El Dorado Hills / Granite Bay commute to Santa Clara vs. living in Salt Lake City (Sacramento: to rent, houses)

[Flovis]

Looked into Lodi, ca yet?

You'll save like an hour of drive time living there.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by bentlyslc

Yeah, that's why Amtrak can be a good choice for me (2hrs 45 min one way). Greyhound can serve as a backup. Tickets are paid for as part of benefit package. Technically I can do that twice a week, if I don't mind that 5.5hrs round trip on the train. People drive from Tracy to Santa Clara spend about the same amount of time everyday.

My partner takes the Captiol Corridor (Amtrak) about once a month from downtown Sacramento to downtown San Jose for business/work. He enjoys it. He said he would do it once (or twice) a week but probably not more than that. The company pays for it.

The Capitol Corridor is a nice train, free wifi, beer and wine on board(can't do that on BART or Caltran). Compared to Bart and Caltran, the Capitol Corridor is Clean and Comfortable, and quiet. The Capitol Corridor has conductors on board(BART has zero) and they are friendly and helpful and keep thing orderly unlike BART.

I take it for pleasure throughout the year as an alternate to various trips to the Bay Area(usually to Berkeley, Oakland(jack london sq), occasionally to Coliseum for Raiders/Warriors games, occasionally to 49ers games at Santa Clara station, and downtown San Jose for visits to friends/relatives which happens to be where the San Jose Arena is(Sharks games).

*The Capitol Corridor connects all theses Arenas and Universities. Sac-Golden One Center Arena(Kings games), Oakland-Coliseum for Raiders/Warriors games, Santa Clara-49ers games, San Jose(Sharks games), And there are stations within 5-10 mins walking distance to these campuses: UC Davis and Santa Clara University.

[bentlyslc]

The only hassle is from EDH to SAC Amtrak station, especially in the early mornings. Maybe I can find someone to carpool with. Parking at the station is $10/day, which isn’t too bad. Or maybe I can do Uber.


Never considered Lodi since I only looked for places with low crime rate, good schools and more suitable for families with young kids.

[sacite]

I would never do this. Maybe consider it if you only work 4 days a week, but considering you'd work in Silicon Valley that means you obviously work a lot more than that and basically half of your week is in SV (or, 2 of the 5 workdays), with weekends used more to recover than enjoy life. I commuted from Santa Rosa to Oakland just 2 sometimes 3 days per week on a 4-day per week schedule for 2.5 years and it completely burnt me out. And that's only a 65 mi commute - easier than the one you're considering - with less total work days. I always felt like I lived in two places too. I had a gym membership in Oakland, my local eateries, people I knew, etc. and I had the exact same connections in Santa Rosa. Made it tough to truly get comfortable in either place.

Aside from that, is EDH or GB really worth this move? It's not that much extra money all things considered, and those places aren't exactly that high on the "to be" list in this state. Granted, they are nice areas with nice homes that go further for the dollar than other desirable areas of CA, but there's no way I'd consider that sort of commute to live there. Personally, I thought the people were stale and a bit arrogant anyway - but of course that's my own personal opinion interjected on that issue. Even if you like the local culture there, it's not worth that headache IMO.

[sacite]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

My partner takes the Captiol Corridor (Amtrak) about once a month from downtown Sacramento to downtown San Jose for business/work. He enjoys it. He said he would do it once (or twice) a week but probably not more than that. The company pays for it.

The Capitol Corridor is a nice train, free wifi, beer and wine on board(can't do that on BART or Caltran). Compared to Bart and Caltran, the Capitol Corridor is Clean and Comfortable, and quiet. The Capitol Corridor has conductors on board(BART has zero) and they are friendly and helpful and keep thing orderly unlike BART.

I take it for pleasure throughout the year as an alternate to various trips to the Bay Area(usually to Berkeley, Oakland(jack london sq), occasionally to Coliseum for Raiders/Warriors games, occasionally to 49ers games at Santa Clara station, and downtown San Jose for visits to friends/relatives which happens to be where the San Jose Arena is(Sharks games).

*The Capitol Corridor connects all theses Arenas and Universities. Sac-Golden One Center Arena(Kings games), Oakland-Coliseum for Raiders/Warriors games, Santa Clara-49ers games, San Jose(Sharks games), And there are stations within 5-10 mins walking distance to these campuses: UC Davis and Santa Clara University.

That train is not bad at all.....if you are going to a game. A one time thing. I think it took us 1.5 hours last time I used it, probably another 10-15 minutes to walk to the destination. Now the OP has to make it from EDH/GB to downtown Sac. This is like 3 hours minimum. Add time to get to the train, off the train to work and you are talking possibly 4 hours. You could pay me an extra $35K right now above what I make and I still would not do it.

When I commuted to Oakland I tried all sorts of tricks on public transportation. I had one route where I took a commuter bus to SF, then got off and literally ran to get BART, walked about 8 blocks to work from where BART dropped us off in Oakland. No stops on any of it and it seemed so easy on paper. But then, there's always someone sleeping leaning into you, or you didn't factor in the to and from time just to get on the transportation, or any number of other factors. In reality it adds up to a lot more than you expected. Kinda equatable to when you move and have every cost wired down to the penny, and somehow go over budget by $300. Same thing happens scheduling these crazy commutes. That commute took me about 1 hr 50 minutes in the morning, longer in the evening. And it was a lot shorter than what the OP is proposing. It's pure insanity.

[Chimérique]

I personally would not do it as I am by far too spoiled:

It takes me 5 mins by car;
or 15 minutes by light rail;
or a 20 minutes bike ride

By partner does the SAC/Silicon Valley Capitol Corridor trip ONCE A MONTH, for work, and he looks forward to it, go figure.

[sacite]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

I personally would not do it as I am by far too spoiled:

It takes me 5 mins by car;
or 15 minutes by light rail;
or a 20 minutes bike ride

By partner does the SAC/Silicon Valley Capitol Corridor trip ONCE A MONTH, for work, and he looks forward to it, go figure.

I wasn't attacking your post (sorry if it may have appeared that way). I could see it once a month, that would work fine. I'd do that. Maybe even once a week. But the OP's idea is insane to me, because I have done something somewhat similar. But hey, maybe he'll be ok with it.

[WizardOfRadical]

Save yourself some sanity and live in Davis.

[sacite]

Originally Posted by WizardOfRadical

Save yourself some sanity and live in Davis.

It sounds like he wants a specific type of lifestyle or home. Davis fits that albeit in a different way, but probably equally priced. Problem is it doesn't really solve the commute issue (in fact, probably makes it tougher). What about Walnut Creek? About same price ranges and he can take a train or drive directly to the office. Has a lot of the same qualities as EDH but better shopping, restaurants, etc.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by sacite

Now the OP has to make it from EDH/GB to downtown Sac. This is like 3 hours minimum. Add time to get to the train, off the train to work and you are talking possibly 4 hours.

Sounds horrible! Just driving from EDH to downtown Sacramento is already a long commute.

You could live in Elk Grove and have a much shorter drive to the Ace train in Stockton. Also you could live in the Green Valley or Rancho Solano areas and drive to the Suisun City Amtrak.

These areas may not have the cachet of EDH. However they do have some 9/10 rated schools. Elk Grove will not be super hot like EDH due to better access to the Delta breeze. The Solano location will be warm but not as ridiculously hot as EDH.

No doubt EDH is a beautiful place and has some spectacular homes like this one.

https://www.trulia.com/property/3272...Hills-CA-95762

However if one is going to live in an average home I do not think it is worth the extra long commute.