Bay-area bound

[trochee]

[ETA: Unlocked post now (and specifics removed); please feel free to point your Bay-area friends here!]

It's official as of Monday afternoon: we're going to the Bay Area. imtboo has been admitted to a San Francisco school for her chosen field.

School starts August 21 for her, so we'll be moving out of Seattle and down to the Bay Area in that first week of August, more or less.

I will be finishing up my dissertation at a desk in a research lab in Menlo Park. But D's school is downtown -- right by the Civic Center BART stop. Unfortunately, this means that one of us will be commuting a long way on the CalTrain and/or the BART. At the moment, it looks like it might be her, since at at least for the first semester she'll only have classes two (very full) days a week, while I'll be at ResearchLab five days a week.

Any suggestions or comments, from people who live in the Bay Area (or who have lived there) about places to live -- or to avoid? I think the East Bay is out for us -- the commute to Menlo Park is insane -- but we're considering paying more to live in the city, or paying less to live on the Peninsula. Any recommendations?

Bay Area roll call:
apollinax or bicoastal?
lunacow?
evan?
xaosenkosmos -- you've already sent us comments, thanks!
damidnara?
cleverpig?
I'm sure I've missed people in this roll-call. Anybody else?

Comments

[bicoastal.livejournal.com]

Ok. So, about Caltrain in SF: if you want to live right within walking distance, you have two choices: SoMa/China Basin/the ballpark right near 4th Street, or the Dogpatch near 22nd Street.

If you want to bike to Caltrain, you can also consider Bernal Heights, Potrero Hill, the Mission, and the lower part of Noe Valley (where we live). Kil bikes to Caltrain every day -- that said, he is a hard-core biker who travels at the same speed as cars and shares Cesar Chavez Street with them. Cesar Chavez is the feeder route to the highway, so you can imagine what that means for his prime-time commutes.

If you are willing to drive to the station, you have more options with your residence, but you still want to live in the eastern half of the city - anything east of Twin Peaks is fine, really. That said, you can live in the western side if you really wanna - I know someone who lives near GG Park and takes public transit to Caltrain and Caltrain to Menlo Park or Mountain View or someplace like that. It's a long commute but he gets lots of reading in.

Some general things to consider for living in the city:
- Living in "safe" neighborhoods costs more.
- The further west you go, the cooler the weather is.
- If you will keep a car, you need to consider where you are going to park it. Be prepared to pay more for a place with a parking garage or lot -- parking is not standard for SF apartments.
- How much do you want wonderful pedestrian living? Be prepared to balance that against parking issues, crime (depending on the 'hood - I'm mostly talking about the Mission there) and whether you want to live on a hill -- living on a hillside often means great views but less pedestrian-ness, unless you are right on a retail corridor like Bernal's Cortland Ave. or Potrero's 18th Street.
- Potero Ave is not on Potrero Hill!
- $1,000 per person is a good bet for rent unless you wanna get real small.

Things to consider living on the Peninsula:
- the further south you go, the warmer it gets.
- Each community has the things that it's best at. Brisbane has amazing open space nestled into San Bruno Mountain. Burlingame has a brewpub and shopping. San Mateo has an actual downtown with a movie theater and a funky Latino section with great tacos.
- Only a few towns have Baby Bullet stops, so if you want to walk to the train, those will be your considerations.
- you can rent a house.
- It's not free of crime anywhere cheap.
- Mountain View is not bad, but it's a loooong way from SF.
- Gas here is the most expensive in the nation. Don't lock yourself into a long car commute if you can help it.
- Remember that the Baby Bullet only runs during commute time -- there are lots of other trains, but they don't get you from SF to Palo Alto in half an hour.
- If you do like a car lifestyle, though, some other things open up. Some people like Foster City, which is very clean and safe.
- There are obviously way more young professionals in SF. But on the Peninsula, young people tend to live in Burlingame or Mountain View.
- There are no "hippie" towns like Berkeley on the Peninsula.

Forgive my crime emphasis - I work in the field, now, so it's hard for me not to think of it.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

wow, this is a lot of useful information -- weather, crime, costs, commuting, local activities.

Thanks for all the tips! We don't own a car right now -- living in a dense neighborhood in Seattle with no parking, convenient bus routes, and a scooter. But if we decide to live on the Peninsula, we'll probably get one. Thank you for the reminder about the gas prices, and the pointer to the bullet train.

In some ways, cost is a barrier for us. I don't mind the train ride (though an hour-plus commute can be kinda grueling), but it's kinda hard to swallow the cost of living in SF for two when I am still on grad student income and Dorothy is going to a private school (no free-rides for counseling psychology students).

Is the Caltrain pleasant? Could I (or Dorothy) expect to get a reasonably comfortable seat for the 40-50 minute commute?

[bicoastal.livejournal.com]

You should talk to Kil, but from what I understand, the Baby Bullet is full of rich professionals on laptops drinking coffee. Very pleasant.

BTW - the Peninsula is not all that cheap, and buying a car might eliminate the discount of living there. I'd start checking Craigslist, which is how everyone finds a place here. In general, also, most people don't stay at the first place they pick - it's a starter home until you know the lay of the land. It's also more of a process to rent an apartment here than in other places. So another big piece of advice is to get a temp place (say, 2 to 6 months) to start, and then figure out where you really want to be and work towards that end. This can either be your own rental, or you could go for a temporary sublet in a group house and put your things in storage for those couple of months.

[bicoastal.livejournal.com]

Oh, two other things:

- Her school is in the Mission. That can be cheaper, depending.
- Scooters are great for getting around SF.

[bicoastal.livejournal.com]

Oh, also, I checked CL -- if you're willing to do a one-bedroom or studio, you can probably find something in SF for under $1500 for two. Obviously, that buys you more space on the Peninsula.

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

the crime thing is a consideration for me so thanks !
j might have to go to seattle a bunch and i want to feel safe when he is not around if i have to be alone in the house or apartment.
lots of good advice here, thanks !
looking a Noe Valley and biking/scooting to cal train might be a good option.
what do you know about south san francisco ?
is it horrid ?

[bicoastal.livejournal.com]

No, it's kind of no-wheres-ville, but it's not bad. Cheaper, a little cold and foggy depending on where you live, near Caltrain, has a downtown, lots of industry, not the safest but not like Bayview/Hunter's Point or anything. I had a friend who lived there once. It has pleasant neighborhoodieness depending on where you live. Downside: I don't know anyone who lives there now, it might be a little lonely. But you should check it out - it's interesting at the very least. It does have a farmer's market.

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

It seems good for us because it has bart for me and caltrain for J.
It cracks me up that it has the hollywood hill type thing ( i saw it when we visited it).
It didn't look like much from a distance aside from that hill sign.
I don't mind the fog too much. But lord, the wind, I do not like the wind !

[lunacow]

bicoastal's info seems great, and in far more detail than I could provide, since I've only lived in the South Bay. One thing I'm not sure of in terms of Caltrain stations, which maybe bicoastal can speak to: The 22nd St Caltrain station has always looked to me like a scary place to be alone after dark. If I were considering living near it and using it as my primary station, I'd want to check on crime stats.

Portrero Hill, or at least parts of it, is walkable to both SF Caltrain stations, though not necessarily practical by foot for a daily commute.

Using Muni trains or buses, you can get to 4th St Caltrain from many (all?) parts of SF, but of course you'd have to consider how long you're willing to spend on a regular commute.

For a few months in 2000, I commuted from Sunnyvale to San Francisco by Caltrain 4 days a week. Including the time walking from the 4th St station to the office in SoMa, I spent 3 hours a day or more commuting (depending on exactly which train I took). I got a *lot* of reading done, and for me it was a far better option than driving, but it was exhausting spending that much time in transit (though it's hard to say exactly why), and I always felt like going to bed as soon as I got home. With the Baby Bullet, commute times can be much shorter now, so I absolutely echo the advice to take into account where the bullet trains stop.

The Baby Bullet trains are very comfortable, with tables and AC power outlets on the upstairs level. I would be surprised if they don't add wifi within a couple of years. The non-bullet trains aren't quite as fancy, but they do have comfortable seats (much improved over when I was riding them daily).

That's all I can think to comment on right now. Good luck figuring it all out!

[trochee.livejournal.com]

thanks L! this is excellent advice as well. The bullet train stops are definitely worth taking into consideration.

Thanks much!

[bicoastal.livejournal.com]

It is a bit scary, but the Dogpatch nearby is not so bad - and it's near Mission Bay, so it will gentrify incredibly fast in the next few years. With that area, it's kind of all about exactly where you are. That said, most people I know choose to live in Bernal or Noe and bike or scooter or drive to the 22nd Street Caltrain.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

is that what Kil does?

Does he lock up his bike at the Caltrain, or bring it on? (Does that change which trains you can use? I think I remember that it did, when my brother lived in the Mission and worked in Mountain View.) Obviously I couldn't take a scooter on to the caltrain, but if it's safe to lock it up outside then that works too.

so much great information!

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

i am hearing wonderful things about bernal heights and potrero ( sp? ) hill...
but could we really do it without a car ?