in the South side of the city, access to the beaches in Pacifica and SF (we go to the beach a lot), access to beaches/parks/walks on the Bay (something we never thought about before moving here), we can walk to the library/downtown/parks super easily from our house, it feels relatively safe, family in the East Bay and Marin can still come visit for the day since it's not that far, commuting to SF is far less painful than driving from the East Bay, and there are still enough towns nearby, San Bruno, Burlingame, San Mateo to find yummy food and stuff to do. Our kids are 9 months and almost 4 so we haven't experienced the public schools yet but they are supposed to be good. Things that are challenging- it's VERY expensive here, (makes Berkeley look affordable in comparison), there is some diversity but it's definitely more limited social economically and racially, and it has a different energy/buzz than the East Bay (I probably would notice this a lot more if I was single/without kids but with kids priorities have changed.) Also, given that Millbrae is relatively small I've been able to meet other families through our kid's preschool and other local parent groups which has been really nice.
I would be happy to chat with you more about our experience if helpful. I know it's a big decision. My email is ribzjade [at] gmail.com if you'd like to contact me.
I grew up in Berkeley and went to Berkeley public schools, lived in SF after college, and moved to San Mateo after getting married. Now we have 2 school age kids in elementary schools in the San Mateo Foster City School District. We've made some great friends here but I will say Peninsula life lacks socioeconomic diversity, creative energy, and social activism. The wealth and educational backgrounds of folks can be intimidating. It seems like every other person graduated from an Ivy, Cal or Stanford and works in high paying and intense jobs. Quite a few send their kids to private schools that cost between $30-60k per year. But it could just be the neighborhood I live in and the school my kids go to. If it weren't for where we work, I would move to Berkeley or Oakland in a heartbeat, mostly because the Peninsula lacks diversity and progressive energy. Having said all that, San Mateo is a lovely place to live. It is very safe. The kids have made some great friends. People have high expectations for their kids but not in an unhealthy way. Folks are nice to each other, hate crime is very rare, and there is some economic diversity (but not much mingling between people of different economic backgrounds but where in the world does that happen?). Also, Half Moon Bay is nearby as well as some wonderful state parks.
I have in-laws on the peninsula. The biggest challenge for older kids is that it isn’t very bikeable/walkable, and so for the parents there is a lot of driving around. There seems to be less of a variety of kid activities. The high schools are typical suburban in their social dynamics. On the other hand a shorter commute is worth a lot.
We lived 4 years in East Palo Alto and 1 year and a half in Oakland now.
We moved because we wanted more diversity, trying to escape the tech world a little and people s obsession with career and money. It was hard for me to make friends there, people definitely feel more real here in Oakland. We are very happy with our decision to move to Oakland. I feel that you have an idea of what to expect when I read your post.
The things I miss from the Peninsula :
The weather, it s really much sunnier and warmer.
The quiet relaxing weekends and easiness to drive and park anywhere.
The proximity to Santa Cruz and Pacific Grove.