Commuting to Palo Alto,need suggestions (San Jose, Sunnyvale: apartment, home, look for a job)

[thechoson]

I work in Palo Alto close to Stanford University. I currently live in Redwood City and the commute is decent, but am planning on moving and want to see the areas that are open to me with reasonable commutes.

I am familiar with the areas and commutes NORTH of Stanford, so no need to discuss that.

Also, not looking to move to East Bay at this time.

What I am specifically looking for information for are the areas South / Southwest of Stanford and Palo Alto.

I'd like a commute of at most 30-45 minutes during peak times (7-9 am, 4-6 pm). Living along I-280 would be preferable, I'm wondering how far south I can go before traffic becomes a major issue during commute times?

I'm guessing Los Altos, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino would be ok. How about areas of West San Jose? Specific exit information (like, live north of Winchester or whatever) would be much appreciated.

BTW, public transportation is not much of an option as I need my car during work hours to go to client sites and such.

Thanks

[marcopolo666]

Driving north up I-280 will basically be a reverse commute (most of the people are driving south to Cupertino/Sunnyvale/San Jose/etc.) - with one exception : the 85/280 junction is a nightmare in the morning. Both I-280 and the 85-to-280N directions are horrible, as is the entrance onto I-280N from Foothill expressway. 85N is a horrible commute in the morning as well. As long as you can enter I-280 north of the 85/280 exchange, you should be fine. If you live further south than that, I'd want to take 280 rather than 85, as the drive times are better (280 jams up at 85, 85 is jammed up all the way from SJ often enough).

Of course, a solution to that is to buy a car that lets you drive in the diamond lane when you are all alone (all-electric, qualifying hybrid-electric, CNG).

Also, Page Mill does back up - it's the big traffic bottleneck up there (both in the mornings getting off 280 (both directions) and in the evening trying to get on the freeway).

To see what the traffic is like at (say) 8a.m., use google maps to chart a theoretical route to work using addresses in the different cities, then save the link. click on the link every morning at 7 or 7:30, or 8 and look at the "drive time in current traffic" data. That'll give you an idea of what the morning commute would be like.

[nagleepark]

I live near downtown San Jose, 87 and 280. So, I go 280N in the morning and 280S in the evening. Commuting 280 is horrible during peak times between San Jose and Cupertino. To avoid it, your best strategy is to live as close to work as possible so (1) you spend the least amount of time in traffic jams, even if they are really bad, and (2) you can get off the freeway and take surface streets all the way home when the situation is desperate.

280N in the morning is just traffic. Diamond lane would help a lot.

280S in the evening is traffic + accidents. Diamond lane sometimes doesn't help at all and it disappears on 280S between 17 and 87.

For specific exits, it doesn't really matter, just try to live as far north as possible. The issue is that 280N is a major route for Apple traffic which takes 280N to De Anza Blvd and Google traffic which takes 280N to 85N. If you can live off Wolfe Road, that's better than Lawrence, which is better than Saratoga, which is better than 880/17.

Your commute will probably get worse, not better, by moving down here.

[thechoson]

Originally Posted by nagleepark

I live near downtown San Jose, 87 and 280. So, I go 280N in the morning and 280S in the evening. Commuting 280 is horrible during peak times between San Jose and Cupertino. To avoid it, your best strategy is to live as close to work as possible so (1) you spend the least amount of time in traffic jams, even if they are really bad, and (2) you can get off the freeway and take surface streets all the way home when the situation is desperate.

280N in the morning is just traffic. Diamond lane would help a lot.

280S in the evening is traffic + accidents. Diamond lane sometimes doesn't help at all and it disappears on 280S between 17 and 87.

For specific exits, it doesn't really matter, just try to live as far north as possible. The issue is that 280N is a major route for Apple traffic which takes 280N to De Anza Blvd and Google traffic which takes 280N to 85N. If you can live off Wolfe Road, that's better than Lawrence, which is better than Saratoga, which is better than 880/17.

Your commute will probably get worse, not better, by moving down here.

Man this is upsetting. West San Jose (to me at least) has the most apartment options for reasonable rents of the areas I'm looking at, but seems like the commute would be horrid.

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by thechoson

Man this is upsetting. West San Jose (to me at least) has the most apartment options for reasonable rents of the areas I'm looking at, but seems like the commute would be horrid.

Parts of West San Jose are just south of Cupertino, so it probably wouldn't be that bad a commute from there, but yeah more east you go the worse the commute is.

[nagleepark]

Palo Alto is tough. It's a prestige location so there are tons of companies there and, as a result, there are tons of jobs. But it's very inconvenient to access from the outside, especially given the small streets. So, there are more jobs there and they stay unfilled longer. Whenever I look for a job, I always find the most jobs in Palo Alto, bar none.

But, even so, many people refuse because of the commute. It's pretty common to hear of people looking for jobs or being unemployed but still eliminating Palo Alto from their job search because of the commute.

I'm sorry.

[ketch89]

Simple:

Leave your car at work, take the train to/from. Embrace the carless lifestyle

[kdog]

Or buy a motorcycle and live anywhere you want.

Or stagger your hours. I went from south SJ to Palo Alto the other morning for a 7 AM appt and traffic was an absolute breeze at that hour. No metering lights and no backups anywhere.