New Job In Foster City : relocation (Oakland, San Mateo: budget, travel, houses)

[pecosbill]

Hi,

I am considering a new position in Foster City and trying to locate a nice area to move with my family with a reasonable commute...

We are now living in New Jersey but with European roots.

We are looking for a family friendly environement (kids 5 + 8).

I have looked into San ramon, Dublin, half moon bay but don't know how the traffic could be in the rush hour...

Any recommendations will be welcomed.

Thank you
Pecosbill

[humboldtrat]

Why not live in Foster City or any of the surrounding towns such as San Mateo, Burlingame, Redwood Shores or Belmont. They are all nice and safe middle class communities. Traffic would be horrible from San Ramon and slow from Half Moon Bay (windy 2 lane mountain road). And unlike New Jersey, gas is about $3.79 here and will probably be $4 this summer making a 35 to 45 mile round trip every day expensive.

I just don't get it. Most people on these forums want to live 30 - 50 miles from where they work.

[pecosbill]

thanks for the info, If I ask in a forum is that I don't know that much of the area and ask for valuable feed back on the traffic and good area to raise a family.
I guess it will come to a trade of space and commute or less space and less commute...
Thanks again for the information. I will be onsite in 2 weeks and will have minimum time to survey areas.
Pecosbill

[libbykt]

I think the previous poster was just trying to point out that most of the peninsula is family friendly with a much more reasonable commute. I guess it depends on your budget and what your priorities are...if you want a bigger, newer house and can stand a long commute, then I guess you could move out to the east bay. But if you are willing to sacrifice space, and maybe an extra bathroom, I would always choose to live as close to my husband's work as I can afford. I would hate for my son to be the one whose dad never got home in time to make it to his Little League game because he was stuck in traffic, you know?

[pecosbill]

We are looking I guess for a very safe area and as close as possible to the mountains (skiing, Hicking, camping..) : e.g the San Ramon area.
I have not been in SF for about 10 years so have lost the notion of traffic.
Can someone give me the time needed to go from San Ramon to Foster city and back at normal business hours. Googlemap propose 35 min and up to 55 min with traffic. I believe there is around 30 miles...

That would be very valuable info as I will only have a few days to look around and the bay area is vast...

Thanks again
Pecosbill

[MichaelinWA]

San Ramon and skiing? Do what you need to do, but hopefully others in this situation will realize that Foster City is anything but unsafe. As for your question, I would guess an hour. Maybe longer if 92 is really jammed up at 580. It's been a couple of years since I've had to drive that route, but it was difficult and probably not any better now. And I only had to do it for about a week.

Originally Posted by pecosbill

We are looking I guess for a very safe area and as close as possible to the mountains (skiing, Hicking, camping..) : e.g the San Ramon area.
I have not been in SF for about 10 years so have lost the notion of traffic.
Can someone give me the time needed to go from San Ramon to Foster city and back at normal business hours. Googlemap propose 35 min and up to 55 min with traffic. I believe there is around 30 miles...

That would be very valuable info as I will only have a few days to look around and the bay area is vast...

Thanks again
Pecosbill

[pecosbill]

Originally Posted by MichaelinWA

San Ramon and skiing? Do what you need to do, but hopefully others in this situation will realize that Foster City is anything but unsafe. As for your question, I would guess an hour. Maybe longer if 92 is really jammed up at 580. It's been a couple of years since I've had to drive that route, but it was difficult and probably not any better now. And I only had to do it for about a week.

Well I guess I don't go and ski in San Ramon just more on the way to skiing/Yosemite than being in Half Moon bay...
Will test the drive in 2 weeks on a friday evening at 5 PM so this will be a live experience...
I am sure foster City is very safe but was not able to found a "reasonable" house so far.
Thanks again for all valuable input.

Kind regards,
Pecosbill

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by pecosbill

Will test the drive in 2 weeks on a friday evening at 5 PM so this will be a live experience...

Be sure to drive from Foster City to San Ramon - not the other way around - when you take your test drive. You will find a lot of truck traffic on I-580. There are a lot of big rigs going/coming from the port of Oakland carrying shipping containers and heading for inland destinations. Good luck in your search.

By the way, travel time from the Foster City area to ski resorts/Yosemite is about 4 hours.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by pecosbill

I am sure foster City is very safe but was not able to found a "reasonable" house so far

The Palomares Hill area in Castro Valley will have reasonable houses with a shorter commute than San Ramon.

[pecosbill]

Originally Posted by humboldtrat

Be sure to drive from Foster City to San Ramon - not the other way around - when you take your test drive. You will find a lot of truck traffic on I-580. There are a lot of big rigs going/coming from the port of Oakland carrying shipping containers and heading for inland destinations. Good luck in your search.

By the way, travel time from the Foster City area to ski resorts/Yosemite is about 4 hours.

Thanks for the tip on the driving direction.
When I look at the map I can see what looks like an almost direct route using crow canyon road instead of 580 and 680. Any experience from this road ?

I may hope that being on teh east side of the bridge the late sunday return from the mountain would avoid the extra traffic at the bridges.... but I am not sure.
Again many thanks
Pecosbill