Quote:
Originally Posted by sliverbox
I drive through Santa Rosa every 2 weeks and have friends there. It has nice parts, a pretty neat little old downtown, and then it has its generic, Wal-Mart parts. I'm a native Tennesseean, and honestly, much of Santa Rosa looks like Urban Nashville. Nothing very remarkable about it. The best part about it is that you would be close to decent wine country.
But... the commute to and from SF from Santa Rosa is a killer. I only drive there on weekends, and even then it takes over an hour to get to there from the East Bay. Now double that with weekday traffic. You have to go through Marin, which is an absolute nightmare. I used to have a job out there and quit because I couldn't stand the traffic.
Thus as mentioned often on this site- rent first. There's no reason to buy immediately in an area you don't know much about. It won't bring you any additional security. So rent, check it out, see what would be an area that would work best.
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I agree with you on traffic, but it depends on your tolerance level too. If you are a morning person and can stand leaving at around 4:30, you can avoid it all together. The way back is a bigger problem, because a lot of people don't have a job like the one I had that only required me to be there 8 hours. I'd start at 5:30 and leave at 4:30 to get to Oak (45 min driving, 15 min walk to work).
Then, I'd leave work at 2 p.m. and it took about an hour to get home. If you have a job that wouldn't let you out until, say, 3, yes, then you are going to start to experience the nightmare!
I'll direct the rest to the author of this thread:
I used to do that exact same commute for about 2.5 years, 5 days a week. Here are some things to look for/tips for your husband:
(1) Leave very early, before 6 a.m. By doing that, you'll avoid the first wave of traffic, which comes immediately in Rohnert Park/Petaluma. If you leave anytime after that, it makes the commute much harder. Trust me on that one.
(2) The second wave comes around Navato, but is not really that bad. Again, to avoid this I'd suggest leaving about 5 a.m., or 4:30 if you can stomach it - it makes life so much easier.
(3) The third wave is on the 580 around Berkely I'd say. The drivers there are maniacs. They cut you off without signaling, they drive 85 mph, and some of them are not people you'd want to get upset at for doing it. I had several instances where people decided to move me out of the way by just merging into me. They had beat up cars so they had nothing too lose at all. Practice defensive driving.
(4) Not sure where he works, but by getting into Oakland before or around 6, he will be able to park on the street downtown in a residential area for free. Oakland is a rough town for sure, but I never had any problems with my car getting vanalized or broken into, and I never had any problems with people in the downtown area at all.
Now, on the way back, there are a couple different options:
(1) Take 580 W. and connect to 80 East towards Sacramento and take the highway 37 exit. Follow that until you get to Lakeville Highway. Then Lakeville to Petaluma to connect to the 101 North again. This drive would take about 1 hr. 15 minutes in non-peak commute time (leaving Oakland at 3 pm maybe), but there is considerabley less traffic.
I started to try this option when I got fed up with sitting in mile long car traffic. It was longer but a little more relaxing.
(2) Take 580 W., connect to 101 N. and then take the Nicasio valley exit (I believe that was the name, it's just after Marin but before Navato). You get a beautiful, winding view of the hills and mountains. It ends up dumping you off in Petaluma, where unfortunately you deal with traffic again as you fight to get out of Petaluma and back on the 101. But, sometimes this is worth it like on a Friday when you'd rather spend more time just driving and less time sitting in miles of traffic.
(3) Take 580 W to 101 N all the way to Santa Rosa. You will hit 4 waves here at the same places I listed for the drive TO Oakland, but unfortunately you'll also hit traffic from Rhonert Park going to Santa Rosa.
(4) Always bring extra toll money!!! The Richmond/San Rafael bridge costs $4 when you are going west bound over it (back to Santa Rosa), and then if you take 80 you have the Carneros bridge (again, not sure of the spelling). I know for sure on the Richmond bridge at least, if you forget and cannot pay the fine is automatically $36. You can't even contest it. This can add up real quick. I should know, I f'd up many times and spent or fogot to bring money.
(5) This is optional: Drive 80 mph. The police really don't ticket you unless you are driving wrecklessly; the speed isn't an issue. My cube mate used to drive even faster! Before you harken back to my "they drive 85 mph and are maniacs" comment, let me assure you, although I drove fast, I also drove safe. Always signaled, always double checked mirrors, etc.
If you are worried about tickets, the cops tend to hide on the 580 area just out of Berkeley and about 2 miles before the Richmond/San Rafael bridge. They do this because the traffic clears and people start flying through to get to the bridge. You'll see them hiding around the overpasses . . . . the only ticket I ever received was when I screwed up and drove in the diamond lane because I was stupid enough to leave at 7 a.m., and I just couldn't stand looking at the miles of un moving traffic ahead of me.
Now, if I did this 5 days a week for 2.5 years, I am sure your husband can hang for 1 day a week. Anyway, I hope these tips help. One day a week is really nothing to sweat about in any case.
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Sonoma town an option as well
Windsors too far
Linear Mode
