Hi there!
I'm moving to california SF bay area next month. I will be working at the Travis AFB. I am looking for suggestions on living/renting places. I want to have easy access to both work and SF. Is there any area close by that is happening. My budget is upto 1800/month. I want to be close to downtown and BART.

Hello liketravel, I live just a few miles north of Travis AFB. You will not have a problem in this area with the budget that you have for a rental. But do know that BART does not come into Solano County (which is the county that Travis AFB is situated). There is the ferry system out of Vallejo that has an one hour trip across the San Pablo Bay and SF Bay to SF. BART starts in Contra Costa County.

Here are some websites to help you.
http://www.thereporter.com/
The local Vacaville newspaper (Vacaville is just north of Travis AFB)

The BART website

http://www.bart.gov/index.asp

To be close to work you will probably want to live in Vacaville or Fairfield (Travis AFB is in the eastern part of Fairfield as you probably know). The newer and better part of Fairfield is on the western side. Vacaville like I said is just a few miles north of Travis AFB. Lots of new upscale apartments here. If you can avoid going on I-80 (which goes through both Fairfield and Vacaville) during the commute hours you will find getting to Travis AFB is quite easy.

As far as "happening"..both cities are rather low key compared to SF.

So depending on your description of "close" you will not be close to Travis AFB and BART. When you say downtown..what downtown do you mean? SF?? Best regards.

You could try Berkeley or Albany. Lots of younger people in the area, great cultural oppotunities with the University (UC Berkeley). Easy access to BART and SF. However, you'd have to drive or carpool to work.

I think you need to decide how far of a commute you will be ok with dealing with every day first.

If living in Albany or Berkeley I would figure an hour commute each way if you are working daytime hours. Sometimes you could make it quicker but othertimes not. And constant accidents on I-80 can sure tie up traffic. You would have close access to BART however. Again, not knowing what your definition is of "happening" it is hard to know what would work for you. In Contra Costa County there are a lot of younger people..Walnut Creek is considered a hot spot for younger people and if you check the BART website you will see that there is a BART station. But again you would have a good commute to Travis AFB.

If it was me, I'd live near Travis in Fairfield or Vacaville, and use my weekends for Bay Area exploring.

liketravel: Listen to LoveItaly. Living in the Bay area/Berkeley/Albany will mean hours and hours a week in "I-80 time" The I-80 corridor is so congested there is really no against-the-traffic commute.

You can run into SF or the East Bay (or Napa/Sonoma, or the Sacramento foothills) whenever you have a day off -- but living in any of them and facing a horrible daily commute is not a great idea.

The problem with living near the work is then that is where your social life grows. I would be willing to commute a ways, if it meant living in a neighborhood that was more interesting and better suited me.

You really don't want a commute from Berkeley or SF to Fairfield. It would be a stressful hour plus each way, and pretty much suck the life out of you. Live close to work and go to the City on the weekends, when there's not as much traffic.

I think it is unrealistic to live in SF or Berkley and communte in to Travis. This would seriously erode your quality of life.

My daughter lives in Sacramento and has does some commuting in this area - and it can be TERRIBLE - she has spent many an hour sitting in her car going no where. She would do almost anything to avoid a commute-
I would live as close to work as possible

You guys rock!!
I guess I don't want to drive hours to work. I can afford 30 min max driving. Is Concord a good area? How long a commute is it from Walnut creek.
I know vacaville and fairfield are closer areas, but I hear they are kinda boring...If I had to chose between the two, which one is better? Does anyone know of good townhomes around there?
SF and sacramento are great, but like some of you mentioned, the commute is killing, and that's why I was considering somewhere in the middle/close to a BART so commuting to SF during the weekends wouldn't be a pain.

I think it depends on the traffice from Walnut Creek and Concord. I only I cassionally go through there on a weekday. My guess is 30/35 minutes from Concord and 45 from Walnut Creek. But through in an accident and it would be much worse. Maybe some one can pipe in, and alsoi you mat want to inquire about Benecia and Vallejo which word be closer than the Concord/ WC area.

Well Benicia is rather boring unless you are married and have children involved is sports etc. or are involved with boating. I would figure a good 35 minutes or more to get from Benicia to Travis. Vallejo is not a city I would live in although the Vallejo/SF ferry is great.

Keep in mind that Travis AFB is east of I-80 so I would plan on about 15 minutes once you turn off of I-80 and get on base and parked.

I would figure an hour commute between Walnut Creek and Travis AFB and then pray their isn't an accident that can really slow up traffic. Best wishes that you make a decision that will work out well for you liketravel.

Oh btw, Pleasant Hill is north of Walnut Creek and so a bit closer to Travis. Diable College is there so there are a lot of young people in the area and it would be easy to go to Walnut Creek in the evenings if you wanted to.

LoveItaly makes another good point. Just getting from Travis out to I-80 to begin your commute to Contra Costa/Alameda counties could take 20 mins. And if there is any problem on 680 or 80 you could be sitting in the car for a very long time.

If it were me - I'd try to find a place w/i 15 miles of Travis and save my "car time" for weekends/evening jaunts into the city.

Hi there liketravel,
Allow me to chime in on the bridge +
toll plaza factor. In the Bay area whenever there is a bridge crossing required, there is typically a toll plaza in one direction. Should you decide to live in the Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill/Concord area and commute to Travis you will be crossing
the Benicia-Martinez Bridge every AM &
PM. The AM direction is where the toll plaza will catch you and slow you down.

The nifty way around this is to obtain a
Fastrak transponder. You do this by going on the Fastrack website-
http://www.bayareafastrack.org
-fill out the form and give them a credit card #
to which they will charge a set amount
of $$ to cover your tolls. Every month you will be charged a prepaid amount or every time your prepaid balance falls below $15. The amount is "set" after 2-3 months (I think) and it is charged prior to use. Every time you pass through a toll plaza-the cost of that toll will be deducted. You'll get a statement every so often
that will show you your bridge crossings. You can use the Fastrak lane on any bridge in the Bay area.
Mr R5 crosses the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Mon.-Fri and our prepaid amount
is $80.00 and shows up monthly on our
CC statement.

The neat thing about the new & improved Benicia-Martinez Bridge is that it has a Fastrak Express Lane. This means you can travel through the toll plaza at 55 miles an hour. On other Bay area bridges you have to slow down quite a bit to pass through the toll even with the Fastrak device.

Now that you know more than you ever wanted to know about Bay area bridges +
tolls, LOL, I agree with LoveItaly and trippinkpj and think that a Walnut Creek area/Travis commute will take you
about an hour on any good day. Many folks travel more than that around here,
though. Perhaps you can come out for a visit and give your trek a try.

R5

Also consider Davis, a college town east of Fairfield - about 20 minutes away. It is a college town and has a lot of cultural activities. It's also a bicycle town with lots of outdoor activities.

Another one to say you should come out and see what everyone is saying.

One good thing about Fairfield is that it is a hop, skip and a jump to the Napa Valley.

And, of course, there is the Jelly Belly factory <grin>.

loveitaly: you had mentioned west fairfield as being fairly nice. What is the area called? Do you know of any good apts/townhomes in that region. I am going to look into pleasant hill too as you mentioned
Is there any ways around I-80 to the base from concord? Am I going against traffic during office hours??
I like the idea of bicycle town

Hi liketravel. I-80 cuts through Fairfield as it does Vacaville, Davis etc. The west side of Fairfield (to the west of I-80 in the new section and considered the "best" area. Fairfield has some crime ridden areas but with your rental budget you need not concern yourself about that.

Regarding Pleasant Hill, you either go on 680, cross the Martinez/Benicia Bridge and continue on 680 until it meets with I-80 (south of Fairfield) and then continue on I-80. Or you can go west from 680 on Hwy 4 until you reach I-80 and then go east on I-80 and go over the Carquinez Bride and continue on I-80. Not much point in that however.

Davis, home to UC Davis is two cities past Vacaville. It is a university town. You continue on I-80 past Fairfield, Vacaville, Dixon and then you reach Davis.

About the commute..it is very heavy during commute hours on I-80 liketravel.

Regarding apartment complexes and condos in Fairfield..I do not know the names of them. But again on the west side of Fairfield there are some very lovely complexes. Personally I would choose Vacaville over Fairfield. There is the old downtown Vacaville which has a lot of younger people enjoying restaurants, lounges etc. especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Vacaville is more of a community then Fairfield is. Both have a lot of Travis AFB residents btw. Is there anyway you can come out here before actually starting your job?