NorCal....School me. Alameda area.

I just found out from a co-worker who I’m pretty good friends with he knows the director and some other people that they REALLY want to bring me up there and I should consider Friday a formality. I won’t do that and I’ll treat like I normally would but it’s good to hear. So as long as the $$ is what we spoke about in the intial conversation we’ll probably be moving soon.

 

I definitely will have some questions for you especially after Friday. I’ll be in the area until Sunday evening.

 

Don't listen to that guy

 

NorCal like The Bay? Or near the Oregon border?? Just imagine how close youll be to Thunderhill!

 

Probably a good idea. I am not sure if they are ready to meet the real you...

 

Problem solved! No need to thank me.

 

So true.

 

Yep. All you'll need is a $300K lot to put it on, permits, utility connections, etc. Should be able to get away for $450-500K.

 

Gorilla George got a new RV?

 

There might be some spots in Contra Costa County, but whatever you do, do not decide to live in Tracy, even though on some days you might make the commute in 45 minutes (because everyone else is dead or forgot to wake up). The commute through the tube is not insignificant unless you are contra-hours. Tracy sucks pretty bad. If you cant find a place on the island, Oakland has some good neighborhoods - Laurel, Diamond, Crestmont are all pretty nice and you can bike to work. WRT: my intel says its case-by-case basis for public elementary schools.

 

He and the family could live off the grid. Who needs utilities?

 

Good information. Thanks man. I will check those all out on Zillow/Trullia and I’ll drive around this weekend.

 

There's always Discovery Bay Those are doable if you don't have to commute during regular hours, otherwise commute on a bike or Bart to get you close. Just looked at Google, driving to Alameda from Stockton is currently looking like 2.5 hours to go 85 miles

 

I'm about 20 miles south of Alameda in Newark. Here's my .02.

BART sucks, is gross, and is sketch. Mass transit in general sucks here. While you can get around to many places in the bay, it's not cheap nor fast. Tolls are going up on the first but that shouldn't be too much of a thing for you as long as you live on the same side of the bay. I'm a bit of a debbie downer on the area simply due to the cost and amount of traffic. You'll be right on 880 which is usually You'd think that 4k a month as a rental budget would be awesome but it will probably get something average unless you live away which means commute.

On the good side, you're near 3 tracks for car trackdays if you're going to do that. The weather is generally pretty good and you don't have to go far to get out into nature. If you do a lot of travelling SFO is prone to fog/weather/delays. Being right near OAK would be super helpful. Glad to answer any questions that Gordon doesn't know or just another perspective.

 

4K looks as though it’s going to get me a 1 car garage, small backyard, a decent 3/2 with a good commute in a safe area with good schools for the kids. I’m staring at Trulia right now. I may have to sacrifice my commute to get a bigger garage and the same requirements. I have an entire ~1200sqft motorcycle shop sitting in my storage unit which I’ll have to offload some of the motorcycle specific stuff (a couple of lifts) but a 60gal compressor, tire machine, welding rig, 10 ton press, 2 full tool boxes, etc won’t fit in a in a 1 car garage. Finding housing will be our biggest challenge.

I’m definitely all ears when it comes to this area and hearing out all perspectives! Thank you all for your input.

 

Yep, the housing is the worst. We pay 3400/mo for a 4/2 (1300 sq ft) with a 2 car garage and small yard. We're backed up to a school so we have room for the dogs to play (which was the number one reason for us picking this house). The neighborhood is nice so we're happy. We both work on the peninsula so we have a bridge/toll each day which sucks but for the same price on the peninsula you get a 2/1 with a tiny 1 car that our Jeep wouldn't even fit in.

What you describe is what leads people to living in Tracy lol. It's amazing the price drop when you get over the Altamont Pass.

 

Code3 brings up a very good point about BART. As a commute system, depending on the leg and timing, it can be so jammed that it is veritable test of human will to be subjected to that type of lack of space. I mistakenly once caught BART from downtown SF at 5 pm sharp going east. The general practice, almost as if the Bay Area had become Shanghai, was to cram it 110%, check that, 120% full of people. It was beyond uncomfortable. Off-commute, the system works ok, but a far cry from a typical Euro tube, or for that matter the one in Melbourne. The East Bay bus system is actually pretty good for 5-10 miles hauls if on route. The housing/school deal is what you need to focus on -- if you can find that I'm thinking you'll like it there. Food and things to do are almost unlimited.

 

I want to set up a camera and get a video of @Captain Poo Poo Pants III on one of those trains. I would give him about 2 minutes before fists were flying...

 

So let’s just rule out all public transportation. I grew up in NY and no where I’ve lived has come close to it.

What are the peak traffic hours? Is it like LA? It’s sounding like I’ll be able to adjust my hours to work around them (not confirmed yet) so I might be able to live further out and avoid a bulk of traffic.

 

As I was typing the last post it says one new alert and you posted that.