Best place to live in East Bay

[magtiti]

Originally Posted by landlocked60

I just got a new job in Walnut Creek and my husband works in San Mateo. We currently live in San Jose (recent transplants from the midwest) and want to move to the East Bay. Where in the East Bay would you suggest we live so that we both don't have crazy commutes? My husband has flexibility as to the time he can be in the office and can work from home a couple of days of week. I on the other hand don't. I want to live in an area where there are a lot of shops and restaurants (A Traders Joe's is at the top of my list! ). We have a dog, so we want to rent a 3 bed house and would like to keep rent under $4500. Schools aren't important, but crime is! Where would you suggest we move?

Given that the peak hour traffic moves towards the peninsula (San Mateo) and Silicon Valley in the mornings and in the reverse direction in the evenings, finding a place near San Mateo might be easier for both of you. Crossing the San Mateo bridge west to east is much faster in the mornings. But the rents are exhorbitant that side. A cheaper option - since your husband doesn't have to commute every day, and if he can commute later (> 10 am) on the commute days - is to live in the East Bay closer to your work; the bridge traffic is much less after 10 am.

When I used to commute to San Mateo from Alameda daily, evenings were the worst (the bridge traffic doesn't ease up until 7:30 pm). I used to leave work at 6, but do all my shopping (there's Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Barnes and Noble, Costplus, several strip malls in and around San Mateo), then hit the bridge.


Hope this helps.