In some areas – particularly a handful of dense cities with good public transit such as the Bay area– the preference for being in the city center seems to outweigh the importance of school quality by a huge margin. Homes in central city locations are generally more valued than those farther out, and prices in the urban locations have risen far faster than in the suburbs since 2000.

Homes in the central city (SF) carry such a huge premium that buyers in suburban cities like Albany and San Ramon end up paying several hundred dollars less per square foot even though the schools are significantly better than those in San Francisco, in terms of test scores.

Some locations see price increases that are much more tied to density and proximity than school quality.

• Bridgewater-Raritan? Long train journey
• Pasipanny-troy Hills? Long train journey
• Mahwah, NJ? long train journey
• Wayne,NJ? long train journey
• three village central? long train journey
• Highland Park? long train journey
• red hook central? long train journey

Above are some of the locations mentioned in the NYTimes article below.