dlai, I tried to post last night to advise you to either save your thread to your word program or email it to yourself, as I was pretty sure it was going to get deleted today. But when I tried to post, I got the "maintenance" screen of death again. Very exasperating, especially since the thread did get deleted and you lost your info.

It is a shame your genuine inquiry had to get mixed up in this weirdness that has been going on for quite a while.

We drove down to LA (from Marin) today and I was thinking about your situation. I've been on Bainbridge and can't imagine that you really want to move to the "'burbs" after living in such a charming place. I don't know that you would be very happy in a place like Walnut Creek or Menlo Park. However, if you look, you can find unique communities all over the Bay Area.

It appears that I am one of the few on this thread to post my email address, so first of all I will let that speak to my authenticity and second, if you think I can be of any additional assistance, just email me directly.

luiinsac: What a hilarious post! Thanks for a great laugh! Laughing myself silly! 8}

Welcome to the Bay Area, dlai. Once you've settled in...and you come across some of those snob/pompous SF'ers, here's how you can really get at 'em and piss 'em off:

Look them straight in the eye, and call it "Frisco." I love doing this. It really sets off long-time "locals."

Usually you're branded as a tourist when you say this ("..SNIFF! We NEVER call it 'Frisco.") But when I look them dead in the eye and say it, it just unnerves them.

I also replied in the other thread...oh well.
We lived in the East Bay-Pleasant Hill to be exact-for 3 years and HATED it. No sense of community, cement city, crowded...yuck. And Concord? GHETTO. The North Bay is so much nicer-esp. the San Rafael Area. (Really Santa Rosa is best but that's pretty far north). Good Luck.

Wow, guess Concord has gone through some changes since I was last there, lol. Are you saying it's another Stockton/Fairfield?

Alameda is another city that would be excellent..right on the bay,ferry or BART to the city and the place has excellent weather.

Yes - Alameda is nice. Good recommendation.