Commute from Lafayette to Berkeley Marina Area (Walnut Creek, Walnut: apartments, rental)

[Willow44]

We are looking for places outside of Berkeley to rent with two small dogs, but have to commute to work. We are not looking to buy and are considering Lafayette, Orinda, and Walnut Creek, but are concerned Walnut Creek is too far.

We are also considering Hercules, but are unfamiliar with the area. My husband is at work by 7 or 8, does this help any on the freeway or BART?

We want something less crowded, more rural, and a newer rental without mold.

[mayorhaggar]

I've never gotten off the train in Lafayette but it seems like there's quite a few apartment buildings near the BART station there in the downtown area. Otherwise I think it's a lot of houses set up in the rolling hills. Walnut Creek has a lot of apartment buildings in the downtown area too but is definitely less rural.

BART from Walnut Creek to Berkeley shouldn't be too bad, you have to switch trains but it's not a huge distance, bart.gov says 27 minutes. Lafayette is 22 minutes. I don't know what the Caldecott Tunnel situation is like in the morning but people here always complain about it being a bad bottleneck.

[Willow44]

Thanks! I will check out the apartments near there.

[jade408]

Driving through the Caldecott in the AM is awful. On a no traffic day, downtown Walnut Creek to the 13 onramp on the west side of the Caldecott tunnel takes about 10-15 minutes. In the AM commute it is more like 40 minutes. There is also another bottleneck getting on to 80, so it would take about an hour. If you drove on a traffic-free day to the Marina, it would be more like 20 minutes.

[Willow44]

Wow, that commute does not sound worth it.