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Comment by eastbayjake | Hacker News Reader

I appreciate your point, but housing prices in Mountain View and Palo Alto are every bit as brutal as SF -- for the same NIMBY reasons -- and Oakland is catching up quickly. It's a shame that so much of downtown Oakland remains underdeveloped because the BART corridor could support so much more density without everyone needing to own cars like Daly City / South SF / San Bruno.

The best symbol of California's crazy development red tape is the empty lot on the south corner of 12th and Broadway in Oakland... an overgrown field at the corner of the city's commercial center, at a BART station, waiting for approval and construction of a skyscraper. It's crazy that there aren't any cranes over downtown Oakland right now, building high density on top of public transportation where it doesn't block anyone's view of the Bay.

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> I appreciate your point, but housing prices in Mountain View and Palo Alto are every bit as brutal as SF

There are several other cities in the metro that are more affordable. I just figured that people have more opportunities to rent rooms there since it's slightly cheaper those cities

> without everyone needing to own cars like Daly City / South SF / San Bruno.

You don't really need to own a car even if you live in Fremont or Dublin, as long as you live reasonably close to Bart. A bike is good enough. I've done that as well and again it's very healthy since you're forced to do more exercise. Most places that are close to Bart are also close to a supermarket or two. I would also argue that it's way safer to bike outside of SF rather than in it. I also forgot to mention Caltrain as well.

Couple things:

* BART is straining these days. During commute hours, it's basically at capacity. The Bay Bridge is also at or over capacity.

* Housing within walking distance of BART stations in Oakland that are also somewhat close to restaurants, shops, etc., costs just as much as in San Francisco, at least until the BART ride gets up over 40 minutes to Downtown.

> BART is straining these days. During commute hours, it's basically at capacity.

Then do as I did. Don't use it during commute hours. Leave earlier. If you have a smart company, ask to conference to early meetings or schedule them later in the day if you want to leave later. After work either leave earlier, work later, or do Happy Hour and leave later.

> Housing within walking distance of BART stations in Oakland

There are other cities with Bart stations that are more affordable. You can also use a bike which lets you live a little farther away where there's cheaper housing. As I've already mentioned I did that in Fremont and Dublin.

BART and Caltrain only work because very few riders bring bikes. The platforms, the doors, and the seats are all too small to accommodate many of those things. Widespread use would require a redesign that probably couldn't accommodate today's demand, plus a huge number of showers installed at downtown employers.

Well then don't use either Bart or Caltrain during high commute times. Is it not viable to leave earlier or later?

> plus a huge number of showers installed at downtown employers.

Is this an impossible endeavor?

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