Mountain View commute (San Jose, Fremont, Sunnyvale: apartment complexes, for rent, living)

[lavamonkie]

Hello. I'll be moving to Northern California to work in Mountain View, but have no idea about commute times. I'll be renting an apartment, and since the job was short notice, I'm getting nervous about moving there without really knowing the area. I would like to live in Mountain View or north of there (Redwood City, San Mateo, Belmont), and was wondering if anyone has an idea of what commute times are in rush hour on the 101 (101 S in the morning, 101 N in the evening). I'd like to keep the commute within 30 min.

Thank you!

[humboldtrat]

Live in Mountain View and avoid the commute. Mtn. View is a nice, safe town with lots of apartment complexes, a nice downtown (Castro Street). Caltrain (a comuter train between SF and San Jose) stops there.

[sonarrat]

Need to know your budget. Nowhere within 30 mins of there is particularly cheap.

[lavamonkie]

I'm looking to keep below $1300 for rent, for a large studio or a 1 bedroom place.

[mdwstrnkid]

Another option (if you are interested in living east of MV) is to live somewhere along the CA-237 corridor. If you find a place at or west of Great America Parkway, you will avoid the major congestion coming from I-880. I have lived in Rivermark area in Santa Clara (Agnew and Lafayette) and commuted to the Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto for the past seven years, going west on CA-237 and then north on El Camino Real. My commute has always been very reasonable - usually 25 minutes in the morning and perhaps 30 in the evenings. If you work in MV, your commute will be shorter than that.

[Luke9686]

Mountain View is a nice place. I would just live there. Also, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale would do.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by mdwstrnkid

Another option (if you are interested in living east of MV) is to live somewhere along the CA-237 corridor. If you find a place at or west of Great America Parkway, you will avoid the major congestion coming from I-880. I have lived in Rivermark area in Santa Clara (Agnew and Lafayette) and commuted to the Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto for the past seven years, going west on CA-237 and then north on El Camino Real. My commute has always been very reasonable - usually 25 minutes in the morning and perhaps 30 in the evenings. If you work in MV, your commute will be shorter than that.

I used to commute from Milpitas to Mountain View (El Camino & Grant) by 237, and I agree. Very mild commute.

[desitechie]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

I used to commute from Milpitas to Mountain View (El Camino & Grant) by 237, and I agree. Very mild commute.

How's the commute from milpitas/fremont to sunnyvale?

Is public transport an option?

Thanks

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by desitechie

How's the commute from milpitas/fremont to sunnyvale?

880 is pretty awful between Fremont and the 237 interchange, but it's not the worst commute I could imagine.

Is public transport an option?

Sort of, VTA has the 140 express bus from the Fremont BART station to the Sunnyvale tech quarter on Tasman Drive, and there's also the ACE train/employer shuttle.