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Old 01-17-2013, 03:31 PM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
36,628 posts, read 67,146,871 times
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Ive always been very impressed with Downtown San Mateo
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Old 01-17-2013, 04:01 PM
 
10,920 posts, read 6,858,608 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rkwalton View Post
the cities in the East Bay have better walk scores than in the Peninsula.
Depends on what parts of the East Bay and the Peninsula you're talking about. Sure, places like Oakland and Berkeley are going to be very walkable (outside of SF, these are the most walkable and transit-friendly places in the entire Bay Area). But places like Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon, Fremont actually can be way less walkable and more car-dependent than many parts of the peninsula. This is especially true because the "East Bay" is such a gigantic region that's very diverse in many ways (in people and development). Like many things, it just depends.

Last edited by HockeyMac18; 01-17-2013 at 04:11 PM..
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Old 01-17-2013, 04:07 PM
 
10,920 posts, read 6,858,608 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sav858 View Post
BART is better than Caltrain, outside of commute hours Caltrain is not nearly as frequent as BART. So if you plan on going into the City on weekends or outside of commute hours BART is superior to Caltrain plus it's station locations are more central and convenient.
This is true, but Caltrain does have its advantages (which are rarely mentioned).
- During commute times, there are express trains that will get you to SF faster than BART would over the same distance (local Caltrains and BART have similar averages speeds, but Caltrain's express trains are much faster).
- As well, one can take bikes on Caltrain at all times of the day (I personally think this is a huge advantage, but that's because I love having my bike with me).
- The peninsula stations are pretty centered on the downtowns, which is great if you want to hop from one peninsula downtown to the next. Also is important if you desire to live in the most walkable areas of the peninsula (all of the walkable downtowns have Caltrain stops). The majority of the inner/urban East Bay BART stations are located in good locations, but I've found many of the stations in some other parts of the East Bay can be away from things
- And, this is just a personal preference of mine, but I think the commute and ride is much more enjoyable on Caltrain than BART: the seats are more comfortable, the trains are far cleaner, and very rarely are the trains so crowded you're forced to stand up (only happens on Giants game days, and even then, it's rare depending on where you get on the train)...the Caltrain commute-time trains are crowded, no doubt, but you can pretty much always find a seat.

Also, to the OP: you mentioned that your husband works in SOMA. The terminus Caltrain stop in SF is in SOMA (4th and King), so that part of the commute might be pretty convenient. This is usually a negative for people because they desire to be in the FiDi (more towards Market), but in your case, it could be a positive.

Last edited by HockeyMac18; 01-17-2013 at 05:15 PM..
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Old 01-17-2013, 04:51 PM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
28,225 posts, read 36,694,357 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 18Montclair View Post
Ive always been very impressed with Downtown San Mateo
Me too! It is pretty cute with a wide variety of restaurants etc.
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Old 01-17-2013, 07:28 PM
 
10,920 posts, read 6,858,608 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lillypie View Post
Hi everyone,

I’m a CA native who’s planning to relocate to the East Bay from the East Coast. Hubby & I are hoping to buy and looking in Lafayette/Orinda, Walnut Creek, Piedmont/Oakland and Alameda. However, as some recent threads have pointed out there’s just not much inventory right now and we thought maybe we should expand our search to the Peninsula. We’re familiar with SF & the East Bay. (He currently lives and works in SOMA part-time and I’m a Cal grad.) However, we are not very familiar with the Peninsula.

So, if you already live/enjoy the East Bay I’m wondering if there are places in the Peninsula (or other places in the Bay Area, for that matter) that you also really like that might offer a similar vibe and provide easy access to SF (either via Bart or Caltrain) that you’d recommend? I really love the East Bay but figured I might be overlooking places in the rest of the Bay Area that we might be just as happy with.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!
There's been a lot of good feedback so far. Like others have mentioned, you'll get more for your money in the East Bay. Also, the premise that inventory in Peninsula won't be as tight as the East Bay is probably not true. I can't be certain of that, since I'm not on the market to buy a house, but I'm very familiar with the rental market of the Peninsula, SF, and the inner East Bay, and I know that rental inventory all over is pretty tight...so I'd imagine it will might true on the buying end as well. That being said, it's not a bad idea to open your search up to the rest of the Bay Area (peninsula included) to see what else is out there. Just don't expect anything to be cheaper (as it will be more expensive).

As far as finding something similar to the East Bay, that does kind of depend on what parts of the East Bay specifically you're talking about and what you love about the East Bay.

Based on this feedback: "I moved from the East Bay about 10 yrs ago but at the time I thought it was a fairly laid-back place and I liked having great restaurants/nightlife and nature trails/beaches nearby and also the proximity to SF and being able to hop on BART/bus and get to the city under 45mins. I'm in my early 30s with kids now so the nightlife isn't a factor but would still like to take advantage of the other things."

I think the Peninsula does meet many of these criteria as many of the things you love about the East Bay can also be found on the Peninsula:

- Many of the peninsula towns have nice walkable downtowns. My personal favorites include: San Mateo (my favorite & I do live there), Burlingame, Redwood City, San Carlos Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Mountain View. In each there are many restaurants/bars/shopping options, and some have a good amount of residential areas just next to them. I happen to live in downtown San Mateo and love the walkability of the area. I sometimes go days/weeks without using my car. The peninsula on the whole is less walkable than places like Berkeley and Oakland, but the Peninsula downtown areas are very walkable (more walkable than most of the more suburban parts of the East Bay).

- You can easily get to nature in the Santa Cruz mountains, where there are many open space preserves and parks with miles of land that has never been developed. This might be my favorite thing about where I live. It isn't something that is unique to the peninsula, but it is very nice.

- being on the peninsula allows one to be much closer to the ocean.

- Assuming you stay north of Redwood City, you can get to downtown SF via Caltrain in less than 45 minutes. Since you mentioned before that your husband will be working in SOMA, the Caltrain terminus station at 4th and King would put him very close to his work. See my other post about Caltrain comments. BART on the whole is more convenient, but Caltrain has many advantages, too.

So yes, many of the things that you love about the East Bay can be found on the peninsula.

I live in San Mateo mainly so I can be close to work in Palo Alto and where I like to hang out in SF/East Bay. So, it works for me, and I do like it a lot. That being said, if there's no reason you have to be on this side of the bay, the East Bay generally is a better option. But, there are plenty of places that meet your requirements on the Peninsula, and if you find a place you love, there's certainly nothing wrong with considering it.

Last edited by HockeyMac18; 01-17-2013 at 07:47 PM..
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Old 01-17-2013, 09:55 PM
 
Location: South Korea
5,242 posts, read 13,028,685 times
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Keep in mind the towns along the Caltrain route in San Mateo County serve as bedroom communities for people who work in SF as well as Silicon Valley, which have both been hot job markets for about 2 years now. This drives up prices quite a bit. The East Bay is a bit more self-contained and serves mainly only as a bedroom community for people who work in SF, not so much for Silicon Valley unless you're around Fremont. So a house that is like $600,000 in Walnut Creek can be like $900,000 or so in San Mateo County. If you just want to have more options then by all means look at the Peninsula, but you'll probably find you pay more for what you get in the Peninsula compared with much of the East Bay.

That said, you can find some decent rental and purchase deals in some San Mateo towns, like Redwood City...just gotta make sure you have good neighbors. Also keep in mind that a good school district raises prices by a lot...I'm not really familiar with house prices much anymore but used to be that a house in Walnut Creek (good school district) that went for $600,000 would be more like $250,000 in Concord (iffy school district) which is just the next town over...
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Old 01-18-2013, 10:06 AM
 
Location: NoVA
28 posts, read 41,447 times
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Hockeymac, Thank you for the feedback. That’s really helpful. We had been bouncing around Burlingame and San Mateo in particular so it’s good to hear positive feedback particularly about San Mateo and more info about Caltrain. We are used to driving but we’d like some walkability so I’ll prob stick to some of the places mentioned with walkable dowtown areas and start doing some research.
 
Mayor, I hadn’t considered the Silicon Valley effect on Peninsula home prices prior to posting since I know that little about this part of the Bay Area. Makes sense. There just aren’t too many 3+ bdrm SFH in the East Bay cities we’re looking and the rental market seems just as tight so we’re trying to expand our options. Just our luck that we're trying to buy when it seems the market is getting hot again.


Thank you everyone for the feedback. Off to research!
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Old 01-19-2013, 08:25 PM
 
102 posts, read 169,309 times
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I grew up in the inner East Bay (Piedmont) and have to say that it is probably my favorite area of the Bay Area, with Marin and mid-Peninsula a close second. On the Peninsula, I like Burlingame and San Mateo (where I live now). Both have many pre war homes with mature tree lined streets, which reminds me very much of the inner East Bay, and both have historic downtowns. Feels more East Coast, dare I say. San Mateo has probably the largest downtown on the Peninsula, and many other shopping areas as well, so it doesn't feel as suburban as say Belmont or San Carlos. If I were really wealthy I'd go for Hillsborough. Ah, one can only dream...
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Old 01-19-2013, 08:40 PM
 
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
140 posts, read 435,269 times
Reputation: 135
Default Burlingame, San Mateo or Palo Alto

Caltrain stops are close to restaurants, commercial districts at these stops: Burlingame, San Mateo or Palo Alto.

The other Caltrain stops require crossing El Camino Real, or other really very busy streets to get to anything and not as desirable. Many like San Carlos & Belmont too because of schools, but I missed the appeal there since for me personally, not near enough to San Francisco or a beach.
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Old 01-20-2013, 12:50 AM
 
Location: San Francisco, CA
15,088 posts, read 13,386,516 times
Reputation: 14266
Quote:
Originally Posted by lillypie View Post
Hi everyone,

I’m a CA native who’s planning to relocate to the East Bay from the East Coast. Hubby & I are hoping to buy and looking in Lafayette/Orinda, Walnut Creek, Piedmont/Oakland and Alameda. However, as some recent threads have pointed out there’s just not much inventory right now and we thought maybe we should expand our search to the Peninsula.
lol...if you think East Bay is bad right now for real estate, just wait until you see how absolutely disastrous it is over on the other side of the water.

Burlingame, San Carlos, Palo Alto, Los Altos are all great IMO... but if you're looking to buy in a desirable area, be ready to clear $1.1M for houses well below 2K sqft AND have ability to effectively put down well more than 20% down to eliminate your financing and appraisal risk perception to the seller - it's that competitive right now.
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