Young person working in Silicon Valley; where to live? (Oakland: bus, light rail)

[jade408]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Well, OP, as you can see, it's completely impossible to live without a car in Mountain View. I wonder why on earth they have bike lanes and buses. What a waste, since apparently nobody uses them.

Are you up to a challenge? Apparently you and your gf would be the only two on the buses or bike trails. Sounds peaceful.

The problem is mountain view has the kind of buses designed for people who think the bus is a last ditch option. So that means limited running times after dark and on the weekends and poor frequency. The bus and transit is useless for errands but ok for commuting.

You might want to budget for car share, if there are even spots. When my friend and her grad student hubby lived in mountain view, she took the car and he had to manage on his own. Walks we far and it wasn't an ideal scenario. He doesn't have a bike. They lived about 3/4 of a mile from California street, but he didn't have access to much without a car during the day.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by jade408

The problem is mountain view has the kind of buses designed for people who think the bus is a last ditch option. So that means limited running times after dark and on the weekends and poor frequency. The bus and transit is useless for errands but ok for commuting.

You might want to budget for car share, if there are even spots. When my friend and her grad student hubby lived in mountain view, she took the car and he had to manage on his own. Walks we far and it wasn't an ideal scenario. He doesn't have a bike. They lived about 3/4 of a mile from California street, but he didn't have access to much without a car during the day.

Oh, I forgot that bikes cost at least 1 million dollars each. And 3/4 of a mile? Might as well be China.

And there are no taxis in Mountain View? For the occasional trip home, etc.?

Too bad it's impossible to even buy a bike in Mountain View. Or to take taxis after dark.

Well, OP, better quit that Google job before you even move here. You'll have to live on the street. The situation is impossible. Just ask people on CD who justify why they can't make ends meet on their salaries, let alone save anything.

Option B: Do your own math.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Oh, I forgot that bikes cost at least 1 million dollars each.

And there are no taxis in Mountain View? For the occasional trip home, etc.?

Too bad it's impossible to even buy a bike in Mountain View. Or to take taxis after dark.

Well, OP, better quit that Google job before you even move here. You'll have to live on the street. The situation is impossible. Just ask people on CD who justify why they can't make ends meet on their salaries, let alone save anything.

Taxis? You need to call one and hope it shows up. That's why uber is so popular here. You can't hail a cab even in SF.

What I am saying is, even though it might seem possible on paper it isn't very pleasant to be car free in MV. Being car free by choice isn't normal behavior there so the environment and infrastructure isn't really designed to support it. I chatted with a woman who is working on improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure on the peninsula. The city leaders looked at her like she was crazy when she suggested people might want to bike on a main commercial street, because their destination was there, over a parallel street. They also (city leaders) couldn't fathom people using their bike for shopping.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by jade408

Taxis? You need to call one and hope it shows up. That's why uber is so popular here. You can't hail a cab even in SF.

What I am saying is, even though it might seem possible on paper it isn't very pleasant to be car free in MV. Being car free by choice isn't normal behavior there so the environment and infrastructure isn't really designed to support it. I chatted with a woman who is working on improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure on the peninsula. The city leaders looked at her like she was crazy when she suggested people might want to bike on a main commercial street, because their destination was there, over a parallel street. They also (city leaders) couldn't fathom people using their bike for shopping.

Any time I called a taxi in either Santa Clara or San Jose, they showed up, and quickly and on time. Why wouldn't they show up in Mountain View?

Wah, wah, it's not pleasant not to have a car.

This is exactly what I see on these forums. Wah, wah, it's so hard to live on my salary, when all I want is a million dollar home and a car, and organic vegan food and vacations and concerts, yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta. It's impossible to live on less than $200,000 here!

Shall I look up the words priority and compromise for you? Nah, you'll spin it forever.

You can't reason with unreasonable people.

Like I said, OP, do your own math.

Taxi Mountain View, CA

[04kL4nD]

^ You live on an extremely limited income and seem to like it, many people don't.

As others have said, I would NOT want to live in MV carless. It's not Oakland, Berkeley, or SF where you've got other options to get around easily. The OP will need a car. Does that mean that the OP needs to drive something super fancy? No, but it's a fantasy to suggest living in MV carless is the equivalent lifestyle you could find in the city or urban East Bay. I wouldn't encourage someone to live in Walnut Creek, Dublin or Pleasanton carless either...

[LostVector]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Any time I called a taxi in either Santa Clara or San Jose, they showed up, and quickly and on time. Why wouldn't they show up in Mountain View?

Wah, wah, it's not pleasant not to have a car.

This is exactly what I see on these forums. Wah, wah, it's so hard to live on my salary, when all I want is a million dollar home and a car, and organic vegan food and vacations and concerts, yatta yatta yatta yatta yatta. It's impossible to live on less than $200,000 here!

Shall I look up the words priority and compromise for you? Nah, you'll spin it forever.

You can't reason with unreasonable people.

Like I said, OP, do your own math.

Taxi Mountain View, CA

Can you provide a realistic view on why going carless in MV is a good idea then? Calling everyone out for saying truthfully that one probably needs a car in Mountain View, is, quite frankly, idiotic. Even my maid has a car. Like Chris Rock says ... just because you can do a thing, doesn't mean it's to be done.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by LostVector

Can you provide a realistic view on why going carless in MV is a good idea then? Calling everyone out for saying truthfully that one probably needs a car in Mountain View, is, quite frankly, idiotic. Even my maid has a car. Like Chris Rock says ... just because you can do a thing, doesn't mean it's to be done.

The OP asked can he afford to live in the area on $60,000. He says he's willing to live without a car. I broke down a budget that shows that he can easily live on that amount of money.

What are you doing, realistically, to be helpful here? Tell the OP to not take the job at Google? Why on earth can't he bike across town to go to work? And bike to Caltrain when he wants to go somewhere out of town? And take an occasional taxi home from the pub?

Saying a young healthy guy can't ride a bike across Mountain View is ridiculous. Heck, I lived without a car in Davis, CA at one point so I could quit my job and sell full-time on Ebay. I put huge baskets on the bike and went shopping on it. I rode it to the bus station to go to my job in Sacramento, and to the Amtrak train to visit friends in the Bay Area. I was 40 years old.

You guys are so stuck on your idea that you can't do without this and that, and then whine about it when you have too much month left at the end of the money.

I bet most of your parents did a lot more with a lot less. Saying it's not feasible or impossible is just not rational.

Was it more convenient to have a car when I lived in Davis and worked in Sacramento? Of course. But, it was the thing in the budget that had to go, if I wanted to quit my job. I loved that car, too. My one and only car that I bought brand new. But, I wanted to quit my job worse than I wanted to keep the car.

Choices, priorities, compromise.

Then he waits until he gets a raise or the gf gets a job, and they decide if they'd rather have a car at that point.

Sheesh, you guys.

[04kL4nD]

Okay, so the official head count of people in this thread saying that a carless life will be fun/easy in Mountain View is at 1 right now. Anyone else care to tally up the other results?

[jade408]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

The OP asked can he afford to live in the area on $60,000. He says he's willing to live without a car. I broke down a budget that shows that he can easily live on that amount of money.

What are you doing, realistically, to be helpful here? Tell the OP to not take the job at Google? Why on earth can't he bike across town to go to work? And bike to Caltrain when he wants to go somewhere out of town? And take an occasional taxi home from the pub?

Saying a young healthy guy can't ride a bike across Mountain View is ridiculous. Heck, I lived without a car in Davis, CA at one point so I could quit my job and sell full-time on Ebay. I put huge baskets on the bike and went shopping on it. I rode it to the bus station to go to my job in Sacramento, and to the Amtrak train to visit friends in the Bay Area. I was 40 years old.

You guys are so stuck on your idea that you can't do without this and that, and then whine about it when you have too much month left at the end of the money.

I bet most of your parents did a lot more with a lot less. Saying it's not feasible or impossible is just not rational.

Was it more convenient to have a car when I lived in Davis and worked in Sacramento? Of course. But, it was the thing in the budget that had to go, if I wanted to quit my job. I loved that car, too. My one and only car that I bought brand new. But, I wanted to quit my job worse than I wanted to keep the car.

Choices, priorities, compromise.

Then he waits until he gets a raise or the gf gets a job, and they decide if they'd rather have a car at that point.

Sheesh, you guys.

Davis is 8x more bike friendly than MV, it has been leading the state in that regard since the 70s.

[calicoastal]

It isn't fun to be carless anywhere in the Bay Area except SF in reality. Jade408 lives in Oakland yet owns a car, for example. Why is that? I lived in Oakland and Berkeley and would never want to be without a car. AC Transit sucks. It is faster to walk 3 miles than take the bus unless you get lucky. BART stops running around midnight so a late night in SF isn't possible either.

To the OP, I'd listen to people who live or who have lived on the Peninsula for advice, not people who live in Oakland and may have a bias against the Peninsula. Mt View has light rail, CalTrain, and bike paths.