Livermore, California. What's the vibe/housing market?

[Anonymous]

I am considering a move there for a job.

[Anonymous]

Bunch o' nerds.

[Anonymous]

Isn’t there a toxic something there?

[Anonymous]

I was born there and moved away in 1980.

It was a true small town in a valley during the 1970s. Full of science nerds and their SAHMs. This book was famous for photos taken in the area.

https://www.amazon.com/Suburbia-Bill-Owens/dp/1881270408

Like the rest of the Bay Area, real estate prices went insane after 1980. It is now better connected to SF via BART, but BART is much rattier now (kind of like how DMV Metro has gone a bit downhill). And it's smoggy now. And it has an outlet mall. When I was a kid we had to drive 45 minutes to get to a real full department store (Mervyn's, Capwell's Emporium) so most of our shopping was indie. In 2017, when I visited my old neighborhood public school in the middle of now $1M homes, it was pretty run down compared to my kids' recently renovated elementary in the Rust Belt. And the school menu looked worse. That really caught my attention because it absolutely is inappropriate to have shabby schools in $M neighborhoods. It's evidence of social breakdown.

When I was little in Livermore, I loved it because of the small town nature, the many amenities, and the weather. But as a grownup, I think objectively the quality of living in Northern California has really degraded and I have no desire to rejoin that rat race. That's also why I left close-in suburban Maryland. It all reminds me of "The Lorax".

I admit that my info on Livermore is not fresh but I value long-term perspectives so I thought I'd share. I did look and it seems like they still have a few vestiges of the quirky ranch culture that was still somewhat present during my youth:

https://www.livermorerodeo.com/

[Anonymous]

The air and water are polluted relative to the Bay Area and the citizens always fretted about the lab and whether there’s an health risk.
It’s near the light industrial stuff too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was born there and moved away in 1980.

It was a true small town in a valley during the 1970s. Full of science nerds and their SAHMs. This book was famous for photos taken in the area.

https://www.amazon.com/Suburbia-Bill-Owens/dp/1881270408

Like the rest of the Bay Area, real estate prices went insane after 1980. It is now better connected to SF via BART, but BART is much rattier now (kind of like how DMV Metro has gone a bit downhill). And it's smoggy now. And it has an outlet mall. When I was a kid we had to drive 45 minutes to get to a real full department store (Mervyn's, Capwell's Emporium) so most of our shopping was indie. In 2017, when I visited my old neighborhood public school in the middle of now $1M homes, it was pretty run down compared to my kids' recently renovated elementary in the Rust Belt. And the school menu looked worse. That really caught my attention because it absolutely is inappropriate to have shabby schools in $M neighborhoods. It's evidence of social breakdown.

When I was little in Livermore, I loved it because of the small town nature, the many amenities, and the weather. But as a grownup, I think objectively the quality of living in Northern California has really degraded and I have no desire to rejoin that rat race. That's also why I left close-in suburban Maryland. It all reminds me of "The Lorax".

I admit that my info on Livermore is not fresh but I value long-term perspectives so I thought I'd share. I did look and it seems like they still have a few vestiges of the quirky ranch culture that was still somewhat present during my youth:

https://www.livermorerodeo.com/

PP above. I found you a site with a mix of representative comments.

https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/livermore-alameda-ca/reviews/

[Anonymous]

My brother has to work out of his company's Livermore office sometimes. The restaurants are all shit compared to in SF - only fast food or fast "nice" food, there's nothing to do there, everything is run down. My brother says everyone's thinking there is stuck in the 1990's - parents don't want to spend time with their kids, everyone has to work in-office, etc.

BTW, don't think you can live in SF and commute out to Livermore - that's a LOT of commuting time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bunch o' nerds.

My old manager used to live there. They called it "Live No More".

[Anonymous]

Way out there. Over an hour from S.F. reasonably cute downtown, some wineries, etc. lots of new construction nearby. I would say the vibe is ranch/farm being overtaken by suburbia.

[Anonymous]

The downtown is actually very cute and it has a rodeo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Way out there. Over an hour from S.F. reasonably cute downtown, some wineries, etc. lots of new construction nearby. I would say the vibe is ranch/farm being overtaken by suburbia.

I forgot to mention it is very hot in the summer.

There are parts that are very beautiful. I’m more a country than suburbia type.

[Anonymous]

I can’t overstate how hot it gets during heatwaves. 120 is normal there.

[Anonymous]

My friends that live out there live in Merced. Wildly expensive. Horrific traffic.

[Anonymous]

Why not just live in san jose?my family is from that area. From time to time i would drive up to lick observatory then down the backside into livermore. Very pretty. A friend of mine got married at the winery there. Another friend’s dad used to commute to the lab from santa cruz. Nobody actually lived in livermore that I knew of but everybody was familiar with the creepy lab vibe but this was back in 2000 and earlier so I’m sure a lot has changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not just live in san jose?my family is from that area. From time to time i would drive up to lick observatory then down the backside into livermore. Very pretty. A friend of mine got married at the winery there. Another friend’s dad used to commute to the lab from santa cruz. Nobody actually lived in livermore that I knew of but everybody was familiar with the creepy lab vibe but this was back in 2000 and earlier so I’m sure a lot has changed.

OMG no! The drive will kill you! The traffic going up 880 is terrible. We end up hitting it when we go to Tahoe or Sacramento from San Jose.

If you want to live outside Livermore look at Pleasanton, Dublin, Walnut Creek or even San Ramon. Don’t try to go further south out of east bay. East bay and Livermore is also far cheaper than San Jose. San Jose is insanely expensive.