Commute east bay & tri-valley to Redwood City (San Jose, Fremont: houses, neighborhoods)

[patnya]

Hi,

Can you please suggest if the commute from SAN RAMON, Pleasanton & Dublin to Redwood City is doable? Currently google maps show about 45 mins (no traffic) to 1hr 5 mins at the worst (peak time) but my concern is that in July 2021 the full pre-Covid traffic may not be back and it may get worse. We are new to town and would like to buy housing in either east bay (Fremont) or tri-valley towns mentioned above. Fremont is better commute wise but we are only liking a few select Fremont neighborhoods and we may be priced out of those neighborhoods (Mission San Jose or Ardenwood). Any suggestions?

[MechAndy]

I’ve done it from Danville.
It is doable but it sucks.
It’s easier to work in the City for me by far.

45 minutes is about right if you leave before 6:00 am.
I’ve done that commute.
1 hour 5 minutes doesn’t seem right for max peak commute hours.
If I get off of work at 4:30 or later due to overtime it can easily be an hour and a half.
2 hours at max peak is rare but not unheard of.

I normally work from 5-6 am to 12-1 pm and that commute is not that bad.
Anything in the late afternoon 4-5 pm or so is just not worth it for a long time gig.
Same goes for the 8-9 am ride.

[ccm123]

It’s an awful commute, from the tri-valley cities. I’ve commuted from Pleasanton to Palo Alto and it’s an “in traffic” commute during rush hour (meaning, it’s not a reverse commute.)

I’d say that the average commute in the afternoon from RC to Pleasanton is 90 minutes, longer if there are accidents, etc.

The main bottlenecks are the bridges (you’ll be taking 92 or 84.) The access to these in the morning going west towards Redwood City are congested and heading back to the East Bay in the afternoon are heavily congested. The commute from Fremont will be somewhat better, but you’ll still be in traffic.

[steve_holt]

A few things:

1/ The commute from Tri-Valley to Penninsula is bad imo even without congestion, since it has multiple peaks and valleys. Fremont is a bit better but still not as good as penninsula towns. You may want to consider Foster City as well, if you haven't.

2/ ymmv, but it is often more likely that you will not always work in RWC in your time in the bay area. So you should think about commuting patterns to potential future employers. Eg, San Ramon to RWC and SF might be doable, but San Ramon to Mountain View might now. Changing jobs in the bay area is more frequent than changing houses, imo.

3/ You should keep an open mind about schools. They are more a measurement of the affluence student population than the goodness of the instruction. In general, all areas of Fremont will experience increasing test scores in schools as the population is changing rather rapidly. Eg, 10 years ago AHS was well below MSJ and today it is pretty close.

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by patnya

Hi,

Can you please suggest if the commute from SAN RAMON, Pleasanton & Dublin to Redwood City is doable? Currently google maps show about 45 mins (no traffic) to 1hr 5 mins at the worst (peak time) but my concern is that in July 2021 the full pre-Covid traffic may not be back and it may get worse. We are new to town and would like to buy housing in either east bay (Fremont) or tri-valley towns mentioned above. Fremont is better commute wise but we are only liking a few select Fremont neighborhoods and we may be priced out of those neighborhoods (Mission San Jose or Ardenwood). Any suggestions?

I suggest you stay in Fremont. If not, then Dublin has more commuter options, and you can probably purchase more affordably in Dublin than Pleasanton or San Ramon.

[BayAreaResiding]

Originally Posted by patnya

Hi,

Can you please suggest if the commute from SAN RAMON, Pleasanton & Dublin to Redwood City is doable? Currently google maps show about 45 mins (no traffic) to 1hr 5 mins at the worst (peak time) but my concern is that in July 2021 the full pre-Covid traffic may not be back and it may get worse. We are new to town and would like to buy housing in either east bay (Fremont) or tri-valley towns mentioned above. Fremont is better commute wise but we are only liking a few select Fremont neighborhoods and we may be priced out of those neighborhoods (Mission San Jose or Ardenwood). Any suggestions?

You should definitely stay in Fremont. COVID will end one day, and once it does, that commute from Pleasanton will be a nightmare. Fremont is a really great suburb and has really good schools and is overall very safe. Ardenwood is a nice neighborhood in Fremont and a lot less expensive than Mission San Jose. Children living in Ardenwood would go to American High School, so its definitely not expensive like Mission San Jose. Furthermore, living in the Ardenwood area is a faster commute to Redwood City than commuting from the Mission San Jose Area.

[General I80]

I agree with Fremont, but Milpitas is also fine. If you have to go to the Inner East Bay, do Dublin, which is the shortest commute to Redwood City. You should consider San Mateo County as well, where I'd suggest Milbrae.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by patnya

Hi,

Can you please suggest if the commute from SAN RAMON, Pleasanton & Dublin to Redwood City is doable? Any suggestions?

I suggest living in the western part of San Ramon and commuting via Crow Canyon Rd to the bridge. This is a lower stress more scenic route than the 580 freeway.

Here is an example route.

https://goo.gl/maps/yFDKzbxTHFs8vW7V9

There are some really nice looking houses there like this one with a fantastic yard.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...18441350_zpid/

[patnya]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

I’ve done it from Danville.
It is doable but it sucks.
It’s easier to work in the City for me by far.

45 minutes is about right if you leave before 6:00 am.
I’ve done that commute.
1 hour 5 minutes doesn’t seem right for max peak commute hours.
If I get off of work at 4:30 or later due to overtime it can easily be an hour and a half.
2 hours at max peak is rare but not unheard of.

I normally work from 5-6 am to 12-1 pm and that commute is not that bad.
Anything in the late afternoon 4-5 pm or so is just not worth it for a long time gig.
Same goes for the 8-9 am ride.

Yeah, my fear is that 1h 5 m is not accurate but that is what google maps generally show for now at worst, so it is probably factor of pre-Covid traffic not fully back.

[patnya]

Originally Posted by ccm123

It’s an awful commute, from the tri-valley cities. I’ve commuted from Pleasanton to Palo Alto and it’s an “in traffic” commute during rush hour (meaning, it’s not a reverse commute.)

I’d say that the average commute in the afternoon from RC to Pleasanton is 90 minutes, longer if there are accidents, etc.

The main bottlenecks are the bridges (you’ll be taking 92 or 84.) The access to these in the morning going west towards Redwood City are congested and heading back to the East Bay in the afternoon are heavily congested. The commute from Fremont will be somewhat better, but you’ll still be in traffic.

Yeah, its weird, I was on Dumbarton at 8:15am in the morning going towards RWC and the traffic was pretty normal & moving fine, so again - perhaps the pre-Covid traffic isn't bad.