Which suburbs to live close to SF? (San Jose, San Francisco: apartment complex, transfer to)

[apple0000]

Hi there, I am moving to SF for work. I will work in the city but want to live somewhere in the south bay. I like the SJ, mountain view area where you get more space, better quality of apartments, and warm weather. But the commute is too far. So I was wondering whether in the south bay area which is close to SF there are such equivalent. I am hoping to get some insights regarding the neighborhood. Here are what i am looking for:

- warmer weather than SF. like in the summer hopefully in the high 60s and 70s
- apartment complex with more space
- hopefully there are tree lined street in the neighborhood. coming from east coast, trees are really important to me ) although i know its probably nothing compared with east coast
- bart station is within drive distance. I want to have the option of drive to the bart and take the bart to the city rather than have to drive to the city every day. But i do want to drive to the office occasionally by car
- relatively reasonable price like studio within $1500

Hopefully that's not too much to ask. Any insights are helpful ! Would you recommend south bay or east bay?

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by apple0000

Hi there, I am moving to SF for work. I will work in the city but want to live somewhere in the south bay. I like the SJ, mountain view area where you get more space, better quality of apartments, and warm weather. But the commute is too far. So I was wondering whether in the south bay area which is close to SF there are such equivalent. I am hoping to get some insights regarding the neighborhood. Here are what i am looking for:

- warmer weather than SF. like in the summer hopefully in the high 60s and 70s
- apartment complex with more space
- hopefully there are tree lined street in the neighborhood. coming from east coast, trees are really important to me ) although i know its probably nothing compared with east coast
- bart station is within drive distance. I want to have the option of drive to the bart and take the bart to the city rather than have to drive to the city every day. But i do want to drive to the office occasionally by car
- relatively reasonable price like studio within $1500

Hopefully that's not too much to ask. Any insights are helpful ! Would you recommend south bay or east bay?

Anywhere on the mid peninsula - Burlingame, San Mateo, Foster City, Belmont, San Carlos or Redwood City would work. All but Belmont and Foster City have nice downtowns. All have warmer weather, greenery and free parking almost anywhere that you won't find in San Francisco. About a 30-45 minute drive to the beaches and the Santa Cruz Mountains with redwood forests.

Caltrain is the commuter train between San Francisco and San Jose caltrain.com. You can transfer to BART at Millbrae.

You can get a studio for less than $1500!

[apple0000]

thanks !! among these choices, which one is easy to commute to sf by bart? which area are recommended for young professionals?

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by apple0000

thanks !! among these choices, which one is easy to commute to sf by bart?

Let me google that for you

You want warmer weather, so I'd also consider looking at the East Bay. Plus rents are cheaper than San Mateo County or Santa Clara County. Walnut Creek would probably be right up your alley, its downtown areas is just about suitable for yuppies as well as the stroller/middle aged set. But it might be too warm for you--summer temps can easily get over 90, sometimes over 100. You'd also probably like Elmwood in Berkeley if you can afford it, but you might find it too chilly in summer, it can struggle to get over 70 in summer. Rockridge in Oakland is also great and has a BART station.

As for areas for young professionals, aka yuppies? The areas you're asking about on the Peninsula (including a lot of Silicon Valley) and corresponding areas in the East Bay are largely bland suburbs which are more suited to middle-aged professionals, not so much for people in their 20's and 30's. It really depends on your personal tastes though rather than me basing anything on you throwing out a vague term like "young professionals." There's a few pockets like Mountain View and downtown San Jose which are a bit more urbane but as you point out the commute would suck. BART from the East Bay is way more convenient.

If you do want to stick to areas of North San Mateo County which are convenient to BART, for one thing those towns are pretty chilly. Daly City definitely is, South SF is pretty dumpy, and San Bruno is kinda dumpy and has some high-wind areas. Millbrae might be the best fit (it's warmer than areas further north but it's definitely cooler than down around San Mateo or San Jose) but you might find it too boring, I'd check it out. The town of San Mateo would probably be good for you, but there's no BART. Transferring from Caltrain to BART at Millbrae is just kinda miserable, if you can try to have a direct route on BART.

[Ruth4Truth]

Elmwood routinely is in the 70's in summer. It gets into the 80's sometimes. It's not San Francisco, which hovers around the mid-to-high 60's much of the time (not that that's a problem, but some people don't like it). Rockridge is adjacent to Elmwood, so: same weather.

There's no BART in the areas suggested earlier. There's the CalTrain train.

[silverkris]

The Shelter Creek apartments in San Bruno are pretty nice - it's west of El Camino Real and close to 280, so you can drive to the San Bruno, Colma, South San Francisco or Daly City BART stations fairly easily.

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by silverkris

The Shelter Creek apartments in San Bruno are pretty nice - it's west of El Camino Real and close to 280, so you can drive to the San Bruno, Colma, South San Francisco or Daly City BART stations fairly easily.

The OP said he wanted warmer weather and these places are about as windy and foggy as San Francisco. As for BART or Caltrain, it depends on where in SF the OP will work. Caltrain may be the better option if he's working south of Market.