Daily family commute: Berkeley-Sac and Berkeley-San Bruno (San Francisco, Sacramento: extended stay, for rent)

[p.haze]

Hi,

I live San Francisco and will be taking up a job in Sacramento. My wife works in South San Francisco. We both need to be at work everyday and work long hours. Sometimes weekends as well.

1) I was wondering if we should consider living in Berkeley/Emeryville and commute to our offices ? Looking at other threads and browsing the web, if we decide to commute - it seems BART/driving may be best for my wife. Amtrak may be better for me. However, I worry that this may get to be too exhausting eventually.

2) Alternative would be to live separately and meet on weekends. Any thoughts on monthly rent if I were to find a cheap place in Sac near the medical center for weekdays?

We anticipate having to do this for at least 2 years..at which point my wife would be able to change her job and move to Sac. It is not possible right now.
Thanks for your suggestions !

PS: I have also posted this in the Sacramento forum.

[ccm123]

Berkeley-Sac would be an awful commute daily. Try and find a job locally, I think the job market here is better than in Sac.
I knew someone that did a SF-Sac commute daily and spent 10 hours a day at his job. He endured this for 2 years and then "threw the towel in" and got a transfer closer.

[artemis78]

It's going to be painful either way, unfortunately. A few things: is your wife's job anywhere near the South San Francisco ferry terminal? If so, there is a ferry from Oakland (and supposedly will eventually be one from Berkeley and Richmond, though not sure if these will go to SSF or just to SF--and several years out at the earliest, I suspect). May not work if her hours are not predictable, though, as it's only commute hours and not a lot of trips. (There is BART as a backup, but it's a trek as you know.) Any chance your work will allow you to count hours worked on the train? I know a couple of people who've made that arrangement and actually enjoyed it quite a lot. If those might be options, you could look at living in Jack London Square in Oakland and be near both ferry and Amtrak. If not, you will be spending a lot of time (and money) on the train, so it might be worth it to look at getting a place up there instead. I do know people who've done the Berkeley to Davis or Sacramento commute, and it's feasible but no fun. If you drive, traffic is okay going if you head up early, but awful coming back in the afternoon along I-80. Only real option there is to wait till later in the evening.

[jade408]

The train is pretty communal and like happy hour on Fridays, people bring games. I'd go that route rather than driving.

It is definitely torturous, you'll have a 3 hour daily commute.

[Chimérique]

Another option:
The North Concord/Martinez BART station to South SF for your wife.
The Martinez Capitol Corridor-Amtrak station to Sacramento for you.
Live in either Concord or Martinez.

The Berk-SAC commute doesn't have to be awful depending on the time of day, or if you take the Captiol Corridor - Amtrak at any of the following stations: Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Richmond.

Personally, I think the Capitol Corridor trains are more comfortable and roomier than the Caltrain. Capitol Corridor trains have free wifi, snack car, lots of room for bikes, and large tables and seating giving you lots of work space on the train. I believe there are 10 trains per day to Sacramento.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

The Concord/Martinez idea is brilliant! I love the Amtrak Capital Corridor train. I find riding it relaxing and enjoyable. Time-wise, it may get to you, but you'll have a much nicer ride than your wife. But, yours will be longer.

Sounds like you hardly see each other as it is, but at least you do see each other this way. If you do decide to look for a place in Sacramento, advertise at the medical center that you are a commuter looking for a room just Mon - Fri, or Sun - Thurs. Commuter roommates are like gold. Best type of roommate ever. You should have no problem finding a situation like that. As far as how much you would pay for rent, that I don't know.

Also, if you are talking about the UC Davis Medical Center, you might check into looking for a room to rent through the UC Davis off-campus housing listings.

[Chimérique]

Originally Posted by Chimérique

Another option:
The North Concord/Martinez BART station to South SF for your wife.
The Martinez Capitol Corridor-Amtrak station to Sacramento for you.
Live in either Concord or Martinez.

The Berk-SAC commute doesn't have to be awful depending on the time of day, or if you take the Captiol Corridor - Amtrak at any of the following stations: Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Richmond.

Personally, I think the Capitol Corridor trains are more comfortable and roomier than the Caltrain. Capitol Corridor trains have free wifi, snack car, lots of room for bikes, and large tables and seating giving you lots of work space on the train. I believe there are 10 trains per day to Sacramento.

Forgot to mention:

At the Capitol Corridor-Amtrak station in Sacramento, you can pick-up Sacramento's light rail. Take the Gold Line in the direction of either the Sunrise bound train, or the Folsom bound train. You would get off at the 39th Street Station in Sacramento, which is about a 5 block walk to the University of California, Davis Medical Center (UCDMC). UCDMC has a free shuttle service from 39th Street station to the Medical Center.

[2sleepy]

There are several residential hotels in Sacramento, some better than others. The ones I have seen advertised on Craigslist are all owned by "Extended Stay" and range from around $800-$1200 a month. I would stay in one of those Mon-Fri and go home on weekends rather than endure a commute from SF to Sacramento

[NorCalLover]

This will be challenging but do-able, if you guys are willing to weather exhaustion in order to remain in the same place. I once split a commute with someone between the Bay Area and Sacramento area. I wouldn't do it indefinitely but you may be able to weather it for two years.

Some thing to consider:
1. You may want to consider driving / carpooling, as most of your drive is a reverse commute. If you find two other people, you can use the carpool lanes on I-80. Particularly if you live in Berkeley you could probably find other supercommuters going to Sac or at least Davis. Ask around at your job too.
2. If you decide to take Amtrak (which is a pleasant and beautiful, if slow ride), be mindful of the Amtrak and Sacramento Lightrail schedules since you say you work long hours. Neither of them run very late if I recall. This is less of an issue for your wife since BART runs until midnight.
3. If your wife doesn't work near San Bruno BART, she may want to consider leaving her car parked overnight at the San Bruno BART station overnight to lessen her commute time.

If the commutes end up getting to you, you can always decide at a later point to rent a commuter place in Sac.

[p.haze]

So many things we had not considered ! Thanks so much folks. We will keep exploring these options and will update once we decide.