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Post by christina on May 14, 2016 11:15:11 GMT -5
ha ha, a candid outlook on Dover!!! thanks for the input!
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Post by christina on May 14, 2016 11:17:48 GMT -5
and now onto Northern Cal. i am particularly interested in oakland v SF v all the other options. i am sure each area has its own subculture. is Stockton is bad as its reputation? public transit in the Bay area from what I understand is good across the board. is that correct?
Hit it everyone!!
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Post by Serious, J. on May 14, 2016 13:03:06 GMT -5
I'm afraid I'm jaded by having watched Sons of Anarchy.
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Post by cowboy on May 14, 2016 15:07:58 GMT -5
I used to work in Sacramento and I have friends in Oakland, Stockton and SF. Sacramento has a large office located in a nice business park right across from a large mall, Arden Fair. I used to go across the street sometimes and go shopping. There are many restaurants within walking distance. Sacramento is a very nice small city (as opposed to a metropolis like NY, Chicago, LA). They have good parts of town and not really bad parts that I could find. Several employees live in Davis as it has a nice residential community. People in Sacramento call it halfway to everywhere because it is about 2 hours from anywhere you want to go: The Bay area, Sonoma and Napa, the Sierras and Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park and many other interesting attractions. Mostly the weather is moderate, but it is not as humid or cool as the bay area. It can get up over 100 degrees in the summer, but not often. I never saw snow there. It has a fantastic bicycle community and several great trails. Hiking and river rafting is very close (although when I was there CA was in the middle of a bad drought). The city gets concerts, has the Sacramento Kings and UC Davis is nearby.
The other offices are smaller and I think everyone is aware of what the Bay area has to offer. It should be obvious that the offices at San Jose, San Francisco, San Rafael and Oakland are highly desirable for transfers. One friend of mine just got into SF after being on the transfer list for 3½ years. The area also has some of the highest living expenses in the nation, hence the highest location pay. Stockton is not a pleasant city from what I saw. I stayed there once years ago and I kept getting up in the middle of the night to check that my car was still in the parking lot. The people I knew there lived in the Bay area and commuted. I don't know much about Fresno aside from it is fairly isolated and there is no location pay for that office.
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Post by jagvet on May 15, 2016 15:23:23 GMT -5
Oakland and San Fran are easily reached by BART (subway). SF also has trains, trolleys and buses. Check out the routes to see where to live, but do not drive! Traffic is impossible, and parking is outrageous. San Rafael is not easily reached by public transit, but driving locally is not too bad. However, reaching San Rafael from other parts of the Bay Area, like East Bay, San Fran and South Bay are very tough because of traffic. Stockton can only be reached by car. Housing is much less expensive to live in or near Stockton than the Bay Area, and it is an hour east of the eastern East Bay suburbs. There can be a lot of traffic if you are trying to live in eastern SF suburbs and commute to Stockton (which is what I'll do if I get the call). Except for Stockton, housing is very expensive (modest 3 BR houses start over $700,000 minimum in most sections). Taxes are high, gas taxes are high, real estate, income, sales taxes. All that being said, it can be a beautiful place to live.
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Post by christina on May 15, 2016 18:27:14 GMT -5
Thanks for the Northern Cal input, off to SoCal!
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Post by Prrple on May 15, 2016 19:46:46 GMT -5
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Post by jagvet on May 15, 2016 20:00:44 GMT -5
Keep traffic in mind for Southern California. There are ODAR offices only ten miles apart that can take hours to drive (Like LA downtown and West LA).
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Post by christina on May 15, 2016 20:06:02 GMT -5
Keep traffic in mind for Southern California. There are ODAR offices only ten miles apart that can take hours to drive (Like LA downtown and West LA). Extremely good point. How reliable is the rail system?
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Post by gary on May 15, 2016 20:14:15 GMT -5
Gardeners should keep this in mind:
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Post by jagvet on May 15, 2016 21:01:39 GMT -5
Keep traffic in mind for Southern California. There are ODAR offices only ten miles apart that can take hours to drive (Like LA downtown and West LA). Extremely good point. How reliable is the rail system? I hear it's okay, but never took it when there. I think of all the ODAR hearing offices, maybe only downtown LA is near enough to use it. There may be some express bus lines, but "LA is a great big freeway. Put a hundred down and buy a car."
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Post by monday on May 16, 2016 8:27:43 GMT -5
Going back to New Haven, I have no experience with the HO, but New Haven has some of the best pizza anywhere. There are suburban towns with good school districts within easy driving distance.
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Post by cowboy on May 16, 2016 10:53:04 GMT -5
Oakland and San Fran are easily reached by BART (subway). SF also has trains, trolleys and buses. Check out the routes to see where to live, but do not drive! Traffic is impossible, and parking is outrageous. San Rafael is not easily reached by public transit, but driving locally is not too bad. However, reaching San Rafael from other parts of the Bay Area, like East Bay, San Fran and South Bay are very tough because of traffic. Stockton can only be reached by car. Housing is much less expensive to live in or near Stockton than the Bay Area, and it is an hour east of the eastern East Bay suburbs. There can be a lot of traffic if you are trying to live in eastern SF suburbs and commute to Stockton (which is what I'll do if I get the call). Except for Stockton, housing is very expensive (modest 3 BR houses start over $700,000 minimum in most sections). Taxes are high, gas taxes are high, real estate, income, sales taxes. All that being said, it can be a beautiful place to live. Here's an odd tidbit for those of you selected to Stockton. While you may not want to live there, they get the same locality pay as the Bay area (SF/Oakland/SJ/SR). But Sacramento does not. It always seemed to me that Sacramento is closer to the Bay than Stockton, but Stockton has a sea port. Extra bonus for getting selected to Stockton.
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Post by cowboy on May 16, 2016 10:56:13 GMT -5
Keep traffic in mind for Southern California. There are ODAR offices only ten miles apart that can take hours to drive (Like LA downtown and West LA). Extremely good point. How reliable is the rail system? What rail system? I live in SoCal now and the rail system is only effective if you live in the downtown area going from one part of downtown to another. Phoenix has a better rail system and they have invested more into it than LA. Driving is the worst I've seen, even in other countries where they believe traffic signals are suggestions. Gridlock can take you 2+ hours to go 60 miles in rush hour. If you get selected to one of the 8 SoCal hearing offices, live close to work and look forward to working at home.
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Post by christina on May 16, 2016 11:15:08 GMT -5
Thx. I knew it existed but quality of it was my concern. Agree you have to live by your office for sanity purpose.
I heard rail system was going to be expanded a few years back which is why I asked. And I thought there was train between downtown and Santa Monica and I remember seeing tracks between Pasadena and points East. I can't remember which highway but maybe it goes out towards san Bernardino. Highway I think was just south of Pasadena and I think it is northernmost east west interstate in greater la area.
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Post by cowboy on May 16, 2016 11:22:29 GMT -5
It does not stretch out that far. Note the map. I went to visit my nephew at USC and thought about taking the rail, but it was too silly to make the effort of driving to some location downtown after driving an hour to get there, parking my car and then taking the train rather than just driving downtown. www.metro.net/riding/maps/
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Post by wingnut on May 16, 2016 11:55:09 GMT -5
San Francisco is outrageously expensive but there is a ton to do an see. And it is beautiful. However, it is cold a lot. I never even owned a pair of shorts when I lived there. The parking is awful. I didn't like the lack of trees or sun. And it has the rough feeling of a big city. Good coffee and food. Tough place to raise kids.
I loved Oakland. Much sunnier but with the cool breezes. Easy to get up to Berkeley and it has some beautiful neighborhoods. It was amazing to me that I could drive 10 minutes and be hiking up in the hills without a soul in sight. Much more of a relaxed feeling, somewhat more integrated and laid-back. Some people don't like it. There are rough parts, and there is crime, but I never had any problems.
BART is great - it goes all over the Bay Area and I miss it. Some of the bus lines in SF had cutbacks if I recall, not sure if it has increased now that the economy is a bit better.
I love Sacramento. It has a sprawl problem and some neighborhoods are a real pain to get to. Traffic isn't too bad though. There is some public transit but it isn't great unless you happen to live on one of the streetcar lines. Great place to raise kids. Some really good schools that are not that hard to get into even if it is not your assigned school. If you stay close in, very easy to get around by bike. Close to skiing. Very integrated, very relaxed. Parking everywhere. A tons of trees. Fishing in the rivers if you are into that. Some really good food. Great farmer's markets. The "As" are a minor league baseball team that has a home at this really nice little stadium - super fun to go hang out there for a ballgame.
I have not lived in Stockton but unfortunately I believe it is bad as they say. It seems to have really high crime. One time I went to a dog show there at the fairgrounds. One of the judges was invited from Oregon. I guess she got many miles up the road on her way home and her car gave out. Turns out someone had stolen some vital piece of her engine out from under the car while she was judging. In broad daylight, at a packed dog show in the enclosed fairgrounds. That kind of story is typical.
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Post by owl on May 16, 2016 12:09:10 GMT -5
Thx. I knew it existed but quality of it was my concern. Agree you have to live by your office for sanity purpose. I heard rail system was going to be expanded a few years back which is why I asked. And I thought there was train between downtown and Santa Monica and I remember seeing tracks between Pasadena and points East. I can't remember which highway but maybe it goes out towards san Bernardino. Highway I think was just south of Pasadena and I think it is northernmost east west interstate in greater la area. 1. Map of LA Metro planned expansion - yes, someday it is supposed to connect DTLA and Santa Monica.
2. The Gold Line light rail runs from Union Station to Pasadena and then east along the Foothill Freeway to Azusa (its southern branch runs from Union Station into East LA) - I think that is what you are referencing. (Also, the San Bernardino line of the Metrolink commuter train more or less follows the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10).)
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Post by cowboy on May 16, 2016 12:39:55 GMT -5
Well, what do you know. I lived here two years and never saw that. For the size of the city, still inefficient.
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Post by aljhopeful2 on May 16, 2016 13:02:13 GMT -5
Thx. I knew it existed but quality of it was my concern. Agree you have to live by your office for sanity purpose. I heard rail system was going to be expanded a few years back which is why I asked. And I thought there was train between downtown and Santa Monica and I remember seeing tracks between Pasadena and points East. I can't remember which highway but maybe it goes out towards san Bernardino. Highway I think was just south of Pasadena and I think it is northernmost east west interstate in greater la area. 1. Map of LA Metro planned expansion - yes, someday it is supposed to connect DTLA and Santa Monica.
2. The Gold Line light rail runs from Union Station to Pasadena and then east along the Foothill Freeway to Azusa (its southern branch runs from Union Station into East LA) - I think that is what you are referencing. (Also, the San Bernardino line of the Metrolink commuter train more or less follows the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10).)
The Santa Monica line is supposed to open on Friday, May 20.
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