Any nice, affordable neighborhoods less than an hour from SSF?

[twins4lynn]

You really have to move quickly when you find something in your price range (and they will pop up on occasion in the areas you like).

San Carlos (condo) - $3500 San Carlos Hills 3bd/2bath OPEN SUNDAY 11am-1pm
Foster City (townhouse, looks like a regular house) - 2 level waterfront Townhouse w/ Garage
Belmont - 2409 Cipriani - 3bd/1ba/2car garage/Oversized backyard/Tons of Storage
Foster City (townhouse) - $3480 / 3beds 2.5 bath - 1617ft² Townhouse Isle Cove Foster City

[felinius]

Originally Posted by Mobou

I agree about everything being a trade off. For a short commute, we had focussed on the north penninsula, but the areas we like there, San Mateo, Millbrae, San Carlos, have just become too expensive - San Bruno, SSF, we just don't think are for us.

So if a short commute looks out of the question, we need to look at places we'd like to live that are further away. What are the commuting times for places like Alameda or Piedmont in the East Bay, or what about down below Palo Alto - San Jose, or Santa Clara?

Alameda can get foggy as well, FYI.

Alameda --> SSF would depend on where your husband works. If his work is near the ferry drop off in SSF, he can just take the ferry and one of the shuttles. That would be about an hour with no driving.

If not, the problem ultimately becomes the Bay Bridge. That's the reasonable route into the city and any accident will back it up into a very, very long commute. Although Alameda is nice, and becoming nicer, not sure I could suggest the city otherwise.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by felinius

Alameda can get foggy as well, FYI.

Alameda --> SSF would depend on where your husband works. If his work is near the ferry drop off in SSF, he can just take the ferry and one of the shuttles. That would be about an hour with no driving.

If not, the problem ultimately becomes the Bay Bridge. That's the reasonable route into the city and any accident will back it up into a very, very long commute. Although Alameda is nice, and becoming nicer, not sure I could suggest the city otherwise.

I think Alameda is great, but the drive to SSF would be pretty grating. Alameda isn't any foggier than Oakland/Berkeley/San Mateo and such. All of thee places typically get some AM fog in the season and it burns of by mid-morning, but general have sunny weather patterns. (Well Berkeley is a little foggier than Oakland/Alameda. And Alameda is a bit warmer than Oakland)

But the Bay Bridge drive is pretty sucky. I have a friend who works in SSF who lives in Rockridge, he bikes to the Ferry and bike to the office. I think total commute time is about 90 minutes. SSF is kinda inconveniently located. But if your office is near the BART or Ferry, then it would be decent. BART to SSF from about Macarthur in Oakland is about 40 minutes.

Piedmont is a nice place but not particularly walkable. There isn't really any commercial in the city, so the nearest commercial is at the edges of the city (either Grand Lake., Montclair or Piedmont Ave areas in Oakland). The housing is smaller and cheaper in these areas. Once you are deep into Piedmont you have big hills if you want to walk anywhere. (FYI: the areas bordering Piedmont in Oakland are similar to Piedmont in terms of housing stock/safety/etc. A few of the areas at the edge, particularly near the Rose Garden/Piedmont Ave differ in density, with some condos in addition to single family homes.)

[Mobou]

Thanks for your advice guys. By the sounds of it, I think we're going to have to rule out Alameda and the east bay. My husband's office isn't near the ferry terminal or train station, it's right on the 101, so driving is really his only option. We'll just keep an eye on Craigslist and hope something in the San Mateo area comes up in our price range when we're ready to move, at least you've shown me it is possible.

[modernist1]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

You start on Craigslist with the town you work in, your rental budget, and see what comes up. Commuting is a bear, so the smart thing to do is start looking close to where you will work. Then, you widen your search from there.

You can check commute times with Google maps.

You can check schools on greatschools.com or is it .org?

For you to say the areas that are being suggested to you are "not for you," when you haven't been here and have never seen them, is well...your choice.

Where do you live now? Think of a town that would be really crazy to commute from to where you live now. Then, imagine someone asking you if they should live there and commute to your town. You say, that would be nuts, why don't you just live in my town? And the person says, your town is not for me.

Does the word insulting come to mind, even?

But, hey, don't listen to the people who actually live here. And by all means continue to ask the same questions countless others have asked, but expect a different answer.

Heck, why don't you just ask the employer to simply move the company to somewhere more convenient/affordable?

I will say I concur. As far as I saw, I didn't see the word 'thanks' or 'thank-you' amid the flurry of posts from the OP. There's certainly no obligation to vocalize the same, but it would suggest a bit more graciousness. I recognize that the OP has offered 'thanks' in the last post, but it was a bit late coming.

[comingbacktocali]

this property has an open house tomorrow, close to your budget, and extremely convenient to SSF..
3BR / 2.5 BATH / 2 CAR GARAGE

[Mobou]

That's a great house. Sadly we're not in the area yet, or I think I'd jump at it, you made Brisbane sound really nice. Hopefully something like that will come up again