Pacifica with a commute to Sunnyvale? (San Mateo, Redwood City: renting, buying a home, neighborhoods)

[bealtaine]

I am trying to find the right place to call home. I am not from the bay area and hope some of you more experienced folks could help me out. So, currently work is in sunnyvale which seems like a fine area, especially since it's getting a makeover, but I worry that in the summer it will be too hot for me.

I'd love to live by the ocean and somewhere that has a bit of downtown area and atmosphere rather than strip mall sprawl. I have a wee 'un who will be attending school in a few years so thats a hugely important factor too.

I have experienced living Santa Cruz. It was great but I think it is a bit too far away from SF and other bay area cultural stuff.

Pacifica is appealing but commuting would be hell right?

[humboldtrat]

Yor're right! Commuting between Pacifica and Sunnyvale would be hell. Not that traffic on I-280 is bad (it usually isn't), but it's just a long distance.

Also, during much of the summer, Pacifica is socked in with pea soup fog with lots of wind much of the time. It can get really grey, dreary and cold. Sunnyvale doesn't get too hot during the summer - maybe in the 80's with a few days during the summer getting into the 90's. But you're inland enough to get away from the coastal wind and fog .

[bealtaine]

I thought as much, thanks for your time.

[tennis368fan]

You could try Half Moon Bay. King Mountain Elementary performs exceptionally well in state testing. On top of that, the commute will be shorter to Sunnyvale.

[gizmo980]

I'm not sure Half Moon Bay would be much shorter, since that road between HMB & 280/92 gets REALLLLLLY crowded sometimes - especially on warm days in the summer, and through most of late Sept-Oct (because of the pumpkin patches). Though I guess the pumpkin & beach traffic is mostly on the weekends, so it depends on whether you work a M-F schedule or not. But even without traffic, I find it to be a more harrowing, foggy, and slow road than hwy 1 from Pacifica. Aside from all that, Half Moon Bay is a very nice little town, though I emphasize little. I actually lived in Pacifica for a short while, and loved it there... perfect weather for those of us non-warmth people, and just the right size & distance from "civilization." Plus, you can't beat views like this!







As for the commute, it took about 35-45 minutes to my sister's house in Mtn. View, which is right next to Sunnyvale... the good news is that 280 has very light traffic (for the Bay Area), so you won't often sit in bumper-to-bumper. If this commute is too long & you're still concerned about the heat, just try going a bit north - Redwood City, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, maybe even San Carlos or Belmont, which would all be slightly cooler in the summer. Good luck!

[gizmo980]

P.S. What kind of budget do you have, and will you be renting or buying a home? Not trying to be nosy, but it will help us with recommending appropriate towns.

[bealtaine]

Budgetwise I am looking for something around the 900k-1m mark. I have been looking at Belmont and San Carlos but most homes there are priced just north of my budget.
I am now considering Redwood City and San Mateo. Both neighborhoods seems to have good and not-so-good areas. Any comments would be appreciated.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by bealtaine

Budgetwise I am looking for something around the 900k-1m mark. I have been looking at Belmont and San Carlos but most homes there are priced just north of my budget.
I am now considering Redwood City and San Mateo. Both neighborhoods seems to have good and not-so-good areas. Any comments would be appreciated.

Redwood City and San Mateo (where I grew up) are both nice towns, and even the "bad" areas aren't all that horrible... if you want to avoid those, however, a general rule is to stay west of El Camino Real. There are exceptions, like the Norton/E. Hillsdale neighborhood in SM, but it's usually a good rule-of-thumb. Parts to avoid in RC would be around Middlefield Road and the numbered streets (5th, 6th, etc), which isn't that bad - just a bit run-down and, uh, colorful. San Mateo's less-desirable areas are around East Poplar, Sunnybrae, Delaware Ave., and a few others. As with RC's bad neighborhoods, they're not really dangerous, just less nice... and mostly where the Hispanic immigrants live, which isn't a problem in itself, but usually has associated issues.

Some nice places to live in those towns, which aren't too expensive...
Redwood City - Woodside Road between El Camino & Alameda de las Pulgas; neighborhood on/around Jefferson Ave., also between El Camino & Alameda.
San Mateo - "The hills" is my personal favorite, which is basically the area around Alameda de las Pulgas (high-numbered streets) & near College of San Mateo; Hillsdale area is also nice, and downtown is nice but noisy/crowded; Norton Ave. near Foster City is another, and anything near Burlingame & Peninsula Ave.

[bealtaine]

Excellent info. Thank you.