Damon389

I cannot speak for the schools in Blackhawk and Alamo, but they are nice areas albeit very different. Blackhawk is much newer construction.

The gentleman below mentioned that there is a portion of Walnut Creek that feeds into Lafayette schools. You may want to look at the houses that are along Olympic Blvd., West of Hwy 680. That's the general area that feeds into the Lafayette schools (although you'd want to confirm any house w/the owner/realtor).

I'd say that another thing to take into consideration when you look at the three towns is location. W/Lafayette being on a BART line, it's far easier to get into SF during a work day than Alamo & Blackhawk. If you're at home but thinking about going back to work some time in the future, that's something to think about. You can get to SF, Oakland, Walnut Creek, San Ramon/Bishop Ranch and Pleasanton all w/in 45 minutes either driving or taking BART. - Thu Aug 7 2008, 07:42

I couldn't tell you 100%. If they do, it's a small percentage. Very small.

Look at the Great Schools website. Lafayette schools are ranked neck and neck w/the best districts in Marin, San Mateo, Santa Clara Counties; as well as the City of Piedmont.

There are a small amount of apartments in Lafayette that may be a bit lower on the socio-economic spectrum, but I've not heard it impacting the quality of the schools.

In fact, our family (and I know countless others) move to Lafayette BECAUSE the schools are great. Yes, you pay more for a smaller home that you can get in other communities, but homes keep their values (relatively speaking), it's convenient to SF and its beautiful. - Wed Aug 6 2008, 23:12

Well, there could be some funny stuff going on amongst the older grades. My daughter just finished K, and the teachers were awesome, and they seem to be highly focused upon creating a positive environment for the kids. Heck, when I was growing up and in school, they made out my HS to be full of drug-crazed spoiled kids that are ruining the community (this was in suburban Dallas). Yes, some kids got into a lot of trouble, but the majority of students were good students that went on to be "productive members of society."

Re the market in Lafayette. Yes, there's been some correction in the market, but when you compare to 95% of the Bay Area, we're keeping our value pretty well. Pulling this data straight from Trulia, May - July -08 the avg selling price has declined 2.2% vs. the same time as LY. In this economy, I'd take that any day of the week!

If people are cutting their original asking price by $200K+, then my bet is that they had an unrealistic expectation of the market to begin with. Gone are the days (at least for now) when you can have a 94549 zip and just "assume" that the market will go up every quarter.

But we're just a short hop away from Concord, Martinez, Pleasant Hill, etc where their values truly have dropped by 20% - 25%. Many of those who bought there are 1st time home buyers w/limited equity. I feel for them. - Wed Aug 6 2008, 17:30

The schools are great, and the scores prove it. My daughter has an IEP, and she gets excellent additional support. Also, the parents are very involved and voulnteer/raise additional money to make up for state shortfalls.

No district is "utopia"- but I have not heard what Susan referenced and based upon some of her other posts about how Lafayette is "so overpriced and is due for a 25% market correction" I wonder what her movitation is in her under-selling the schools... - Wed Aug 6 2008, 00:28

Great feedback from everyone!!! Assuming that I "seal the deal" w/the job, I'll be asking for more info on short term rentals and homes... A quick question. I see that Glen Rock is one town over (and one less stop on the train) but still very close to Ridgewood's downtown and also seems to have very good schools.

Is there any price difference between the two towns? Looks like both are worth looking at... - Mon Jul 28 2008, 19:59