I suggest you house-swap or even just rent something short term whilst staying put. Spend some time driving around, or better still walking. Go to the grocery stores, the post office, library, DMV, parks, etc. Keep your eyes wide open. Pay attention to what the schools look like. You can find some beautiful houses and good restaurants in some nice neighborhoods, but to move to Oakland without considering your family's safety and the security of your property is risky.
I live in the East Bay and before I retired, I was a sales rep and my territory included Oakland, so I got to know it up close and personal. I had two accounts where I had to call first so someone could unlock the door to let me in. Others had fully gated parking lots where again, I had to call ahead to be admitted. To clarify, these accounts are retail operations, open to the public. BTW -I covered from Eureka to Monterey, including San Carlos. No other area had the security I encountered in Oakland. Also, everyone I encountered in all my Oakland accounts was highly security conscious, all the time. San Carlos is not the same in that respect.
Please don't flame me - I'm not dissing Oakland per se, I'm answering the question of San Carlos vs. Oakland. Sure, crime can happen anywhere, but I'll take the streets of SC over Oakland. And that's without considering the 10 minutes vs. 35, which is a total deal breaker, IMHO.
I am actually more concerned with your all-cash option. It's simply too risky. What if you hate it and can't get your hard-earned money out? A mortgage can be a powerful tool for wealth-building, which is a little-explored or appreciated concept on many financial blogs. I suggest you find a copy of "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth" by Ric Edelman. It's probably available at your library. Just read the first chapter. It could rock your financial world. It changed mine and now I'm retired early. Not extremely early, but still early. If I'd read that book sooner, it could have been earlier still.