Living in SF Bay Area (SJ) – how can I cut housing costs?

[Jehdlh]

The latter certainly makes sense, just strikes me as odd since I would assume most RVers would be dog lovers, but yeah, I get it...

Jacob, where in the SF area did you live? Do you have any idea if there are affordable RV parks within the city? What should I expect to pay in the SF area at an RV park? I'm still trying to figure out where to live in the area, and what other areas to explore. I'm used to Boston and NYC, which seem to be rather condensed, unlike SF, which is spread out...

[jacob]

See thread above. I think I already covered everything I know.

[llorona]

@Jehdlh:

I'm used to Boston and NYC, which seem to be rather condensed, unlike SF, which is spread out...

San Francisco is not spread out. At roughly 7x7 miles, the City itself is very compact.

What you are struggling with is that the SF Bay Area is a very large area composed of nine counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Matero, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma) with a population of over 7 million.

It's a matter of semantics, I know, but it's important to make these distinctions otherwise you may very well end up someplace different than where you intend to be.

Because SF is so small, space is at a premium. Hence, there is only one trailer park. It's located near Candlestick Park where the SF Giants used to play.

If you search on the Internet, you will be able to find information on other RV parks in the Bay Area. If you are planning on commuting to San Francisco, your best best would be to find a trailer park in the East Bay (Alameda or Santa Clara Counties) or the Peninsula (San Mateo or Northern Santa Clara County). Marin County may be another possibility, but it's very affluent and public transportation options are limited.

Speaking of which, traffic in the Bay Area is insane during rush hour and sometimes beyond. If you're considering living outside of SF, you should probably check out 511.org to determine your transportation options. If your office is located anywhere near downtown SF, you do not want to drive there unless: (a) your company is picking up the tab for parking, (b) you really like sitting in traffic, or (c) you have very odd hours like starting after 10 a.m. and leaving after 7 p.m.

[Jehdlh]

Thanks. That is helpful. I hear that about traffic in SF and LA all the time, but I wonder how bad it is: Can you compare it to Boston's rush hour scene? Does rush hour in SF run late since it's dominated by tech? That is, rather than 7-9 it is busy 8-1030ish?

[llorona]

@Jehdlh: I've never been to Boston so I can't give you a point of comparison. However, traffic in the SF Bay Area is pretty darned bad, especially during rush hour. Everyone I know who commutes into SF by car is miserable.

I work at home these days but I believe peak morning hours are roughly from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The problem is that since SF is mostly surrounded by water, there are only three major ways to get downtown by car, two of which are bridges. Because there are few alternate routes, one accident can tie up traffic for much longer.

Depending on which direction you're headed, the evening commute can begin as early as 3:00 p.m. and last as long as 7:00 p.m.

[Jehdlh]

@llorona thanks. Usually to commute to the nicer suburbs of Boston into Boston, you're looking at 1-1.5 hours. Everybody is miserable too. Is it comparable or even worse? What I'm thinking now is to find a home in the Valley somewhere and rent a room, or rent a large house, and rent out the other rooms. Living in SF itself would be nice but I think it's a bit ambitious doing that from the east coast, before living there. Any suggestions on areas to live? As for work, I work remotely as well, so long as Internet connection is good, I am in business.

[bryan]

@Jehdlh:...
Depending on which direction you're headed, the evening commute can begin as early as 3:00 p.m. and last as long as 7:00 p.m.

Traffic actually kind of begins after lunch time but stays at a comfortable, slow pace until about 2:30pm when things start getting thicker. Most of the traffic is clear by 8pm. Not sure about morning hours.. Usually pretty easy around 10am.

One thing I love about living in the van is having flexible commuting/travelling hours. Very rarely do I get into traffic (but sometimes I miss my window of opportunity and have to wait until the next one.. I really hate sitting in traffic).

[Jehdlh]

me too. i hate traffic. but at least being an academic and now being in the tech world, i've been able to work around rush hour.

[Jehdlh]

I am looking at available options and I see quite a bit in Berkeley. I know people have mentioned to live in Oakland, which Berkeley is above. What is the feasibility of living in Berkeley if most days you'll be in SF? Is BART economical and well liked? Is BART a good route for frequent trips between these two city pairs?

[jacob]

Google will give you transit times from Downtown Berkeley Station to Embarcadero.
Here are the prices https://www.bart.gov/tickets/calculator ... I like BART.

Berkeley is very nice ("hipster quaint") and very EXPENSIVE. It's where those who couldn't afford to live in San Francisco moved before they got rich (the techy hippies of the 1960s).

[bryan]

well, this article is blowing up on all of my subreddits: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-e ... ot-2015-10

Most replies are fine or funny, but some are salty for whatever reason. Most of the salty comments are due to his setup being barebones and not well decorated. Another point about not having any natural light. I get where he's at though, the Bay Area has nice enough weather year round and amenities nearby to be good enough.

Seems like he's already been found out by some redditors and I imagine he will be spoken with by HR (who will ask him to stop parking there all the time). It's part of the reason why I haven't jumped into having a website/blog, I wouldn't want my friend's/boss to see the interior at this point in the build and it would be nice to already have FI money before giving up anonymity/getting publicity.

Maybe he'll get lucky and offered a sabbatical (or a coworker offers him a spot to park) to build the van out proper

I wonder if Brandon (the guy.. his website is here: http://frominsidethebox.com/, have only read a post or two so far) is in here lurking. It would be interesting to have an ERE/vandweller meetup here in the coming year.. though I wonder if we are too private/paranoid to respond to a meetup via flyer on windshield.

[Jehdlh]

Unfortunately, I got very sick ***snip***