Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeC2012
All,
I'm likely moving to the Bay Area later this year. I'm out here visiting the next few days, and would be great to check out different cities/neighborhoods to see where I'd like to live. I'm 30 yrs old, will be moving out with my girlfriend. The most likely scenario is that I'll be working in Foster City and her in San Bruno, with a secondary possibility that I will be in SoMa and her in San Bruno.
Top priorities for me:
1. I hate commuting. I will have a car but would prefer to drive/take train as short as possible every day.
2. Access to stuff outside the city -- Napa, Half Moon Bay, Muir, Monterey, Tahoe, whatever. Avoiding traffic getting out of congested areas would be nice. I also like to play live poker so being close to casinos is a plus.
3. Dining/nightlife -- I really don't need a ton here, and if I'm living outside SF I'm happy to commute there a couple nights a week to meet friends for dinner or try new bars/restaurants. For reference, I think the only places I've been on the peninsula have been Palo Alto and San Bruno, and I thought Palo Alto easily hits my bar for this, but San Bruno was pretty crappy.
Our budget is ~$4k-$4500 in rent. Would prefer a 2 BR but would stretch into a 1 BR if this is too tough.
What are top 2-3 places I should check while I'm in the area? Thanks for the help!!
4500 budget, just live in SF. You can caltrain or bart + caltrain to the peninsula. Redwood city or San Mateo are fine to live if you don't mind quieter small towns. San Mateo has pretty good food.
Palo Alto - expensive and lot of old rich people and students. Pretty small downtown.
San Mateo - tons of chinese/asians live here. But fine and safe place. Good food. Amazing weather (similar to Palo Alto).
Foster City - Residental but has some nice apartments, and right on the water. Not much to do without gettig on the 101 though.
Redwood city - Nice small city. A bit more fun than San Mateo.
San Bruno - Cloudy/foggy/cold. Not much to do and close to airport.
South SF - Similar to San Bruno. Lots of immigrant families and very residental.
Places like San Carlos, Burlingame, Millbrae are quite small and I would just avoid them if you are looking for more walkable and fun cities.
Last edited by muttiah; 01-21-2017 at 10:02 PM.