Commute from SF to San Rafael, intra-city commute (San Francisco, Marina: how much, neighborhoods)

[lab7]

Hi all,

I'm starting a job in San Rafael this summer, but am strongly considering living in SF. I just have a couple of questions for those who know the area...

(all questions referring to normal commuting hours, leaving SF in the morning, returning in the evening)

1. Once you make it to the Golden Gate Bridge, about how long does it take to get to San Rafael (or alternatively, to get back to the bridge from San Rafael in the evening)?

2. There's also the issue of making it to the bridge, as I've heard the traffic is slow-going in the city. Obviously living in the northern part of the city would help alleviate this, but I'm wondering exactly how much time I should expect to spend getting to the bridge, depending on which neighborhood I start from. To compare four neighborhoods that I'm looking at, could someone estimate the differences in time I'll spend getting to the Golden Gate if I started in the Marina, North Beach, SoMa, or the Mission? On a related note, are there any particularly traffic-parts of the city that would especially slow me down?

Thanks!

[sonarrat]

I would estimate 20 minutes once you hit the bridge. It's usually very light in that direction and moves well. The sticking point, as you say, is San Francisco city streets. Gizmo can tell you about that - 30 minutes or more to get from the southeastern extreme to the northwestern extreme. We have a freeway that goes north-south to join I-80 and the Bay Bridge (101), and we have another freeway that goes southwest-northeast to join it inbetween the Portola and Bayview neighborhoods before going downtown (280).

But there's no freeway serving the GG. Your options are to take 101 where it splits off from 80 and becomes the Central Freeway, then city streets (mostly Van Ness and Lombard); or to take 19th Avenue on the western side of town to Park Presidio. They tried to make it as easy as possible by making the lights nice and long and keeping you from making left turns off of either route except in very specific spots, but the roads are just not designed for that kind of traffic. There is really not a better or worse choice between the two, though 19th Avenue is less likely to kill your clutch and brakes. But the Marina district is very close to the bridge, and definitely better suited to a northbound commute than any other part of town. I have a coworker who has lived in the Marina for a long time and commutes to the peninsula.. I don't envy her one bit frankly.

[lab7]

Yeah, that's about what I figured, thanks for the info. Anyone else have a different viewpoint/opinion?