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Did the same math for living in San Jose... With the price difference in rent, you could literally hire a private car plus driver to take you to-and-from the ci

by beambot 11y ago

Did the same math for living in San Jose... With the price difference in rent, you could literally hire a private car plus driver to take you to-and-from the city every weekend. The most insane part is the people who commute down to MTV (eg. Google) and only really get the benefit of the city on weekends anyway...

hocuspocus 11y ago
I've just come back from two weeks in the Bay area to see a bunch of friends and they all do that. Even though I find it insane as much you do, I understand. There are a few good reasons though, from our very European and biased point of view: * No need to own car, or at least no need to drive everyday. * For a spouse on a H-4 visa and who thus cannot work, living in the city makes things easier and a lot less boring. * Mountain View / Sunnyvale / Palo Alto / ... have pretty sad downtown areas, they aren't bike/pedestrian friendly, and they make you live in purely residential areas. So they end up spending $3~4000 on rent to live in SoMa and be close to their company shuttle lines or the Caltrain station. Some can work during the commute, some can't. My friends in Berkeley have it better (much nicer residential areas, you can bike to your Bart station). But then of course you need a job in the city or in Oakland (and even though things have supposedly improved a lot, it still looked pretty sketchy to me).
- mercutio2 11y ago
  Most of the big tech companies have Berkeley buses. You don't have to work in SF/Oakland if you live in Berkeley.
  - hocuspocus 11y ago
    You're right but I've heard it typically takes about 1h30 door to door, that is beyond what I'd consider a reasonable commute.
CalRobert 11y ago
Mountain View is expensive, and to many people, boring. SF is at least less likely to be the latter. Remember also that Mountain View despises mixed use and refused to rezone areas currently designated commercial-only in order to let Google workers live near their jobs. Of course, it also would have meant people who bought in the 70's would have some tiny amount of competition for their asset.
- beambot 11y ago
  I don't live in Mountain View; I was just using that commute as an example. (As mentioned, I'm in San Jose.) I just strongly agree with many of the academic articles showing strong correlation between long commutes and unhappiness. By the time you factor in a 90-minute SF-MTV commute, you really don't get many benefits of the city on weekdays anyway...
  - CalRobert 11y ago
    I completely agree re: long commutes. But I also don't care for the suburbs, which is why I used to commute from Berkeley to my first job in the bay, in Newark. Remember that commute mode can make a HUGE difference. Crawling along asphalt is probably about the least fun method. I rode Bart counter-commute to Fremont and then a bicycle the last 4 miles. I will say, if you want to stick out as an oddball in that part of the bay taking Bart and riding a recumbent to work will do the trick. It wasn't a good culture fit, to say the least. After that, I worked in El Segundo and lived in Santa Monica. My commute was 26 miles (round trip) of gorgeous beach bike riding, which took around 90-100 minutes a day door to door (recumbents are quick!) I was in the best shape of my life, and always loved seeing bonfires, beach goers, drum circles, and once a pod of dolphins jumping out of the water alongside me as I rode down a 12 foot wide strip of land by the Marina. Anyway, just trying to point out that the calculation is complex and depends on the person.
deleted 11y ago
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by beambot 11y ago

hocuspocus 11y ago

I've just come back from two weeks in the Bay area to see a bunch of friends and they all do that. Even though I find it insane as much you do, I understand. There are a few good reasons though, from our very European and biased point of view: * No need to own car, or at least no need to drive everyday. * For a spouse on a H-4 visa and who thus cannot work, living in the city makes things easier and a lot less boring. * Mountain View / Sunnyvale / Palo Alto / ... have pretty sad downtown areas, they aren't bike/pedestrian friendly, and they make you live in purely residential areas. So they end up spending $3~4000 on rent to live in SoMa and be close to their company shuttle lines or the Caltrain station. Some can work during the commute, some can't. My friends in Berkeley have it better (much nicer residential areas, you can bike to your Bart station). But then of course you need a job in the city or in Oakland (and even though things have supposedly improved a lot, it still looked pretty sketchy to me).

mercutio2 11y ago
Most of the big tech companies have Berkeley buses. You don't have to work in SF/Oakland if you live in Berkeley.
- hocuspocus 11y ago
  You're right but I've heard it typically takes about 1h30 door to door, that is beyond what I'd consider a reasonable commute.

CalRobert 11y ago

Mountain View is expensive, and to many people, boring. SF is at least less likely to be the latter. Remember also that Mountain View despises mixed use and refused to rezone areas currently designated commercial-only in order to let Google workers live near their jobs. Of course, it also would have meant people who bought in the 70's would have some tiny amount of competition for their asset.

beambot 11y ago
I don't live in Mountain View; I was just using that commute as an example. (As mentioned, I'm in San Jose.) I just strongly agree with many of the academic articles showing strong correlation between long commutes and unhappiness. By the time you factor in a 90-minute SF-MTV commute, you really don't get many benefits of the city on weekdays anyway...
- CalRobert 11y ago
  I completely agree re: long commutes. But I also don't care for the suburbs, which is why I used to commute from Berkeley to my first job in the bay, in Newark. Remember that commute mode can make a HUGE difference. Crawling along asphalt is probably about the least fun method. I rode Bart counter-commute to Fremont and then a bicycle the last 4 miles. I will say, if you want to stick out as an oddball in that part of the bay taking Bart and riding a recumbent to work will do the trick. It wasn't a good culture fit, to say the least. After that, I worked in El Segundo and lived in Santa Monica. My commute was 26 miles (round trip) of gorgeous beach bike riding, which took around 90-100 minutes a day door to door (recumbents are quick!) I was in the best shape of my life, and always loved seeing bonfires, beach goers, drum circles, and once a pod of dolphins jumping out of the water alongside me as I rode down a 12 foot wide strip of land by the Marina. Anyway, just trying to point out that the calculation is complex and depends on the person.

deleted 11y ago

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