Where to live with one job in San Francisco and other in Sacramento? (Oakland: 2013)

[Sjnk]

Currently my husband and I live in San Francisco. We are expecting our first child in early 2013. My husband has been offered a 3 year position starting mid 2013 in Sacramento that is too good to turn down in terms of the positives for his career down the road. My job, which I'll need to keep since I'll be making the bulk of our income, is in San Francisco. Given all of this, can anyone recommend a place to live between the two cities? We'd like to avoid having to pay rent on two places. I realize this is not an ideal situation, but it's temporary and we'd like to see if we can make it work. Thanks.

[Curmudgeon]

Perhaps Vacaville or environs?

[Snort]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Perhaps Vacaville or environs?

That sounds right to me.
You'll both hate your commutes though.

[CousinMaynard]

that sounds crazy, the money your blowing on tolls, gas and burning up your vehicles commuting is bad enough, worst of all of course is your both also missing out on your young childs first years while your stuck in traffic for hours. fairfield/vacaville to sf is a NIGHTMARE COMMUTE

did you check his work can help out with living arrangements in sac? if not take that gas and car money and put it toward a place to stay in sac, and he can come home to sf one night in the middle of the week.

[EscapeCalifornia]

That would be a miserable situation without a baby in the mix. With a baby, it'll be 10x worse. Its time to put baby above career.

[u225615]

Originally Posted by Sjnk

Currently my husband and I live in San Francisco. We are expecting our first child in early 2013. My husband has been offered a 3 year position starting mid 2013 in Sacramento that is too good to turn down in terms of the positives for his career down the road. My job, which I'll need to keep since I'll be making the bulk of our income, is in San Francisco. Given all of this, can anyone recommend a place to live between the two cities? We'd like to avoid having to pay rent on two places. I realize this is not an ideal situation, but it's temporary and we'd like to see if we can make it work. Thanks.

Tough situation to be in...maybe consider Martinez in the East Bay? It's a little more than an hours drive to Sacramento and at least one of you will be able to avoid driving (you can take Bart at the North Concord/Martinez station into the City).

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by u225615

Tough situation to be in...maybe consider Martinez in the East Bay? It's a little more than an hours drive to Sacramento and at least one of you will be able to avoid driving (you can take Bart at the North Concord/Martinez station into the City).

I agree--I generally tend to suggest splitting these types of catch 22 commute situations by allowing one person to not have to commute, or to commute a shorter distance. The person with the easier day can pick up a little more slack on housework, childcare, whatever. A couple things:
-If you live exactly in the middle, you'll hit traffic to the Bay, and traffic to Sac, both of you, every single day.
-Immediately start thinking about alternative work situations. Can someone work 4, 10 hours day? Can someone telecommute 1 to 2 days a week? Can someone work from a laptop while on public transit and count that towards their 40 hours?
-Does one of you have higher demands at work? E.g., someone works a standard 8 hour day, someone generally works 10. The person with longer hours might "deserve" the shorter commute.
-The Capitol Corridor Amtrak is really quite fantastic. It only goes to Oakland, so you need a BART transfer to get to SF, but it's a legitimate alternative to driving, especially if you can work on the train, not commute 5 days/week, etc. I know a couple people who commute from Sac via the train, but they don't do it everyday.
-There are plenty of fine places to live in the Bay Area, but the prices are obviously driven up by Bay Area salaries. Obviously, prices tend to drop out towards Sacramento, so that may be a factor. Davis is a great town, but a bit of an anomaly with fairly high prices. Plenty of nice and expensive parts of Sacramento too.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by CousinMaynard

That sounds crazy, the money you're blowing on tolls, gas and burning up your vehicles commuting is bad enough. Worst of all of course is you're both also missing out on your young child's first years while you're stuck in traffic for hours. Fairfield/Vacaville to SF is a NIGHTMARE COMMUTE.

Did you check his work can help out with living arrangements in Sac? if not take that gas and car money and put it toward a place to stay in Sac, and he can come home to SF one night in the middle of the week.

This is what I'm thinking. Another thing I'd add is that long commutes are linked with poor health.

Long commute time linked with poor health, new study shows

[ryuns]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

This is what I'm thinking. Another thing I'd add is that long commutes are linked with poor health.

Long commute time linked with poor health, new study shows

Yeah, I didn't mention that, but you're right--keeping a separate apartment might be a good investment. In Sac, he could find something pretty cheap. Assuming he works downtown and cost is an issue, he could get a cheap apartment in West Sac for peanuts. That would put him biking (possibly walking) distance to work and close to the train station. If cost is less of an issue, something closer to the city center like Midtown, would grant him access to more things to do, more pleasant environs, etc.

E.g.:
West Sac 1 bed for rent

[kttam186290]

The answer is:

VACAVILLE!