south of SF foggy & cold? marin sunnier? (Salinas, Pacifica: live, residential)

[marinmom]

Marin climate can vary, but the only towns that are prone to fog are those closests to S.F. (Mill Valley, Sausalito). The rest of Marin (San Rafael, San Anselmo, Corte Madera, Novato, fairfax) has very lovely sunny weather--fog-free!

[Hobart]

What about Tiburon and Belvedere are those places mainly sunny, mainly foggy? Cold? Warm? Pleasant weather or just a pleasant town with bad weather like San Francisco is?

[OHNYMAOHPA]

Hi,

I have read the comments about the Pacifica neighborhood being cold and foggy. I am in the job search. Next week I will be in San Francisco for an interview and to look at some neighborhoods. The price of housing in the San Francisco area is scary compared to my neighborhood in Ohio.

The thing about Pacifica that intrigues me is that the rent seems to be a little more reasonable. I can't help but wonder if the neighborhood is right at the ocean. For someone living in Ohio...the thought of living within walking distance of the ocean is almost too good to be true!

I would be working in San Francisco near Fremont St. Is there any safe public transportation in the Pacifica area that would get me to San Francisco? What would the commute be like (by car and by public transit)?

Is there shopping in the neighborhood...or would I still need a car?

I love this forum...I appreciate your advice!!!

[humboldtrat]

Originally Posted by OHNYMAOHPA

Hi,

I have read the comments about the Pacifica neighborhood being cold and foggy. I am in the job search. Next week I will be in San Francisco for an interview and to look at some neighborhoods. The price of housing in the San Francisco area is scary compared to my neighborhood in Ohio.

The thing about Pacifica that intrigues me is that the rent seems to be a little more reasonable. I can't help but wonder if the neighborhood is right at the ocean. For someone living in Ohio...the thought of living within walking distance of the ocean is almost too good to be true!

I would be working in San Francisco near Fremont St. Is there any safe public transportation in the Pacifica area that would get me to San Francisco? What would the commute be like (by car and by public transit)?

Is there shopping in the neighborhood...or would I still need a car?

I love this forum...I appreciate your advice!!!

Samtrans (San Mateo county transit) has bus service in the Pacifica area, maybe just as far as the BART station in Colma or Daly City. SamTrans.com - home and BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Another place to check out is Daly City which also gets plenty of fog and wind. It's also close to the beach and close to Ocean Beach (about a 5 mile long beach) in SF (and close to the SF Zoo). Daly City has a BART station and/or easy freeway access (I-280) to downtown SF. There is plenty of shopping in Daly City including Serramonte Mall Welcome to Serramonte Center.

[ImRandy]

A pretty useful resource for getting around is the trip planner at 511.org. Saves a lot of time over plotting out what goes where and when by searching the individual transit agency websites.

If you're living in Pacifica it's very useful to have a car because you'd be headed over the hill into Daly City and other cities for shopping and entertainment. Pacifica does have grocery stores, hardware stores, and the like but no large retailers like Target, Best Buy, or department stores. Most of your entertainment will also be out of town. Much more convenient to drive in that case instead of using public transportation.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by OHNYMAOHPA

Hi,

I have read the comments about the Pacifica neighborhood being cold and foggy. I am in the job search. Next week I will be in San Francisco for an interview and to look at some neighborhoods. The price of housing in the San Francisco area is scary compared to my neighborhood in Ohio.

The thing about Pacifica that intrigues me is that the rent seems to be a little more reasonable. I can't help but wonder if the neighborhood is right at the ocean. For someone living in Ohio...the thought of living within walking distance of the ocean is almost too good to be true!

Pacifica is fairly spread out, so it has both beach-side and hillside neighborhoods... look near Esplanade Ave., Palmetto Dr. & maybe Sharpe Park, if you want the ocean in your backyard. I lived right at Esplanade & Manor, and had this view from my living room:

This was actually my apartment... the kitties loved watching seagulls, LOL.




Some of the famous Pacifica fog... and one of the MANY stray cats, who have a controlled colony there.

I would be working in San Francisco near Fremont St. Is there any safe public transportation in the Pacifica area that would get me to San Francisco? What would the commute be like (by car and by public transit)?

As another poster said, you can take Samtrans up highway 1... that'll connect you to BART in Daly City (which gets you into SF), or you can transfer to Muni at the border. Driving time's about 10-20 minutes to downtown SF, depending on traffic and weather (fog can REALLY slow you down on hwy 1). You'd connect from 1 to 280, which are both fairly light-traffic freeways, thankfully. And to ditto another comment above, this is a great tool: Transit.511.org - Trip Planner

Is there shopping in the neighborhood...or would I still need a car?

There are a few mini-malls in Pacifica, which have all your basic needs - supermarket, pet store, video store, hardware, restaurants, etc. Like I said above, Pacifica is a pretty spread-out town, but the malls are nicely distributed. I'd still recommend a car, just because there's not much else in town.... you'd be spending a lot of time on BART & Samtrans, but I guess some people don't mind that. I'll warn you, though, Bay Area-ites (Californians in general) are very dependent on their cars! Good luck, and let me know if you need more info.

[gizmo980]

Btw, I should mention that beach ACCESS is only in a few spots along Esplanade/Palmetto... I couldn't walk down that hill to the sand, since there's a dangerous cliff in the way! But the nearest access point was only 1 block away, so it wasn't exactly a trek. Also wanted to mention that the Skyline/hwy 35 neighborhood is cheapest, but you can barely tell you're near the ocean - so avoid that if you want a view.

[john_norcal]

I've lived in Pacifica for over 30 years, yes while the area north of us (Fairmont) and at the junction of Skyline Blvd, Westoborough and Sharp Park Rds can be exceptionally foggy, the south end of Pacifica (Linda Mar) is very mild in comparison. This area is called the "Donut" by some, because of the mountain peaks, the heat is trapped here and keeps us clear and sunny while other areas are fogged in. If you go further into the valley, Park Pacifica, the weather is even nicer! A lot of people there have swimming pools and they use them too! Granted when there is a heavy marine layer, then yes, it is downright, cold wet fog. But all in all, we have nice beautiful days here in Linda Mar.

[wie9778kzh]

How is the traffic commuting to SF? I would think its not good, especially from deep inside linda mar or park pacifica, as everyone has to go up highway 1 north, then get to 280N. If you're inside linda mar or park pacifica, you also have to pass through a lot of residential area and stop signs. Whats the commute like for folks who live in those parts of pacifica?

[G Grasshopper]

I live in San Rafael. We have a foggy day a few times a year. Its sunny and warm in the summer. In fact, if you go north on Hwy 101 from Mill Valley to Santa Rosa, the general climate gets warmer as you go north. Old timers used to say that the fog ends at horse hill, which is just north of Tiburon Blvd/Blythdale Ave. Tuburon has less fog than Mill Valley, but more than San Rafael. I don't really know about Belvedere. They are really out there on the island, and I don't know if the north/south rule holds for them. We also have micro climates, just like the rest of the bay area.