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Old 03-31-2008, 01:29 PM
 
3 posts, read 43,891 times
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We are moving to the vallejo area for school but I am reading many bad things about vallejo so I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on better areas we should look at. Is Napa a nice/safe place to live? What about Novato? Any suggestions would be very helpful!!

Thank you.
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Old 03-31-2008, 01:41 PM
 
Location: In the Redwoods
30,311 posts, read 51,917,889 times
Reputation: 23701
Quote:
Originally Posted by olytosf View Post
We are moving to the vallejo area for school but I am reading many bad things about vallejo so I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on better areas we should look at. Is Napa a nice/safe place to live? What about Novato? Any suggestions would be very helpful!!

Thank you.
I work in Napa, and it's a really nice little town - a tad boring for my taste, but if you're not looking for excitement, it is a good place to live! The town itself is very safe and quiet for the most part, but still has everything you need (restaurants, supermarkets, mini-malls galore, etc.). American Canyon between Napa & Vallejo is also pretty nice, though even sleepier than Napa... don't know much about Novato, except that it might be a bad commute to Vallejo. You could also look in Contra Costa, Marin or Alameda counties - like Pinole, Hercules, El Sobrante, Benicia/Martinez, Point Richmond, and if you can afford it, San Rafael. I wouldn't recommend Fairfield, and you probably want to avoid San Pablo and central Richmond, which are both worse than Vallejo. Hope that helps!
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Old 03-31-2008, 03:19 PM
 
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
17 posts, read 90,860 times
Reputation: 15
Default El Sobrante - the town nobody knows about

For sure, check out the unincomporated town of El Sobrante. It's right between I80 and Hwy 24, only 3 miles to the nearest lake and huge family park. El Sobrante is between Pinole and the Richmond Hills.


Quote:
Originally Posted by olytosf View Post
We are moving to the vallejo area for school but I am reading many bad things about vallejo so I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on better areas we should look at. Is Napa a nice/safe place to live? What about Novato? Any suggestions would be very helpful!!

Thank you.
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Old 04-01-2008, 04:27 AM
 
Location: In the Redwoods
30,311 posts, read 51,917,889 times
Reputation: 23701
Quote:
Originally Posted by tomcatmoving View Post
For sure, check out the unincomporated town of El Sobrante. It's right between I80 and Hwy 24, only 3 miles to the nearest lake and huge family park. El Sobrante is between Pinole and the Richmond Hills.
My best friend's mother used to own an antique shop in El Sobrante, and would spend occasional weekends up there... so all I remember about the town is that we'd party when her Mom went to El Sobrante, LOL. Is it really nice? Ironically I've been thinking about looking there, if I decide my new commute (SF to Pt. Richmond) is a pain.
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Old 04-01-2008, 12:37 PM
 
3 posts, read 43,891 times
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Default Commuting

Thank you very much for the suggestions. I have been using google maps to get estimated commute times to vallejo from all the various places folks have mentioned. I am wondering though if they are realistic estimates. Is it really about 30 minutes from Napa or is it totally dependent on time of day?

Are there areas of Vallejo that are even worth looking at or should we just steer clear completely?

Thanks again.
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Old 04-01-2008, 01:08 PM
 
7 posts, read 31,930 times
Reputation: 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by olytosf View Post
We are moving to the vallejo area for school but I am reading many bad things about vallejo so I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on better areas we should look at. Is Napa a nice/safe place to live? What about Novato? Any suggestions would be very helpful!!

Thank you.
Hi Olytosf!

What were you reading that was bad about Vallejo? We're moving out there for work next month and that is where we were going to live! We know a guy on the project and he hasn't said anything bad about it....

Being the woman I require a nice area! I looked at some sites and saw some pictures. It looks nice!
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Old 04-01-2008, 01:20 PM
 
3 posts, read 43,891 times
Reputation: 13
Default read other posts...

Quote:
Originally Posted by jedimaster128 View Post
Hi Olytosf!

What were you reading that was bad about Vallejo? We're moving out there for work next month and that is where we were going to live! We know a guy on the project and he hasn't said anything bad about it....

Being the woman I require a nice area! I looked at some sites and saw some pictures. It looks nice!
I have been reading a lot of the other posts on here and nearly all of them are negative about vallejo in terms of safety and people tend to recommend looking anywhere else to live...if you search for other threads on vallejo you will definitely come across some. But I have also seen a couple where people like it, so its hard to tell. For me, I just read too many negatives to keep it on my list.
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Old 04-01-2008, 04:43 PM
 
Location: In the Redwoods
30,311 posts, read 51,917,889 times
Reputation: 23701
Quote:
Originally Posted by olytosf View Post
Thank you very much for the suggestions. I have been using google maps to get estimated commute times to vallejo from all the various places folks have mentioned. I am wondering though if they are realistic estimates. Is it really about 30 minutes from Napa or is it totally dependent on time of day?
It TOTALLY depends on the time of day, and also which direction you're traveling... heaviest traffic is entering the city (heading west) in the morning commute, and leaving in the afternoon-evening. So if you're driving from San Francisco to Vallejo at 5pm, it can easily take an hour or more. But going from SF to Vallejo at 11am, as I do every day, is 30-35 minutes fairly consistently - unless there's an accident or break-down on the Bay Bridge, which does happen frequently. Check this map at different times of the day, and it'll give you a good idea of our traffic patterns: 511.org -- Traffic

Unfortunately, you have to go through "The Maze" (where a million freeways intersect in Oakland) to get from SF to Vallejo via I-80, and that has the worst traffic in the Bay Area. So if you'd only be driving during rush-hour, and in the bad directions I mentioned above, you should probably look in/near Novato... Marin county does have traffic heading south in the AM & north in the PM, but it's nowhere near as bad as the maze.

Quote:
Are there areas of Vallejo that are even worth looking at or should we just steer clear completely?

Thanks again.
No problemo. I don't know enough about Vallejo to answer your question, but I think it's all pretty much the same. I personally don't care about "bad neighborhoods," which is obvious if you know where I've lived (Stockton, East Palo Alto, Bayview district of SF, etc.)... but if you really want a SAFE and/or quiet place, I wouldn't recommend Vallejo based on what other people say about it. That's all heresay from me, though, so you might want to wait for a local's opinion.

Last edited by gizmo980; 04-01-2008 at 04:52 PM..
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Old 04-01-2008, 06:40 PM
 
136 posts, read 893,910 times
Reputation: 77
I lived in Benicia for 5 years and if I moved back to the area I would not move to Vallejo. I suggest you look carefully at the areas before you make any decisions.
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Old 04-02-2008, 08:56 PM
 
Location: West Sacramento
34 posts, read 166,326 times
Reputation: 30
Novato to Vallejo during typical commuter hours is 20-30 minutes depending on distance. It is a reverse commute so the traffic is not too bad.
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