[crcarlson]

There are a few people I know living in Santa Cruz and commuting into Mountain View or Palo Alto. The traffic is pretty rough, especially coming over the hill from SC, and generally on the order of an hour during normal commute times. For me, an hour each way is a lot of pain to endure 5 times a week. It seems like the SOMA and Mission areas of San Francisco are becoming quite popular for software startups as well which would be an impossible drive from SC, maybe doable from HMB but painful.

If you are hoping to start a company or join a startup, I would try and live as close to the other founders as possible. If you are hoping for a 9-5 type job and don't mind sitting in the car listening to music or talking on the phone, then the longer drives might be worth it.

[iamtemporary]

Thanks for the info. How about the West SF area (from Sunset/Ocean Beach down to Pacifica)? Are those better for proximity? Are they more expensive?

(If you can't tell, I'm hoping to find something near the surf.)

[crcarlson]

Sorry, I am not really a surf guru. I do know some people who used to surf off of the Sunset, but I think they were beginners so I have no idea of the quality. I do hear that the Sunset is essentially covered in fog for most of the year though.

You might try padmapper to get a sense of what things cost to rent by area in SF. You can always guess a location, find a job, and then move later once you have more first hand experience with the location.

I personally like the mid Peninsula. It is warmer and sunnier year round than SF and centrally located for work in the north and south bay so I don't have to move around so much. Most of my single friends prefer to live in SF.

There are a ton of kite surfers and wind surfers in the bay and on the north edge of the city if you are in to that sort of thing.