Ideal place to live between Sacramento (Folsom) and Santa Clara (Stockton: rentals, hotel)

[sherlock221b]

Me and my bf have jobs in Folsom and Santa Clara respectively. Since we would want to live together, is there an ideal/best place to live between the two cities? I did some research and I understand in doing so (living somewhere between Folsom and SC) each of us is going to commute ~1.25 hour each way to work. Any ideas on an ideal place? Or is it going to be too difficult since these places are far away? All help and suggestions appreciated.

[fouroheight68]

Originally Posted by sherlock221b

Me and my bf have jobs in Folsom and Sacramento respectively. Since we would want to live together, is there an ideal/best place to live between the two cities? I did some research and I understand in doing so each of us is going to commute ~1.25 hour each way to work. Any ideas on an ideal place? Or is it going to be too difficult since these places are far away? All help and suggestions appreciated.

The title says Folsom and Santa Clara, but the post says Folsom and Sacramento. Then, you say each will have to commute 1.25 hours each way. Im confused, which is correct? Neither Sacramento nor Santa Clara are 1.25 hours away from Folsom.

The commute from Folsom to Sacramento is 45 minutes, with traffic. 25 without. Before someone interjects, I do it every day. You need to be more specific about budget - renting or buying? What is your price range?

[caligirlz]

It really depends on your tolerance for commuting. Some people do it daily, and have done so for years, like my SIL. She rotates between using light rail & driving. It takes her about 2-3 years at each before she gets fed up & switches back to the other option. My brother has been driving the commute for about 6 years now. He never complains, but, he looks very weary in comparison to the days when he worked in Folsom.

Keep in mind that if you are driving from the east (Folsom) towards Sacramento, then you are driving with the masses, vs, if you are driving from Sacramento towards Folsom, that is considered a backwards commute. There is still a lot of people on the road, but it's not as crowded as the opposite direction. And of course its worse during commuter hours.

I would not chose to do that commute. I'm thankful for my local job in EDH/Folsom.

[TheFlats]

If you can afford it live in your respective working regions and have two places, each person can visit the other as often as they feel like doing the drive and you have two home bases to explore each area from.

If you insist on keeping both jobs and living in one residence then Lodi, Stockon. Maybe Contra Costa or Solano County? Unless one person is a glutton for punishment and wants to do the lion's share of commuting.

[JohnS_15]

Brutal. Can one of you telecommute any days?


The traffic for commuting to Santa Clara will be way worse than the reverse commute to Folsom. I'd look at Martinez, Concord, Pinole, Livermore. Places like that will be ~hour to Santa Clara but way longer in traffic and about 1.5 hours to Folsom with no traffic.


You should decide if you want to be in the Bay Area or Sacramento Area and then one of you find a job close to the other.

[b.hughes]

As someone who used to work in Fremont while my wife worked in Sacramento (which is actually closer than Santa Clara and Folsom)... with all due respect one of you needs to find a new job in a closer spot if you really want to live together.

If you live in the midpoint you are going to spend WAY more time commuting than 1.25 hours each way. Factor in realistic traffic (especially around Santa Clara) and no matter where you live in between, someone (or the both of you) will be commuting (in total) an average of probably 4+ hours in the morning and 4+ hours back.

Sorry to be such a downer but really don't do this if its a 5 days a week thing - it really is brutal. If you really want to try it out get a hotel for a week in some place like Concord to try out the commute.

[wburg]

Indeed--there are no good choices, really. The halfway point geographically would probably be Stockton, which doesn't exactly have the best reputation. But, on the bright side, you'd both spend so much time commuting you wouldn't actually spend much time in Stockton.

[511pf]

Like everyone else said, there is no good place to split the difference, because of traffic.

Commuting south in the Bay Area is really terrible. Livermore area is probably your best bet. Being in Livermore lets you drive directly down 84 to Santa Clara, avoiding the 580/680 mess. It also lets you jump right on 580 going east. It's about 90 minutes to Santa Clara and 100-140 minutes to Folsom. 580 and I-5 going north toward Sacramento aren't terribly crowded in the morning.

One thing to consider is that there is an Amtrak train from Stockton and Livermore to Santa Clara. Stockton might actually be an option to split the difference if one person takes the train. It's about two hours on the train. The north part of Stockton is OK.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I'm thinking Fairfield might be the best option. The one going to Folsom would drive and the one going to Santa Clara would take the Amtrak train from the Fairfield/Suisun station to the Santa Clara station, and then a bus from there to work.

I don't think taking the train to Sacramento and then a bus to Folsom would be practical. But, going to Santa Clara, it would be a nice trip. The Fairfield station is small but nice and I always felt safe there ( I would take the train to visit a friend there). The Great America station looked safe to me, too, when I lived in Santa Clara. The buses in Santa Clara are safe, in my experience, too. And the train ride is really relaxing and has wi-fi.

The one driving would be heading into Sacramento traffic, but once out of that, at least would be going against the major flow to Folsom.

Rentals are reasonable in the Fairfield area, too. Just ask about safe neighborhoods. I have good friends there with a gorgeous huge house. I'm not sure where the bad areas are, but there are definitely beautiful areas, too. I've just heard there are bad areas, but I've never seen them when I go visit.

Good luck to you.