New Job in San Ramon, CA: Recommendation on living area

[dadave]

Hi,

I will be transferring to the West Coast shortly. My job is in San Ramon but i was wondering if yall had any recommendations where to live. I'm still in my 20s. I was hoping to live in SF but it's kind of far, about a 35-40 mile drive. I also started looking online for rentals around Berkeley and it seems kind of expensive there too. I never really been to SF so just wondering if yall had recommendations.

There is a BART that can take me to Walnut Creek then transfer on a bus to San Ramon. Has anyone had any experience going from San Francisco to East Bay during traffic/commute hours? Is the BART train typically empty where i could get a seat and sleep on the train?

 

[ConcernedParent]

San Ramon has such an obnoxious location behind the hills. I really can't think of a good place to live for a 20 something year old that would make the commute bearable; unless you don't mind living in suburbia. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT attempt the commute by car from SF to San Ramon and back during rush hours. Unless you hate yourself. BART from SF to Walnut Creek is like 40 minutes. That sounds totally okay... but waiting for the bus/riding the bus will make the commute way too long/frustrating. I've never ridden BART from Oakland to Walnut Creek during rush hour, but it is stupid packed from SF to Oakland which is basically 2/3rds of the BART ride.

Not sure how much this job pays, but the state takes a big fat portion of it and SF is ridiculously expensive. Do consider other options. Berkeley's a chill place to live- lots of students and young professionals moving downtown, there are plenty of quirks (good and bad) and things to do, but not very lively overall. Uptown Oakland's been gentrifying rapidly, a pretty underrated area for a young professional with a reasonable barscene.

 

[NorCal]

Don't even think about commuting from SF.
San Ramon sucks balls. I'm not even really sure where/what it is, just that it is part of "the greater East Bay" and nobody ever goes there.

Look into Oakland or Berkeley for the East Bay. Oakland is not as dangerous as you may have heard (at least in some places) and there is a growing hipster/gentrification scene.

edit: Just checked Google Maps, dude, it would take like a week to commute out there from SF.
Get a Airestream and camp in Chabot.

Pleasanton is probably a lot nicer then San Ramon although still pretty boring.

 

[dadave]

What are yalls thoughts about Fremont or Walnut Creek?

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

Yalls?

 

[Millerp]

Walnut Creek is a suburban area where families can find larger homes with nice yards at prices
more reasonable than in areas closer to San Francisco. It's not really a place where young
single people would have a lot to do. Fremont is a little more commercial/industrial and again
more suited to families.

As others have suggested, your best bet is Oakland if you want to have any kind of social life close to
where you live.

Good luck with the new job.













......

 

[NorCal]

What he said.