San Jose to Burlingame Commute? (San Francisco, Daly City: neighborhoods, to live in, moving)

[jasmine3407]

Hi all,
I just moved here from Chicago, and have no idea about how good/bad traffic and commute times are between cities. I currently live in San Jose and love it. However, I am thinking about taking a job in Burlingame. Is this a commutable distance? Would normal people commute this far? It wasn't a bad commute when I went on my interview, but that was without traffic, too. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I do not wish to relocate to the Peninsula or to San Francisco right now.

Thank you!

[StandingRoomOnly]

I commuted from South San Jose to Mountain View for a little while, and I sure didn't like it. It took me an hour from S. San Jose to Mountain View, leaving at 7:15 am. I would imagine it would take 1 1/2+ hours to commute from SJ to Burlingame. Unless you leave REALLY early you are going to hit lots of gridlock on 87 North, 85 North, and/or 101 North. I could imagine 280 would be bad too.

You might want to look into public transit. Take a look at Caltrain: http://www.caltrain.com/caltrain_map.html. It might be a better option if you don't want to deal with the stress of commuting an hour and a half each way.

[gizmo980]

I agree with the last poster... it would take a long time during rush hour, even if you're on 101 the whole way. I used to commute from Palo Alto to San Mateo, but I worked from 1-7pm, so it usually only took 15-20 minutes. When the rush gets going from 4:00-6:30, you'll be crawling the whole way! And unfortunately, that's the more common traffic pattern these days (south - north in the morning & vice-versa), so it will be the worst direction to drive.

I also agree with the poster's other comment, that CalTrain might be the best way... it goes directly from San Jose to Burlingame (Broadway or Burlingame Ave.), and is really fast in comparison to traffic jams. I took the train from Burlingame to San Francisco for a few months, and it was a relaxing 20 minute commute.

[jasmine3407]

Thank you for your posts. I've decided to commute from San Jose temporarily, until I find a new place in a few months. Thanks for the insight on the south-north commute. I was looking at places in Palo Alto and Mt View, as well, but that would still be a south-north commute. I would not be a happy person if I had to do that twice a day everyday. And my hours are normal business hours, so it's prime rush hour traffic. I hate to leave San Jose, but will probably be looking for something in San Francisco, even though it's alot smaller and lot more urban. I thought that housing in San Jose was cheaper than in SF, but I was sadly mistaken. So, I guess I might as well live up there. Thanks for everything!

[gizmo980]

I think that's a good idea, to consider moving in a few months... especially to see if the new job works out, since you'd hate to move for nothing! And if/when you do move north, I think you'll really appreciate not having to deal with an awful commute. San Francisco is expensive as **** (insert word of your choice ), but it really is a great city to live in. You might want to also consider the towns of Pacifica, Daly City (certain neighborhoods), Millbrae, San Mateo/Foster City, and Burlingame itself... they'll be cheaper than San Fran, and the commute would be really easy. Anyway, good luck with your decisions!

[romeoDNB]

I live just north of downtown SJ and I work in Redwood City. In the morning I take HWY 101 and it takes me about 35 minutes to get to work. I work normal hours 8am-4:30pm. It takes me 30 minutes to drive back on HWY 101 South. The distance each way is about 25 miles.