Best Suburban Downtown - Peninsula, Marin, East Bay (Berkeley, San Mateo: live in, parking)

[sav858]

Originally Posted by jade408

San Mateo wins for usefulness. Walnut Creek wins for "destination-ness."

How is San Mateo more "useful"?

[jade408]

Originally Posted by sav858

How is San Mateo more "useful"?

I think living there is better as all of the "useful" things are closer together (pharmacy, groceries, post office, dry cleaners, bank, park). The blocks are shorter and more pedestrian friendly since it is older. There is a wide range of restaurants at all price points close together. The stuff you need to do most often is right there in close proximity. And you don't have to trek across strip mall parking lots and millions of driveways which makes a better on the ground experience. And there is a park. Denser housing too.

Walnut Creek is best for a "day trip" of eating, drinking and shopping.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by jade408

I think living there is better as all of the "useful" things are closer together (pharmacy, groceries, post office, dry cleaners, bank, park). The blocks are shorter and more pedestrian friendly since it is older. There is a wide range of restaurants at all price points close together. The stuff you need to do most often is right there in close proximity. And you don't have to trek across strip mall parking lots and millions of driveways which makes a better on the ground experience. And there is a park. Denser housing too.

Walnut Creek is best for a "day trip" of eating, drinking and shopping.

Yeah I agree it is more compact. I was just wondering what you meant because I feel DT WC has more day-to-day amenities (grocery stores, Target, etc.) than SM but yes they can be relatively farther apart.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by sav858

Yeah I agree it is more compact. I was just wondering what you meant because I feel DT WC has more day-to-day amenities (grocery stores, Target, etc.) than SM but yes they can be relatively farther apart.

And not pleasant to get to when you are not in a car. The groceries are still trapped in strip malls with huge parking lots. Every time I am over there I think I can multitask and stop at Trader Joes or whatever, I get annoyed because it is so far. And not really a fun walk You get parking garages, wide streets and other unappealing stuff due to the age when it was developed.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by jade408

And not pleasant to get to when you are not in a car. The groceries are still trapped in strip malls with huge parking lots. Every time I am over there I think I can multitask and stop at Trader Joes or whatever, I get annoyed because it is so far. And not really a fun walk You get parking garages, wide streets and other unappealing stuff due to the age when it was developed.

All of the grocery stores in DT SM having parking lots as well. The parking lot at Trader Joe's is not bigger than any of the grocery stores in DT SM, even Target isn't that big because most of it is below ground.

[WizardOfRadical]

San Mateo has a more authentic downtown. You can tell that it was once a small rail town, where downtown was pretty much the heart of the city's commerce.

WC feels more generic, auto-centric "main street", and forced. The mixture of old buildings and gaudy new stuff gives it a yucky hodge podge feel.

The intersection of main and mt diablo is a perfect example. Look at the awful apple store, next to tiffany's, and the neiman marcus. You can tell the city council and voters are not big on quality aesthetics. Modern, post modern, revival, they don't care. Just build, build, build!!!!!

Of course the outer east bay is filled with middle America types, the type of people who wear mall cloths, so it doesn't surprise me. The 650 burbs just have a more classy way of putting stuff together and have better bones to work with.

[chessgeek]

I voted Mountain View. I like that they have two thriving bookstores not named Barnes and Noble next door to each other. Especially like the older of those two named Bookbuyers there. DTMV has always been a good place for Asian restaurants and gift stores, but offers more variety now. Spent a lot of time in downtown Mountain View when I worked in Mountain View and lived nearby in Sunnyvale.

However when I was in my 20's to mid-30's, I enjoyed downtown Los Gatos as it was close to where I lived then (in the 1980's and 90's). Was surprised it did not at least make the list. I have been in downtown San Mateo a few times which is very nice and offers a lot, too. Any of these three would be a strong "thumbs up" IMO.

[NewbieHere]

I voted for Pleasanton. The next one would be Palo Alto.

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by chessgeek

I voted Mountain View. I like that they have two thriving bookstores not named Barnes and Noble next door to each other. Especially like the older of those two named Bookbuyers there. DTMV has always been a good place for Asian restaurants and gift stores, but offers more variety now. Spent a lot of time in downtown Mountain View when I worked in Mountain View and lived nearby in Sunnyvale.

However when I was in my 20's to mid-30's, I enjoyed downtown Los Gatos as it was close to where I lived then (in the 1980's and 90's). Was surprised it did not at least make the list. I have been in downtown San Mateo a few times which is very nice and offers a lot, too. Any of these three would be a strong "thumbs up" IMO.

Agreed. I lived in Mountain View for almost 12 years. Downtown was one of the reasons I stayed. Almost always has lots of people around, really busy on weekends. Bookstores, coffee shops, performing arts center, lots of restaurants, etc.

[nei]

Is San Rafael decent compared to the choices above?