I am thinking of either moving to Walnut Creek or Pleasanton. Which is better?

Question

I have a preschooler and want to be in a nice upscale good school type suburb. At the same time, it has to have easy access to S.F. (Soma) and housing (rent) that is not thru the roof. I basically want it all! :-) Someone mentioned Pleasanton to me...but not sure what it's like there. Heard lots of good things about Walnut Creek. Is there any difference commute wise from those 2 areas? Especially taking BART? Please help!

Answer 1

Go to Walnut Creek, there is much more character and a sense of community there than in Pleasanton. Walnut Creek has a much bigger downtown with better shopping and restaurants. Pleasanton has a mall with all the typical chain stores and plenty of Applebee's and Chili's type places to eat. WC has a real downtown where people walk around and hang out; it's been used as a national model on how to redevelop surburban downtowns. Pleasanton's shopping mall is a typical indoor mall surrounded by a sea of parking. There is also good nightlife in Walnut Creek with all the bars, people from all over central Contra Costa County and people from the Pleasanton/Dublin area come to Walnut Creek to go out. And there is more cultural/arts type stuff with the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts. Walnut Creek is a more established city than Pleasanton too b/c it was built up earlier, so you'll have more variety in homes compared to all the tract homes in Pleasanton. There is also a large number of condos and apts around downtown so there is plenty of rental housing to choose from that is all within walking distance to Downtown. The commute is better too b/c I-580 is one of the worst freeways is the Bay Area. 680 and 24 are also crowded but not as bad as 580. The BART ride is much shorter and cheaper to SF too and you are closer to Oakland and Berkeley. During the morning and evening rush hour the BART line thorugh Walnut Creek has the highest frequency of all the BART lines; trains every 3-10 minutes. I would visit both places first of course, but WC is better overall b/c there are more things to do there and it's a popular destination in the East Bay and you'll have easier access to SF.

Answer 2

Walnut Creek is smaller, Pleasanton is larger and has more shopping and chain stores and restaurants. It seems like there are a lot more newer neihborhoods popping up in Pleasanton than in Walnut Creek. I think the comute to San Fran is about the same. Rent might be cheaper in Pleasanton. Walnut Creek was recently in the news..No Easter Bunny this year for the Easter parade...that would offend too many people.

Answer 3

Both Pleasanton and Walnut Creek are bedroom communities, so they're similar in many ways.

They have a penchant for electing Republicans like Guy Houston and Richard Pombo (probably best not to mention that to anyone in SOMA). They're both near large shopping malls (Stoneridge and Sun Valley). They can get very hot during the summer. You'll see lots of mini-vans and soccer moms. Rent is about the same in both communities: expensive. But, at least, you get more space than you would in the city (backyard and garage, for instance).

Median income in Pleasanton is considerably higher than in Walnut Creek. However, Walnut Creek is physically more attractive because it's greener and closer to Mt. Diablo.

Both cities have BART stations. However, Walnut Creek is slightly closer to the city center than Pleasanton (39 minutes vs. 47 minutes to get to Powell St. station).

Answer 4

Personally, I think the commute to S.F. is easier from Walnut Creek.. As far as living in either place.. Both are nice. Rent is basically through the roof.. School's are good in both places.. It depends on what you like..I prefer Walnut Creek. Great places to eat, shops etc. Pleasanton offers the same thing.. but my preference is W.C. Good luck..
Hey. Vivian D. is right. Alameda is great... Weather is idea and not far from S.F. great places to eat.. Good choice Vivian..

Answer 5

Although the distance to SF is about the same, there are between twice as many and four times as many trains going to and from SF via walnut Creek (Pittsburg/Baypoint line) than there are from Dublin/Pleasanton. If it seems pretty even in your eyes, I think Walnut Creek should win the tie-breaker based on being an easier commute.

Answer 6

I would rather live in Alameda. Not as hot, small town atmosphere, close to SF via BART or commute bus. When I used to live there in an apartment off Shoreline Drive, I would get home, cross the street to the beach, and watch the sun go down behind the pyramid building in the evenings. It was so nice to be able to see where I worked, and yet be so far away from it at the same time. Love it there.

Answer 7

Both are wonderful. Really. They are about 30 miles apart.