Fremont or Pleasanton neighborhoods & schools?

Hi BPN, I'm looking for a family friendly neighborhood to move to in or close to Fremont or Pleasanton. My husband works in the south bay and I work in Concord (680) so finding a place to live where we can both have reasonable commutes is important to us. We're looking to buy our first home and are very nervous about 'settling down' and we're unsure of whether to pick a home based soley on school district alone? I would love to hear from anyone who lives or has lived in Fremont or Pleasanton about good neighborhoods for families with young children, my kids will be starting elementary school in a few years. I want my kids to go to a well rounded, diverse & good public school (I'm not looking for super competititve environment or one with the highest test scores.) Any recommendations (or neighborhoods/schools to avoid) would be appreciated, thank you! Moving soon

Cons -
not a very 'pretty' city, and very spread out. Schools are good, but not as great as Pleasanton's.

Good neighborhoods -
don't know too much about the neighborhoods, but in the late nineties my father, stepmother, and sister moved to the Warm Springs area of Fremont from Ardenwood and really loved it. It is a quiet and well-established neighborhood, with lots of trees, big backyards, etc.

PLEASANTON
Pros -
schools are top-notch, score-wise; incredibly safe; a good sense of community (my friend has found a good group of women to hang with since she moved there over a year ago); very kid-friendly (lots of parks, a good rec center and library, etc). More of a 'town' feel than Fremont, which is a bigger city and feels more sprawling.

Cons -
not very diverse... my friend says that Caucasians, Indians (she herself is Indian), and Asians make up the majority of the population. When I go out there to visit, this is pretty much what I see, as well. Hot weather in the summertime (too hot for me).

Neighborhoods -
again, don't know much about the neighborhoods, but my friend lives in the Vintage Hills subdivision and loves it. It is pretty and quiet, with lots of kids.

Hope this helps! anon

Moving to Fremont to avoid the commute

My husband recently took a job in San Jose and the commute from Berkeley (driving or on Amtrak is just too long) so we are thinking of relocating. However, I don't want to be stuck in the suburbs where we will need to drive every time we leave the house. I've heard about a area in Fremont called Niles canyon (any feed back on this area would be helpful).Can anyone suggest other neighborhoods in the south bay or peninsula that are family friendly, walking friendly and close to public transportation? Don't really want to leave Berkeley

Niles is a very nice area---definitely the coolest part of Fremont. It has an old time downtown with hey---a good cafe!---THe Nile Cafe. And antique shops and bead shops. The Nile Canyon Railway departs from there. There are black and white film showings because there is an archive from Niles' silent movie days. There is a 6 mile walking/bike trail from Niles along Alameda Creek to Coyote Hills Park on the bay. It has quite good elementary school, but not as highly ranked as the ones in Fremont's ultra expensive area: Mission. If public school is in your future you have to look over the attendance areas.

Central Park in Fremont is a very nice, large suburban park with play structures, a 2-mile multiuse path around Lake Elizabeth, playing fields, tennis courts, and so on.

In Newark the Silliman Family Aquatic Center offers indoor swimming year round.

You are close to Sunol Regional Wilderness which has fantastic nature programs and hiking trails to Little Yosemite and the Indian Joe Cave Rocks.

Ardenwood Historic Farm is in Fremont.

I was very glad to have my husband have a shorter commute for those 9 years, made good friends and found many things to appreciate in Fremont. On the other hand, we decided to move back towards Berkeley when we outgrew our house.

You are welcome to email me if you would like to hear more.

Fun Things to Do in Fremont

My family is moving to Fremont, and we'd love your recommendations for good places to eat and fun things to do in that area, esp. things to do with a two-year old. Thank you! Christine

Good Restaurants

We consider ourselves lucky to have a couple good chain restaurants
here in Fremont.  Good food is one thing that we are really
lacking.  
We used to have one really good restaurant, but then it turned bad,
and then it closed.  It was replaced by:
Blue Agave at Pearl's
http://www.insidebayarea.com/dining
the food is quite nice, but too expensive ($19-27/entree).  A
cheap kids' menu makes
it ok for a family
This is the website for their Pleasanton location:
http://www.blueagaveclub.com/blueagave.html

Chipotle
Panera
Peets (all in same parking lot at Paseo Padre/Mowry)

Shalimar
        3325 Walnut Ave
        Fremont, CA 94538
        http://www.yelp.com/biz/DwF1fPz24weB7wPpZHe2zA

Vung Tau III (in Newark) cheap, GREAT  Mowry
        Vung Tau Restaurant
        Address:   6092 Mowry Ave, Newark, CA 94560
        Phone:(510) 793-8299

Groups

FUN Moms  http://www.funmothersclub.org/
Tri-Cities Attachment Parenting Playgroup Tuesdays 2-5 various parks
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TriCitiesAP/

Classes: 

City of Fremont Recreation Dept Classes (dance, gymnastics)
    http://regerec.ci.fremont.ca.us/Start/Start.asp

Math Science Nucleus (when your child is older---great science
classes)
   http://www.msnucleus.org/classes/classes.html

Gymboree

Places:

Alameda Creek Trail (12 miles of biking trails from Niles to the Bay
        along Alameda Creek)

Ardenwood Farm: Victorian era farm.  Feed the animals, pumpkin
patch and corn maze in the fall, organic
        market nearby

Bounce-a-rama Newpark Mall (510) 745-7240  (inflatables to bounce on)

City Beach (rock climbing and inflatables)
          http://www.citybeach.com/general/general_fremont.htm

Color Me Mine (paint your own ceramics)
        43301 Mission Blvd Fremont CA, 94539 Phone: (510) 226-6983 

Coyote Hills Regional Park (trails, classes, boardwalk over marsh)

        http://www.ebparks.org/parks/arden.htm

Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (Coyote Hills
is on the north side of the Dumbarton Bridge, Don Edwards is on the 
south side)

George Silliman Family Aquatic Center (Newark)
        http://www.ci.newark.ca.us/play/
       
        The George M. Silliman Family Aquatic Center, is a 32,300
        square foot indoor swim facility specifically designed for
        recreation, fitness and instructional programs for the entire
        family. The 11,350 square foot Natatorium includes four
        separate pools to provide water activities for all age groups:

            * A 45' x 75' Activity Pool with a ''zero depth'' entry
              beach provides easy water elements especially suited for
              children from toddlers through ages of 10-12. One end of
              this pool is designed specifically for learn-to-swim
              lessons.
           * A 245' long Lazy River will provide water activities for
             teens and preteens and surrounds the Splash-Down Pool for
             a pair of 20' tall, curving water slides, one a half
             chute and one a full chute.
           * A 4-foot deep, 4-lane, 25-yard Lap Pool is available for
             lap swimming, water aerobics and exercise classes.
            * A 12-person warm-water spa.

Karts N Golf miniature golf in fremont http://www.kartsngolf.com/
34805 Ardenwood Blvd., Fremont, CA 94555

Quarry Lakes Regional Park
  Has swimming like Lake Anza, but it is new and there is little
shade.   http://www.ebparks.org/parks/quarry.htm

Fremont Central Park Lake Elizabeth---has a 2 mile walking/biking
trail around the lake, 4 playgrounds, paddle boats, and
the largest heron rookery in alameda county

Not too far:
Gilroy:
        Bonfante Gardens (an hour south, but great with a 2yo)
Hayward:
        Sulphur Creek Nature Center

Sunol:
    Sunol Regional Wilderness (this is our favorite East Bay park)
   (depending on how close you are to the 680, a 20-minute drive)
   Little Yosemite (waterfalls and granite rocks)
   Outdoor Discoveries--best nature program for young kids
anywhere in
   Bay Area (ages3-5)

  
http://www.classweb.ebparks.org/eConnect5.2/Activities/ActivitiesDetails.asp?ProcessWait=N&aid=1553

San Jose:
    Happy Hollow Park and Zoo