If you had a Google or Apple bus would you commute? (San Francisco: real estate, neighborhoods)

[slosnowboarder]

So, like many threads here, I'm asking about the SF to Cupertino commute.

Except with one thing, if you had a bus, like the ones provided by Google and Apple (WIFI, comfortable seats), would you do the commute? It's still 3 hours round trip, is "The City" worth it?

[hsw]

Mass transit is for 3rdWorld urban regions like NYC....

SF-Cupertino on 280 has to be one of fastest, most effortless 50mi urban commutes in world....perhaps 45-60 mins, dpdg upon time of day....

Nearly every financier w/o kids who works on Menlo's SandHillRd does the daily 35mi drive to/from SF's PacHts/SOMA....it's a rather unique commute that many who enjoy driving performance commuter cars, like new Mercedes AMGs, view as rather safe and pleasurable...and much of why QOL/std of living in SF-SiliconValley is arguably world's highest

[sonarrat]

I've read about Googlers basing their real estate decisions on how close they were to the shuttle bus stops in San Francisco, and I just have to shake my head in disbelief. Apparently high incomes don't preclude people from being boneheads.

[artemis78]

Just curious....we definitely made real estate decisions based on how close we were to BART and bus routes. (Granted, the latter might someday move, but the AC Transit routes near us have been running since the streetcars stopped, so that's unlikely.) And while not everyone considers transit, there are certainly many who do. At the very least I'd like to think everyone thinks about potential commutes when they choose a home. What makes the Googlers boneheads to do this? Just that they might not work there forever and it's a dedicated bus route, versus a route that might take them lots of other places if they switch jobs or Google tanks? Or is that you think they're overpaying for places because of the proximity to the shuttle, and that seems silly? (I'm just curious, because if I were a Googler that's probably one of the first things I'd think about in deciding where to live, so it seems like a somewhat logical thing to do.)

[sonarrat]

The article makes it more clear why they're boneheads. There's a hive mentality here that is blissfully ignorant of the many other factors that are about to change San Francisco as we know it.

The Google Effect: How the company's shuttle line affects San Francisco real estate

[artemis78]

Actually this article seems to affirm what I was thinking---transit is becoming more important to real estate because buyers with money (who traditionally have not been transit riders) now want transit-accessible properties. That the neighborhoods along that transit route have held steady (or so says the article---I don't follow real estate in SF proper so I couldn't tell ya, and I also think Noe has lots of other non-Google factors keeping it more stable than some other 'hoods!) seems to suggest that it *is* something that buyers (or sellers) should be considering, at least for as long as Google's a major player. At a much smaller scale, it's not too dissimilar from people who look at property that's, say, near the Rockridge BART in Oakland---sure, there's a tradeoff for living near the noise of BART, but it's also considered a huge amenity, and people are willing to pay for it. As long as that holds true, it's reasonable to consider proximity to BART or the Google shuttle or MUNI or regional rail or what-have-you as a factor in pricing. At the very least, the shuttle concept seems to be working, if that many Googlers are having such a hard time finding prime real estate near shuttle stops. Yay for Google for helping to alleviate the gridlock.

[bayarea415]

Originally Posted by slosnowboarder

So, like many threads here, I'm asking about the SF to Cupertino commute.

Except with one thing, if you had a bus, like the ones provided by Google and Apple (WIFI, comfortable seats), would you do the commute? It's still 3 hours round trip, is "The City" worth it?

I'm using GBUS everyday
really nice bus, with tables, free wi-fi, leather seats, reclining seats, leg rest, power outlets everywhere, blue, red, yellow and blue lights everywhere