Moving to the Bay Area. What is the best place to live (commute-wise) between Santa Clara and Mare Island?

Question

My wife and I (with 2 little dogs) are moving to that area, she for school (mare island) and me for work (santa clara). I would prefer to live closer to Mare Island, perhaps East Bay, considering I can work from home and will likely travel often. As far as housing goes, we don't need much... rent or own, as small as 1 bedroom is fine, so really it's a question of the neighborhood and the commute time/length.

Answer 1

The Ideal location would be downtown San Francisco.  However that can be very expensive for such a little space.  I used to live in the Los Altos Hills when I was younger, it was beautiful and spacious, but now It is impossible to live there unless you are a Silicone Valley CEO.  

Maybe you can check out Lennar homes on Mare Island in Vallejo Ca. http://www.discovermareisland.com/  Lennar homes makes houses for master planned communities like Valencia in Southern California.  

I wish you the best of luck finding a place that is commuter friendly in the Bay Area.  :-)

Answer 2

In order to best answer this question, you need to give an idea of how much you have to spend on housing. The Bay Area can be very expensive.

Answer 3

That's a 70 mile drive across the Bay Area, a commuter nightmare.

If you have to work in Mare island (Vallejo) I'd think about going east from there maybe Benecia area, or go north toward Napa or Sonoma!