tom911

To some of us that are here, though, it's a tradeoff we're willing to make. Add up all the elements that are important to you (schools, crime, airport, commute times) and you might reconsider.

Benicia, where I've lived for 31 years now, was rated the best city in the Bay Area to raise a family (San Francisco Chronicle series a few years back). We have parks, affordable housing (homes up the hill from me start at $600,000 which, compared to anything in Silicon Valley, are a bargain) and we're relatively crime-free in terms of violent crimes. Lots of youth sports and ballparks about, and an excellent school system. The state park has a 2.5 mile paved trail where kids are always out bicycling. We're on the waterfront between the Bay and the Delta.

We do have a Catholic grade school here and there are Catholic high schools in Vallejo, 5 mins up the road, and Concord, a good 20 mins away (one of which was just featured in a movie about their football dynasty). I graduated from the one in Vallejo and friend's daughters from one of the two in Concord. I know there is a Christian school in Vallejo but not really up on private schools aside from the Catholic ones.

Traffic is a consideration, though, if you need to get to an airport during commute times. SFO is a 45 min drive off peak (2-3X longer if commute time), but if you're traveling during morning commute much easier to make the hour drive to SMF (Sacramento) and park on-property for $10 a day. You're also within an hour of OAK and SJC, so pretty much your choice of airports. If you're doing 6-7am flights you can really go from any of them and beat the traffic. I've flown from them all, though now primarily SFO and SMF.

Benicia is known for markets in the downtown area a couple times a year, including this one that literally goes right down to the water's edge:



Then, a nice view up the Carquinez Strait to the Carquinez Bridge along I80:



We also have a yacht club and docks here:



I'm still pretty happy here. I had looked at relocating to northern Washington state when I retired, and one of my high school classmates did just that (he's in Gig Harbor), but after a long visit I decided I could not live without sunshine for long periods of time and just decided to stay here. Not a single regret.

Might be worth your consideration and I'd be glad to show you around.