

Ask HN: Thinking of Moving to the Bay. Beach Areas? - iamtemporary

I'm thinking of moving to the bay area. Anyone know what it's like to live in the beach areas like Santa Cruz or Half Moon Bay? Is it close enough to the tech scene to make sense?
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crcarlson
There are a few people I know living in Santa Cruz and commuting into Mountain
View or Palo Alto. The traffic is pretty rough, especially coming over the
hill from SC, and generally on the order of an hour during normal commute
times. For me, an hour each way is a lot of pain to endure 5 times a week. It
seems like the SOMA and Mission areas of San Francisco are becoming quite
popular for software startups as well which would be an impossible drive from
SC, maybe doable from HMB but painful.

If you are hoping to start a company or join a startup, I would try and live
as close to the other founders as possible. If you are hoping for a 9-5 type
job and don't mind sitting in the car listening to music or talking on the
phone, then the longer drives might be worth it.

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iamtemporary
Thanks for the info. How about the West SF area (from Sunset/Ocean Beach down
to Pacifica)? Are those better for proximity? Are they more expensive?

(If you can't tell, I'm hoping to find something near the surf.)

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crcarlson
Sorry, I am not really a surf guru. I do know some people who used to surf off
of the Sunset, but I think they were beginners so I have no idea of the
quality. I do hear that the Sunset is essentially covered in fog for most of
the year though.

You might try padmapper to get a sense of what things cost to rent by area in
SF. You can always guess a location, find a job, and then move later once you
have more first hand experience with the location.

I personally like the mid Peninsula. It is warmer and sunnier year round than
SF and centrally located for work in the north and south bay so I don't have
to move around so much. Most of my single friends prefer to live in SF.

There are a ton of kite surfers and wind surfers in the bay and on the north
edge of the city if you are in to that sort of thing.

