

Ask HN: What are the drawbacks of living outside the bay area? - borski

If moving to Silicon Valley, what are the drawbacks, if any, of living in, say, Half Moon Bay or somewhere similar? Is the traffic bad? Is it a drag on nightlife, etc.?
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mechanical_fish
I always liked _visiting_ Half Moon Bay, but it is at least 40 minutes from
everything.

40 minutes to Cupertino with no traffic on I-280.

37 minutes to Palo Alto Square.

A mere 30 minutes (no traffic) to El Camino in Redwood City, but does Redwood
City even count as Silicon Valley? It's certainly on the edge.

40 minutes to Mission Street in SF.

All these numbers are Google's estimates and are subject to going way up when
traffic is happening.

Though I've never looked, my hypothesis is that Half Moon Bay is not
substantially _cheaper_ for rent than either SF or the Valley. There are fewer
people, but there is also a smaller supply of housing, and the relative size
of the rental market is smaller.

And, in the absence of a tremendous bargain on rent or an irrepressible love
of daily walks along foggy Pacific beaches, I'd rather live right next door to
_something_. Live next door to the night life, or live next door to work, but
don't commute 40 minutes to _everything_.

~~~
borski
The problem, for me, is an irrepressible love of water. Are there other places
to live that are "on the water," so to speak?

~~~
mechanical_fish
Technically, SF Bay is full of water. Though the bits I lived near were mostly
salt ponds, which are not exactly a gorgeous view - though it might be a
matter of taste; I rather enjoyed the wildlife refuge on the east end of the
Dumbarton bridge. And the bay is flat with no waves and few points of
interest. But you could kayak in it.

If you want water to look at SF offers many pretty vistas and has the virtue
of _being_ the local nightlife. Commute to Silicon Valley is nasty but you'll
at least have lots of company.

If I thought I loved Half Moon Bay so much that I wanted to try living there,
here is what I would do: Rent some temp housing next door to work. Then, every
day after work, drive to Half Moon Bay. Spend a few hours picnicing, admiring
the water, etc and then drive home. That experience will be just like living
there, except you'll only fight rush hour once instead of twice per day and
your kitchen and bed will be on the wrong side of the mountains. After a month
of that, plus some local research and side trips, you'll be able to answer
your own question.

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jtchang
You actually might like San Mateo. Really easy to get to half moon bay using
92. Traffic isn't so bad going up to the city. Going down to mountain view /
san jose it can get bad though.

If you want better nightlife options you can live in millbrae and take bart up
to the city. It is unfortunate but BART doesn't go all the way to san mateo.

