What's commute like from Tracy to Walnut Creek? (Fremont, Concord: renting, condo)

[beingjules]

My husband are most likely going to move to Tracy (buying a house). We have to move from Fremont (where we can't afford to own a house). Does anyone know what the commute is like (time wise) from Tracy to Walnut Creek in the AM and then vice versa in the evening? I have to be at work at 8:30am and I leave at 5:30pm. Also, which parts of Tracy are the best? We don't have kids...yet. Thanks in advance for any input!

[sonarrat]

The word "horrendous" comes to mind. 45 miles of the worst traffic in the Bay Area. You'd be better off getting a condo in Pleasanton or Walnut Creek just for that without even considering anything else, then trade up for a house when you have that kid.

[tennis368fan]

If you are really going for Tracy, try Mountain House instead. It is closer to the Altamont Pass, hence less of the 1-580/I-205 to drive, and the J-4. From Mountain House, one can take the commuter bus to Dublin Pleasanton BART Station (1h 30min). Or, you may drive to Pittsburg/Bay Point Station and take BART to Walnut Creek (1h 20min). Beats sitting in traffic. BART has also planned an extension to Antioch, with Brentwood being the following phase, putting you closer to a BART Station from Mountain House to Walnut Creek.

The schools in Mountain House are also much better in the K-8 area. Probably by the time you have kids, the school district will have become a unified K-12 school district with its own high school.

BART has once again expressed interest in extending BART to Livermore, with one of the possible routes putting a BART Station at the western end of the city. That could possibly put Mountain House near BART. If so, it would be around 10-15 mins to BART, either by backroads or the freeway.

Also, look into Brentwood.

eBART
BART to Livermore

[sonarrat]

Wouldn't Pittsburg be past WC in this case?

[maybebaby]

That will be a really difficult commute. It often takes us well over an hour to get just to Pleasanton during that time of day--and the commute on the 680 section from Pleasanton to Walnut Creek is almost as bad.

If you don't mind driving on a more rural backroad you might think about Discovery Bay or the south side of Brentwood because you can go straight over the hill on Marsh Creek Rd. Thats what we do when we need to go to W.C. It takes about 50 minutes with little traffic and about 1hr/10minutes in traffic. There isnt too much traffic except for the section between Concord and Walnut Creek. Here is the route:
from: discovery bay, ca to: walnut creek, ca - Google Maps

We live in Discovery Bay and both my spouse and I have switched to telecommuting. Great housing prices, great community, great water recreation, but the trade off is a really challenging commute. Same goes for Tracy, Mountain House, and Brentwood.

[Palmer Eldritch]

Yep. That commute is horrible. Sometimes in the morning I head east into the valley from SF going against traffic and often times the cars heading west aren't even moving and are backed up all the way to 120. However, You can't beat the price of homes in Tracy right now and if you want a nice, big house at a good price you have to weigh that against the traffic problem.

[okie333]

wow im thinking it will take you about 3 hrs and longer when your driving home.

thats a horrible drive. you have nerves of steel haha

i like what maybebaby said thats a route i haven't thought of. I used to live off of vasco rd at the far end of Livermore and commuted in my old beat up camaro from vasco to dublin at the 580/ 680 interchange every morning. sometimes it would take me almost 2 hrs to get to work. I left usually around 7:30

[N CA]

Beingjules,

You work in Walnut Creek, yes? Have you considered buying closer to WC? Concord near Limeridge have great areas, Pleasant Hill has great areas, too. Saves you the yucky commute plus the small fortune you'd spend in commute dollars.

I used to live in East County. Check property taxes before you buy. Antioch has (or used to have) high mellos roos taxes, and some areas had two assessments for landscaping. I thought that I remembered Brentwood having some kind of high-dollar infrastructure assessment on the property tax.

Having said that, East County has suffered during the deflation of housing market, and you can pick up a home for nearly a song. Big homes, too. You just have to factor in your commute and other expenses to determine whether it's worth it to move that far from your job.

[recon110]

Save the gas money, time and life. Moving to Tracy you won't have any. And when you have kids, the lack luster no money Tracy School system will make you pay for everything and still take your tax dollars. You would be better off renting closer for higher prices and offset the commute time and gas and car expense. Either way you pay. But no one can put a price tag on time and quality of life. Less time on road means you can go back to work the next day feeling less worn down.