[Marin County] - Sausalito for living (San Francisco, Mountain View: rent, car insurance, how much)

[optimisticStar]

Hello,

I couldn't find a section for Marin county so posting it here.

I am in mid-30's, single woman working in tech and wish to live in Sausalito or somewhere in Marin county. I like to live in a peaceful place with nature being around and I find it to be the perfect place for me. But am worried about traveling to work.

If I find a job in SF, then I know there is a ferry to SF and driving could be an option too. However if I get job opportunity in Bay Area (below south SF like Mountain View, Palo Alto), is daily commute from Sausalito or other places in Marin county-Bay Area doable? If yes, then approx. how much time would it take?

[aslowdodge]

My sister lives in San Anselmo and takes the ferry to work every day to San Francisco. It’s doable but I know she gets up really early to get to work.
As far as other parts of the Bay Area, I sure wouldn’t want to do the commute.

[TR95]

^^^ This, no way would anyone want to commute to the peninsula cities from Marin. The ferry to SF is very doable and peaceful in comparison to taking Bart from the East Bay. However, people I worked with said the ferry cost $8-$9 each way which is almost double the cost of Bart. I could be wrong, but you can look it up.

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by TR95

^^^ This, no way would anyone want to commute to the peninsula cities from Marin. The ferry to SF is very doable and peaceful in comparison to taking Bart from the East Bay. However, people I worked with said the ferry cost $8-$9 each way which is almost double the cost of Bart. I could be wrong, but you can look it up.

I'm going to assume the OP plans on making very good money since she picked Marin County so maybe the ferry cost isn't a big deal

[Ruth4Truth]

There's also Golden Gate Transit buses, for the commute to SF from Marin. You can compare the costs, travel times, and routes between that. and the ferry.

No, living in Marin and commuting to Mountain View or Palo Alto isn't doable. If you get a job in either of those two places, you could consider living in the Santa Cruz Mountains (if you prefer a more rural feel, like Marin), in Scotts Valley, and commuting from there (more affordable than the Peninsula towns), or you could consider anyplace close to your job, if you can afford it. Some of the tech companies have their own commuter shuttles, some of which serve Scotts Valley. It's something to keep in mind, as you research and apply for jobs.

If you do get a job in SF, consider also, Mill Valley in addition to Sausalito. Very charming, with a redwood park in the residential part of town, and redwoods sprouting up in the middle of the small "downtown".

[TR95]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

I'm going to assume the OP plans on making very good money since she picked Marin County so maybe the ferry cost isn't a big deal

Suppose so, but I’d prefer not to waste $20 a day on commute no matter how much I made. She is young and that generation seems to love to blow money, at least the ones I’ve worked with easily spending $20+ a day on lunch. Just blows my mind. To each his own.

Just looked it up and that $9 is now $12.50. Not sure what the discount is for a clipper card, if any.

[optimisticStar]

Originally Posted by aslowdodge

I'm going to assume the OP plans on making very good money since she picked Marin County so maybe the ferry cost isn't a big deal

I have never been to San Anselmo, but will check that out too. Am not sure what the exact minimum range of income is to survive there, but with my experience I expect to get $150K minimum there. More if I could get into big tech companies. If I get anything below that then I would prefer to live in SoCal where I reside now. I was looking the rent prices there are between $3K-3.5K for a studio or 1BR, so might be affordable.

[optimisticStar]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

There's also Golden Gate Transit buses, for the commute to SF from Marin. You can compare the costs, travel times, and routes between that. and the ferry.

No, living in Marin and commuting to Mountain View or Palo Alto isn't doable. If you get a job in either of those two places, you could consider living in the Santa Cruz Mountains (if you prefer a more rural feel, like Marin), in Scotts Valley, and commuting from there (more affordable than the Peninsula towns), or you could consider anyplace close to your job, if you can afford it. Some of the tech companies have their own commuter shuttles, some of which serve Scotts Valley. It's something to keep in mind, as you research and apply for jobs.

If you do get a job in SF, consider also, Mill Valley in addition to Sausalito. Very charming, with a redwood park in the residential part of town, and redwoods sprouting up in the middle of the small "downtown".

Thanks for sharing about Santa Cruz Mountains and Scotts Valley. I didn't knew about them. I had guessed commuting from Marin-South Bay might not be possible, but wasn't sure if there are other ways like trains or buses. I had forgot about commuter shuttles too, so that's a good idea as well if I have to live around in Peninsula towns. I find south Bay or Peninsula towns very crowded and feel like there's not much to do over there compared to Marin.

Yes Mill Valley and Tiburon is great too... I have visited Glassdoor campus before they moved to SF and was hoping I get a job there so I can live peacefully in Marin...

[optimisticStar]

Originally Posted by TR95

Suppose so, but I’d prefer not to waste $20 a day on commute no matter how much I made. She is young and that generation seems to love to blow money, at least the ones I’ve worked with easily spending $20+ a day on lunch. Just blows my mind. To each his own.

Just looked it up and that $9 is now $12.50. Not sure what the discount is for a clipper card, if any.

I looked at the clipper card rates... It's $7 which I am guessing is on-way, so $14 both ways (Link-https://www.goldengate.org/ferry/ferry-fares-payment/). Since I mainly eat home cooked food, I will be saving money food-wise, but yes these are some additional expenses. At present, I travel by car, so it's just car insurance and gas that I pay for. In this case if I keep the car, I would still be paying for insurance and public transportation.

I am seeing rent in Marin County/SF is around $3K per month for studio/1BR... so not sure if it's dipped right now due to pandemic or has always been $3K, but I get base salary of $150K, then I might be able afford living there by myself. I am planning to move after few months once the pandemic slows down and the industry is stable, so by then I feel the rates could have increased too. I am just calculating the expenses, so I could decide if it's best to move to there or stay back here in SoCal. Being in tech, I do have more job opportunities there.

[aslowdodge]

Originally Posted by optimisticStar

I have never been to San Anselmo, but will check that out too. Am not sure what the exact minimum range of income is to survive there, but with my experience I expect to get $150K minimum there. More if I could get into big tech companies. If I get anything below that then I would prefer to live in SoCal where I reside now. I was looking the rent prices there are between $3K-3.5K for a studio or 1BR, so might be affordable.

My sister has a little 2/1 house , quite charming. Older and a block away from George Lucas. It’s worth just under a million and paid for. She earns about 100k a year and gets by fine. The big thing is the paid for house.
It’s just 5 minutes to the little downtown they have and 5 minutes to downtown San Rafael.