Where should I live in the SF Bay Peninsula?

[jfk]

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This map looks uber old BTW, b/c I dont see 280 on it, and there are some cities that should have yellow zones, that the map neglects.

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Apparently your map predates 280. You'll notice that Fremont isn't even yet listed as a municipality and the bay stretches into Alviso (which is now fully land locked). Your map rolled the clock back a good 50 years.

[J.A.Sucker]

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This map looks uber old BTW, b/c I dont see 280 on it, and there are some cities that should have yellow zones, that the map neglects.

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Apparently your map predates 280. You'll notice that Fremont isn't even yet listed as a municipality and the bay stretches into Alviso (which is now fully land locked). Your map rolled the clock back a good 50 years.

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Look at the East Bay's lack of freeways. Can you imagine what traffic would be like with today's population and that road structure? Yikes!

I was trying to figure out how old that map was, and I couldn't, but 40-50 years may be right.

[gusmahler]

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OP, here is a map in case you are not familiar w/ the place:


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That map is useless. Just use Google Maps


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All of these cities have a case for them. I would suggest taking 3 days to explore each city. I mean this is a monumental decision (kind of) and you dont want to regret it.

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It's not that tough a decision. He works in Redwood City. Wants a nightlife that is probably only present in SF. He has two choices:

* Live in Redwood City (or Menlo Park, which is close enough), close to work, and spend his weekends in SF partying.

* Live in SF, take the Caltrain down to work, making it easier to party in SF.

Any other choice is suboptimal, because he's not going to want to go out in any other city (except maybe Palo Alto).

[Triumph36]

lol yea that map lacks any interstate highways, which means it must be at least 50 years old

[jfk]

Other random map observations:

Foster City doesn't yet exist.

El Camino seems to be of greater prominence than 101 and is labelled as 101 in many points.

Interstate 80 is not yet so named. 880 is still Hwy 17.

There's not yet a bridge between Benicia and Martinez nor between Richmond and San Rafael.

Out of curiosity, where did you dig up a map that old?

[john voight]

I actually scanned it. I used it last time the family went on a road trip to the Bay.

Seriously though, I google imaged "bay area map" and it was on the first page.

I guess the site it is from is: History of freeways

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...ficial%26sa%3DN

I guess I missed that.

[Nickerbocker]

Well, i've lived here all my life and all over the bay area so I'll give my two cents.

You DO NOT want to live in an apartment complex if you can help it. They're pieces of [censored] around here unless you can get one in palo alto or menlo park. As far as RWC goes there are some very reasonable, affordable townhouses in good areas. But the further east you go in RWC the more mexicans you run into. I was renting a 3bdr townhouse in RWC for 1800 a month and that was a major steal. You're going to be paying ~1000 a month for any decent place on the penninsula. If you go down less than 1000 you're going to be living in a cracker jack box so just be prepared to pay at least that much.

Mountain View is also a really good choice. No nightlife whatsoever but it's just a short trip on Alma or 101 to downtown PA which is pretty hoppin in terms of nightlife. Well, it depends on what you consider nightlife because DTPA is the main hangout for fugly Stanford students. Although I will admit Stanford has def. been doing their part recently to shed the fugly label. Plus there's all the choice 18yos at Paly High with their sisters ID's to even it out. Still DTPA isn't all that bad, in fact im going there tonight.

Othen than MV and RWC theres Menlo Park and Palo Alto. Both are pretty expensive but if you ask me it's totally worth it if you got the scratch. You can find some decently cheap apartments that are well worth it.

If I were you making what you're making i would say to stay within the Palo Alto, Menlo Park, RWC, Mountain View Area. It gets shittier the further south you go and if you're concerned about going up to the city the train comes every hour and it's a pretty sweet ride. Plus they let you drink which comes in handy when going to sporting events in the city.

I'm actually looking to move out of my place in MP here pretty soon so if you need any help finding a place I could be of some help.

[BeaucoupFish]

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Seriously though, I google imaged "bay area map" and it was on the first page.


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jv, that is pretty lol that you googled "images of maps"... [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[goofyballer]

Thanks a ton for all the advice in this thread. I got back from Europe 2 days ago and started the apartment hunt yesterday, focusing pretty much on Palo Alto and Menlo Park. I drove around the area a bit, including in Redwood City, but RWC def isn't as nice as MP/PA. There are probably some better neighborhoods I didn't see, but it seemed pretty hit or miss.

My mom was still staying with me for a couple nights after getting back from Europe, so she helped me out with spamming phone calls to Craigslist ads and a few real estate companies. We ended up finding (on the first day!) an apartment in Menlo Park, just off Willow Road near the Caltrain tracks. It's $1750/month, 1 bedroom, and is just being remodeled so it's in really good condition. The location is super awesome, it's not too far from either downtown Menlo Park (~2/3 mile) and PA (~1 mile), there's a park nearby, and the commute to my job shouldn't be too bad. So, I'm pretty stoked about it. We also found one in Palo Alto for $1875 a few blocks from University Ave that was slightly nicer in just about every way...slightly bigger garage space, slightly bigger rooms, slightly better location...but, I figured I'm already paying the higher end of what I can afford and it's still pretty sweet. All your guys' help definitely helped me focus my search and I really appreciate it!

I move in a week from Saturday, assuming my credit check doesn't come up with any bankruptcies or evictions I'm not aware of...so, party at my place? And, one last question: 101 North or El Camino Real in the mornings to get from downtown MP to Woodside Road?

EDIT: fouronefive, Tam High '02, lol

[M2d]

Goofy,
you work off of seaport, right? what time do you start? unless you hit some ungodly traffic, willow to seaport on 101 is the way to go.