Relocate to San Francisco area. (Pacifica, Burlingame: for rent, weather, room)

[candalf]

Pacifica would match your criteria best as it is the only place nearby that can be said to have nature . It is a small place, though, so finding a rental may be tough. San Bruno and South San Francisco also may work for you as they are the cheaper options around.

If you are not going to commute during rush hour, which is common for airline workers, you may find palatable options just across the San Mateo bridge: San Leandro, Hayward, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Union City, Newark and possibly Fremont. These communities are a mixed bag with bad and alright parts in each. Fremont, Castro Valley and San Lorenzo are the "nicest".

[HockeyMac18]

I have no idea what your budget is, but if you're interested in living in nature, there might be options along skyline blvd (CA-35), specifically north of CA-92. I've seen small cabins for rent up there in the Santa Cruz mountains that weren't too pricey actually. But you are far from stuff.

Another idea would be Pacifica (although parts of it might be crowded for you) and other towns along the coast (Montara and Half Moon Bay). They'd be at the edge of your 20-40 min commute, but are quite nice.

La Honda is cool also (in the Santa Cruz mountains) but might be too far to SFO.

Again, without a rental budget, it's hard to recommend anything specifically. "Average" could mean anything these days... Especially in the Bay Area.

[comingbacktocali]

i think Pacifica is a good recommendation.

[Ruth4Truth]

Take a look at rents in Pacifica. If you like living in nature, being near the beach might appeal to you. Rents are a little more affordable over there. Some people don't like it because being by the ocean, it gets a lot of fog. Other people love it. It should work out with your commute time parameters.

[neutrino78x]

OP, be sure you are looking at craigslist for apartments. And generally yes you are going to have roommates unless you want to spend 2k or more per month for an apartment to yourself. If you can afford that, great, if not, you're going to have roommates.

(by roommates I mean people living in other rooms in the apartment. not sharing a room. You would have a room to yourself.)

[nightlysparrow]

If you want California, would Southern California do? More bang for the buck.

[Chuck5000]

If you choose Pacifica, you need to know that most of the areas on the southern end of Pacifica near the beach will have a horrific commute to SFO; highway 1 is pretty bad at rush hour. You would only want one of the northern upland areas, which are still a fairly short drive to the beach, but these areas also the foggiest.

"Living in nature" is really not a feel you are going to get at all unless you try something like La Honda, or something else off of highway 35/skyline. Commute will suffer a bit.

[boulder2015]

Originally Posted by comingbacktocali

i think Pacifica is a good recommendation.

Yeah should be able to find a habitable 1 br for 2000-2500.

[tikkasf]

Tabby, use the link below to browse rentals. I narrowed the search area down to the peninsula area (SFO is located in that region) the link will give you some idea of the rental market.

SF bay area apartments / housing rentals - craigslist

[cornblitz]

I also recommend Pacifica. It is extremely convenient to the airport and is also a safe and beautiful place to live.