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Old 05-02-2008, 09:09 PM
 
16 posts, read 105,378 times
Reputation: 15

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Hi,

If anyone could give me some advice, It would be greatly appreciated

two place I would need access with out dying in long commutes

Union City & a Airport

I thought about Santa Cruz, anyones thoughts on that city would be great

according to mapquest

Santa Cruz to Union City is 51 miles - How is the traffic?

Santa Cruz to San Jose is 32 miles - how is traffic?

Or any other cities any one reccomend we should check out? We are midwesterners heading Cali for the first time!

Thanks again
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Old 05-02-2008, 09:41 PM
 
Location: In the Redwoods
30,324 posts, read 51,925,382 times
Reputation: 23716
Santa Cruz or San Jose would make for an awful commute, and you could expect to spend a few hours a day in the car. The road from Santa Cruz is very winding and congested, especially on Fridays (people hitting the beach), and can easily take 45 minutes from SC to San Jose... then you have to get through 85, 101, 236, and I think 880 or 680? Some of the worst traffic in the Bay Area is in those spots, so it will be a slow and expensive ride. San Jose might be do-able if you take a clever route, but would still take you probably 45-60 minutes each way.

Now for some better suggestions... if you lived in the "tri-city" area of Fremont, Newark & Union City, you'd have good access to SFO and San Jose. Alameda is another possibility, which would put you right next to Oakland airport & not far from SFO. Hayward and San Leandro are close to Union City too, but I don't know enough to say whether they're good places or not. Some other ideas are San Mateo, Pleasanton and Dublin, though the latter two aren't really close to an airport. Good luck!

Last edited by gizmo980; 05-03-2008 at 01:14 AM..
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Old 05-02-2008, 09:46 PM
 
Location: In the Redwoods
30,324 posts, read 51,925,382 times
Reputation: 23716
Btw, do you know if your new job is near the BART station? If so, you should REALLY consider living near a station, since that's a great way to commute... fast, clean, (relatively) stress-free, cheaper than driving, and better for the environment. Wish I could take BART!

Here's a map of their system, to give you some ideas: BART - Stations & Schedules, Maps & Directions
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Old 05-02-2008, 10:03 PM
 
16 posts, read 105,378 times
Reputation: 15
gizmo - thanks - I work in sales, so unfortunately - i will be in the car alot
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Old 05-02-2008, 11:58 PM
 
Location: Los Altos Hills, CA
36,653 posts, read 67,499,960 times
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Santa Cruz is highly impractical if you need to be near airports and population centers.

All of the routes you asked about can be extremely congested.

I think gizmo980 is correct,
Fremont-Newark-Union City is a good area to look at. Its actually convenient to all 3 Bay Area airports and is more centrally located than San Jose. Santa Cruz is just out of the way and very impractical.

However make no mistake,
You will deal with traffic, and it will be quite bad but a person acclimates or goes crazy. Most just get used to it.
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Old 05-03-2008, 11:46 AM
 
Location: Northern California
3,722 posts, read 14,721,644 times
Reputation: 1962
Highway 17 between Santa Cruz and San Jose is a windy 4 lane mountain road with some cross traffic in the mountains. There is only a concrete barrier between the opposing lanes. There is also a lot of truck traffic on the highway which slows things down. Caution (slow down) should be taken at night or when there is fog or rain.
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Old 05-03-2008, 07:14 PM
 
Location: San Jose, CA
7,688 posts, read 29,148,496 times
Reputation: 3631
Santa Cruz to Union City would be awful. That's like two bearish commutes stacked on top of each other. If you really really really want to be close to a beach, Half Moon Bay would be the most reasonable option though I wouldn't do it myself..
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Old 05-13-2008, 10:15 AM
 
175 posts, read 795,509 times
Reputation: 47
Default Santa Cruz

Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovesprint View Post
Hi,

If anyone could give me some advice, It would be greatly appreciated

two place I would need access with out dying in long commutes

Union City & a Airport

I thought about Santa Cruz, anyones thoughts on that city would be great

according to mapquest

Santa Cruz to Union City is 51 miles - How is the traffic?

Santa Cruz to San Jose is 32 miles - how is traffic?

Or any other cities any one reccomend we should check out? We are midwesterners heading Cali for the first time!

Thanks again
Santa Cruz is lovely but if you have to drive ANYWHERE prepare to be in the car a LONG time. Miles mean nothing in CA.
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Old 05-15-2008, 09:47 AM
 
2 posts, read 5,906 times
Reputation: 10
santa cruz is awesome but you have to go over the 17 to get to it and that is a 2 lane freeway up into the mountains and only 2 lanes down. Its too bad you need to be close to union city. your best bet is to stay on the east bay side because that is what union city is considered and then you have the oakland airport and san jose airport both pretty decent to get too in a timely manner.
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