23 and Working In Napa - Where should I live? (San Francisco: neighborhoods, public schools)

[Nitros155]

I am going to be working in Napa and am looking for some suggestions on where to live. My fiance will be moving with me and will likely work nearer to San Fransisco, so I would like somewhere south of Napa, but would like the commute to be under an hour to Napa. We are coming from Milwaukee/Chicago so we love easy going yet love to party people. We could care less about the quality of the public schools. I like big cities, but also love the outdoors, so am not opposed to a smaller adventure town if one exists around there. Bottom line, we just really dont want to be bored. We plan to spend a few years out there and want to find somehwere we can make great friends, and have a really really good time when we're not working. . . Let me know the best we can do. . .

[Palmer Eldritch]

Petaluma or Novato

[gizmo980]

I'd suggest looking around north Contra Costa County - Hercules, Benicia, Martinez, Pinole, etc. I used to commute from SF to Napa, and that was right about the halfway point! You're looking at around 30 minutes without traffic, and maybe double that with traffic... easy drive straight down/up I-80, but keep in mind you'll be paying a toll whenever you go to Napa or SF (Carquinez & Bay bridges, $4 each). You could save a toll by living in Vallejo, but then your fiance would pay two if she (he?) works in SF. Plus Vallejo has a few issues, so I'm not sure I'd recommend living there.

[gizmo980]

Hmmmm... only thing is, I just noticed you want an "exciting" place. I wouldn't call North CCC exciting, though you could always hop on BART to the city. The closest fun place you'll find near Napa is probably Berkeley, which would make for a bad commute if you work standard (9-5ish) hours. You could live in north Berkeley, which will save you the MacArthur Maze mess, and it's a reverse commute anyway - I'll estimate 45-50 minutes each way?

[ripley44mag]

I like Yountville in Napa. Ms. Tl

[nycbra]

Hi Nitros155,

We are in somewhat similar situation. Afraid to move to Napa and get bored. But we are also afraid of spending half of our day in a traffic on commute to/from SF.
Let me know where you decided to stay, if you found a good neighborhood in Napa, and how is your fiance dealing with the commute.

[humboldtrat]

Walnut Creek and vicinity. A little more upscale than Hercules and Pinole and away from the oil refineries in Benicia and Martinez. Walnut Creek is on the BART line for easy access into San Francisco. BART - Station List

[ConeyIsBabe]

It's only a 20 minute easy drive from Napa to Vallejo and while there are some questionable areas there...... there are also some very, NICE neighborhoods in Vallejo and the Ferry boat to SF is very convenient !

[bellalunatic]

Sonoma State University is in Rhonert Park, in Sonoma County, if you want to find nightlife that is 20's related then you may want to consider sonoma county as well.