The better single family homes are on the north side of Santa Monica, try looking for something north of Montana, its safe, and you may be able to find a decent sized yard The school system in Santa Monica is one of the best in the city. The elementary schools for North Santa Monica are Franklyn and Roosevelt, both very good schools, the middle school is Lincoln, also good. the high school is fine, although it starts to get a little big, and you definitely want your kids to be in the honors classes. Meanwhile, there are also some great private schools, Crossroads probably being the most famous. You pretty much cant go wrong in Santa Monica.
Santa Monica is not that big and does not really have any bad areas. However, it is very expensive to live there.