Realistic to live in Half-Moon Bay / area and commute to Cupertino? (San Francisco: living in, restaurants)

[NapaCab]

We've just moved to SF and are living in the city at the moment but are looking to relocate to the peninsula/Bay area soon to reduce commute time to Cupertino.

We'd been looking at towns in the Valley like Campbell, Los Gatos, Mountain View etc but this weekend we went to Half Moon Bay to meet some friends and loved it there. I'm from a milder, maritime climate originally so am thinking somewhere on the coast like that might suit me better than the hotter temperatures in the Valley.

Directions from Google maps say 40 mins to Cupertino but is that remotely realistic in rush-hour? Does anyone really live in Half Moon Bay or that area apart from surfers and retired people? Anyone know if it's a nice place to live year-round? Are there other towns with the same coastal feel in the Bay area?

Thanks if you can help!

[Manatea]

HMB to Cupertino will take about the same amount of time as SF to Cupertino, maybe a bit shorter. I think it's realistic.

I would also recommend looking at Santa Cruz. I prefer it to HMB because it's a big more populated and there are more things to do. I commuted from there to Cupertino for a year and it was fine. 45 minutes. The only problem I had was driving on highway 17, which is a pretty dangerous and windy road. Do you work for AAPL? If so, they have shuttles from Santa Cruz. Scott's Valley is about 30 min from Cupertino on the way to Santa Cruz. Super nice town.

[EclecticEars]

Originally Posted by Manatea

HMB to Cupertino will take about the same amount of time as SF to Cupertino, maybe a bit shorter. I think it's realistic.

I would also recommend looking at Santa Cruz. I prefer it to HMB because it's a big more populated and there are more things to do. I commuted from there to Cupertino for a year and it was fine. 45 minutes. The only problem I had was driving on highway 17, which is a pretty dangerous and windy road. Do you work for AAPL? If so, they have shuttles from Santa Cruz. Scott's Valley is about 30 min from Cupertino on the way to Santa Cruz. Super nice town.

Yeah, I'd recommend Scotts Valley, Lexington Hills, that area. Perhaps Davenport, even; one could drive just five miles south into Santa Cruz and take CA 17 or, as an alternate, CA 9 over the mountain and into Cupertino.

I'd much rather put up with the hassle of crossing the mountain everyday on 84 or 92 and live in Half Moon Bay, however. HMB is a comfortable small town with more then enough "basics" to survive, very easily accessible to thousands of acres of coastal preserve along the San Mateo County coast, and still closer to San Francisco.

Santa Cruz is, in my perfectly honest opinion, an overpriced snob fest and really not that great of a city for that reason alone. If I'm going to live in a medium-sized coastal city anywhere close by, it would be Monterey.

[NorCal44]

I think it's perfectly reasonable if you don't mind a 45-50 minute commute one way. Traffic can get bad on 92, but 280 to 85 won't be a big deal. HMB is beautiful, lots of good restaurants, and a lot of other places to visit up and down highway 1. Getting to SF is not difficult either, esp. when the new tunnel opens at Devil's slide.

[NapaCab]

Thanks for the advice - sounds like the commute wouldn't be too hellish by Bay Area standards. The drive over the mountains did worry me as those roads are pretty windy but on the upside there would be less traffic that way and then we'd be straight onto the 280. Most colleagues so far seem to live in Campbell, Saratoga, Los Gatos etc so I imagine routes from those towns, while shorter, would be busier.

I haven't been to Santa Cruz yet so I might check it out this weekend and see what it's like. You guessed right, Manatea, AAPL is the commute destination alright so if they run a shuttle from SC that would help.

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by NapaCab

Thanks for the advice - sounds like the commute wouldn't be too hellish by Bay Area standards. The drive over the mountains did worry me as those roads are pretty windy but on the upside there would be less traffic that way and then we'd be straight onto the 280. Most colleagues so far seem to live in Campbell, Saratoga, Los Gatos etc so I imagine routes from those towns, while shorter, would be busier.

I haven't been to Santa Cruz yet so I might check it out this weekend and see what it's like. You guessed right, Manatea, AAPL is the commute destination alright so if they run a shuttle from SC that would help.

Personally, I prefer the drive of 92 to HMB way over 17 to Santa Cruz. Not only is it way shorter and way less windy, it is also way less crowded by comparison (although, there is still some traffic, especially on weekends when the weather is nice).

It only takes me ~15-20 minutes from my apt in downtown San Mateo to the 92/Highway 1 intersection in Half Moon Bay on a normal day. And most of that time is spent on the highway part before it gets to 280. For "mountain roads" in the bay area, 92 is definitely one of the best and easiest to drive.

[Manatea]

Originally Posted by NapaCab

I haven't been to Santa Cruz yet so I might check it out this weekend and see what it's like. You guessed right, Manatea, AAPL is the commute destination alright so if they run a shuttle from SC that would help.

I really recommend checking out Santa Cruz (45 min commute) and Scotts Valley (30 min commute) this weekend. Let us know what you think! What are you looking for in a town? What do you like to do? What's your budget for housing?