If you mean “mini-mansion to be” – yes. The buyer will be going for the lot, not the house. But, yes, I’ll take my 2200 square feet in Berkeley over anything that could be built there. But, I was really referring to some of the over the top (hi there, Larry Ellison) place that have been built. Of course, the state supreme court just allowed a project for an obscenely huge house in Berkeley to go forward, so I should probably be less judgmental. Nah. I like being judgmental.
@AboutTheSame: It’s a 6000 sqft lot! LOL I think you got it all wrong about Palo Alto (check out many, many other similar listings out there), but everyone is entitled to be judgmental. 
That aside, I do think both UC Berkeley and Stanford are excellent schools, both great in different ways.
2BR shack on 1/7 of an acre for $1.6M.
Wow, just wow.
@panpacific : Not trying to be argumentative, but I recognized the size of the lot. I don’t think you’d want to put a Larry Ellison house on it, but a mini-mansion, sure. I repeat, I’ll take my modest home in Berkeley. I’ll take the weather; I’ll take the view of the bay; etc. The fact that other people may view things differently and want to throw around absurd amounts of money to live in the South Bay is not going to change my opinion. I had my choice between Stanford and Berkeley for law school and chose Boalt. D had a choice between Standard and Berkeley for grad school and chose Cal. The acorn don’t fall far from the tree. 
And it’s designated as a “hot home”, which means it has a high chance to be sold quickly and often times over asking price! That’s how desirable Palo Alto is getting.
Copy & paste my prior post. Cheers!
I’m pretty sure that this side of living in such “desirable” area has been brought up before, right?
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Why-are-Palo-Alto-s-kids-killing-themselves-6270854.php
Erm, I don’t think we need to go there. You can find the pressures and drugs in Berkeley, Lamorinda (Lafayette/Morago/Orinda, if you;re not familiar with our areas), the North Shore of Chicago, the wealthy areas outside New York City. I’d like to focus on the light side of this issue.
@AboutTheSame: And here I thought I was trying to help you make your case!
I have no vested interest in Palo Alto. I think people who are still trying to buy a house there are crazy, but ask those who were crazy enough to buy a house when it was as cheap as one million, there was no surer ways to get rich while taking all the advantages of whatever makes PA desirable!
@AboutTheSame I’ve lived in Palo Alto and agree with you that it’s no great shakes. I would be surprised if Malia ended up at either Stanford or UC Berkeley though. I thought she just liked Berkeley BETTER than Stanford, not that it was her top choice overall.
Well, I could see Malia likes UCB best. Sometimes when you have been attending private schools all your young life, you get tired of the smallness of those bubbles and get excited about a big public school even though it’s the only one you have visited. You just fall in love at first sight! can totally see that happening.
Thought this an article worth posting here based on past discussions of Bean boots and backorders. Part of me wishes they weren’t so trendy now since they’ve been used by my family and I for at least 50 years. I kind of miss all those people looking askance at my footwear with a bewildered look. 
Glad to see they are still made in Maine with products sources in the USA.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/llbean-duck-boot-labor-shoes-maine/410863/?utm_source=SFFB
Hypothetically…you’re bored at your job, but you’re damn good at what you do. You realize that your current position offers no hope for advancement, but because your so good and efficient, you have a lot of down time at work, allowing for things like posting of BS forums. You keep your eyes open for opportunities. Something perfect, in your field, and would be a challenge, pops up at your kids boarding school. Do you pursue it?
OMG, @gusmom. I just had this conversation with my kid a couple of weeks ago!! I said, “Wow, they are looking to fill the XXX position?” and she said “Don’t even think about it, Mom. Seriously. PLEASE.” (And I might add that she and I are very close and have a great relationship…)
I would definitely consider checking out. The kid, probably will have a different opinion I am sure, but hey it’s my life!
The question is will it be still an attractive endeavor after 4 years when DC is out the school?
Will you move onto his college? LoL I might if there was an option :))
Probably a kid’s horror story for Halloween >:)
Actually, gusdad’s “dream job” is to teach at the school, and we’ve talked to kid about it in the past…he has said he doesn’t have a problem. We both like the area, so…
And I would totally do this on the down low, and just show up is the kid’s classes one day. He would freak!
We discussed this, too. Where do you think I got my idea for retirement boarding school? I wanted to be the innkeepers at the Sally Hart Lodge B&B on campus.
@gusmom2000, I say go for it. With gusto. Anything that mortifies your child is a must in my book. You hear that, FormerCK? I’m thinking about applying for lunch lady at your college.
@gusmom2000 ABSOLUTELY go for it. In addition to the bonus of embarrassing your kid, just imagine the tuition savings! (Practical person here…).
^^^ this was floated at our home in the past year, too. ChargerBoy had the more pained expression, but he’s done next spring, and ChargerGirl was sanguine. it’s an intriguing thought, the moreso because you have that first foot already over the threshold, so to speak, whereas most job prospects on campus involve a lot of faith about so many moving parts. ~O)
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