Relocating to Hercules from Minneapolis

[Chad94116]

Originally Posted by smashystyle

If you're paying day care for 2 kids (although that's only for a few years before kids can be sent to public school), retirement, and 529 plans, even in more affordable parts of the country a $100k income is going to be very difficult. $150k-175k is probably more reasonable. Yes, all that costs more in SF, but it's not as cheap as you suggest in other cities.

Agreed. Having lived in two large metro areas in the Midwest before coming to the Bay Area several years ago, I don't think equating a $350K lifestyle here to a $90-100K lifestyle in the Midwest is a fair comparison. Yes, the Bay Area has a higher cost of living, especially in regards to housing. Howver, you'd need to make substantially more than $90-100K in the Midwest to afford a $350K Bay Area experience.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Chad94116

the Bay Area has a higher cost of living, especially in regards to housing. Howver, you'd need to make substantially more than $90-100K in the Midwest to afford a $350K Bay Area experience.

That might be true for a single adult. However it has already been proven with comparative housing examples that the $350k figure is accurate for families that require space and a good school district.

Its actually higher than $350k if one is talking about areas in the peninsula with excellent school districts that are an easy commute to SF and Silicon Valley.

[Chad94116]

Originally Posted by capoeira

That might be true for a single adult. However it has already been proven with comparative housing examples that the $350k figure is accurate for families that require space and a good school district.

Its actually higher than $350k if one is talking about areas in the peninsula with excellent school districts that are an easy commute to SF and Silicon Valley.

Except the poster was asking about Hercules, not prime Silicon Valley locations.

Yes, $350K in Palo Alto with a family of four would not be close to a glamorous lifestyle. However, I do not believe you need $350K to live a Bay Area experience which is similar to what one would expect for $90-100K in typical Midwest metro area like Minneapolis. Using one of the various online cost of living calculators to compare Oakland (the closest major city to Hercules) to Minneapolis shows $350K here means over $200K there.

[candalf]

Hercules is sort of in the middle of nowhere with a soul crushing commute to all local job centers. What you'll pay there will be the same if not more than what you would pay in a centrally located and desirable neighborhood in the Twin Cities area.

The only reasons to move to a far suburb like Hercules from a much cheaper and economically strong metro like Minneapolis would be family or weather. If it's family, best of luck. If it's weather, not worth it. There are warmer places in this country way cheaper than Bay Area.

But...If you really, really need to be here and are on a budget, I would recommend Concord over Hercules. It more or less costs the same but at least it has a train to SF and is close to some cultural things to do in Walnut Creek.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by candalf

But...If you really, really need to be here and are on a budget, I would recommend Concord over Hercules. It more or less costs the same but at least it has a train to SF and is close to some cultural things to do in Walnut Creek.

I agree, I've never been attracted to Hercules, I would look in either Concord or Martinez, there are two Bart stations in that area making commuting via BART much easier than it would be in Hercules. If the Vallejo Ferry would work, another possibility would be Benicia. Benicia has great schools and is a very safe, family oriented town.

[PixelatedTherapy]

That whole area of West Contra Costa, sandwiched between Richmond and Vallejo is pretty decent. They are a bunch of small cities crammed together. El Sobrante is working class, not bad, it's a weird mix of redneckish outdoorsy types, immigrants, and people from Richmond looking for safer surroundings. Pinole is middle class suburbia. Hercules is an upper middle class area with a large Asian community. Rodeo is a small working class town, pretty similar to El Sobrante. Crockett is a small middle/working class town with a surprising amount of artists and a lot of historic homes. Another perk of this area is the West Cat bus service, which in my opinion is the most underrated bus service in the Bay Area. If you want a real bargain on housing, just across the Carquinez Strait from Rodeo/Crockett is Vallejo, which is where I live. Some parts of town are rough, suffer from high crime rates, but there's also many good parts of town where bargains (by Bay Area standards) can be found.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by capoeira

The demographics definitely play a big part but a 3 rating is quite low and bad news for any parent concerned about quality education. Not a place to move to from out of state.

There are many higher scoring schools with a much larger percentage of subsidized lunch students . An example of these are some pretty good schools in San Francisco.

Lincoln High 59% free/subsidized lunch and api rank of 6


Abraham Lincoln High in San Francisco , CA - ranking, school information, ratings, test scores, test results

Wallenberg High 63% free/subsidized lunch and api of 7

Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High in San Francisco , CA - ranking, school information, ratings, test scores, test results

Balboa High 67% free/subsidized lunch and api of 5.

The Kipp Academy charter school has 79% free/subsidized lunch and an api of 8.

KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy in San Francisco , CA - ranking, school information, ratings, test scores, test results

And how about Roosevelt Middle 65% free/subsidized lunch and api rank of 9!

Roosevelt Middle in San Francisco , CA - ranking, school information, ratings, test scores, test results

Also Bella Vista elementary in East Oakland has 98% free/subsidized lunches and an api of 6. That is probably a really good school with dedicated teachers.

Bella Vista Elementary in Oakland , CA - ranking, school information, ratings, test scores, test results

These API ranks were provided by the California Department of Education.

https://edsource.org/wp-content/publ...eb_03Final.pdf

California quit using API rankings in 2013, apparently all of the data on that school-ratings site is 5 years old. Greatschools and schooldigger use current data and rank according to the current standards. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ap/apireports.asp

[PixelatedTherapy]

Originally Posted by capoeira

The area is much too crowded, especially the inner east bay 80 freeway corridor. Every trip is impacted by traffic. Frequently on the weekends the entire 80 freeway from Richmond down to the Bay Bridge is like a parking lot. Also the area between Crockett and Richmond is particularly bad for traffic since there are few alternatives to the 80 freeway. Here is what the traffic looks like on a bad weekday morning. Do you want to sign up for daily traffic jams?



The housing prices are insane for what you get. If someone has an extra ten million in cash lying around from their FB or GOOG stock options they may not mind the housing prices but most people will.

The area is also due for a major earthquake disaster, especially the east bay area along the Hayward fault. In the aftermath of the earthquake suppose housing prices decline 20%. That $150k down payment on a $750k shack has now vanished if one needs to sell.

Earthquake experts: Hayward Fault is a ‘tectonic time bomb’ – The Mercury News

https://www.eeri.org/wp-content/uplo...atrisk2008.pdf

https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2017/5013/sir20175013ah.pdf

There is also the possibility of a random shooting whenever you go out on the 80 freeway.

Mayor: Gangs ‘Creating Terror’ On East Bay Freeways

"It’s a story Hercules Mayor Dan Romero has heard far too often over the recent months. There’s been a shooting on a freeway near his city. “These are gang members and they are being very effective in creating terror (on the freeways),” Romero told KCBS on Wednesday."

The only advantage of the area is the mild weather. However one can find even better weather in many other parts of California.

Pinole is safe, El Sobrante is safe and actually feels kinda rural, but a bit white trashy; Hercules is safe, Rodeo has a few rough spots around the projects, but most of it is safe. The part of Richmond you're near is also one of the better areas of Richmond. The poster above is going full Fox News.