Where to live between Daly City and Emeryville? (San Francisco, South San Francisco: apartment complex, rentals)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

it's going to be terrible for whomever has to make the trip--traffic is still horrendous getting to/thru downtown to the bay bridge during evening drive times. I hate it.

Good to know. But the OP would be going the opposite direction: commuting home to SF from Emeryville. His wife would be commuting home in the evening to wherever in SF from Daly City. I suppose that could be pretty bad almost any time of day, if they locate halfway between their work locations, as the OP was suggesting. Locating In or near Daly City or Balboa Park may be the most practical option.

OP, it's not so simple as to choose a spot on a map halfway between the work locations. There are some formidable practical considerations to take into account.

[tikkasf]

Given the OP's stated rental budget, SF is worth considering....


https://www.apartments.com/2-br-1-ba...co-ca/h4qyb72/


following filters have been applied to the search results in link below: max $4700 rent, 2 or more bedrooms, dog friendly


https://www.apartments.com/san-franc...-friendly-dog/

[Ruth4Truth]

There are rents all over SF that are within the OP's budget. The main issue is where to locate. He thought that splitting the commute between the two of them, so each had more or less and equal commute distance, would be fair. But that doesn't take into consideration the traffic issue. The most practical probably is to locate in the south end of the city near a BART station, so traffic could be avoided altogether by the OP, and his wife would only have a short distance to drive to Daly City.

[davdaven]

Do you both want to drive to work? If so, SF typically does not have homes with two parking spots. My wife and I live in Ingleside (near the aforementioned Balboa Park BART Station) and juggle our cars on the street, which is fine here but would become a real headache the closer to downtown SF you get.

Where in Daly City would your wife work? If it isn't near Daly City or Colma BART Stations, she should drive. Traffic on 280 typically isn't bad, and going towards Daly City in the morning is the opposite of rush hour traffic.

Your commute to Emeryville would be more difficult, as taking BART to MacArthur and switching to the free Emery Go-Round shuttle would eat up time. Plus you would be in the commute direction, either on BART (to Embarcadero) or the freeway (on 101, less so 280).

If you relocate around Salesforce Transit Center, your wife could drive on 280 and you could take the AC Transit F line directly to Emeryville. The only problem is that the neighborhood is D-E-A-D, especially nights and weekends, despite the plethora of newer condos in the area. You would have to travel out of the area for almost everything, except for maybe a short drive to Costco. Good luck with parking, LOL.

Dividing the commute between the two of you would center you somewhere around the Mission District or SOMA. I personally would not dare live in either area. If you favor your wife's commute, you could situate yourself closer to Glen Park or Balboa Park BART Stations. Or if you like the fog, frankly you could just live in Daly City and you could suffer through the whole commute.

If you decide to relocate to Emeryville, the good news is it's literally the first exit on the east side of the Bay Bridge. Just stick to the on-ramps from West Grand Avenue (Oakland) or the Emeryville Marina. It could be worse...

[mje11even]

We only have one car between us, and I would prefer to keep it that way. My wife's office is a half a mile south of the Daly City station, so she does have the option of taking the train if we want to do that. My office is Pixar so AC Transit F and Emery-go-round both work fine.

Just need to decide where to balance the commute along with all of the other variables.

[davdaven]

Just one car is good. You'll likely want to invest in a bicycle, e-bike, scooter, or moped--depending on your preferences beyond that.

What kind of housing stock interests you? Emeryville has a lot of newer construction condos. SF runs the gamut, with newer and older buildings in SOMA, and mostly older construction in the Mission, Glen Park, and Ingleside (Balboa Park). Daly City is also older construction.

[mje11even]

Well, I have a trip setup for 9/7-9/10 to try to find a place.

How would you sort the BART stations between Embarcadero and Daly City as far as best places to live? I don't need "night life", just safety and restaurants and shopping to be somewhat accessible. I have a car so BART is mostly about the commute. Based on information gathered here and from co-workers, and listings on Zillow, this is where I am at right now in my ranking:

Glen Park
Daly City
Embarcadero
Montgomery
24th St Mission
16th St Mission
Balboa Park
Powell
Civic Center

Does that sound about right?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by mje11even

Well, I have a trip setup for 9/7-9/10 to try to find a place.

How would you sort the BART stations between Embarcadero and Daly City as far as best places to live? I don't need "night life", just safety and restaurants and shopping to be somewhat accessible. I have a car so BART is mostly about the commute. Based on information gathered here and from co-workers, and listings on Zillow, this is where I am at right now in my ranking:

Glen Park
Daly City
Embarcadero
Montgomery
24th St Mission
16th St Mission
Balboa Park
Powell
Civic Center

Does that sound about right?

I'd cross off the two Mission District locations, and move Balboa Park up to second place (or even first place). And forget Civic Center! Just forget it--don't ask! Just dump it.
*sheesh*

[mje11even]

I saw an article about lots of laptop and cell phone thefts at Balboa Park, but I suppose it could have been a temporary thing.
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/...-bart-station/

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by mje11even

I saw an article about lots of laptop and cell phone thefts at Balboa Park, but I suppose it could have been a temporary thing.
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/...-bart-station/

Well, while on the one hand, that sounds worrisome, if you read the article, it says they're mostly targeting students and others who have their cell phones out, especially those who are paying all their attention to the phone, and none to their surroundings.

Sounds pretty easy to avoid that particular crime, doesn't it? It doesn't say there's crime all over Balboa Park. If there were, others here wouldn't have recommended it. But if it helps you feel better, focus on other options.