Lesbian couple with a child wanting to move to San Francisco

[jade408]

Originally Posted by justinbro2002

Truely your lifestyle isn't going to be a problem most places you go in the bay area people are pretty liberal here. your 275k isn't going to go far the city of San Francisco you are looking at a small condo in not very good area. If you want to drive across the bridge you could probably get a house in the east bay for 275k. But the further you get away from San Francisco and Silicon valley the more your money can buy and in better suburbs. Your 275k budget is kinda low for the bay area unless you head to the east bay. In Hayward and Oakland you could get a single family home for 275k but the neighborhoods would not be that great. Otherwise you are looking at condos and townhomes. But the commute can really suck but as a new hire you would probably be looking at nightshifts without the traffic.

275K doesn't get you much in the east bay. Unless you want to be really really far out. Or in an up and coming neighborhood in Oakland (you might find a house in the Laurel District in Oakland. Think a 1000- sqft 2 bedroom 1 bath. Schools are average at best.)

There might be some older condos available, about 2 bedrooms, around the Grand Lake/Adam's Point area in Oakland (which apparently has the largest concentration of lesbians in the Bay Area). Schools are OK. For elementary.

Otherwise, you might find a house in Concord for that price. Schools are average to mediocre as far as I know. Als Pittsburg and Hercules might have options, but they are also far and have mediocre to average schools.

Otherwise $275k will get you a 1 bedroom condo in most of Oakland (newer condo), parts of Fremont, parts of Dublin, and that is probably about it.

The magic number for a larger condo/townhome/house is about $500k in a better school district (Dublin, Pleasanton, Castro Valley, and Fremont have a few things in that range and pretty good schools)

[ZhugeLiang]

Originally Posted by Manilie

We are looking to move to San Francisco with our 4 yr old and would like a gay and family oriented neighbor.

Well, I guess you're just going to have to go door to door and ask about everyone's sexual orientation, won't you?

Yeah, don't move to SF, it's actually hostile to gays. That pride flag in the Castro is a trap.

[uptown_urbanist]

I would also reconsider the idea of buying. Where are you coming from? I know that in some parts of the country it's almost a given that it's the "adult" thing to do to buy a house, and renting is seen as something for the young, the old, or the transient. That is not the case in the Bay Area. This is also one of the areas where it often makes more financial sense to rent, not buy, and certainly you're going to be able to rent a MUCH nicer place for $2,500 than you could possibly buy for $275k.

And not to sound too sky-is-falling, but if buying in the Bay Area I would also seriously consider potential climate change impacts. Obviously if you're up in the hills you don't have to worry about rising water, but areas like Alameda (and a lot of other parts of the Bay Area) are pretty low-lying, and since a house is an investment in the long-term, you don't want to end up (literally!) under water, or even just have potential buyers afraid to buy while they wait to see what happens.

Even if you do buy, for now I'd just concentrate on renting somewhere you like, give it a few years, and if at that time you still strongly want to buy, THEN do it and don't worry about making a move to a different area if necessary. You'll know the area better, you'll know what your incomes are and where the jobs are located, and your child will still be young enough that it won't be a big deal to move schools. Obviously it's nicer to just stay in one area, but there's a big disparity between what you'll get with your rental budget versus what you'll get with your buying budget. Unless home ownership is a top priority (or are willing to take on a major commute or take a chance on a rough neighborhood), you are very likely to decide that you'd rather rent rather than buy. And besides, in a few years maybe you'll be making a lot more money (assuming you're at around $100k or a bit more with that rental budget, which makes it tough to be a new home owner these days in the Bay Area, especially if public schools are at all a concern) and will be able to have more options.

In any case, that's a long-winded encouragement to focus on renting, forget about buying, especially if you're moving here from some other area where home ownership is more of a given for middle-class families. (which is, I assume, most of the country other than NYC and perhaps a few other high-budget urban areas).

[justinbro2002]

Originally Posted by jade408

275K doesn't get you much in the east bay. Unless you want to be really really far out. Or in an up and coming neighborhood in Oakland (you might find a house in the Laurel District in Oakland. Think a 1000- sqft 2 bedroom 1 bath. Schools are average at best.)

There might be some older condos available, about 2 bedrooms, around the Grand Lake/Adam's Point area in Oakland (which apparently has the largest concentration of lesbians in the Bay Area). Schools are OK. For elementary.

Otherwise, you might find a house in Concord for that price. Schools are average to mediocre as far as I know. Als Pittsburg and Hercules might have options, but they are also far and have mediocre to average schools.

Otherwise $275k will get you a 1 bedroom condo in most of Oakland (newer condo), parts of Fremont, parts of Dublin, and that is probably about it.

The magic number for a larger condo/townhome/house is about $500k in a better school district (Dublin, Pleasanton, Castro Valley, and Fremont have a few things in that range and pretty good schools)

I live in Livermore which boarders on Dublin and Pleasanton and you can buy an older house here for about 275K. We are talking a 3/2 about 1300sqft rancher. But alot of them are updated and the town is really nice there is a cute downtown nice parks, vineyards and wineries everywhere. Livermore valley charter school is a top ranked k-8 public school.

[Jasmine658]

East bay - use Greatschools.com. We know many kids that have 2 dads or 2 moms. Totally normal here, and hope someday normal everywhere. The peninsula may be too pricey for your budget. South San Francisco does have a neighborhood I like with decent schools called Winston Manor, also great commuter location, but think homes are about $500K still.

The city of SF schools are sadly very poor in general, and we found could only get school assignments in gang violence areas (certain colored clothing not allowed), and schools rated extremely low academically, but very high for subsidized lunches. Also SF schools generally have playgrounds that double as parking lots, and are always locked, unaccessible to the community resembling prisons more than happy school environments.

Suggest picking somewhere outside of SF, like we did after learning the hard way. If like fresh bay air, consider Albany, North Berkeley, or El Cerrito, or if like warmer summers, go through the "Caldecott Tunnel" like Walnut Creek, Livermore, Pleasanton, etc. Clayton and Pleasant Hill also nice towns to consider. Use Greatschools.com & Redfin.com for searching. Good luck!

[ubringliten]

Originally Posted by Manilie

We are looking to move to San Francisco with our 4 yr old and would like a gay and family oriented neighbor. We are looking to rent and then once there purchase within the first 2 years. Need good schools. Any suggestions as to which neighbor would fit best?

If you want to live in the city, Bernal Heights is your best bet. I heard that lesbians have built this neighborhood like how gay men built Castro. It is a very quaint nabe with awesome food and people. I don't know about the school though but the library is wonderful.

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by ZhugeLiang

Well, I guess you're just going to have to go door to door and ask about everyone's sexual orientation, won't you?

Yeah, don't move to SF, it's actually hostile to gays. That pride flag in the Castro is a trap.

I think the key is gay AND family-oriented. San Francisco and the Bay Area is very GLBT-friendly, but I would say that not all of San Francisco is particularly FAMILY-oriented. I believe it's still the major American city with the fewest number of children per capita, and I've far more often heard people throw around terms like "breeder" in San Francisco versus the other places we've lived. The "family-oriented" part of the OP's question is probably going to be a bigger issue (that and budget, if looking at city specifically) than sexual orientation.

To the OP, while I think about it, there are a bunch of meetup groups and other organizations where you can meet other parents and kids (both lesbian parents and parents of all stripes); if you end up in SF limits the Golden Gate Mothers Group is really big and helps get you connected with playgroups, etc. I think they also have a lesbian-specific subgroup for families that want their kids to have a chance to spend time with other families that also have two moms.

[ssmaster]

being lgbt will not be a problem in almost all of the bay area
your budget is the limiting factor. oakland and san francisco both have public school issues and you can't afford private school neither are a good choice.
oakland has the largest concentration of lesbians in the US and there are a large number in the grand lake area but i don't think you can afford private school which is a route many in oakland take after their kids leave the neighborhood elementary schools some of which are excellent(and in expensive areas). in SF many families leave because of the school situation.

albany is a good choice for good schools and berkeley tolerance but $275k does not get you much of a house.



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