Cheaper ways to live in Pleasanton Cheaper ways to live in Pleasanton (May 25, 2001)

by Jeb Bing

Anyone tired of high housing costs, traffic jams and crowded schools can escape all of it and still live in Pleasanton - just not OUR Pleasanton. Altogether, there are nine Pleasantons in the U.S., which offer significant lifestyle changes.

Pleasanton, Nebraska, looks like a good choice. Located along the Loup River just 18 miles north of Kearney and Interstate 80, this Pleasanton has 372 residents with homes on large lots and plenty of open space. Pleasanton elementary, middle and high school - all wrapped up into one - serves 244 from the farming community around Pleasanton and, according to Ron Wymore, principal, will see 95 percent of this year's graduating class go to college.

For its population, Main Street has many amenities, including a grocery store, bank, restaurant and bar, post office and a frozen meat locker facility. A gallon of gas at either of the two downtown stations costs $1.76 and a new 2,000-square-foot house including property, would cost about $100,000. Wymore says it's a relaxed, family-oriented town that would welcome - indeed, needs! - a few folks from California's Pleasanton who would enjoy "down to earth, laid-back living."

Or if that's too big a town, Pleasanton, Iowa, is down to only 52. Once a thriving farming hub, this Pleasanton, located at the entrance to Nine Eagles State Park on the Missouri state line, has seen its population decline along with farm income over the last two decades. Pastor David Thomas of the Pleasanton Community of Christ Congregation said all the stores are gone, some of the remaining homes are shuttered or falling down and only the signs remain on County Road J-56 to mark the Pleasanton city limits. A new home there with plenty of land would cost $75,000, he said, including a well for water and a septic system. For shopping, a mall on the outskirts of Des Moines is only 90 miles north.

Pleasanton, Kansas, pop. 1,300, may be a better bet for those wanting a broader-based Pleasanton in the Midwest. Located just 50 miles south of Kansas City in the rolling hills of the Ozarks, this Pleasanton is a fisherman's paradise with dozens of lakes. Since one of the last Civil War battles was fought here, there are parklands filled with wartime memorabilia. The Pleasanton High Blu-Jays are record-setters in sports and debates with about 300 students in all. Downtown's Main Street includes a drug store, grocery, two banks and hardware stores, with a gallon of gasoline at $1.69. Of course, prices go up with ambiance. Sue Johnson, librarian at the Pleasanton-Lincoln Library on Main Street, said a three-four bedroom house would cost between $150,000 and $200,000, although no one is building right now.

My choice for getting away from it all would be Pleasanton, Texas, the beginning of the brush country 30 miles south of San Antonio. Known for its mesquite and live oak trees, this Pleasanton has 8,000 residents, a three-block-long Main Street and now a Super Wal-Mart with groceries, and gasoline is only $1.49. The Pleasanton Independent School District covers 443 square miles with a current enrollment of 3,400.

But time's a-wasting. Gerald Black, news editor of the weekly Pleasanton Express, said job growth in San Antonio is seeing commuters head away from pricier homes in the hill country to the north and west of San Antonio and south into less expensive Pleasanton. Today, a 2,000-square-foot home costs about $150,000, Black says. But he also recalls his Navy days at Moffet Field when homes over in OUR Pleasanton sold for as little as $25,000. This could be the time to invest; you don't want to miss out on the next Pleasanton building boom.