Burlingame to SF and MV - commute/schools (San Francisco, San Mateo: apartments, for rent)

[yana60]

Hi there,

We are moving from Washington DC to the Bay area for new work assignments. The hubby is in Mountain View and my job would be in SF Financial District. We have two little girls getting ready for school. We have been to the area on very short trips trying to figure out a place to live and I think we are ending up with Burlingame to split the commute and get the good schools.

Can someone please help with the commute time for both of us from Burlingame going South to Mountain View and going to FInancial District? Also, are there good options to take Caltrain or BART from Bgame to SF and how long does that take? I am having trouble finding a train that goes from Bgame to SF downtown - looks like it takes to SF and then you need to get on a bus/BART again to get to downtown Fin District - is that right?

Also, are there any parts of Bgame that are better or worse as far as schools, neighborhoods, atmosphere, etc? What is the hills area close to 280 like - windy, hard to walk as too hilly, any playgrounds for kids in that area, etc?

Thanks a lot for any input; really hard to figure everything out when we are there just for a day or two, so would appreciate any input from the natives.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by yana60

Can someone please help with the commute time for both of us from Burlingame going South to Mountain View and going to FInancial District? Also, are there good options to take Caltrain or BART from Bgame to SF and how long does that take? I am having trouble finding a train that goes from Bgame to SF downtown - looks like it takes to SF and then you need to get on a bus/BART again to get to downtown Fin District - is that right?

To get to the Financial district from Caltrain you would take a light rail train(the T or N line) to Embarcadero Station. A possible alternate way that is not as good would be to transfer to a Bart train at Millbrae.

This is a good map with the important bus and rail lines shown.

http://www.sfcityscape.com/maps/bay_area_transit/SF_mainlines.pdf (broken link)

It might be better to live in Mountain View since they have the express train. You can leave Mountain View at 6:57 and arrive in SF at 7:42 or leave Burlingame at 7:11 and arrive at 7:48. Mountain View is only 8 minutes longer unless you catch the one limited stop train from Burlingame.

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by yana60

Hi there,

We are moving from Washington DC to the Bay area for new work assignments. The hubby is in Mountain View and my job would be in SF Financial District. We have two little girls getting ready for school. We have been to the area on very short trips trying to figure out a place to live and I think we are ending up with Burlingame to split the commute and get the good schools.

Can someone please help with the commute time for both of us from Burlingame going South to Mountain View and going to FInancial District? Also, are there good options to take Caltrain or BART from Bgame to SF and how long does that take? I am having trouble finding a train that goes from Bgame to SF downtown - looks like it takes to SF and then you need to get on a bus/BART again to get to downtown Fin District - is that right?

Also, are there any parts of Bgame that are better or worse as far as schools, neighborhoods, atmosphere, etc? What is the hills area close to 280 like - windy, hard to walk as too hilly, any playgrounds for kids in that area, etc?

Thanks a lot for any input; really hard to figure everything out when we are there just for a day or two, so would appreciate any input from the natives.

By car, I'd guess that Burlingame to SF is about 30 minutes. South to Mountain View is may 30-45 min, depending on traffic. If you took a train from Mountain View to San Francisco it would be about an hour, maybe less with the new express train. When I first moved to California I commuted by train from Mountain View to San Francisco for 6 months. I really enjoyed it and sometimes wish I could do it again.

The area close to 280 is not a walkable area. That's a major highway, and the areas around there are mostly car dependent. You will find a few parks around 280 where people will park and ride bikes along some of the small roads. You might want to consider Belmont, as it has a walkable downtown, and is close to 280. 280 tends to be a better way to commute to Mountain View and San Francisco, unless your husbands work is very close to 101. Mountain View is a very nice town, I lived there for 12 years and really liked it. I think Burlingame and Belmont will get more fog and cold. Most cities south of there tend to be warmer and get more sun.

[yana60]

Thanks, capoeira, the map is great; will keep it handy. Can I drive to MIlbrae train station, park, get on Bart and then it will take me all the way to SF Financial District? Can you tell me approximately how long the train ride would be in that case - 40 min or more like 15?

Zitsky, thanks for the tips. We thought about MV/PA area but I am really struggling with an hour commute; we have two small kids and now out commute is 15 minutes to work so increasing it to an hour is just hard mentally. So, we are thinking of splitting the commute and starting at that. Is the weather really not that great in Bgame- rainy/cold? I guess it will be definitely better than DC weather, especially these days, when we are buried in 2 ft of snow, with 16F at night, and the whole city is paralyzed!

Thanks again for all the tips, very helpful. We are struggling to find a place in Bgame for rent so may be looking at San Mateo as well at some point. I prefer to use public transport to get to SF than beating traffic all the way so Belmont looks way out there from the trains, no?

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by yana60

Thanks, capoeira, the map is great; will keep it handy. Can I drive to MIlbrae train station, park, get on Bart and then it will take me all the way to SF Financial District? Can you tell me approximately how long the train ride would be in that case - 40 min or more like 15?

Millbrae to SF is 33 minutes according to the Bart schedule. Train frequency is every 15 min. so your average daily wait would be 7.5 minutes so 33+7 = 40 minutes. To get a 15 minute commute to the Financial district you would have to live in San Francisco.

BART - Schedules By Line

Compare to the Caltrain schedule and see which works best for you. I would rather ride Caltrain. It is more like Amtrak while Bart is more like a nice subway. Notice on the Caltrain schedule that the express train from Millbrae takes 17 to 18 minutes to get to SF but then you have take another train to get to the financial district.

caltrain.com - Schedules - PDF downloads


Since I live in SF I am not sure how the parking garage is at the Millbrae station. Here's a link to parking info for Bart.

BART - Parking

[yana60]

Capoeira, this is so helpful - thanks a lot. I think I will try both routes and see what takes less time and is more convenient/cheaper. We would love to live in the city - we live in DC now and prefer urban lifestyle, but husband's job is in MV and we have two kids up for school age and so it all ends up with the issues of schools, back yards, etc....all the family joy issues. I am consoling myself that we will be able to drive up to the city on weekends for some urban buzz and events, etc. Hopefully, there is less traffic on weekends and it's easier to get out in the nice weather to do things than in the miserable cold. Thanks so much for all the tips; commute is part of life in CA so it will be quite an adjustment for us from here where we walk to work but we are nevertheless very excited about the Bay Area.

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by yana60

Zitsky, thanks for the tips. We thought about MV/PA area but I am really struggling with an hour commute; we have two small kids and now out commute is 15 minutes to work so increasing it to an hour is just hard mentally. So, we are thinking of splitting the commute and starting at that. Is the weather really not that great in Bgame- rainy/cold? I guess it will be definitely better than DC weather, especially these days, when we are buried in 2 ft of snow, with 16F at night, and the whole city is paralyzed!

Someone reminded me in another thread that Burlingame is below the fog belt, so weather there should be similar to San Mateo, etc. I'd recommend looking at San Mateo as you suggested. It has a very nice downtown, plenty of shops and restaurants. I saw quite a few 2 bedroom apartments listed on craigslist for anywhere from $1500-$2500.

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by yana60

. Is the weather really not that great in Bgame- rainy/cold? I guess it will be definitely better than DC weather, especially these days, when we are buried in 2 ft of snow, with 16F at night, and the whole city is paralyzed!

The weather in Burlingame is fine, very typical mid-peninsula weather! It is out of the "fog belt" of South San Francisco/northern San Bruno. I never heard of it being referred to has cold and foggy !

[twins4lynn]

[quote=yana60;12790398]Also, are there any parts of Bgame that are better or worse as far as schools, neighborhoods, atmosphere, etc? What is the hills area close to 280 like - windy, hard to walk as too hilly, any playgrounds for kids in that area, etc?QUOTE]


There are no "bad" parts of Burlingame, and all the schools are very good. There are playgrounds scattered throughout Burlingame, including up in the hills City of Burlingame CA : Parks, Playgrounds and Trees, and there are activities offered year around through the Rec & Park program for kids (and adults). I personally like the area near Washington Park, where you can walk to the park as well as Burlingame Avenue. There are always lots of people walking around going to/from the park, exercising, walking their babies, walking their dogs, etc. It's just a very nice area . The other neighborhoods in Burlingame are nice, too, but you don't have the same foot traffic.

[yana60]

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like the weather is nice, the area is nice, the schools are nice and the commute is doable. Now the only problem is finding a place to live