That's right there is true Dane ... beautiful place but avoid HiWay One at 6 am to 9 pm sunday through sunday! ... I love the area but you gotta know the backroads and shortcuts.
One thing that bears repeating, to anyone who visits here, is to be on your toes when driving. While the drivers here are not statistically any worse than anywhere else in the country, a whole lot of you live in places where the population density is far lower than it is here. While you might be used to be a near death experience once a month or so, here you may very well be subject to one roughly every third freeway exit. Be careful. Be vigilant. Stay safe.
Thanks for all the reviews both good and bad. I'm coming for a closer look this summer and I'll keep all this in mind.
I live in the east bay (tri-valley). Difficult to compare to Austin temps due to the delta in humidity levels. Also we get a breeze at night that seems to cool down at night. Schools are for the most part are good.
I live in Dixon, between Sacramento and San Francisco, but I work throughout the Bay Area. If your job is in the east bay, I would look at the Concord, Walnut Creek area, basically from Hwy 24/680 to 580/680. Pricey though.
East Bay is not close to the beach. And our beaches really arent that great. If you want to go surfing - you can hit up Lindamar - which is south of San Francisco. But the water here is really cold and the beaches arent that nice. There's a ton of nice communities in the east bay. Lots of good schools. It's actually easier to tell you where to stay away from - rather than where to look - cause most places are pretty decent. If you want nice, safe and good schools - stay away from pittsburg, bay point, antioch and some places in concord. Pleasant hill, walnut creek, alamo, danville, san ramon, dublin, pleasanton, livermore are all nice, clean, safe and good schools. Any of these places are minimum hour from the beach.
I've been living in napa for about 13 years now after living in SF for about 6 years. Napa and sonoma counties are great for families, are beautiful and have. Terrific weather. The downside is that they can be a little sleepy if you're looking for nightlife etc. This area is pretty convenient, you're about an hour and fifteen minutes from SF, an hour from the beach and about 3 hours from Tahoe so it makes a good jumping off point. There's a bunch of cool car shows and small hot rod shops as well. Another plus is the amazing food, wine and beer scene in these parts. Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
Dunno about kool (some good dirt biken areas for sure), but coming home from Pomona on I-5 yesterday it was anything but cool (A/C, what's that?). Over the hills west of 680 you could then feel the cooler air off the bay kicking in. Across the San Rafael bridge it was windows up. And speaking of crazy drivers, the Bayarrea's got nothing on LA. After an afternoon of driving the freeways down there I started thinking 'Man, this like a stock car race. Everybody's on the gas then, whoa, caution, car fire, everyone slows. Back on the gas, leave 6 feet in front of your bumper, someone cuts in. Ooops, caution again, debris in the lane, around that, back on the gas again.'
I live in San Mateo. Weather is nice. Lots of car stuff if you know what's happening. Lot of Bonneville racers around here. Mostly at the senior center.
They are mixed in, everywhere, but tend to be where the density is lower. The farther from a city, SF, San Jose, or parts of Oakland and Berkeley, the more likely you are to find one. On the East side of the Oakland hills, they are pretty common, but attached ones, more so.
San Francisco is a great place i would not be in any other city !All i can say is there is lots of car stuff all around the bay area !Some of the best car builders , car shows , swap meets . And I'm here for all or any Tattoo work you mite be interested in ..
I'm going to give it at least six months of renting so I can see if I enjoy working/living there and if I like both I'll be looking to buy.
I wouldn't move here if I were you, the views suck. And the traffic is terrible Also, there's nothing to do either.
It looks like a killer place in all ways but one....paying for it. If I can do that it sounds like good surf and great hotroding.
Pleasanton,San Ramon and Danville are expensive to rent.Look at around $2500 rent on up.Home prices in that area are $500k on up.East Bay has better prices,but that depends where you are.I'm in the San Leandro/Hayward area which is mid-bay between SF and SJ.I can be at the beach(Half Moon Bay)in right around 35 minutes and Santa Cruz i about an hour.Rent here is right about $2k and homes run about $350k on up.SF rent and home prices is CRAZY..Alameda(its an island city) is really nice,but has its problem areas too.Lots of detached garages and plenty of yard space.Some great schools too....
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