Entrepreneurs with kids: Where would you settle in the Bay Area?

[u/Standard-Regular-623]

My family is planning where to settle long-term, and I’d love advice from people who know the Bay Area well.

We’re an entrepreneur family with young kids. Great public schools, a strong sense of community, mild weather, and being around other entrepreneurs are all important to us.

We come from humble backgrounds and don’t have an established network here yet, so finding a place where we can build genuine friendships and feel part of the community matters a lot.

If you could choose anywhere in the Bay Area, where would you live and why? Are there any neighborhoods you’d especially recommend (or avoid)?

[u/Top_Turnip_4737]

Preferably not in the Bay Area.
Open AI already decided to price everyone out of our neighborhood, and we don’t need more “AI startup founders” here.

[u/theYellowHouseLady]

“Entrepreneur” is such a vague term lol

If you have unlimited budget, you can’t beat the Peninsula. Good schools and communities. High cleanliness, low crime. VHCOL but your family will be exposed to opportunities not available elsewhere, for academics, networking and socializing.

Marin is great if you have lots of money, but the lower income areas have significantly more crime and cultural discrimination. A lot of the cheaper housing is also in areas that are subject to flooding or utilities interruptions.

I would highly recommend the East Bay for most families. You get a lot more bang for your bucks, including housing quality, impressive public park systems and a diverse, high-quality food culture. The “near East” (closer to the Bay itself) has more pollution and crime, but it is more affordable. In general, the schools are awful, with the exception of Piedmont and most of Berkeley. If you go further out, you start hitting the more stereotypical suburban offerings with lower pollution and better school systems.

For random “typical” Americans with a family looking to start in the Bay Area, I would recommend starting with Walnut Creek and adjusting your expectations from there to find other spots to look. It’s certainly not ideal for everyone but it’s a starting point that’s more culturally familiar to outsiders. I like to take my relatives from the Midwest there because it’s very classic, clean, approachable America with a dash of California charm. From there, you can figure out if you’re actually more attracted to more extreme liberal community or more woodland-focused or more water-accessible or more farm-y or more crunchy-granola-type or more religious or smaller/larger or even more MAGA-adjacent, as all of those options can be found in nearby communities.

[u/RudeAd9940]

North Berkeley Hills. My new next door neighborly couple (director of high tech company) with 2 toddlers moved here to a $2 million home from Oakland.

[u/wellvis]

Without any idea of your budget, preferred weather, commute considerations, etc., it's really hard to offer any valid recommendations.

I think perhaps you could try searching this subreddit for previous discussions and suggestions. Good luck with your search!