Dan,
I would have to agree that the East Bay and especially Walnut Creek would be the best bang for your buck. The public schools are some of the best in the state plus you can find a single family in the 700k price range. On a personal note, I went to college with quite a few people who graduated from east bay schools and their science and math skills were far superior.

Dan,
I would have to agree that the East Bay and especially Walnut Creek would be the best bang for your buck. The public schools are some of the best in the state plus you can find a single family in the 700k price range. On a personal note, I went to college with quite a few people who graduated from east bay schools and their science and math skills were far superior.

Dan -

I am sure the SF Trulia voices will speak up but until then - check out great schools.net.

http://www.greatschools.net/city/San_Francisco/CA

CJ

Dan, where are you planning on commuting from?

Dan,
I'm going to continue with my unashamed admiration for raising kids in San Francisco. While you may hear negative things about urban schools we have some of the best public schools in the country. Here you can pick any school you want you kids to go to. Most schools have some focus or special program that parents can chose from. Language immersion is one expample.
I recently hosted a talk to our association of Realtors with a member of the Board of Education and a spokesperson from the school district. I subsequently wrote an article and it is posted on my blog if you are interested.

Oh Mike - you crack me up! I thought that face looked way too familiar but no, I am not a football fan.
That's what I get for late night answers!

Thanks!
CJ

now if I could just avoid typos...

CJ, Maybe if he had his helmet on you would have recognized Mr. Favre!! I can understand the expression from him--No Superbowl appearance this year!

Dan, Are you in a job transfer which hasn't leaked to the media yet? Giving up playing in those "frozen tundra" fields for the warmer climes of Candlestick Point? I thought your name started with a "B" or is this on the hush, hush until the "formal announcement " of your trade? Either way Brett, er, Dan, I'm sure you'll just love our schools in the Bay Area (and I don't mean Tampa Bay!!). I guess Linnette and CJ don't watch any football!! By the way, you looked really cold on your last outting!!

Well, less than an approx. 45 minute BART commute GIVEN your price range, in order of commute time to SF:

*Montclair (neighborhood in Oakland, more hill, woodsy, views, less level yards)
*Albany (smaller homes, N of Berkeley)
*Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda (Also called Lamorinda, just might be too much for those areas) Lamorinda has the best schools of all the areas I mentioned...and it's also the most expensive. Check it out at http://www.MyHousingGuide.com. Could find a fixer.
*Walnut Creek (great value and might be the best option) School Districts in order of best to good are: Walnut Creek/Acalanes, Northgate, Mt. Diablo
*Pleasant Hill (might be your best option for schools, quality of life, good for elementary and middle schools)
*Most bang for your buck for quality of life, great schools, home value....also the most suburban is San Ramon. Commute time is 60 min. The closest BART to drive to is either Pleasanton or Walnut Creek (WC).

Compare and contrast at: http://www.greatschools.net

Note: Piedmont, Marin and Peninsula offer great schools comparable to Lamorinda schools. Unfortunately, price of homes are just too much.

I know the entire East Bay as I grew up here and live here. I also know the entire Bay Area as I've sell it all.

As said in other thread http://www.trulia.com/voices/Schools/Which_markets_give_you_… that San Francisco is the best.

However, if you are coming from Minnesota and prefer more rural, you may find El Cerrito very nice town to live and there is a BART station at El Cerrito Plaza. Commute to Downtown SF is very easy as we used to live there and my father commute to Market St downtown SF to his accupuncturist office.

I had classmates at UC Berkeley who graduated from schools at El Cerrito http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cerrito,_Contra_Costa_County… meaning your two kids would have good chance to get into the best university in the world.

I am not quite sure if El Cerrito has the top public district, but if your kids went to the top elementary schools end up did not get into top university, your resources are wasted. You should consider the school districts where most students went to top university like UC Berkeley. How do you think?