NY & SF commutable areas?

[tmitchell]

We are planning a scouting trips for a potential place to set down some new roots. SO still working and needs access to a major market. We have identified NY and SF as candidate towns for now. For the record I lived in NYC for a decade in my youth and have traveled there for work a great deal. Have only visited SF briefly.

I’m looking for suggestions for places to look at within an hour of both cities.

Thanks!

 

[Gumby]

If it is NYC, I recommend living on the Connecticut shoreline, along the Metro-North rail line, and commuting in by train. It is a bear to drive into the City and park there (and very expensive), and they are now instituting congestion pricing. You would probably want to be in Fairfield County, although I commuted in for years from Milford, which is the first town in New Haven County. From our train station on the express, it is 1:45 to Grand Central. The times are correspondingly shorter as you move west, closer to the City.

I would (and did) trade distance on the train for the ability to live close enough to the train station to walk there. Otherwise, you face a drive on both ends, and you'll pay to park at the station. I'm sure it's no surprise that the houses become more expensive the closer you are to the City.

We have lived in Connecticut for 35 years and love it here. I'm happy to give additional information.

Edit to add: Here's the train schedule along the Metro North line. It might be helpful. https://new.mta.info/document/124231

 

[oiseux]

Was a little unclear if this was post-retirement or while still actively working. For SF, I would look at southern Marin County (Sausalito, Tiberon, Corte Madera). The car would be the primary way to get into the city. For destinations east, Walnut Creek/Danville. For south, Burlingame/Hillsborough or Woodside/Palo Alto (the priciest). These are all very pricey, however, and pretty suburban. (There is also Half Moon Bay, along the coast to the south) There are actually neighborhoods in the city that are more residential in the city, like St. Francis Wood or Noe Valley (more urban) in SF or the Berkeley Hills. If you want less pricey suggestions, just ask.

 

[njhowie]

I would provide the same thoughts as Gumby, but for NJ as an alternative.

I believe that you will get more value for your money within an hour radius of NYC compared to an hour radius of SF.

 

[jim584672]

They opened a new LIRR train line from Grand Central to LI that takes 40 something minutes. But not a cheap area.

 

[Another Reader]

With SF, I would stay away from the bridges. Travel time is very unpredictable. Try San Mateo County, preferably northern for the commute. Executive areas are generally further south.

Price range and desired type of housing would be helpful.

 

[1242Vintage]

Grew up back in a valley in Pacifica and went to High School in S.F. Back then 30 minute commute. Now that the Tom Lantos tunnel opened up reliable travel to Montara and Half Moon Bay, those communities would be about 1 hr to S.F. Pacifica, Half Moon Bay and Montara are very foggy near the coast 360 days a year. Neighborhoods back in some of the valleys get nice mid-day clearing and sunny. Many folks headed to S.F. would drive to Daly City BART and take that into S.F.

Wouldn’t look at Daly City. Foggy and windy 364 days and nights a year.

Or … go down the peninsula a bit, Redwood City, Burlingame, So. S.F., San Carlos, San Mateo areas. Weather is nicer (some wind, warmer and not so much wet fog). Easier public transit to S.F. and very easy access to SF Airport for frequent flyers. Or you can BTD in Palo Alto!!! But that’s over an hour on the freeway to S.F.

As an alternative … any interest in the Sunset District in S.F? That’s the area in S.F. abutting the great Highway between Sloat and Lincoln. Many smallish two-story homes in the low $1 mil mark (inexpensive for S.F.)

 

[anothercog]

Really depends on what you are looking for in terms of lifestyle. if you want walkable areas with great restaurants and you're ok with condo living, look around Laurel Ave in San Carlos or Burlingame Ave in Burlingame. These areas are also close to Cal Train stations which would take you into SF or down to San Jose.

 

[tutan]

Or come on down to San Jose. The ban on lowrider crusing has been lifted after a couple of decades. Show off your Impalas!

 

[1242Vintage]

Or come on down to San Jose. The ban on lowrider crusing has been lifted after a couple of decades. Show off your Impalas!

What a memory. Cruised the El Camino many Saturday nights in friends Impala or Riviera. Got chased out of fast food parking lots by Redwood City cops more times than I can count.

 

[MichaelB]

We are planning a scouting trips for a potential place to set down some new roots. SO still working and needs access to a major market. We have identified NY and SF as candidate towns for now. For the record I lived in NYC for a decade in my youth and have traveled there for work a great deal. Have only visited SF briefly.

I’m looking for suggestions for places to look at within an hour of both cities.

Thanks!

NY and SF are so different and have such different climates I would think you would have a strong preference for one over the other.

For NY, I think Gumby’s suggestion to look at the train schedule is sensible. Look at the commuter train system and you’ll have a map of options in Connecticut and NY. I’ve lived in both and also agree with Gumby that Ct is nicer, although there are also some nice areas in Westchester. Putnam is also nice, but may be a bit far.

 

[Lsbcal]

Depends a lot on your housing preference, commute needs, what your looking for in a community. Do you like to hike, for instance?

In Sonoma County you are still within the 1 hour commute zone (one way). Petaluma is one such town in the county and house prices will be lower then in Santa Clara county but still quite high compared with the rest of the US. But is this a daily commute, if so the timing to get to the office might be an issue too. Check Google maps for typical commute times during the day. Do you need access to SFO or San Jose airports, especially if in sales?

 

[athena53]

In the NYC area so much depends on WHERE in NYC you work. I lived in Bergen County, NJ and although I never worked FT in NYC it was an insurance hub, with 99% of property-casualty insurers in lower Manhattan. I could get a bus into the Port Authority terminal but that required a long subway trip to lower Manhattan. I could get a train to Hoboken but then had to take the ferry to lower Manhattan and walk 15 minutes. No matter what I did it was 2 hours door-to-door. It may also be nearly impossible to get commuter parking if you're not a resident. I had to start my commute with a bicycle ride to the next town! Newark, Hoboken and Jersey City have gentrified areas with easy access to some areas of Manhattan, either by train or ferry.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Can't comment on NYC but I'm pretty familiar with the SF Bay Area. So much depends on your priorities, lifestyle, and means. If you are looking to minimize cost while still having a reasonable commute to SF occasionally you could consider central valley options like Tracy, Stockton, Lodi, etc. I would not do this for a daily commute but one or two days a week, Tracy especially would be attractive because of reasonable distance to BART.

I personally like the Half Moon Bay area but you'd be committed to driving (and parking) for the most part. There are affordable areas around San Jose but you'd take multiple trains so not something for a daily commute.

I think your trial trip will tell you a lot!

 

[tmitchell]

Some really good info here, thanks everyone.

In terms of housing, we wouldn't purchase anything until we tried this out for at least a year and know it's workable/desirable, but eventually it would be nice to get a single family home for under $1M. We've been renters for life so far. Starting to wonder if that's just a pipe dream at this point with the housing market the way it is, but we'll see! What goes up must come down right?

 

[Gumby]

Plenty of single family homes in my town for less than $ 1million.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Some really good info here, thanks everyone.

In terms of housing, we wouldn't purchase anything until we tried this out for at least a year and know it's workable/desirable, but eventually it would be nice to get a single family home for under $1M. We've been renters for life so far. Starting to wonder if that's just a pipe dream at this point with the housing market the way it is, but we'll see! What goes up must come down right?

I personally like "Superior California", i. e. the northern part starting from around a line connecting Monterey-Fresno-Lone Pine to a line connection Reno- Fort Bragg. I was born in the central valley so I may be biased as a native. Moved away when I was 10 but I have traveled back many times, probably at least 25 times since 1988, possibly many more.

If your SO needs to be "near a major market" I'm not sure what that means and I would not pry. But if I were nearing retirement and just had to stick it out a few years I would consider living in "Gold Country" which is generally along state highway 49 (remember the 49ers and I'm not talking football) from Placerville to Auburn. You will be a few hours from SF but a much calmer and more peaceful lifestyle at MUCH cheaper property prices. It might be a 3-hour drive into town (or possibly a short commuter flight) but if he/she could do it once a week and back and spend a couple of nights in a hotel it might be doable.

Again, not sure of the nature of your SO's work but remote work is common in the Bay Area and was before Covid, depending on many factors of course. I personally know a couple of people working full time remote at Bay Area jobs, one living in Mt. Shasta and the other in Hawaii. Oh, and forgot about my neighbor who is a project manager for Google. The point is, you might find Bay Area companies that are not owned by Elon Musk to be very open minded regarding work relationships.

Beyond work, the Bay Area offers a lot of cultural, sports, and other entertainment options. Living in a place like Auburn puts you 3 hours from the SF Ballet but is that a serious problem? You'd only go about 6 times a year even if a super fan. Maybe you cant afford to make every Giants or 49ers game though. I speak from experience...I live in Hawaii and have commuted by plane for both the SF Ballet as well as 49ers and Golden State Warriors games!

Of course NY offers similar, possibly better entertainment opportunities. My only point is that I really love the SF area and living even 3-4 hours away in retirement would be awesome.

 

[mystang52]

In the NYC area so much depends on WHERE in NYC you work. I lived in Bergen County, NJ and although I never worked FT in NYC it was an insurance hub, with 99% of property-casualty insurers in lower Manhattan. I could get a bus into the Port Authority terminal but that required a long subway trip to lower Manhattan. I could get a train to Hoboken but then had to take the ferry to lower Manhattan and walk 15 minutes. No matter what I did it was 2 hours door-to-door. It may also be nearly impossible to get commuter parking if you're not a resident. I had to start my commute with a bicycle ride to the next town! Newark, Hoboken and Jersey City have gentrified areas with easy access to some areas of Manhattan, either by train or ferry.

Reiterating this, you need to define "1 hour." 1 hour door to door, or 1 hour commute to NYC? I live in Bergen County NJ, and my commute to lower Manhattan was roughly 1hr 20 minutes door to door; commuter train from my town to Hoboken was 45 minutes, then PATH train to NYC and short walk to office. Keep in mind total door to door time.