BART may have limited hours, but when it isn't operating traffic is usually not a factor. Fares can be expensive all right, but bridge tolls ain't great either. If riding in from the end of the line at Pittsburg/Bay Point, you won't have to deal with too much riff raff compared to those you might encounter waiting on the platforms in SF/Oakland. Good reason to become an FFDO though!

Yeah, three; 5, 9 & 12.

Would love just to get Denver and be done with it, but I'd like to not overlook something like SFO if it's workable.

I don't live in NorCal, or even California for that matter, but I do have this question for those who would say that it's "not worth it" to live there:

If these areas that are so expensive are not "worth it" to live there, then why is there so much demand that is driving the housing market so high? Obviously lots of people are willing to pay to live there, creating demand and scarcity.

Always struck me that it's more expensive to live "somewhere" than it is to live "nowhere."

I live in the bay area. I wasn't born here or raised here.
I had lived in quite a few places and chose this place specifically.
In my humble opinion, I don't think there is any place that can beat it.
Without going in to detail, the area lacks nothing (within a couple hours).
I raised a couple of sons that have been in to every sport and/or outside activity imaginable and it is here (except Jai Alai).
Education can't be beat.
The weather is just incredible, you can also have anything you want within an hour but when you stay put it's beautiful.
I think that's why people work so hard to be here and stay here.

Speaking of BART...headed up to SF with my girlfriend in a couple weeks. Flying into SFO and out of OAK.

Any stops that have the unsavory people? Hotel is in union square.

The reason it's in such demand is because there is high pay for professionals and there is WORLDWIDE demand for housing which is limited due to geography and urban planning. Every immigrant who gets a job in silicon valley buys a house. Then he buys one for parents and/or in-laws, then one for rental. Then people from out of state and even far away as China buy up real estate for rental. 50% of housing is rental. Loads of houses have two or more families living in them. Public transportation is pretty available here, and the light rails are not patrolled for fare jumpers.

On top of all that, the weather is great, there are lots of good schools, and tons of low paid service jobs for the less educated. Kids don't leave home and just become part of multi-generational families. They can spend their money on stuff, because buying a home is simply impossible. During the downturn, Million dollar homes went down to 750, 500K homes dropped to 350-if you could find them. Outside of the bay whole neighborhoods were empty in places like Manteca, but NOT for sale. The banks got bail outs so they just sat on the homes, refusing to release them.

The key to living in the bay is live near where you work, or work late at night. Rush hour is 6am-10am, 2:30-7:30, but traffic jams occuring at any time of the day. The city planners are actually REDUCING lanes in many cities in order to put in (unprotected) bike lanes in which people don't feel safe riding in crazy rush hour traffic.

Blame silicon valley.

I've lived here for almost 20 years. BART into downtown from SFO is super-easy, unless your plane arrives late at night since BART stops running around 1130-ish.

Let's see...you'll find more than a few characters at any BART station from 24th St. Mission all the way along Market St to the Embarcadero. If you're staying in Union Square you'll probably want the Powell St. BART stop, and that'll put you right on Market St.

Honestly, if you're not comfortable with 'unsavory' people you probably don't want to come here...Market St., the Tenderloin and Union Square are full of homeless folks because the weather is mild and the city doles out plenty of services to the homeless. I grew up in NYC and we certainly have more homeless people per capita than NYC (at least it certainly seems that way.)

That said, I've never once been hassled beyond the usual "Got a dollar?"

When you take BART out to OAK you might see a few people getting on at the West Oakland and Fruitvale stops, who clearly have done some hard time in CA's state prison system. Fruitvale is where Oscar Grant was shot by a BART cop (you may have heard of the movie.) Perfectly safe during the day, though I would not walk around the Fruitvale neighborhood or West Oakland at night.

That said, SF is a pretty safe city. The worst thing that will happen to you in Union Square is that a homeless guy might start screaming at you for no apparent reason. Ignore him, and enjoy:

• Golden Gate Park...you can spend a couple days here and not see everything
• Golden Gate Bridge
• The restaurants! Oh, the restaurants.
• The awesome neighborhoods. Hayes Valley (fantastic restaurants and wine bars), Noe Valley, Cole Valley (hmm we seem to have a lot of Valleys), South Park, the Inner Richmond and Inner Sunset, the Mission District (world's best burritos)...Jackson Square, the Fillmore, Nob Hill...the list goes on and on.
•*Notice I left out Fisherman's Wharf. No locals ever go there. Ever.
• Escaping to gorgeous Sausalito, Tiburon, Angel Island, and Marin County
• Ocean Beach (bring warm clothes!)
• The Embarcadero
• Wine tasting in Sonoma, the Dry Creek Valley, or the Alexander Valley (note I left out Napa, for good reason. It's an overpriced zoo. The real wine fans go to the Dry Creek or Alexander Valleys.)

Enjoy!

I used to fly the American Aero Club's J-3 out of Natomas Airport. Flew all over the valley on the weekends at 65 mph and five hundred feet. Sad that airport is gone. Nice folks.

Spent a few days tooling around N of the city along the coast last spring with my kid. We drove up through Stinson Beach, Pt Reyes and up past Tomales to Bodega Bay.

When I win the lotto, I might just relocate. The whole place was gorgeous.

Rented an authentic Mercedes CL6.3 AMG on a lark from Hertz. 500+ HP and massive, just massive tires, calipers and rotors. That car went like hell and was 100% predictable and solid. Best 300 bucks I've ever spent. I did however, managed to get spanked by a Tesla. That car was astonishing as well.

Sac isn't bad. Davis would be the spot. Denver isn't that much cheaper and there is a reason people want to live here.