Park and Ride - East bay to San Francisco commute (Richmond: crime, new home)

[JIJ]

I was doing further research on the commute options and found out there is a ferry from Vallejo which could potentially result in a 70 minute door to door commute if I stay in Benicia or Vallejo waterfront area.

I find mixed reviews in this forums for both Benicia and Vallejo. The houses are definitely bigger but I guess that comes at the price of safety or good schools?

[sav858]

Originally Posted by JIJ

I was doing further research on the commute options and found out there is a ferry from Vallejo which could potentially result in a 70 minute door to door commute if I stay in Benicia or Vallejo waterfront area.

I find mixed reviews in this forums for both Benicia and Vallejo. The houses are definitely bigger but I guess that comes at the price of safety or good schools?

Vallejo is definitely cheap for a reason, one of the worst cities in the Bay Area overall imo BUT it's fairly large (100K+ population) so it has some decent areas to live in but overall crime is fairly widespread and the schoosl are terrible.

Benicia is much better imo but it's small and lacks amenities but you can still go to Vallejo for all the big box stuff. As a town I like Benicia a lot just not the best location imo. I think a 70min door to door commute from Benicia will be a little tough but probably not too far off. I def would choose Benicia over Vallejo. Benicia is a good value but part of that is because its location.

[Chuck5000]

Overall, I think you have to ask yourself - is it worth relocating a family to live in the Bay Area at the bottom of the middle class tier with a long commute? Because you are going to be stepping down to move here. Is it so bad where you are now re: advancement and commutes (time is precious)? Are you getting that much of a career boost by moving here, or do you have other reasons to relocate here, such as being closer to family?

Without either of the latter two, I think it's just crazy to relocate here with a family without huge income or major cash reserves.

[JIJ]

I am primarily relocating to escape the cold and dark winters in the north east and give my family a chance to spend 12 months outdoors.

Originally Posted by Chuck5000

Overall, I think you have to ask yourself - is it worth relocating a family to live in the Bay Area at the bottom of the middle class tier with a long commute? Because you are going to be stepping down to move here. Is it so bad where you are now re: advancement and commutes (time is precious)? Are you getting that much of a career boost by moving here, or do you have other reasons to relocate here, such as being closer to family?

Without either of the latter two, I think it's just crazy to relocate here with a family without huge income or major cash reserves.

[Chuck5000]

I'm from NY. I like the climate here; it does not have the cold extremes, though I do love a snowy day. But many parts of the region here have plenty of hot days in the summer; you won't be skipping those. And you don't get 12 months of outdoor weather here. And if you are commuting more, what is that worth to your family? Time is precious.

Overall you get 2 months more true outdoor weather than you do in the northeast. December through February is cool and damp. You won't be sitting outside. November is usually cooler than this year. It's dark in the winter here, too. Are you in Maine? If weather is your prioriity, and you are willing to undertake financial risk and a step down in economic future, you should go where the difference is big: Southern Callifornia. Far, far better true 12-month weather than the Bay Area.

Good luck. I think you are not making a wise decision if weather is your main driver, and if there is even the slightest amount of financial stress involved.

[smashystyle]

Benicia is a nice town. Do note that it has an oil refinery, if that bothers you, and which was largely built on contaminated land that supposedly has been remediated -- I would still live there, just laying out the facts!. The bigger issue for me would be the commute which is probably more than an hour whether driving or on public transportation.

I haven't seen whether you are looking for good schools, if so that narrows your possibilities. Also, finding an 1800 sq. ft. house is harder given that many houses in the Bay Area are smaller given the era in which they were built. Assuming you're looking for better schools, I would suggest looking at the following places:

-- Pleasant Hill: 38 min on BART, good (not great) schools, at the top of your budget. Close to good shopping/dining in Walnut Creek, warmer in the summers than most of the Bay Area. You can probably get a nice condo or a smaller house in your budget.

-- Martinez: can drive to North Concord/Martinez BART (47 min to SF), good (not great) schools, cute downtown, oil refinery in town -- much more noticeable in some parts of town v. others, pretty warm in summer. A little more affordable than Pleasant Hill, you should be able to get an 1800 sq ft. house in your budget, although it probably will be dated.

-- Hercules: express bus to downtown SF (Lynx, 45-50 min.) Decent schools. Best weather of these options, IMO -- not too hot, not too chilly in the summers. Most diverse of your options (in particular, Hercules has a large Asian/Filipino population). Best housing bang for your buck, you can get a new/largish house for your price range).

There are a few other options I would have recommended in the past, but housing prices have probably put them out of reach (Alameda, Castro Valley, El Cerrito). Other options (Concord/Clayton, El Sobrante, Pinole, San Leandro) are affordable or even more so, but have lower rated schools or tricky commutes.

[JIJ]

Martinez looks like a good option. I see Pulte has new construction homes for 600K. The nearest BART station seems to be Concord. Realistically how much time would it take to drive down to the Concord BART station from their location (313 N Park Ct, Martinez, CA 94553).


Google maps shows 14-18 minutes. Is that do-able in morning rush hour (say 7:15 AM)? If it is, my door to door commute time would be around 70 minutes.


Zillow shows school ratings are good - 9 for Morello Park Elementary, 8 for Martinez Junior High.


Are there any negatives about Martinez?

Originally Posted by smashystyle

Benicia is a nice town. Do note that it has an oil refinery, if that bothers you, and which was largely built on contaminated land that supposedly has been remediated -- I would still live there, just laying out the facts!. The bigger issue for me would be the commute which is probably more than an hour whether driving or on public transportation.

I haven't seen whether you are looking for good schools, if so that narrows your possibilities. Also, finding an 1800 sq. ft. house is harder given that many houses in the Bay Area are smaller given the era in which they were built. Assuming you're looking for better schools, I would suggest looking at the following places:

-- Pleasant Hill: 38 min on BART, good (not great) schools, at the top of your budget. Close to good shopping/dining in Walnut Creek, warmer in the summers than most of the Bay Area. You can probably get a nice condo or a smaller house in your budget.

-- Martinez: can drive to North Concord/Martinez BART (47 min to SF), good (not great) schools, cute downtown, oil refinery in town -- much more noticeable in some parts of town v. others, pretty warm in summer. A little more affordable than Pleasant Hill, you should be able to get an 1800 sq ft. house in your budget, although it probably will be dated.

-- Hercules: express bus to downtown SF (Lynx, 45-50 min.) Decent schools. Best weather of these options, IMO -- not too hot, not too chilly in the summers. Most diverse of your options (in particular, Hercules has a large Asian/Filipino population). Best housing bang for your buck, you can get a new/largish house for your price range).

There are a few other options I would have recommended in the past, but housing prices have probably put them out of reach (Alameda, Castro Valley, El Cerrito). Other options (Concord/Clayton, El Sobrante, Pinole, San Leandro) are affordable or even more so, but have lower rated schools or tricky commutes.

[sav858]

It's probably faster by a few minutes to drive to North Concord BART as it's right off the freeway. Concord BART is a little far from the freeway imo. Plus you'll get a seat at North Concord and might not in Concord. Driving eastbound on Highway 4 in the AM is going against traffic so you probably shouldn't run into much traffic, especially past 680.

[drewjube]

From parts of Martinez, Pleasant Hill BART is closer; others, North Concord. Concord Station itself would take longer to get to due to its distance from the freeway and numerous controlled intersections you'd have to go through to get to it.

[smashystyle]

I agree with the above advice about BART. My guess is that you wouldn't encounter much traffic driving to/from BART because it's counter-commute, but I haven't done that drive myself.

As for negatives of Martinez, the biggest is commute. As I wrote in my previous post, there is an oil refinery there (Shell), which bothers some people especially if you live closer to it. There is also a county jail because it's the county seat. I prefer the older houses near downtown or the more rural houses south of Highway 4 to the new Pulte houses you mentioned, but that's a matter of taste. If you are looking at new houses, there aren't many in the Bay Area that aren't really far out or expensive.

Given these caveats, I still think Martinez is a good deal given Bay Area real estate madness these days. It's probably one of the best deals you can find in terms of school test scores v. housing prices.

Here's a thread from 2013 with more knowledgable posts about Martinez (and Benicia and Pleasant Hill) than I can offer: //www.city-data.com/forum/san-f...benicia-v.html