San Bruno, California

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.

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.

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.