Best Place to live near San Francisco under $450K

[Bisaro TMF]

Originally Posted by bentobox34

That doesn't include:
- The time it takes to drive from your home to the BART station;
- The time it takes to park, walk from the parking lot to the platform and wait for the next train;
- The time it takes to walk from Montgomery Station to your job.

Each of which could add another 5-15 minutes. In the absolute best-case scenario (you live AND work right next to BART stations at both ends) I would add 10-15 minutes to whatever amount of time the actual BART trip takes as a good rule-of-thumb for the total commute time. However 20-30 minutes or more is a more realistic add-on for the majority of people.

Source: Years of commuting on transit.

That applies to anything, you just leave early and establish a routine, even if you live by where you work you don't leave for work 10 minutes before you start. You have to walk from the parking lot etc. All that stuff is common sense.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Exactly! This is what people forget, or neglect to mention, when giving BART commute times. If you get to the station just as a train is pulling away, you could be waiting there for another 15-20 minutes. Which just extended your commute to 1 hr., not counting the time it takes to get from your house to the station, park, etc. But the only way to accurately measure and compare times with other locations is to give the actual on-board transit time.

People that take BART to work every day generally know that it runs every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 20 minutes on evenings/weekends. They even have apps nowadays for real time departures/arrivals so commuters really don't need to miss a train. My husband for instance, doesn't actually count his walk from the BART to the office as "commute time" since he considers it his daily exercise and enjoys it. His drive to the BART parking lot is only 5 minutes and the actual ride is 25 to 30 minutes to Montgomery. This has been about fifteen minutes faster than when we lived in the Sunset and he took the MUNI train to SOMA. Also, MUNI would frequently break down in the tunnel and they don't let people off to find alternative ways home.

[Karey43]

Originally Posted by AKADubstep

Hello,

What are the best vicinities near San Francisco that have affordable housing for under $450K

It should be:

-Safe for kids
- Have a high school with a high api (over 800)
- Commute to South San Francisco should be less than one hour


Thanks!

Yeah that doesn't exist. And it probably doesn't exist in most places either, its not just a california problem. All places are compromises of those factors. If you have good schools and a convenient location its going to be expensive, because being those 2 things makes it valuable. There's no reason for any place to be cheap, well placed and have good schools. What makes things cheaper is being lower in quality in some way. Nothing's free.

[bentobox34]

Originally Posted by Bisaro TMF

That applies to anything, you just leave early and establish a routine, even if you live by where you work you don't leave for work 10 minutes before you start. You have to walk from the parking lot etc. All that stuff is common sense.

Yeah, all I'm saying is that you need to factor these things in when someone asks about locations that are within a certain commute time from some other location. If they say they want a commute time of 1 hour or less, and you point them to a neighborhood where the BART travel time is exactly one hour, you didn't give them an accurate answer to their question.

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by bentobox34

Yeah, all I'm saying is that you need to factor these things in when someone asks about locations that are within a certain commute time from some other location. If they say they want a commute time of 1 hour or less, and you point them to a neighborhood where the BART travel time is exactly one hour, you didn't give them an accurate answer to their question.

Yeah but again, a one hour BART ride is a a pretty normal commute. The mentality of riding transit is different from that of driving. You see, drivers have to concentrate on the road, so they are basically losing that time. Transit users can use the time for other things. So about an hour on transit is pretty normal. More than an hour and a half and it starts to harder.

[neutrino78x]

Originally Posted by bentobox34

I'm looking for the same thing, except switch "South San Francisco" with "North San Jose," and make the "good schools" part optional. Even then, it's just about impossible.

You're telling me there are no condos in San Jose for 450k.

Why does it have to be specifically north San Jose? Because you refuse to take light rail to work? Here's one in Blossom Valley (south San Jose), very close to the light rail, in your price range.

MLS ML81449650: 283 Sumba CT SAN JOSE CA 95123

Light Rail goes right to Cisco and ebay. You can take it to downtown and transfer to bus 323 to go to Apple. Or take it to downtown and transfer to Caltrain.

San Jose Condo Mania is a great web site for people who claim they can't afford to live in Silicon Valley. Such people should go there because they would find out they can live here.

[bentobox34]

Originally Posted by neutrino78x

Yeah but again, a one hour BART ride is a a pretty normal commute. The mentality of riding transit is different from that of driving. You see, drivers have to concentrate on the road, so they are basically losing that time. Transit users can use the time for other things. So about an hour on transit is pretty normal. More than an hour and a half and it starts to harder.

You're preaching to the choir here, as I would find a long commute on transit way more tolerable than a long commute in stop-and-go traffic.

You're telling me there are no condos in San Jose for 450k.

Why does it have to be specifically north San Jose? Because you refuse to take light rail to work? Here's one in Blossom Valley (south San Jose), very close to the light rail, in your price range.

MLS ML81449650: 283 Sumba CT SAN JOSE CA 95123

Light Rail goes right to Cisco and ebay. You can take it to downtown and transfer to bus 323 to go to Apple. Or take it to downtown and transfer to Caltrain.

San Jose Condo Mania is a great web site for people who claim they can't afford to live in Silicon Valley. Such people should go there because they would find out they can live here.

My statement was a little cryptic, but when I said "switch SSF with NSJ" I meant that just as the OP wanted to be within one hour of SSF, I would want to be within 1 hour of NSJ. I actually wouldn't want to be in most parts of NSJ as there aren't any complete neighborhoods in the area.

That condo looks OK. I estimate it would be about 1 hour 10 minutes on light rail, including walking. Right now my commute is half that amount of time by bike. Also I have more indoor and outdoor space, better walk access to places I'd want to walk to, and am in a more central location in the county (Santa Clara). So I'll keep renting for now thanks.

[Fata Morgana]

Originally Posted by Fata Morgana

There is a better photo of that unit here:

https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Franci...9/home/1622273

Bars on windows, plastic on others. In a high crime wasteland. No, just no.

And this place is already under contract. Unreal.