The trouble with Pleasanton, Livermore, etc. is you have to cross a bridge. I work in Burlingame and have a handful of co-workers that live in Dublin, San Ramon, and Pleasanton. It's an hour commute in both directions, which is too much for me, but okay for others. The real trouble is, about once a week, there is an accident on the bridge, and the commute instantly doubles. On those days, my co-workers just stay home and work from home.

We currently live on the Peninsula in San Bruno. My wife stays home with the kids and my income isn't nearly what folks above are saying you have to have. We moved into a rental home three years ago. It's a 3-bed, 2-bath, 60-year old home. Seven years ago, moving from Utah, we would have been appalled at what we are currently living in. But we have a decent yard and a great Elementary school... and you know what, we have absolutely fallen in love with the Bay Area. It is a terrific place to live.

Three years ago, we entered the home at $2,350 a month. It's probably worth about $4,000 or even $4,500 a month now, but we've been lucky and they haven't raised us very much. According to Zillow, our home's value has gone from $610,000 to $1.15 million in the past three years.

Just before we moved three years ago, we almost moved to Castro Valley (the last town in the East Bay before climbing the Oakland Hills and heading over to Pleasanton). They have great schools and it's about 15-20 minutes closer than Pleasanton. However, one day when I was testing the commute, there was an accident on the bridge and it took me more than two hours to get to Burlingame. It was my wife that decided she didn't want to lose that much of my time at home. Hindsight is 20/20, but I regret not going through with it because the specific house we were negotiating on was offered to us at $320k... and it sold in July for $825k.

Which brings me to Morgan Hill / Gilroy. If going to Morgan Hill / Gilroy, there are no bridges to cross. It is still a long commute (probably 35-45 minutes), but if you could go on the 280, the 280 is pretty open and consistent, especially once you get past downtown San Jose. I also have friends in Morgan Hill and they report that the wards are big with very strong youth programs. One friend even refers to his Morgan Hill ward as a "Utah ward", for what that's worth.

Lastly, if you're willing to pay a few more dollars and live on the Peninsula, my recommendation is the San Mateo - San Bruno corridor. The five towns along there are kind of a sweet spot between the crazy expensive Palo Alto-centric towns (south) and San Francisco (north). These towns also have excellent schools up in the hills, as opposed to the flats along the Bay tend to have lousy schools (except for Foster City). In particular, the ward in Foster City (San Mateo, Foster City, Belmont) has a solid youth program.

If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me a boardmail.