Between San Franciso and Sacramento (San Francisco, Oakland: school, living, restaurants)

[GSXRScott]

This is similar to Trovers Vallejo thread. I'll be working in Rancho Cordova and my wife will be going to school in downtown San Francisco so we're looking for something in between. Considering Vallejo, Davis, Vacaville, Fairfield/Suisan, Winters. Would like info about crime, cost of living and demographics. Please be as objective as possible. No "I hate" or "I dont like" but rather "this place has this this and this" or "this place does not have".

[sonarrat]

Edit: I didn't read the OP. Disregard pls!

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by GSXRScott

This is similar to Trovers Vallejo thread. I'll be working in Rancho Cordova and my wife will be going to school in downtown San Francisco so we're looking for something in between. Considering Vallejo, Davis, Vacaville, Fairfield/Suisan, Winters. Would like info about crime, cost of living and demographics. Please be as objective as possible. No "I hate" or "I dont like" but rather "this place has this this and this" or "this place does not have".

all those mentioned would work but none are perfect because of commute. If it were me I would locate in Vacaville or Fairfield.. Davis is a heck of along way from downtown SF as is Davis.. Vallejo would be a trip and 1/2 to Rancho Cordova. All are good areas..

Nita

[18Montclair]

Vallejo.

Westbound 80 is very bad in Vacaville and Fairfield in the morning-and just as painful in the evening.

She can drive to a BART station and have a relatively smooth commute into The City.

Now going to Sac you should have smooth sailing allllllllllll the way to say West Sacramento and even then its not too bad. The hairiest part of your morning commute will be 50 from DT Sacramento to Rancho Cordova but that's not that bad either cause the commute direction is the other side.

[Casportsfan]

Oh, I feel for you. I commuted between Santa Rosa (norcal) to Oakland for 2.5 years. I experimented with different start times, but the only real way to avoid the traffic was to leave at 4:30 a.m. That being said, there are major problems with commuting in any bedroom community that is in between Sacramento (i.e Rancho Cordova) and San Francisco.

Your wifes best bet would be to drive to Berkely and park in the BART station, and from there ride the train into downtown San Fran. There is simply not any parking in downtown San Fran, and the extra time from the East Bay to downtown driving is a good 30-40 minutes at any morning time.

The 80 morning traffic is absolutely frightening going toward San Fran in the morning, and your wife would in fact have to do exactly what I did if she needs to be in downtown by say, 10 a.m.

As far as your commute is concerned, I live in downtown Sacramento, and it takes me exactly 30 minutes to arrive at my job in Rancho Cordova from downtown Sac. My friend used to live in Fairfield and commuted to Sac State for classes, and he's quoted an hour - hour and a half commute time.

Your logical halfway choices would be Fairfield and Vacaville. Both are bedroom communities with affordable housing. Fairfield is filled with the typical suburban restaurants, outlet stores, etc., as is Vacaville.

Both places are UNGODLY hot in the summer, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees on a regular basis. I've been to both in the summer for baseball games, events, etc., and I am not exagerating when I tell you the heat was dry and literally unbearable.

The positive about Fairfield is that you are close enough to get to San Fran or even the South bay in less than an hour in non-peak traffic times, which makes it a good place to be if you want to get to beautiful San Fran for a sporting event, dining out, concert, nightlife, or just to enjoy the wharf. I'd be willing to bet that if you were planning a day, you'd most likely want to spend the majority of your out of area trips to San Fran rather than Sacramento.