The most popular national trend in moves is finding smaller cities, near major metros, that have suburban amenities but also walkable downtowns. If you’re looking for that then BOOM, Pleasanton is made for you. It’s the very definition of a suburban city, with tons of single family homes, decent-sized yards (for California), plenty of biking/walking/parks/pools and outdoor activities for the kiddos and best of all for some, a fun downtown for family meals, local events and date nights when you get a sitter. Pleasanton also has one of the best school districts in the state and country and two BART (bay area rapid transit) stations so you can avoid the messy freeways if you need to commute into Oakland, Berkeley or San Francisco. 


Suburban with a Downtown

The Best Thing About Pleasanton? 

If you check out reviews of Pleasanton, families rave and young professionals will complain about suburbia and advocate living in Oakland, Berkeley or SF. There are tons of jobs in Pleasanton and the area however so young professionals face the commute vs. the social life choice. Most choose the commute. As a side note, housing prices average around $1.6mm so it’s pricey. It is however much less expensive than living in the suburbs that line 101 in Silicon Valley so it’s considered a good value for the area. 

It’s Quiet (and expensive)

 The Worst Thing About Pleasanton? 

Pleasanton has a nice balance between outdoor play, community events, suburban-downtown nightlife, and more family-friendly attractions than much bigger cities. 

For outdoor play you’ve got plenty of parks, and trails for runs, walks and bike-rides including and especially the Alameda Creek Trail, Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, and Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area. It has plenty of golf, tennis and of course a growing number of pickleball courts. 

Downtown has plenty of restaurants, cafes, boutique shopping, and a growing number of craft breweries and wine bars. It’s also the center community events and festivals, farmers’ markets and the First Wednesday Street Parties, held on the first Wednesday of each month, which offer live music, food vendors, and activities for all ages.

For families you’ve got the Alameda County Fairgrounds, which has year-round rides, games, and animal exhibits. As has been noted, the parks and trails also give the kiddos an incredible variety of options for play and community pools are great for neighborhood culture and cooling off in the summer heat. 

Check out the city's **[calendar of events](https://www.cityofpleasantonca.gov/gov/depts/cs/arts/default.asp)**


Lifestyle of Pleasanton 

Pleasanton is a tech hub of sorts with huge software players like Workday, Oracle and Veeva Systems here. Kaiser, Safeway and Thermo Fisher Scientific are also major employers. While Pleasanton is suburban, it is also a major company town. For those lucky enough to work and live here life is indeed pleasant. If you live here but work elsewhere (and you have to go into the office), try very hard to BART to work as the freeways are cruel and unusual with traffic. 


Worklife of Pleasanton

If you’re a family, and you want a suburban lifestyle with a decent downtown social life in the east bay of the bay area then Pleasanton should be on your short list. It’s one of the best values in Northern California that is a relatively easy train commute from Oakland/SF/Berkeley, which makes it a smart choice. 


A Smart Choice

Why You Should Move Here Now? 

Pleasanton is not a hub for young professionals but if you need to live here for a short commute then make sure you live Downtown. It’s the spot for restaurants, pubs/craft breweries, cafes and everything else you can find to do here. It’s also where the bulk of the apartment/condo buildings are going up. Plenty of one and two-bedroom options with gyms and pools to stay fit and cool throughout the year. Downtown parks like Lions Wayside and Delucchi offer courts for play and run and plenty of sports leagues including: basketball, softball, tennis and even Bocce! 

There are also small older homes in the downtown area for young families, couples and empty nesters/retirees who crave a downtown lifestyle but in a quieter city. 


Young Professionals/Empty Nesters/Retirees

Downtown

Vintage Hills is a lovely neighborhood, just east of Downtown, perfect for younger families looking for kid-friendly blocks and midsize, more affordable homes than the country-club neighborhoods of Ruby Hill or Castlewood. One of the nicest features of the neighborhood are the pretty hills and trees that keep things cool and give residents beautiful views of the area. You get the excellent schools of Pleasanton and a better value than some of the other neighborhoods, particularly if you like the easy access to the downtown social life. 

Families

Vintage Hills

Ruby Hill is a luxury neighborhood with beautiful, relatively newer homes, many of which surround the Jack-Nicklaus-designed Ruby Hill Golf Club. In addition to the highest-end homes, and the nicest golf club in the city, you also get perks like community center that includes a fitness center, swimming pool and tennis courts. Pair this lifestyle with parks/trails for outdoor play and some of the best public schools in the area and you can see why families pay the price for homes in Ruby Hill. 


 Families

Ruby Hill

Pleasanton

**Possible move to Pleasanton area**

From my experience living in the Bay Area for around 11 years, SF and Oakland are where the fun happens: good food, hip bars + parks, and cool events. Berkeley would be the third with the college town + Greek Theatre. The rest are more laid back and family-oriented.

If you don't mind commuting, living in the SF area would be convenient for your social life. By car, you'll be driving opposing the heavy traffic (because most people come to SF instead of out of SF). By Bart, it's quite convenient because you don't need to change trains. Besides, most companies in the Bay have WFH flexibility these days.

If you want a happy medium in Oakland, I would suggest looking for a place closer to the Lake Merritt Bart area (or even Alameda.) It'll give you easy access Barting to SF and Pleasanton. 12th St Oakland Bart Station and north of that would be too much of a hassle since you need to switch train lines to go to Pleasanton.

I hope this helps. Good luck and welcome!

**Possible move to Pleasanton area**

Pleasanton is a quiet bedroom community on the other side of the hills. It's known for it's dry, arid weather and gigantic strip malls. There's a train in it that runs between both San Jose and Stockton, which is part of the original transcontinental railroad. PG&E has their a big training center there, and it's nearby the government lab where we test nuclear bomb fuses.

As for a commute, Pleasanton is usually where people commute from not to. I guess Tracy or Lathdrop might work if you need cheap, Florida-like housing. You'll notice a lot of Florida vibes around those areas because of the slews. It really depends on personal mettle, I hate driving through Altamont Pass so all my suggestions involve a commute on the aforementioned train.

**Possible move to Pleasanton area**

The benefits of Pleasanton are that it’s quiet and that it has a nice downtown. There are other benefits for parents such as good schools, but at 23 that’s not a factor for you. There is a lot to be said about living and working in the same town. Just know there isn’t a lot to do out here. But you are a hop away from Oakland/SF/SJ ect.

A lot of people post on here complaining about fireworks. Fireworks in the Bay Area is a thing, especially in places like Oakland/SL/Richmond ect. Pleasanton/Dublin/Livermore/San Ramon don’t really have a fireworks “problem” outside of your normal 4th of July celebrations. Something to think about.

Also know that our freeways and commutes suck. Another benefit of living in the same town you work in. Only downside is it might be hard to stack cash with how rents can be around Pleasanton. Would really depend on your new income and bills/budget.

**How does Pleasanton compare with Foster City for quality of living in Bay Area?**

The weather in Pleasanton is somewhat warmer. Think as much as 10–15 degrees F on an average day. Foster City sits right on the Bay with some houses even on canals that open out onto the Bay. If you like boats or being close to the water that may be a big plus for you.

Foster City is also much closer to Silicon Valley in the south and San Francisco in the north (some newcomers now use the term Silicon Valley to include SF…kids these days!). Your commute from Foster City could be mere minutes to Oracle or a fairly easy commute up 92 to 280 and then down into SV proper or up to SF. (280 apparently has no actual speed limit and so even if there are a lot of cars, they still go zoom). FC has had some quirks when it comes to both shopping and real estate. Shopping is pretty available and the Hillsdale Mall in nearby San Mateo has both Nordstrom’s and Macy’s (just to give you a sense). Some of the neighborhoods in Foster City — a “planned” community — had houses where the buyer held deed only to the house with the developer retaining rights to the land (in other words, they “planned” to fleece the buyers in perpetuity). I don’t know if this is still the case, but if you plan to buy there, make sure to check with a realtor that you trust. Foster City is close to Caltrain, which is a clean, comfortable, quiet, and economical way to get dropped off about a mile and a half from the Financial District. One day they’ll fix this, I guess but its not a bad walk if you factor in an extra half an hour each way, or taxi/Uber, or (crowded but serviceable) shuttle bus.

Pleasanton is in a valley inland from Hayward which is Hwy 92 in the other direction. BART has a few stations in the valley which is a comfortable ride all the way into downtown SF with multiple stops. Stone Ridge mall is nearby and is pretty comparable to Hillsdale in terms of bourgie-factor (for which your preferences will be your own personal tastes). I think of Pleasanton as a little more generic, with the standard array of tract home developments, chain stores, and strip mall restaurants, not unlike any other American town of its size near a major metropolitan area. Not much excitement but accessible to the City if you want to go play and don’t mind a drive of about an hour.

Both are close to large regional parks with biking, hiking, picnic tables, water features if you like a gentle paddle (the fiercer stuff is a couple hours away from both places). The Peninsula (i.e. Foster City for your purposes) has seen a lot of tech driven skyrocketing prices which might price you out. Pleasanton is hotter, but…well, perfectly Pleasant. My daughter was born in P’ton and I lived next door to FC (Belmont) for several years.

If money were not an issue and the work commutes were roughly the same (more likely a little easier from FC), I’d pick FC. The breeze off the Bay makes air conditioning a non-issue and I like the drive to Half Moon Bay and down the coast to Pescadero.

Both are perfectly livable, ridiculously expensive compared to many places, and part of an amazing geographical and metropolitan area where the future is being literally invented right before your very eyes.

I hope this helps!

Pleasanton, California

The Most Desperate Town in the West

Looklyloo Score: 89

Downtown

Young Professionals/Empty Nesters/Retirees

Vintage Hills

Families

Ruby Hill

Families