San Ramon, California

If you don’t require your suburban city to have an active downtown but do need it to have beautiful homes, decent-sized yards, tree-lined blocks, great parks, incredibly safe streets and amazing public schools then put San Ramon on your short-list to check out. Living in San Ramon is pretty dreamy (albeit a bit boring if you won’t take trips into Danville or other major cities in the area) and parents just rave about what it was like for them to raise their kiddos here.

As was noted the biggest complaint you’ll hear about San Ramon is that it’s missing an active commercial district. For fun you have to commute a bit to Danville or Walnut Creek for a night’s out. There is a City Center outdoor mall that has restaurants and there are plans for growth in a commercial district but in the meantime you’re driving a bit to find a bar, or music or good cafe.

Not shockingly, the lifestyle of San Ramon is built around families. Amazing little leagues (all sports not just baseball) offer year-round sporting options and several great parks, including one that is fire-truck themed, one that has a musical theme (along with basketball courts, baseball/soccer fields and tennis/pickleball courts), and one that has a beautiful Olympic sized pool and Aquatic Park. There are also wonderful hiking and camping trails in the Las Trampas Wilderness preserve and Bishop Ranch Preserve so both the kiddos and the grownups enjoy the outdoor lifestyle here.