Area advice needed - East of Livermore (Los Angeles, Oakland: rental, houses)

[msm618]

Hi group-

I'm looking into a career opportunity at the Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL). I understand the eastern suburbs (San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties) have some nice areas, rental stock ( so we can do that to start), and less expensive houses than Alameda/Contra Costa county.

I am looking for advice/info on areas within an hour's drive of LLNL, as well as areas to avoid.

Whats the year-round climate like in Central CA? I see major highways leading east from the LLNL area and intersecting with I-5. Would this be a "doable" commute? I may work graves or night shift so that may be a factor.

TIA

Mike

[StampinTami]

Avoid Stockton, it is horrible here! My hubby used to commute from here to Livermore and it took atleast an hour and he would take the back way rather than the freeway. The freeway through Tracy is pretty nasty, even on the weekends. If you work nights you could probably avoid most of that tho. Modesto is an ok area and it would take atleast an hour as well. We moved from there and he would take a back way to get to and from work there as well. I don't know much about Tracy or Manteca. Ripon and Salida are ok as far as I know as well. Just avoid Stockton and Lodi, tons of gang activity and thugs all around. The housing out here is much better than in the Bay Area but it is way over priced!
The weather out here is ok. HOT in the summer (got to 115! in July). It has been in the 90's most of this month. We are supposed to get down to the 80's now, we'll see. It gets cold in the winter but no snow, just icy windows and grass and we do get freeze warnings. We have some nasty fog as well. Check out weatherundergrounddotcom. You can put in a zip code and then pull up a calendar view of actual weather. It goes back atleast a year. Where are you coming from? The lab is a great opportunity and from what I have heard a good place to work. Good luck!

[msm618]

Thanks, Tami!

I am coming from central Massachusetts. I currently work in Boston, so I am comfortable with an hour's commute to find a nice town and affordable housing.

The opportunities at LLNL appear very attractive. I am also considering a similar opportunity in the Los Angeles metro area.

Weighing the quality-of-life issues is a most important consideration, in that both potential positions are roughly equal in many respects.

Thanks again!

Mike

[humboldtrat]

While expensive everywher in N. California, housing around Tracy and Manteca is about the cheapest you will find in the Livermore area. And more of it is being built all the time. Check out Mountain House, new housing built between Tracy and Byron - sort of out in the middle of nowhere now. Traffic on I-205 and I-580 is usually terrible. Many people commute from jobs in the SF Bay Area to Tracy and Manteca, because housing is cheaper there. There is also a lot of truck traffic on the freeways with trucks going east/west from the Port of Oakland. The weather in the summer is hot (90 - 100) but the humidity is comfortable. The winters are cool and rainy and sometimes the Central Valley (Tracy, Manteca, Modesto, etc.) can be socked in by ground fog.

[howefortunate]

It does reach triple digits during the summer....but that is not the normal for the summer. I think you should consider Manteca and Tracy. Both are not far from Livermore and have many commuters if you want to carpool and also vanpools and buses. So you could relax and leave the driving to someone else. Both have good schools.