Moving to San Francisco - recommendations for neighborhoods?

grapeskittles4lyfe

Hello!

I'm a FTM to a 6+ month old daughter. Originally from Boston, we will most probably be moving to San Francisco sometime between May and September of this year. I love our neighborhood in Boston and hope to find something similar over there. So, my question to you: which neighborhood would you recommend for a young family?

Ideally, I would like something that is 

1) well connected to public transport

2) has lots of other young families

3) not too far from Oyster Point (where we'll be working)

Would any of you have tips for me?

Thanks in advance!

CurlieWhirlie

Oyster Point isn't actually in San Francisco, it's in South San Francisco, which is a separate city further down the peninsula. You wouldn't want to commute from San Francisco to South City for work. Kind of like living near downtown Boston and commuting to Beverly for work. The good news is that South City is a pretty suburban area, you shouldn't have any trouble finding a nice family-friendly neighborhood.

grapeskittles4lyfe

Thank you @curliewhirlie!

GlitterMuffin914

Early welcome! I'll actually be in YOUR city tomorrow for a week!

like previous poster said, Oyster Point is a bit further down the peninsula. It's out of the city, so it's more suburban, and a lot of people with families tend to move a little south out of San Francisco. If you start searching for areas like South San Francisco, Daly City, and San Bruno, you'll find housing pretty near to where you'll be working. I'm not too familiar with actual communities in that area, but I'm sure there are plenty!

grapeskittles4lyfe

thank you @glittermuffin914, and have fun in "Bahston"!  Bundle up warm

CurlieWhirlie

Oh I tried to post a follow-up last night but it looks like it didn't work — you mentioned public transportation, and I'm afraid we just don't have anything out here as good as the T. Since South San Francisco is suburban, you will really want to have a car.

What part of Boston do you live in now? I grew up here, but I lived in Cleveland Circle, then Brighton Center, then Watertown before I moved back to the Bay Area.

grapeskittles4lyfe

Aw man, a car? How about a Vespa ? Although I don't think that would be the best way to cart a kid around...

It just seems like a waste of money, but if there's no way around it...

Right now we live in Jamaica Plain - Boston's hip (?), hippy, crunchy neighborhood. I do believe we'd fit right in over there in SF.

CurlieWhirlie

It's so mean of you to include a picture of JP Licks when we don't have any out here!

Also, we don't have Dunkin' Donuts, so prepare yourself.

See's Candy is pretty freakin' awesome, and their factory is in South San Francisco.

Scottwswife

South San Francisco, San Bruno, millbrae or Burlingame are a short enough commute. Burlingame is pricey but so cute, tons of shopping, tons of young families.

teach1008

Welcome!  I moved from Boston almost 5 years ago.  There's definitely neighborhoods that would fit your needs in the city but you have to decide if you want to commute.  It really wouldn't be too bad of a drive.  I know about some of the towns on the peninsula.  Are you able to visit before you move out?  That's what we did before we moved - identified our neighborhoods of interest before we came and then spent a weekend touring around.  Feel free to PM me for more info!  

grapeskittles4lyfe

@teach1008 Thank you! We were flown out last weekend for the area tour. San Francisco is a very cool city and the agent did manage to find some places for us that weren't completely out of this world, rent-wise.

@scottwswife Thank you! Sorry, I was only on mobile this weekend and didn't see your answer until today.

Yellow578

We currently live in the city now but to raise kids we will probably rent out our place and live in the suburbs by the time our little bean is ready to go to school. Public transportation is good so commuting isn't difficult. If you have questions about specific neighborhoods I can help you out good luck with the move!