Originally Posted by
auher
Great topic - this is helpful stuff.
I'm a former Chicagoan, currently living in Vegas, planning to relocate to San Fran soon - and I've got some questions / thoughts...
Wouldn't Noe Valley (within walking distance of the 24th St. Bart Stop in the Mission) be ideal for a commute south? As far as I know you could take BART south to Millbrae and transfer to Caltrain. Anyone do this - how's the commute?
Other than SOMA - are there any other hoods reasonably close enough to the 4th St Caltrain to make that a viable commute?
You can do what you suggest but it would take quite a bit of time - at least an hour and fifteen minutes, most certainly more if you are anywhere South of Redwood City or not on a baby bullet stop or don't get a well timed connection at Milbrae. It only takes me 45-60 minutes to drive from Lower Haight to Palo Alto, depending on traffic in the City and the Page Mill Road exit.
There are certain parts of Potrero Hill that are walking distance to another Caltrain station. I think the baby bullet makes a stop there, so it could be a good area for that commute. However, Caltrain can be a difficult (i.e. very long) commute if you aren't working close to a baby bullet stop or don't keep regular enough hours to be able to work with Caltrain's limited schedule outside of commute hours.