General Move (San Francisco, Sacramento, Concord: apartment, home, safe area)

[Trecia53]

Hi I am Trecia I am relocating form Denver to California area, I will be working in San Francisco at the VA I am trying to figure out where is a great place to stay for myself and my daughter. She will be in Middle school and I am so torn between certain apartment's that I have saw on line and I would like some feed back from some of you all who are living in California to respond back with some idea's and your opinion's on what's good and what's so not good area's. I have been stuck on moving to Sac because it is more affordable to me and I can still live not on a paycheck to paycheck basis, I am seeing that the commute is about 2 hr's but when I google it it say's the opposite. It tell's me about a Hr and 35 minutes, but I will be working from 3pm-11pm at night so is the traffic still that bad during that time if I am leaving South going North if that makes since or is it the other way around smh. How is Livermore, Davis,Fairfield,Pleasonton ,Vallejo all those Northern area's I just need help thanks a lot.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Trecia53

Hi I am Trecia I am relocating form Denver to California area, I will be working in San Francisco at the VA I am trying to figure out where is a great place to stay for myself and my daughter. She will be in Middle school and I am so torn between certain apartment's that I have saw on line and I would like some feed back from some of you all who are living in California to respond back with some idea's and your opinion's on what's good and what's so not good area's. I have been stuck on moving to Sac because it is more affordable to me and I can still live not on a paycheck to paycheck basis, I am seeing that the commute is about 2 hr's but when I google it it say's the opposite. It tell's me about a Hr and 35 minutes, but I will be working from 3pm-11pm at night so is the traffic still that bad during that time if I am leaving South going North if that makes since or is it the other way around smh. How is Livermore, Davis,Fairfield,Pleasonton ,Vallejo all those Northern area's I just need help thanks a lot.

It is impossible to live in Sacramento or Davis and commute to the VA in San Francisco.

Here is a listing of middle schools in Solano County.

California School Ratings, school profiles, test scores - Solano County

The one is Vallejo is ranked a 1. Avoid this one!

Fairfield has two middle schools. Green Valley Middle is an 8 and the best choice. The other one in Fairfield is only ranked a 4 and is in the worst part of Fairfield. Vacaville has 2 middle schools both ranked 6 but Vacaville is a 10 mile farther drive.

Livermore and Pleasanton have good schools but the drive over the Bay Bridge and through downtown SF will be horrible in the afternoon. Public transit is not an option since you will get off work at 11 pm and will need a long bus ride to get to Bart.

From Fairfield you have two options to get to the Golden Gate Bridge which puts you very close to the VA without driving through downtown SF. The first way is simply to take the 80 to highway 37 to 101. This way is slow since 37 is only a two lane road in parts through Sonoma County. The second way is to take the 80 to the Richmond Parkway to the San Rafael Bridge to Sir Francis Drake Blvd to 101 to the Golden Gate Bridge. This way is not bad mid-afternoon but requires two bridge tolls.

Of your choices I would rank them 1)Fairfield Green Valley Middle 2)One of the Vacaville middle schools 3)the other Fairfield Middle School 4) Any Pleasanton Middle school(fantastic schools with a horrible drive over the Bay Bridge and through SF)

A much better choice if you can find a reasonably priced apartment is Pacifica. Pacifica is a much shorter commute. It is an easy drive up the Pacific Coast highway and the Great Highway to the VA. Also there are several k-8 options in Pacifica in addition to a 6-8 middle school.

Our Schools - Pacifica SD

Novato would be a good choice too for excellent schools and a shorter commute.

[BurnInTheMil]

I would never consider living in Sacramento and working in SF, recipe for disaster and dealing with a lot of B.S.

Livermore, Pleasanton and Dublin are good options, plus you could take advantage of the BART. They're all safe areas, decent schools as well.

Pleasant Hill & Concord are also affordable with access to BART, but a commute from SF would not be bad at all, especially during your shift.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Greg10556

Livermore, Pleasanton and Dublin are good options, plus you could take advantage of the BART. They're all safe areas, decent schools as well.

Bart will not work for her commuting to the VA location in SF. She will need a very long bus ride after Bart to get to the far northwestern corner of SF. She gets off work at 11 pm. The last Bart train to Dublin leaves Powell at 12:13 am. If she is delayed getting off work or if the bus is delayed she will end up missing the last train home.

She needs to find a location that will enable her to use the Golden Gate Bridge or live on the peninsula. Any car commute using the Bay Bridge will give her a very long slow ride through SF city streets. A Golden Gate Bridge commute will be much easier since she can take Lincoln Blvd To El Camino Del Mar to the VA area.

[clongirl]

I would not even consider Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore---or Sacramento.

The VA hospital is nowhere near a BART station. It's on the northwest tip of the City, nearer to the GG bridge. I would look into Pacifica, San Bruno, Daly City--stick to the cities on the Peninsula or Marin Co. for the best commuting option.

[BurnInTheMil]

Originally Posted by capoeira

Bart will not work for her commuting to the VA location in SF. She will need a very long bus ride after Bart to get to the far northwestern corner of SF. She gets off work at 11 pm. The last Bart train to Dublin leaves Powell at 12:13 am. If she is delayed getting off work or if the bus is delayed she will end up missing the last train home.

She needs to find a location that will enable her to use the Golden Gate Bridge or live on the peninsula. Any car commute using the Bay Bridge will give her a very long slow ride through SF city streets. A Golden Gate Bridge commute will be much easier since she can take Lincoln Blvd To El Camino Del Mar to the VA area.

Commuting from Dublin (and surrounding areas) at 3pm and home at 11pm, traffic is going the opposite way. Once in downtown SF, at 3pm it will suck but not 11pm.

It takes me 30-40 minutes from Pleasant Hill when traffic isn't stacked up. That's much better than a Sacramento commute obviously.

Plus, it's obvious that she's hoping for a more affordable area, and doesn't want to live paycheck to paycheck. Anywhere around the GG bridge is expensive

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by Greg10556

Commuting from Dublin (and surrounding areas) at 3pm and home at 11pm, traffic is going the opposite way. Once in downtown SF, at 3pm it will suck but not 11pm.

But she isn't going to be near downtown at 11 PM. She's going to be at the VA hospital which is near 42nd avenue/clement and would have to take public transportation clear across the city to downtown in order to take BART and possibly miss the last train.

Best choice Marin county or peninsula (Pacifica area).

[BurnInTheMil]

Originally Posted by twins4lynn

But she isn't going to be near downtown at 11 PM. She's going to be at the VA hospital which is near 42nd avenue/clement and would have to take public transportation clear across the city to downtown in order to take BART and possibly miss the last train.

Best choice Marin county or peninsula (Pacifica area).

If you looked closer in what you quoted me saying, I said NOTHING about BART this time, I was referring to commuting with a personal vehicle at that time.

[twins4lynn]

Originally Posted by Greg10556

If you looked closer in what you quoted me saying, I said NOTHING about BART this time, I was referring to commuting with a personal vehicle at that time.

And you said nothing about driving her personal vehicle. Geez, touchy today aren't you?

[jade408]

Originally Posted by Greg10556

Commuting from Dublin (and surrounding areas) at 3pm and home at 11pm, traffic is going the opposite way. Once in downtown SF, at 3pm it will suck but not 11pm.

It takes me 30-40 minutes from Pleasant Hill when traffic isn't stacked up. That's much better than a Sacramento commute obviously.

Plus, it's obvious that she's hoping for a more affordable area, and doesn't want to live paycheck to paycheck. Anywhere around the GG bridge is expensive

The in downtown traffic starts closer to 3. In the hour of 2 things aren't backed up yet coming from the exits off the bay bridge. But it is a long slog on city streets.