41,533
Population
Sunny Days: 262
70100 Affordability
80100 Schools
86100 Diversity
84100 Safety
Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. Leonardo da Vinci.
San Bruno, California
Little Italy
San Bruno Park View
San Bruno Point Park
Golden Gate National Cemetery
San Bruno City Park
The Best Thing About San Bruno?
Public Transportation
San Bruno is a suburb with a small commercial district/downtown but it punches way above it's weight class for public transport options. The BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) system stops here and will take you down to SFO airport, up into San Francisco, across the bridge to Oakland (and the Oakland Airport) or Berkeley, or all the way around the bay and down to towns in the east bay including Dublin/Pleasanton, Fremont and even North San Jose. You can also take the Caltrain stop from San Bruno down the peninsula to Redwood City, Palo Alto, San Jose and even down to Gilroy. There’s really no better suburb to live if you want to avoid driving around the Bay Area traffic. Oh, and if you do want to drive you’re right on the edges of 101 and 280, the two major freeways in the area. Finally, and to many the best part, you’re just a mile from SFO, the major Bay Area airport.
The Worst Thing About San Bruno?
Airport Racket
If you live a mile or two from an airport you’re going to hear the planes. Most residents seem to have gotten used to it, or know about it when they move in, or live on the western side of the city and don't hear it as much, but just good to know going in that planes taking off make some noise.
Lifestyle of San Bruno
San Bruno is an interesting, maybe even quirky place. Mostly thought of as a suburb but with a fair number of apartment/condo complexes to supplement the single family homes it has a mix of young professionals/couples and families.
This diverse mix of locals share a funky downtown running along El Camino and San Mateo Avenue. The boutique mom-and-pop offerings include Kava Bar), a cool spot serving Fiji’s national drink, Neelan Pacific Market and Fiji Market, family-owned markets offering international spices and foods. There are also truly one-of-a-kind shops including: a Hula dance school, Paradise Hooka Lounge, martial arts centers and any number of other non-chain experiences that make San Bruno feel like an old-school downtown neighborhood.
There are of course plenty of suburban lifestyle happenings here. The outdoor experiences available are pretty amazing given the suburban settings. You have the Santa Cruz Mountains bordering the western edge of town, and a half dozen more wonderful outdoor parks and hiking trails inside the neighborhood borders. Raising the kiddos here means you'll get as much outdoor play as your heart desires and all the common little league sports happen within the parks and rec system San Bruno offers.
Schools in San Bruno
The San Bruno Elementary School District scores lower than the districts south of San Bruno with a B- on niche.com. Depending on the neighborhood however you can find a school that bumps up into the B+’s so just keep an eye on that if you’re watching the school scores. At the high school level San Bruno is part of the San Mateo Union High School District which jumps to an A+ on niche.com. Peninsula and Capuchino are the two public high schools in the city with Capuchino the higher performer in part due to their IB and AP offerings and in part due to the diversity of students and supportive administration.
Why You Should Move Here Now?
The Cool Quirk
We like the quirk of San Bruno. It’s quiet (notwithstanding the airport) relative to other bigger neighbors but has a diverse population in all the ways that's possible: age, race/ethnicity, etc., and that diversity is supported by local restaurants and shops that come from a diverse community of quirky shopkeepers. If you’re looking for cookie-cutter, posher neighborhoods then you can find them. If you’re looking for something with more flavor, put San Bruno on your list.
Living in San Bruno
Neighborhoods in San Bruno
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Downtown
Families/Young Professionals/DINKs
San Bruno’s downtown district is not a classic suburban/town “downtown” with a grassy square and community events happening every Saturday. Instead it centers around the commercial district between Huntington Ave and El Camino Real. As noted in the lifestyle section it’s filled with cool restaurants, boutique shops, a Hookah Lounge and even a 105-year old casino, Artichoke Joe’s. There are plenty of apartment and condo options in the neighborhood, along with some single-family homes, but it’s truly ideal for young professionals or couples who want to be right on the BART and Caltrain station lines for commuting to work or play and have a few options for nights out when you want to stay local.
Portola Highlands
Families
Portola Highlands is a small, secluded neighborhood in San Bruno’s western hills that is much beloved by locals who appreciate how the homes often back up to the protected open spaces on the hills. The area has one street entrance via Sneath Lane that circles the neighborhood and gives it a private vibe, particularly when combined with the elevated position of the homes.
The homes in Portola Highlands were mostly built in the 1960’s, which means they are larger than those on the flats of San Bruno (typically 2,000 sq ft+), and they also sit on bigger lots, meaning the kiddos have more room to play, and you have more room to breathe the fresh mountain-ish air. Another bonus for locals – the highest rated district school, Portola Elementary, is right in the neighborhood.
Mills Park
Families/DINKs
Mills Park is one of San Bruno’s first neighborhoods. Built for the most part at the end of WWII it is known for modest, one-story homes that were intended as starter homes for returning GI’s and other middle class couples and families looking to escape the city. Since then many have been bought and expanded on the typically 5,000 sq ft lots.
Locals appreciate Mills Park for its proximity to downtown, which it borders to the east, and the 280 freeway, which it borders to the west. The blocks here wind along nice curving, quiet streets so even though you’re a walk to the restaurants and shops of downtown, you also get a nice quiet, suburban feel. Grundy Park is smack dab in the middle of the neighborhood so the kiddos have a great big open grass area to run around, along with a nice playground and picnic areas for the whole family.
Huntington Park
Families
Huntington Park is one of San Bruno’s first “suburban” neighborhoods, with homes built just prior and just after WWII. It is the most southern of the San Bruno neighborhoods and that is a huge plus if you’re looking to avoid some of the fog you get in the more northern and western areas. Don’t underestimate the importance of micro-climates along the coast of Northern California!
Another huge bonus to Huntington Park is the presence of the city’s most beloved green spaces, San Bruno Park and Junipero Serra County Park. No other neighborhood offers as much green space within walking distance. With that you also get a short walk to the El Camino commercial district and Parkside, San Bruno’s only public middle school, is in the neighborhood.
Crestmoor
Families
Crestmoor is on the western edge of San Bruno and much beloved for how it runs alongside the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains and a walk from San Andreas Lake reservoir. If you’re looking for a suburban neighborhood that gives you direct access to some of the most beautiful land in the country then put Crestmoor on your list. In addition to the mountains you also have Buckeye and Crestmoor Canyon Parks in the neighborhood so you really can’t do better for an outdoor lifestyle than Crestmoor. Crestmoor Canyon/Crestmoor Canyon Park are in particular pretty amazing, with over 76 acres of wooded hiking trails and play spaces for families.