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Old 01-28-2017, 10:35 AM
 
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I am originally from Walnut Creek and think it's a really great town with a lot of City Life surrounded by nature. But if I had your budget, then I would hands down move to Southern Marin County and get a home with a beautiful view of the bay and the City. Walnut Creek may have more infrastructure than Marin, but it feels a bit more remote, the scenery is more what I would consider Western inland, and it gets extremely hot in the summer. San Francisco is the opposite extreme. Crowded, cold, and foggy. You'll need a jacket all year round, and you'll get annoyed by all the people. Marin County is a sweet spot of scenery, climate, and relaxed pace with access to the big city.
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Old 01-28-2017, 01:24 PM
 
Location: Park City, UT
1,663 posts, read 1,046,302 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tstieber View Post
I am originally from Walnut Creek and think it's a really great town with a lot of City Life surrounded by nature. But if I had your budget, then I would hands down move to Southern Marin County and get a home with a beautiful view of the bay and the City. Walnut Creek may have more infrastructure than Marin, but it feels a bit more remote, the scenery is more what I would consider Western inland, and it gets extremely hot in the summer. San Francisco is the opposite extreme. Crowded, cold, and foggy. You'll need a jacket all year round, and you'll get annoyed by all the people. Marin County is a sweet spot of scenery, climate, and relaxed pace with access to the big city.
One of the reasons why I'm moving from Florida is to get away from the heat, humidity, insects, and tropical storms. A cooler, more mild climate sounds like my cup of tea.

I also like Marin county, from what I've read and seen in pictures. I'd say San Rafael and close by surrounding areas (Mill Valley, Ross) are near the top of my list for places to visit and check out.
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Old 01-28-2017, 01:29 PM
 
10,920 posts, read 6,857,141 times
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Originally Posted by joejerryronnie View Post
With $8 million to spend, I'd look at Atherton. You'll be a little above the median home price for the area ($7.2 million according to Forbes), but it's easily the nicest "suburb" in the bay area. Right next to Palo Alto for local night life and Stanford for a little culture, and just a short trip up 280 to San Francisco if you want to go big.
Atherton is nice, but most of that money goes towards paying for proximity to VC firms, Stanford, and the tech startup world - and if you don't need to be near that, you're just throwing a lot of money away.

I'd rather go with Hillsborough if I had to choose an exclusive leafy suburb on the peninsula (has easier access to 280 and Skyline (and its open space preserves/trails), for what its worth, too).

Quote:
Originally Posted by joejerryronnie View Post
San Francisco is an incredible city to visit and much of it is breathtakingly beautiful. But I think you would find some aspects of the City a bit overwhelming if you lived there:
- glut of millennial hipsters all trying to get rich off tech but who, ironically, actually hate people that are already rich
- really difficult homeless problems and way more human feces than should be on any city streets
The OP could pay to live in a part of the City that has none of those problems. Have you ever walked around the most exclusive neighborhoods in SF before?
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Old 01-28-2017, 01:32 PM
 
10,920 posts, read 6,857,141 times
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Originally Posted by Masterful_Man View Post
If I lived in Sausalito I'd probably bike to SF.
Are there bicycle lanes or a bike trail that leads to the golden gate bridge from Sausalito?
Yes, there are VERY well used bike routes all around Sausalito that lead to other parts of Marin and to the Golden Gate bridge. Marin is one of the larger cycling hotspots of the Bay Area.

SF Bicycle Coalition map info: http://www.sfbike.org/resources/maps-routes/
Bay Trail: http://www.baytrail.org/baytrailmap.html
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Old 01-28-2017, 01:42 PM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
702 posts, read 947,797 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Masterful_Man View Post
If I lived in Sausalito I'd probably bike to SF.
Are there bicycle lanes or a bike trail that leads to the golden gate bridge from Sausalito?
No "trail," you have to use Alexander Avenue unfortunately. I recommend Alexander Avenue to East Road (which leads to a trail under the bridge), even though there's more elevation gain/loss, it's much more pleasant. There's just one short portion of Alexander Avenue where you have to travel uphill without a bike lane, but it lasts only about a quarter mile. Still, I dread that portion every time, it's a great ride otherwise. Traveling uphill without a bike lane on a road where motorists have imperfect visibility is part of the reason that all of the tourist guidebooks tell people to take the ferry back from SF.
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Old 01-29-2017, 05:08 PM
 
Location: where the good looking people are
3,814 posts, read 3,973,531 times
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LoL none of the cities named are really considered "outskirts", with exception to Santa Rosa.

Walnut Creek was the outskirts, but that was when the Vietnam draft was still a thing.

Outskirts are Santa Rosa, Fairfield, Suisun City, Vacaville, Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Mountain House, Tracy, Morgan Hill, and Gilroy.

Usually burbs or exurban bedroom communities, where suburban sprawl meets farmland.

I really like Vacaville the best. Santa Rosa is dingy but had a great setting. Brentwood and especially Morgan Hill are pricey. They are nice, but not much going on.
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Old 01-29-2017, 08:42 PM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
702 posts, read 947,797 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical View Post
LoL none of the cities named are really considered "outskirts", with exception to Santa Rosa.

Walnut Creek was the outskirts, but that was when the Vietnam draft was still a thing.

Outskirts are Santa Rosa, Fairfield, Suisun City, Vacaville, Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Mountain House, Tracy, Morgan Hill, and Gilroy.

Usually burbs or exurban bedroom communities, where suburban sprawl meets farmland.

I really like Vacaville the best. Santa Rosa is dingy but had a great setting. Brentwood and especially Morgan Hill are pricey. They are nice, but not much going on.
8 million dollar budget, and you suggest Vacaville? LOL
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Old 01-29-2017, 10:04 PM
 
Location: Park City, UT
1,663 posts, read 1,046,302 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical View Post
LoL none of the cities named are really considered "outskirts", with exception to Santa Rosa.
By outskirts I basically mean any town outside of the big cities in the Bay area (outside of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, etc).

I think I'll consider just buying a condo within San Francisco itself and a house further out near Petaluma, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Rosa, or some other smaller town. Buying a large house in San Francisco would just be a waste of money, but there are plenty of condos well under my budget. I could buy a condo in San Francisco and a house out in the country and still be well below my $8 mil house budget, and I'd be getting the best of both worlds. I think someone else suggested this also earlier in the thread.

I'll focus on looking for a condo in SF first, and then focus on the house. (I might just have my house built from scratch). When I visit this summer I'll mainly focus on looking in Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, Marina, Russian and Telegraph Hills, North Beach, Presidio Heights, and maybe as far west as Richmond and Sea Cliff.

I ordered some books on San Francisco so I'll be up to speed before I come out there.
I'm looking forward to it!
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Old 01-29-2017, 10:34 PM
 
Location: San Jose, CA
209 posts, read 255,817 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mkdude_08 View Post
1. No one calls The Bay Area or San Francisco "San Fran". Stop that
I prefer "San Pancho" because of my tex-mex heritage, but what do I know?! I live in "San Chepe". Hardy har har!
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Old 01-30-2017, 01:19 AM
 
10,920 posts, read 6,857,141 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Masterful_Man View Post
I think I'll consider just buying a condo within San Francisco itself and a house further out near Petaluma, Napa, Sonoma, Santa Rosa, or some other smaller town. Buying a large house in San Francisco would just be a waste of money, but there are plenty of condos well under my budget. I could buy a condo in San Francisco and a house out in the country and still be well below my $8 mil house budget, and I'd be getting the best of both worlds. I think someone else suggested this also earlier in the thread.

I'll focus on looking for a condo in SF first, and then focus on the house. (I might just have my house built from scratch).


I think this is a great idea, and was what came to my mind earlier in the thread. If I had your money, I'd do something similar.

And I think the order of your purchase is good. Start with SF as your base, then take day trips out to different parts of the Bay Area (and outer parts of the region) - really try to find that nice town outside of SF you want to be your "escape".

Quote:
Originally Posted by Masterful_Man View Post
When I visit this summer I'll mainly focus on looking in Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, Marina, Russian and Telegraph Hills, North Beach, Presidio Heights, and maybe as far west as Richmond and Sea Cliff.

I ordered some books on San Francisco so I'll be up to speed before I come out there.
I'm looking forward to it!
Those are all nice neighborhoods. Don't be afraid to check out the western part of SF - very safe and there are little commercial district strips all over (almost like little "main" streets for their districts). For instance, West Portal, the Inner Sunset, Cole Valley (not so much "western" as "central") are very nice ones.
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