Best place to rent in Bay Area

karagg · Post by **karagg** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:46 am

Hello,

I have found a full time position with a financial IT services consulting company in bay area and my initial work location would be at VISA corporate office in Foster City in bay area. Hence, I am planning to relocate to Bay area.

My wife has not found a job yet but will be trying for a Post-Doc position in any of the labs/university in the bay area. Also since my job is a consulting job, I might be prepared to work anywhere in bay-area and also my company is located in San Jose, where I might need to travel often.

Hence, I am trying to look for an Apt in a bay-area city, which is in a nice, economical, peaceful, safe/crime-free and commutable neighborhood.

By commutable I mean one can go hopefully anywhere in the bay area by car and public-transportation (train/bus) (hopefully with less traffic/against traffic during peak hours) within 20 to 40 minutes one-way to work place. My wife doesn’t know driving and hence she has to rely on public transportation (train/bus).

Don’t have kids yet and hence don’t need a good school district as criteria for now.
Please suggest.

roxstar · Post by **roxstar** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 8:22 pm

Why dont you rent in foster city itself? There are a few apartment complexes in and around the VISA offices, maybe you can try those. That way at least initially you can settle in and have a comfortable transition with limited or zero commute. Once you get familiar with the area you can always move. I think Foster City is a nice place, peaceful and crime free. The best part is it is very central to the bay area and connects everywhere within 30 minutes. Good luck.

ahirman · Post by **ahirman** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:53 pm

renting in foster city may not be optimal for two reasons. The place is costly and its far from San Jose where OPs company is located. Though no doubt foster city will beat hands down many other places in bay area in terms of beauty and neighborhoods. Not to mention that one can reach the nearest pacific beach (half moon bay) in 20 mins flat from foster city.

I will recommend either Sunnyvale or Fremont. Both places are accessible within 25-45 mins from foster city depending on time chosen, are cheaper, nice and have many peaceful neighborhoods. San Jose is accessible from both places easily.

I also want to mention that Bay area is a big place and there are connectivity issues between some places (such as east bay and penninsula, south bay and east bay) if one wants to rely to public transport for the commute. If one is largely dependent on public transport he/she should stay near caltrain/BART station or in places where one can easily avail a shuttle service to the nearby stations.

If you can provide the name of the univs your spouse is targeting for post doc that will help us here to refine the choices for you.

Sid · Post by **Sid** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:53 am

ahirman;383242I will recommend either Sunnyvale or Fremont. Both places are accessible within 25-45 mins from foster city depending on time chosen, are cheaper, nice and have many peaceful neighborhoods. San Jose is accessible from both places easily.

Ahirman, I follow almost the same route for commute, and I can tell you that commute from Sunnyvale to Foster City will take 35-40 mins in morning (8-9:30 AM), and upto an hour (best-case) in the evening (after 5 PM). Been doing this for years, so I am saying from experience. Also, economy is improving, so traffic on 101 is only going to increase in months ahead.

Fremont and Union City are probably the best bet, also because these two places have the BART stations, hence easy connectivity to UCB/UCSF and SF City. Sunnyvale would only work, if wife gets the job in SJSU or San Jose area.

dixit · Post by **dixit** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:24 am

sid_earth;383251Ahirman, I follow almost the same route for commute, and I can tell you that commute from Sunnyvale to Foster City will take 35-40 mins in morning (8-9:30 AM), and upto an hour (best-case) in the evening (after 5 PM). Been doing this for years, so I am saying from experience. Also, economy is improving, so traffic on 101 is only going to increase in months ahead.

Fremont and Union City are probably the best bet, also because these two places have the BART stations, hence easy connectivity to UCB/UCSF and SF City. Sunnyvale would only work, if wife gets the job in SJSU or San Jose area.

I second that. From personal experience - Fremont to VISA is going to take about 30-45 minutes (depending on where you are in Fremont and how far you are from 880) in morning and evening traffic. Keep in mind if you take 880 north from Fremont you will have to pay $5 toll every day on 92.

karagg · Post by **karagg** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:47 am

Admin Please delete this post

karagg · Post by **karagg** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:48 am

ahirman;383242renting in foster city may not be optimal for two reasons. The place is costly and its far from San Jose where OPs company is located. Though no doubt foster city will beat hands down many other places in bay area in terms of beauty and neighborhoods. Not to mention that one can reach the nearest pacific beach (half moon bay) in 20 mins flat from foster city.

I will recommend either Sunnyvale or Fremont. Both places are accessible within 25-45 mins from foster city depending on time chosen, are cheaper, nice and have many peaceful neighborhoods. San Jose is accessible from both places easily.

I also want to mention that Bay area is a big place and there are connectivity issues between some places (such as east bay and penninsula, south bay and east bay) if one wants to rely to public transport for the commute. If one is largely dependent on public transport he/she should stay near caltrain/BART station or in places where one can easily avail a shuttle service to the nearby stations.

If you can provide the name of the univs your spouse is targeting for post doc that will help us here to refine the choices for you.

Thanks ahirman... My wife is currently working as post-doc in Duke univ and she is open to any Univ where she gets a position and can continue her research comfortably... be it SJSU or UC Berkeley or Stanford or UC SFO or USFO or SFSU or Santa Clara Univ... Hence as such nothing is targeted and is flexible

karagg · Post by **karagg** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:07 am

dixit;383269I second that. From personal experience - Fremont to VISA is going to take about 30-45 minutes (depending on where you are in Fremont and how far you are from 880) in morning and evening traffic. Keep in mind if you take 880 north from Fremont you will have to pay $5 toll every day on 92.

Thanks Dixit.... It appears that 84 dont have toll compared to 92.... Would that mean 84 have lots of traffic (and hence delay) compared to 92. If so what would be the difference in the commute time.

Sid · Post by **Sid** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:25 am

karagg;383274Thanks Dixit.... It appears that 84 dont have toll compared to 92.... Would that mean 84 have lots of traffic (and hence delay) compared to 92. If so what would be the difference in the commute time.

84 has $5 toll too.

karagg · Post by **karagg** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:52 am

Appreciate for suggesting Fremont, Union City and Sunnyvale in that order for my above requirements...

A quick look at the apt rental and house prices in craigslist also indicate that these areas are cheaper compared to the other cities like Foster City etc.,

By the way how about Hayward / castro valley.... it appears from Google maps that, it is much central and at the same time there are lot of economical rental /house price listings in the craigslist... Is Hayward / castro valley a safe, nice, peaceful neighborhood??