Fairfield to Fremont (Oakland, Walnut Creek, Pleasanton: rent, travel, jobs)

[CessnaMJM]

My wife and I will be moving to the Bay Area this summer, with jobs that are fairly far apart. One will be in Fairfield and the other in Fremont. I was hoping we could rent somewhere in between. Is traffic worse on 880 or 680? Is it worse going north or south? What would be considered a good halfway point so we could have fairly even commutes? Any help would be appriciated.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by CessnaMJM

My wife and I will be moving to the Bay Area this summer, with jobs that are fairly far apart. One will be in Fairfield and the other in Fremont. I was hoping we could rent somewhere in between. Is traffic worse on 880 or 680? Is it worse going north or south? What would be considered a good halfway point so we could have fairly even commutes? Any help would be appriciated.

San Ramon, Dublin or Pleasanton I think might be okay for you because traffic on SB 680 btwn Fairfield and Danville is very heavy in the morning but NB is okay. 880 is bad all the way from Oakland to Fremont, and getting there on 80 is even worse. At least if you live in Dublin or Pleasanton, you'll avoid 680 through most of the traffic to the north and you'll avoid 880 on the other side of the hill. 680 isnt nearly as bad( anymore)

And that's just morning-all bets are off in the evening.

[krudmonk]

Yeah, there are a lot of good communities in that stretch. Just don't live too close to one because commuting to the other will still be a pain.

[CessnaMJM]

Thanks for the info. About how long of a commute could we each expect?

[olypentax]

If you wanted to have the same travel times should probably look in the Walnut Creek area. The Tri-valley; Dublin, Pleasanton, San Ramon are closer to Fremont (20 - 30 minutes) than Fairfield (45 - 60 minutes). Hwy 680 is really your only option, 880 is longer and is just too congested but 680 traffic can also be slow during commute hours.
Normal commute times from Walnut Creek to Fremont and Fairfield would be about 45 minutes with Fairfield maybe a little shorter. Going to Fairfield in the morning you will be going against the commute but going down 680 to Fremont it seems that the traffic is about as bad in either direction.

[tennis368fan]

Try Google Maps for a very rough "Guestimate". Some of the estimates do not account for traffic, though. Even so, I think that Danville or anywhere south of that city would be a good idea based on what 18Montclair said. I am not an expert on that area, but it is best to miss the areas of heavy traffic so that whoever is commuting to Fremont would not be stuck in traffic. However, I am thinking that the entire stretch of I-680 heading southbound would be heavy in traffic as people living in the Tri-Valley and in the Central Valley's commuter towns would take that route to head past Fremont to the Silicon Valley.

Pleasanton can be a good option so that whoever is working in Fremont can take the Altamont Commuter Express train from the Pleasanton Station to Fremont's Centerville Station. The journey is approximately 20 minutes. This way the spouse working in Fairfield can reverse commute against heavy southbound traffic for less than an hour. This way, the "wear and tear" can be on one car instead of two. However, I am not sure if the Northbound traffic is that much lighter.