Ca move (Oakland, Concord, Berkeley: apartment, renting, condo)

[clzg]

My husband is interested in a job in California. We are from the Boston are and know nothing of the West. The company is in Hercules. Can anyone tell me the best area to look to commute to Hercules? The town we live in has very little crime, schools are fabulous and we love the area because it is absolutely beautiful out here.

[jade408]

Do you have kids? Is your husband's job paying him $250k? If not your quality of life will likely be a lot worse than you have it now where you live.

Hercules is a cheaper part of the region, but once you want excellent schools, an easy commute. It adds up. Depends on your budget.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Why do people always assume they must commute? See about living where you work. In the SF Bay Area, it will give you the best quality of life, because commuting is a bear.

[neutrino78x]

Also, buying or renting a condo or apartment is not a bad life. Not how I grew up, but my privileges were mainly economic...I had a lot of bullies, never had a GF, and there's nothing to do in the suburban area within Silicon Valley where I'm from...in my opinion it would be better for a kid to grow up in a condo in an urban area. Density is the future and density rules.

Hercules is the home of Hercules Computer Technology, famous for making the Hercules Graphics Adapter, which is the type of card that we had in our IBM PC Model 5150 (Intel 8088 @ 4.77 Mhz, 640 KB RAM). It was basically the same as the IBM Monochrome Display Adapter, except it had a high resolution graphics mode, in addition to supporting a monochrome version of the same graphics mode as the IBM Color Graphics Adapter. So it was pretty cool, the best of both worlds, lol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_Graphics_Card

[beb0p]

Originally Posted by clzg

My husband is interested in a job in California. We are from the Boston are and know nothing of the West. The company is in Hercules. Can anyone tell me the best area to look to commute to Hercules? The town we live in has very little crime, schools are fabulous and we love the area because it is absolutely beautiful out here.

Hercules is a small bedroom community, sleepy area, not much going on, pretty safe, and you will most likely drive outside of Hercules for entertainment. Not sure about school, you can do your own research.

Pinole and El Sabronte are neighboring cities that are similar to Hercules. If you want to live somewhere close and safe, probably Pinole, Hercules, or El Sabronte. Housing tends to be cheaper out there, so your bucks will go further.

If you don't mind a further commute, Benicia or Martinez. Though Benicia you have to pay bridge toll to get to Hercules.

.

[Chuck5000]

look on greatschools.org for school ratings. The Bay Area has many beautiful places, but if you want to match a beautiful place in MA that also has great schools, it is possible but will be extremely expensive here. You can take a look on Zillow or Trulia or Redfin and see what you get for your dollar, and you'll see why people say you need very high incomes to match your lifestyle here.

[cmcdermott]

If possible, stay in the Boston area. If you're dead set on moving to the west coast or your husband's career career depends on it, see if it's at all possible to relocate to the Seattle or Portland areas. the PNW is far less expensive that the Bay Area and the job market in Seattle is almost as hot as the Bay Area's. I take frequent business trips to California (particularly the Bay Area) and know people who've moved there and I can tell you that the allure of California collapses pretty quickly once the reality of living there settles in. The Bay Area is beautiful and has a fantastic job market, but even with a cushy three figure white collar job you can only really eek out a living there given the absurd housing costs and generally high consumer prices. And, although this is just my opinion, something about many of the people in the Bay Area (particularly S.F., Oakland, Berkeley, and most of the Silicon Valley) just rubs me the wrong way. Many of them come off to me as uppity, pretentious, and strangely preoccupied with projecting their status not just through flaunting their material wealth but also through showcasing their super special lifestyle and how socially and environmentally conscious they are (I'm sure being from Boston you're familiar with the term 'Boston Brahmin' - well, the Bay Area is even worse in regards to snobbishness). Traffic is horrendous as well. I would look for other options before going all in on the Bay Area.

However, that being said, there are certainly better areas within the Bay Area. I would personally go with one of the communities along I-680 such as Walnut Creek, Concord, etc. if schools and/or crime are a concern (Walnut Creek in particular has some fantastic communities). I grew up and worked for a while in the Atlanta area, so neither commuting nor being in a suburban environment are big deals for me at all. They may be for you, I'm not sure. Our biases always bleed in.

[smashystyle]

You are in a better position than many moving to the Bay Area. Hercules is somewhat out of the way, so you have more (relatively) convenient and (relatively) affordable housing options than if you were commuting to SF or Silicon Valley.

As for Hercules itself, it is, in some ways, a relative rarity in the Bay Area: a diverse, middle class suburb. Schools are fine, but not great. Crime is low (1/3 the CA and US average according to a quick search), although there are some daytime burglaries and other property crime. Maybe it spills over from Richmond. It is a pretty area scenically, on the bay and with regional parks nearby, except for some refineries a few miles away!

Honestly, you are unlikely to find public schools as good as those in Massachusetts. MA spends more than 50% more per pupil than CA, and Boston Public Schools spends more than twice as much. But the closest towns to Hercules with good schools are Benicia, Martinez, and Pleasant Hill. Maybe El Cerrito, where schools have been getting better quickly (as housing prices have also skyrocketed). The closest towns with great schools are Albany and Walnut Creek. You could also look at Lamorinda (Lafayette/Moraga/Orinda) which have great schools, but would be a little longer of a commute.

[Lockdev]

This is not a good time to move to the Bay Area.

Overcrowding, foreign investors, a ridiculous house market, etc, etc, etc.

Unless your husband has been offered 200k+, I would stay right where you are. Anything less and your quality of life will suffer, especially if you want to buy a home.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Why do people always assume they must commute? See about living where you work. In the SF Bay Area, it will give you the best quality of life, because commuting is a bear.

Yes, this mystifies me, too. OP, have you checked out Hercules on the internet? It's a scenic town right on the Bay, with parks, fountains, historic architecture, and a modicum of charm. Why submit yourself (or hubby) to a commute, when you might be able to live within a stroll or a bike ride of the work site? What could you possibly find within commute distance that would be better than Hercules? I don't know what the point of choosing to commute would be. Benicia is close by, and is a pleasant small town with a quaint historic downtown located on the Carquinez Straight, which is surprisingly scenic if you get a place with a view of the Straight, but there's an oil refinery in the vicinity that affects air quality when the wind blows the wrong way, so some people advise against living in Benicia. I think if you check out Hercules, you might be pleasantly surprised with its livability.