Where to move in the SF Bay Area?

I'm moving to the Bay Area this summer and need advice about what town/neighborhood to actually move to. My husband will be working in SF (downtown), but I need to be in a suburb type area for work. We are considering anything from Dublin to Palo Alto to San Jose or possibly outer SF and everything in between.

We don't want to get into huge amounts of debt buying a house, but its important to us to be in a safe, family friendly area with access to public transportation and good schools.

Any suggestions or advice on how to find something would be greatly appreciated! I currently live in Florida so it's hard to go exploring myself! Thank you!
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Here are the places I would suggest looking into:

1. Martinez: Very underated because its close to the Chevron plant, but you get great deals on houses (both renting and buying), relatively low crime and good schools though the commute to the city is not great.

2. Lafayette: Much more expensive for renting homes but okay for renting apartments. Very good schools and safe and with its own BART station it couldn't be an easier commute into the city.

3. Walnut Creek: Relatively affordable, tons of apartments, great shopping and downtown area, has its own BART station for commuting and has great schools, little crime.

4. Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore are also a possibility, but I have found the prices for renting there to be significantly higher than in Contra Costa County and you get much more traffic as well. (They also have their BART though the parking for it is nuts and walking to it doesn't quite work.)

5. Places in the northern Peninsula (south of SF) also have a suburban feel, but most are super expensive. Redwood City, I hear is more manageable.

Good luck Turtleshell!
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