Working in Palo Alto Forum

[prezidentv8]

Millbrae can be a decent place to live - a bit long commute time, but you get the advantage of living by the caltrain and the BART - caltrain for the workdays, BART for the weekends.

The town itself is boring as all hell, but if you're living near caltrain/bart you're also living near a huge safeway, a chipotle, drugstores, etc. so you have everything you need within walking in a pinch. I'm probably heading to Millbrae after I graduate.

I love me some Millbrae, bro.

[Anonymous Associate]

I agree to live in the city, unless you are someone who is cool with living in the suburbs. I did the SF --> somewhere south of Palo Alto commute for over half a year (before I transferred to my firm's SF office).

Caltrain is OK, but the problem with Caltrain is that you are kinda limited to where you can live. Sure, you can live in Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, South Beach/SoMa, but if those neighborhoods aren't for you, it can somewhat defeat the purpose of living in the city. Plenty of people are happy living there, but it wasn't my cup of tea. The problem with what I consider to be the more desirable neighborhoods (i.e. Nob Hill) is that you can't get to CalTrain in a reasonable amount of time.

Happy to talk for ages about SF neighborhoods, so ask if you have questions.

[florentine]

As far as taking Caltrain into Palo Alto, did you ever find the times that it starts in the morning and ends at night to be problematic in getting back home?

[Anonymous User]

I agree to live in the city, unless you are someone who is cool with living in the suburbs. I did the SF --> somewhere south of Palo Alto commute for over half a year (before I transferred to my firm's SF office).

Caltrain is OK, but the problem with Caltrain is that you are kinda limited to where you can live. Sure, you can live in Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, South Beach/SoMa, but if those neighborhoods aren't for you, it can somewhat defeat the purpose of living in the city. Plenty of people are happy living there, but it wasn't my cup of tea. The problem with what I consider to be the more desirable neighborhoods (i.e. Nob Hill) is that you can't get to CalTrain in a reasonable amount of time.

Happy to talk for ages about SF neighborhoods, so ask if you have questions.

Why aren't Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, South Beach/SoMa not your cup of tea? What is a good description of their culture as opposed to Nob Hill?

[Anonymous Associate]

I agree to live in the city, unless you are someone who is cool with living in the suburbs. I did the SF --> somewhere south of Palo Alto commute for over half a year (before I transferred to my firm's SF office).

Caltrain is OK, but the problem with Caltrain is that you are kinda limited to where you can live. Sure, you can live in Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, South Beach/SoMa, but if those neighborhoods aren't for you, it can somewhat defeat the purpose of living in the city. Plenty of people are happy living there, but it wasn't my cup of tea. The problem with what I consider to be the more desirable neighborhoods (i.e. Nob Hill) is that you can't get to CalTrain in a reasonable amount of time.

Happy to talk for ages about SF neighborhoods, so ask if you have questions.

Why aren't Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, South Beach/SoMa not your cup of tea? What is a good description of their culture as opposed to Nob Hill?

I lived in South Beach in a large apartment complex right by CalTrain. It was very isolated from other parts of the city, and it was also kinda long to get to Marin from there (both by car and bike). The area also borders on parts of the city that are not very nice at all-just a few blocks away from me were very seedy blocks. I felt like SoMa didn't really have a personality, aside from young professionals and somewhat hip I guess. There just aren't that many places to eat or shop there.

I prefer the older neighborhoods (Nob Hill/Russian Hill/Pac Heights) for a lot of reasons. As a disclaimer, I am in my early 30s, but I am an old lady on the inside. The areas are much more residential and quiet, but close restaurants and boutiques and the financial district. More of an old money feel, much more old school, but plenty of younger people. And beautiful views. What I fail to comprehend is that you can a comparable place in these neighborhoods (full-service doorman and even a valet) for less than South Beach.