Below you will find all the SperlingViews added about this city.
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| Nice but with lots of problems - 5/22/2022
Its a suburb of the bay area with no snow, lots of sunny days, less crime, lots of parks. However, it has lots of problems too, hence the 2 stars.
Problems which apply to the whole bay area, very high tax (53% income tax, 10.25% sales tax, property tax, lots more), high housing price (doubled in the past two years), high cost of living, wild fire (2-3 months of smog and danger of evacuation every year), terrible traffic and public transportation, risk of earthquake.
Problems specific to this region: Crowed schools, we are talking about long lines in front of bathroom during the breaks, teachers felt underpay and are constantly protesting, how good can they do their jobs if they are so unhappy; The weather is actually aweful though its only 50 miles away from san francisco, the temperature swings crazy during each day, from 30 in the night to 80 in the day, or 50 in the night to 100+ in the day, its basically a dessert with burning sun and strong wind, not comfortable walking half of the time. A lot more constructions, housing, and more crowded schools and higher tax coming. When the office opens again, the commute can be dreadful (yes, 3 hours daily to either SF or the Valley).
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| Tri-Valley living is the best! - 11/17/2019
I’ve lived here for a year now and moved here from the Tri-Cities. Imagine going to the bank, grocery shopping and out to eat with little to no lines/wait... that’s is Tri-Valley living. ??
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| Perfect ... if ONLY..... - 6/2/2015
Here is a review of the entire Bay Area and breakin git down, and how Dublin/Pleasanton fits into that and why it is the best all-around choice for value, flexibility, weather, safety, education, etc.
The Bay Area is a wonderful and excellent place for anythnig you can imagine (as long as you are not a staunch conservatives... but we have those here too). The 2 things that make any Bay Area resident consider leaving this area multiple times while they are here are:
1. The Cost of Living is impossible here. Unless you are well into the 6-figured income, you'll always be playing catch-up, saving at every corner just to make ends meet, etc.
2. The traffic/commute situation is horrendous 24/7. Our Sunday off-traffic is probably worse then prime-time commute hours anywhere besudes say.. NYC. And that's with one of the most comprehensive mass transit systems in the country (not only a subway/monorail (BART), but also a city-wide Bus/Light Rail system (MUNI), a ferry commuter system, and a train system (CALTRAIN).
#2 is the same wherever you go simply b/c of the number of people working here and having to commute from long distances b/c #1 means most people can't live near their work. And if they somehow are able to, all it takes is an office move (due to costs of course) or a change of jobs and your commute just went from tolerable back to the unbearable.
You will be lucky to be able to get to work in less then 1 hr in most cases (unless you live right next to work). This review is true of ANY location in the Bay Area. Now for the differences.
The City (aka SF proper) and The Peninsula (also known as Silicone Valley - which coers the area between SF and San Jose). These are the prime locations because this is where all the jobs are and thus the locations which give you the most convenient commutes possible. Currently a frien dof a friend with a $1.2M budget for a house is "having problems finding anythnig reasonable" in these areas. So in other words, your ticket to these prime areas is agoing to be $1.2M if not more - and that doesnt get you any location advantage, updated structure advantage, and/or space advantage. For any upgrades in either of those 3 areas, price goes up quickly. SO. if you don't have $1.2M (probably more like $1.7M by end of this year), you will be relgated to the areas a bit more outwardly than that and htus a longer commute (unless you score one of the few good jobs outside these prime areas).
SOUTH BAY. The up-n-coming location and quickly picking up where Silicone Valley left off (the 49ers recently moved to South Bay out of SF, the Oakland Athletics are trying to do the same). These are where the people who work in Silicone Valley (the Googles, Facebooks, LinkedIn's of the world) who can't afford that area, are starting to move b/c it offers the next best commute possibility. Not too long ago the cheapest area in the Bay, its' quickly racing up to #3. Downtown is developing nicely and the SJ Airport is probably the nicest and quickest ones to get in and out of now in the BAy Area (we have 3 international airports within 20 miles of each other).
EAST BAY. usually referred to as Berkeley and Oakland and Alameda and that area. Very dense. Becoming expensive as people from The City are being priced out of downtown and havint to move eastwards (especially those without cars). BART services East Bay so it has now become the extension of The City (Ferries service it too). The problem? The stigma of being neighbors to Oakland and its crime levels. You have nice small neighborhoods neighboring traditioanlly crime-ridden ghettos seemingly alternating every few blocks. The reasonable commute via mass transit is what drives the prices up here. The crime/ghetto and therefore inconsistent schools is what you risk here.
That brings me to the FAR EAST BAY and where Dublin/Pleasanton comes in. Far East Bay is basically Silicone Valley but with a LONG commute (you are 40-50 miles away from work). And because of that, you have some good values out here residentially. Dublin/PLeasanton provides more convenience than some of the other neighborhoods (San Ramon, Danville,etc) b/c it has multiple BART stations, tons of shopping (literally any shop you can think of, there is 1 if not 2 of them in Dublin/Pleasanton), and better housing prices to add to the mix. The BART stations and proximity to South Bay and both bridges across the bay, make it the most flexible in being able to get to jobs in ANY of the major Bay Area locations - again.. at an affordable price with the option of mass transit if you want.
What it means is .. you will never have a super short commmute. But you will never have the worst commute either. You will ahve a pretty consistent commute and be able to take a job anywhere (same can not be said for the other outlier areas).
Bay Area is wonderful.. IF you can handle the finances and commute. Both are EXTREMELY expensive and challenging here. We'd all love to stay here, but there is a reason many of us choose to leave after a while....
The circular problem of needing those premium jobs (6 figures or more) just to feel like you can keep up with the cost of living here, but most likely having to spend 3-5 hrs per day to get to and from those premium jobs every day - is just too much time you're spending working... then living.
I read another review for another place i'm looking to move to. They claimed "i love that its so cheap to live here.. but life is not about reasonable living and bills.. it's about the excitement a city can provide you and the entertainment...."
Quite ironic to me. I see it the other way. What's the point of working ourselves to death and having to maintain premium jobs and premium pay (which carries permium stress) - if it's all going to just maintain your ability to stay without being able to save and enjoy it? If we can't put away a little something for something bigger down the road (a house, a car, a retirement, a vacation) - then what is the point?
You shouldn't have to feel like a decent full-time job is not enough to live You shoudn't have to make 6 figures and still feel like you have to cut corners to keep a roof - or have to be willing to spend 5-6 hrs a day travelling to/from work to keep that roof.
But.. that is the Bay Area. PERFECTION personified - if it weren't for the damned costs and commute times to earn a living to try and keep up with those costs.
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| Hard to find reasonable properties without breakin - 6/9/2009
Very hard to find reasonably priced detached single family (2 level) homes in Dublin, Pleasanton and San Ramon. In my opinion too much of the available housing have HOA's attached to them, making it more expensive still!
Some of the HOA's are a little more worth-while though, offering decent facilities like Swimming Pools and Gym's. Guess it all depends on your budget and what you're looking for.
If you want a Townhouse or Condo then this is the place for you, as they are being built at an alarming rate. If you have kids and want a garden, then you might struggle unless you want a Ranch style property, or you have deep pockets.
Schools in Dublin are apparently very good and the Recreation facilities here are great.
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| A burgeoning community - 8/3/2008
Dublin is city in the "tri-valley area" of Northern California (Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore) across the bay from San Francisco. It's a developing city, with a lot construction, residential and commercial, taking place on the eastern periphery, where there is an abundance of flat, rolling countryside that is home to deer, coyote and jack rabbit.
The winter weather is typical of Northern California, with the temperature rarely dropping below freezing. However, it is quite warm here in the summer with the mean temperature in July around 90, often getting into the high 90's. Two years ago, the temperature rose to 114, probably a record, but the heat is offset by a strong westerly wind, which makes it very pleasant when the temperature is around 80, which it often is. The cost of living is quite high, however, as it is in most parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. We get virtually no rain during the summer and fall, but it does rain a fair amount in the winter and spring.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train runs from San Francisco to Dublin (about a 45-minute trip) and to other parts of the Bay Area, which is convenient for commuting, especially if you live in Dublin and work in San Francisco. I should mention that the Santa Rita Jail (for Alameda County) is located here, but that does not seem to have affected the security of the community, as there are virtually no homeless in Dublin and the crime rate is quite low by national standards.
If you've got the money, this is an attractive place to live.
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| Dublin - a great place - 6/7/2007
Dublin is a great place to raise a family, although the housing is expensive.
Great library, lots of parks and activities.
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| About Dublin - 5/18/2007
I have lived in Dublin For 17.9 years of my life and im 18 so ... nothing ever happens here oh wait there was A kidnapping about 12 years ago and there is a giant drug problem about 98% of dublin does drugs and drinks so yea i mean its not really a place you would want to start a family and raise your kids here theres nothing to do at all!!!!!!!! theres a mall in pleasenton but thats not in dublin ... so yea its really lame to be in dublin
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| Expensive, but a great place to live - 7/5/2006
Now that I'm staying home with our baby, we are moving so that we can buy a house. The housing costs are outrageous here. I would have to go back to work, and even then we could only buy a townhouse here. Other than that, it's a great place to live.
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| Dublin Ca - 8/12/2005
Dublin, California is a nice, quiet little town in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is growing at an amazing pace, with real estate prices sky rocketing. It is a great area to raise kids, with many nice parks and close to zoos and nature areas.
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