Where is a good place to live north-ish of San Francisco?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Sorry for the terse reply.

Here’s the thing: Sausilito is perfect for you: you can walk around to a bunch of nice, quaint places and keep the car in the garage. Your calf muscles will bulge after six months of those hills.

But you will need to sell a kidney to afford it. Mill Valley the same, without as many nice walking options.

Farther north, you get the rest of Marin County, which is exemplified by places like Corte Madera, which is pleasant and friendly but walking everywhere isn’t really possible. Buy a bike, maybe.

Petaluma has its moments.

But ultimately, I think if you live in the city and work in Novato, there will come a point when you’re sitting in traffic on 101 and you say to yourself, “You know, Novato isn’t so bad. I could be working in my woodshop right now instead of developing this boil on my ass.”

I was in a hurry and condensed all that to, “Novato is nice.” Sorry.

22

Thanks for the reply. I didn’t find your first response rude or anything. I just thought the Khan joke was funny, which is obviously wasn’t. Then things went off the rails from there.

I think you’re right about the commute, but the suburbs are a hard sell for my wife. San Francisco was also the first place in America she ever visited, and she’s always loved it and wanted to live there. She’s starting to soften to the idea of being out of the city the more we hang out with friends with yards, so we’ll see. I just wanted to have as much info about the area as possible.

23

Seattle?

24

San Anselmo is nice. A friend of mine lives there. She lives on the hillside above down and we walk down into town from her house and have lunch and walk around the shops. Her daughter rides her bike everywhere. I would move there.

25

Do check out Santa Rosa and Petaluma. Santa Rosa has a nice walkable downtown area with farmer’s markets, restaurants, coffee shops, antique stores, book stores and the occasional homeless guy added for flavor. Commuting to Novato might take you 40 minutes. Petaluma is similar downtown, with much cuter Victorians near downtown. Both are expensive to purchase, but if you’ve lived in LA that won’t be shocking. More like a 20 min commute. Sebastopol is wall to wall hippies which is awesome if that is your thing and insufferable if its not.

Personally, having lived in the Bay Area for almost 20 years, I wouldn’t drive from Berkeley to Novato every day. If you think you want to, come here and buy a hotel room for a week and try it, leaving at 8:15 in the morning and driving back at 5:15.

Living in SF you have to think not just about getting across the bridge, but also your commute time within the city. So 30 min from bridge to work may be an hour if you are coming from Dogpatch or the more south end of the Mission for example.

You could think about Sonoma, but I think Napa would be too far also.

PM me if you want to - I live in the area and would be happy to answer more questions.

26

If your wife wants something European, she isn’t going to like anything North of San Rafael, and probably nothing North of Sausilito. They are prohibitively expensive. Petaluma and points North will be affordable, but 101 is a nasty commute. Petaluma is a real place, as in not a fake suburb, but a really old California town, and you might give that a try.

27

The problem with any bridge commute is that you typically have no easy alternate route if there’s a problem on the bridge. You may generally be going against traffic on the GGB, but one stalled car on or near the bridge means that you’re screwed, and there’s nothing you can do but wait it out (or drive a ridiculously long way out of your way). snowthx is right that this is a consideration for Berkeley too.

28

I’m going to go out on a limb and second this possibility, despite the bankruptcy. The commute from Berkeley just seems hellish, and if you’re going to do that, then parts of Oakland might be better overall for a non-student.

29

I think I’d kind of dig living in Point Reyes Station.

30

The OP’s job is in Novato - he does not HAVE to add the bridge to his commute. If he settles in Marin or Sonoma Co., then no bridge tolls at all.

BTW, the GGB tolls are $6 per trip with Fastrak, and are going up a quarter each year thru 2018. That’s kinda a significant cost that can be avoided. Unless the OP is willing to ride a bus each day from SF to Novato.

31

You can find cheaper places in SF around the SFSU/City College area. If you like worn-in and seedy, you will love it! That area has the extra benefit of being adjacent to 19th Ave which provides a straight shot to the GG.

32

Take the Pinole.

33

East Bay to SF commute is truly hellish. I did it yesterday. (It is only occasional for me.) Vallejo is a f’in hellhole crime zone. Pinole is okay. Walnut Creek is expensive, but cosmopolitan if you live close to downtown. Point Reyes Station and all the places on the coast are God’s country (and hippie land!) but nothing is going on in any of them. They are very small towns.

34

I think there are a lot of good suggestions here, and some that are not. If you’re working in the North Bay, the last thing you want to do is live in the East Bay. Try to avoid the bridges- they’re expensive. The stretch of Hwy 80 that Pinole is on is called Blood Alley and you would not want to walk around downtown Vallejo at any time of day. (The Second Stone ninja’d me and said it better)

Here’s a suggestion: check out a morning radio broadcast online of a Bay Area radio station and see where the problem spots are. I think you’ll find that few of them are in the North Bay. Or you can Google map it during commute hour with the traffic display on. Better yet, come visit for a while, as someone suggested.

IMHO, I think you can find a charming town along the 101 corridor in Marin or Sonoma counties that you will like. Sure, they all have suburban areas, but most of them also have older town centers. It just depends where in town your house is. My suggestions are Santa Rosa, Cotati, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Sonoma, Mill Valley, Marin City, San Anselmo, Fairfax, Corte Madera, San Rafael. None of them have the same city vibe as SF, but where else does? Thing is, SF is close by if you need it.

I’ve lived in Napa all my life and I work all over northern CA. I love Napa, but things are more happening just west of here. I’ve been to all those towns many many times and I love them. They have a cool vibe all their own. There’s great food, wine (obviously), less crime, an active art and music scene, the ocean is near, it’s quiet, and the city is just over the bridge if you need it.

Wow, I sound like I work for the North Bay real estate industry. ( I don’t) :slight_smile:

35

Another vote for Petaluma, and a nostalgic vote for my old town, San Anselmo. Both are very walkable small towns and (compared to Sausalito, Mill Valley etc) are more affordable.

36

Ah. I thought you were saying it would be more expensive to go north over the bridge and then come home south, than to go south over the bridge and then come home north.

37

I second the rec’s for San Anselmo or Fairfax. I’ve been regularly visiting a friend in the area for over 25 years, and both towns have a nice vibe. He lived in San Rafael, but just a block from the San Anselmo town limits.

There’s enough going on very locally, and you’re pretty close to both work and the City.

38

Tell the wife you’ll move to SF after you flip your first startup. 'Till then, Novato.

39

San Quentin? Play your cards right, you get FREE room and board!

For the humor handicapped, this is a “Joke”. Not an especially good one, but one none the less.