Amazing career opportunity in King City - is commute from SLO too much? (San Jose: how much)

[ChaseofBass90]

Hey there,

I am taking a very amazing career opportunity in King City but I do not want to live in the valley. I helped my business partner (COO of new company) move to Monterey a few weeks ago. We drove through the central valley through Paso Robles and up the 101 to Monterey. I am a surfer and want to live near the coast. I'm also young, 27, and want to be around other young people and night life. Monterey was too cold for my liking and I also heard from a local that its "cold and old". All of the bars/restaurants seemed to shut down by about 10 PM. I'm considering living in SLO or Paso Robles but the commute damn sure is far. My last job required me to commute 50 minutes or so each way on a highway which sometimes had terrible traffic. I understand that the 101 doesn't usually have much traffic which is good.

What do you locals in Monterey/SLO county think? Is commuting from SLO to king city impractical? Is Paso Robles a decent place to live?

Thank you for any input that y'all have!!!

[MtnSurfer]

Well, I guess I'm an old surfer now. But I've always loved the Monterey Bay area. Surf is great especially as you get closer to Santa Cruz. I also like the SLO area. More than anything it boils down to two main things for you based upon what you've posted:

1. Nightlife / single scene
2. Job opportunities

Regarding your original question, yes, that's an insane commute. If you like it in SLO and can't find work there you need to move somewhere else or find a job that allows telecommuting. Paso to King City is ~ 1 hour if there is no traffic. At rush hour it may take longer. Question: how much of your time do you want to spend on the road every day in addition to normal work hours? That makes for long days. I have a friend who lived in King City and drove every day for ~ a year to Monterey for work. That gets old pretty quick.

Option two: live closer to Santa Cruz - Surf City. There are plenty of 20 somethings hanging around not to mention the college vibe. Though Monterey has young ppl as well. We've recently hired three new college grads and have many more 20 somethings working with us. I guess it depends what you're really after with the whole nightlife scene. SLO and Santa Cruz have more in that regard. Keep in mind that Santa Cruz is less and an hour from Monterey. So its common to live in one town and do things in the other including surfing and nightlife activities.

Something also to keep in mind is that if you live in Monterey or Santa Cruz, San Jose is only ~ an hour away. Many locals go there for other activities as well. The Bay Area isn't far off compared to SLO including way more in the terms of the job market. You simply can't compare. Though if you find a job that works for you in SLO it is a nice place to live, just a bit more isolated. Some actually prefer it that way. Those towns in between Monterey and SLO are 'very' rural. Plus side is you could raise your own goats and chickens. Who needs nightlife when you have hogs to slop and cows to milk? And its wine country!

Regarding water temps, there is not a significant difference between SLO and the Monterey Bay. Surf both areas and you'll see what I mean. Bottom line is you'll need to suck it up and get a 4/3 with some booties for Winter. Lots of folks surfing and enjoying the ocean up here and even further north in SF and beyond.

Does that King City job offer any telecommute options? Monterey is actually closer than SLO. Paso may be ok for a time if you can live with the daily driving. It would be a bedroom community for you and not much more - a place to sleep 'between' work and SLO nightlife... or get into ranching/farming.

Derek

[slowlanes]

non-stop surfer for 55+ years..much better waves between Santa Cruz and Monterey than in SLO.
In Monterey itself, Asilomar is a good wave with multiple peaks, and there is a good right hand reef just 10 min hike south of it (not giving up any secrets here, both are in plain sight), and there are some other reef breaks to be had in town.
And on strong south, west and NW swells, all the right hand points in SC just light up.
And you only need to get Moss Landing firing good just once to become a frother over it, it's that good.
If you're serious about surfing, Monterey hands down.
SLO has some crappy beachbreak, a couple of out of the way ok reefs, and a long drive to the better waves further south.