Working in SF / Living in LA
Wondering if anyone has pulled this off - and if so, what your arrangements were. I'm working in SF 2-3 days a week and have been thinking about getting a second place in LA. If you've lived in SF you'll know why this is enticing.
I was thinking of either using the Alaska Flight pass ($50 / mo for ~$20-100 one-way flights) or chartering flights (JSX is ~$350 one-way and Surf Air has an unlimited flight plan program for $2.5k / mo).
Furthermore if anyone is interested in splitting a place with me in a similar way, PM me.
The Ubers from LAX to Santa Monica are like $40-$80 each. So add 4x $80-$160 to the travel costs. Probably a similar story at SFO, not exactly in a convenient area.
I don’t see how this is a good idea unless you’re making so much money that the costs just don’t matter. Like if you were at $700k or something and couldn’t get that job in LA.
Just leave SF, everyone is doing it lol
Costs aren't a huge issue to be honest. All-in I'm calculating roughly $2-3k in transit costs per month which honestly isn't that bad on top of two places that would net out to <$10k / mo. Primarily concerned about logistical barriers more than anything.
Where are you thinking of getting a place in LA? Would be nice to be near the ocean like at Manhattan Beach.
It's almost like he stepped in a pile of shit and is now looking for a second pile to land his other foot. No SF pun intended.
Seems like it could be possible. Its not that much different than someone who works in NYC 2-3 days a week, then spends the rest of the time in the Hamptons.
If you time it right, you'd only need to spend 2 nights most in SF, then 5 nights in LA. Travel LA to SF early Tuesday morning, come back Thursday after work. Gives you 3 full days in the office.
the Hamptons is a 2-3 hour drive or a 30 minute Blade. SF to LAX will be 10000x more draining - flight is no problem but that's a lot of time in ubers, waiting at airport etc. I can't see this being sustainable for the medium or long term
Sounds tough but doable!
If you're going to do this at least make sure one of the addresses is tax-free. Why not Vegas instead of LA? Your transit costs would be the same with a slightly better COL and better (zero) state income tax.
Just want to point out that we have to add in the cost from the airport to his workplace. Typically those transit costs are inflated compared to the standard per mile cost due to the fact people who have money are typicaly being serviced.
Vegas airport is the world's easiest airport to get in & out of. There's a reason why the Air Marshalls program was based out of there for a very long time.
Our Acquisitions guy does the opposite (lives near SF and works in LA) and it seems miserable.
I’d be miserable too if I worked in LA and commuted home to SF
Without going into too much detail his life in SF seems fine (he's not in the city but a nice adjacent city), it's more the travel/waking up at 4 AM to catch a morning flight to get here that seems to suck.
So tempted to do this if it were a little easier. I currently travel to socal monthly and it would be tough to go more frequently. SF is simply too expensive considering the city's overall quality. Realistically going to find a gig down in LA sometime. SF isn't even the best city in the Bay Area.
everything outside of SF in the bay area is literally dog shit besides berkeley. I'm guessing you like oakland?
No I live in SF I’m just kidding about it not being the best city in the bay. I just think it sucks generally
that's basically what Schwarzenegger did as governor
I've never commuted LA --> SF, but I've had stretches of my career where I've commuted weekly using 60-90min flights. A couple things made a big difference for me:
- I lived in a place that was near a small but modern regional airport. I used the 1-hour rule: leave my house 1 hour before my flight leaves. Plenty of time to go, park at the airport on a Tuesday morning, get a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and sit down at the gate before my flight boarded. Very low-stress departure mechanics.
- I booked flights in bulk. One airline, same flight every week, regardless of price fluctuations. Simplifies tons of things - you know exactly when you need to leave to get to the airport, you know which gate your flight will be at, you know how long you'll have at the lounge (also, you should buy access to a lounge), and you can do the whole thing on autopilot.
- I had a small, short-term furnished lease at the place I was commuting to where I could leave things from week to week.
- I didn't have a car where I was commuting to, but I could get from the airport to my apartment on public transit and then to the workplace on foot.
Applying my own values to your situation, I'd probably set it up so I lived in a quiet place not far from the Orange County or Burbank airports. You have tons of commuter flight availability from there to SFO, so you could take a 7am flight from SNA to SFO, land at 8:30, get to the train by 9, and be downtown by 9:30 (if that's where you need to go).
On the way back, get down to the airport before rush hour, have dinner and a drink at the lounge while you finish up work, hop on the 7:05 flight from SFO to SNA and you're back around 8:30, then back home hopefully not more than an hour after that.
Moral of the story: make things predictable and easy and a lot of the stress and discomfort of constant travel goes away.
Thanks. This is super helpful - esp. since I only need to do this once a week. How long did you do that for and was it sustainable?
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