Kristy,

I second the suggestion to look to the East Bay. Walnut Creek will give you a nice "hip" atmosphere (although nothing like SF) but also has decent schools. We live in Danville (just south of Walnut Creek) the school system in Danville is very good, especially for California. My commute into the city (driving) is about an hour each way, less on some days. If you BART (there is a BART station in Walnut Creek) you can make it in 35-45 minutes.

Good luck on your move!

We are fans of "two buck chuck" as well! The only thing I have noticed is that there is some inconsistency with the taste (red only)..hey for two dollars I'm not complaining. I live in Napa and commute via AMTRAC to Sacramento, we have quite a group of Napa and Vallejo riders. The Suisun to Bay Area group look like a fun group too! You too could be a CC RIDER! It does stop in Davis..

As an executive search pro, I would strongly recommend making contacts and going out for some interviews before you make the big move. Jobs are a bit hard to come by in the area, unless you have a specific background, after the dot.com fiasco, there were more people than jobs in the area.

Take a couple of weeks and go out and see if the area is really what you want. You will be very surprised at the difference in cost of living there, and going without jobs is taking a bit of a chance.

I would also contact some search organizations in the area and see if they can set up some interviews for you as well.

Good luck.