I biked to work one summer. I used to sponge myself down after arriving. No showers.
One of the very best things abt living in the Bay Area is the fact that there are multitudes of wonderful places to visit within a couple hour radius of wherever you are. It is a fantastic feeling to be able to jump in the car and go to Big Sur one day, Sonoma County wineries the next. Surfing in the morning, hiking in the redwood forest at noon, watching the sunset at a gorgeous winery in the afternoon – easily doable with a car on a lovely weekend, for the cost of a bottle of wine and cheese for the picnic. A little bit farther of a drive, and you are skiing at Tahoe. You really need a car to have that kind of freedom and to get the benefit of everything the region has to offer.
You can do it with Zipcars, but Zipcars are expensive and disgusting. You can buy a cheap, fairly low mileage fairly late model Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic for $10k or so; if you can afford it is soooo worth it.
Re: #61
Owning a car for the weekend trips that you are describing does not necessarily mean preferring to use it on the weekday commute of traffic jams.
Living in SF, be prepared to pay $300-$500/month to park the “weekend” vehicle…goskid #2 has pal doing just that…
smh.
For that type of situation, using rental cars (including Zipcars and the like) could be less expensive than owning a car if one only needs to use a car occasionally.
gosmom, there is no question about that - if you live in SF, you don’t need a car. Parking is mostly free in SV. The car suggestion is for SV dwellers.
I think ucb has a personal agenda here: he wants to convince everyone in SV that riding bikes to work is so much better than driving… so he can have the empty freeways to himself when everyone else starts biking to work. 
^ goskid’s pal works in SV, rides corporate bus down there, so doesn’t “need” the car, but still has…so pays for garage. oy.
DS#2 has lived in SV for 2 years. Misses the fun and nightlife of his previous city, but did not want the long commute to/from work, so lives in SV. They did not want to go to a chain restaurant for his birthday. I am sure they figured it out. Older s lives in SF (has been in the SF and before that, East Bay, for about 4 years or so) and commutes down to SV. Different strokes for different folks.
It’s not a fantastic feeling for me to get in a car and drive through the mountains to Big Sur or Tahoe. It’s a nauseating feeling. However, it’s a fantastic feeling to ride my bike to those places-- Sonoma, too-- so that’s what I do. Sometimes I put the bike on the train for part of the time.
I feel so lucky to be blessed to live in such a great place for cycling, and it’s a mystery to me why so many people voluntarily coop themselves up in cars so often. However, different people have different values.
I can’t imagine living in Silicon Valley without a car.
Apparently it is doable for some, but not for many. Not sure what the walking score is for the SV towns, but expect it is higher for SF. Older s and his w are able to walk to many places near their SF home.
Owning a car anywhere in California is a good idea, IMO. Such a big state, with lots of things to see and do… I’m the type of person who would rather drive to my destination, throw on a backpack, and go for a hike. With a car, I have access to a whole bunch of trails, relatively quickly and easily.
I moved from SV, specifically the town between Palo Alto and Mountain View 4 years ago, so things may have changed. However, when I was there, Castro street in Mountain View had lots of restaurants, pubs, and a few late nite clubs. My daughter used to meet with her friends for late nite (after 10) pho at noodle shops there. It was still jumping.
Palo Alto also had late night restaurants and bars with billards or live music. Perhaps these have been closed down?
Downtown San Jose also had kicked up the night life. It’s no SF, but there are tons of young people out there partying well after the hockey games let out.
The smaller towns also have little downtown areas: Sunnyvale, Campbell, Los Gatos, even Los Altos. Some have late night bars, I know I went dancing at places in Los Gatos when I was younger, and those venues are still there.
Once I had kids we moved to one of those little towns. I could go weeks without a car, walking or biking the kids to school, after school activities, the grocery, the library, and the little downtown area for dinner entertainment. I knew many folks that biked to work. Most companies, even the smaller ones, had showers.
People who like cars can’t imagine living without a car. OK, fine. I like ice cream, and can’t imagine myself living without ice cream. But that doesn’t mean I go around pontificating that nobody can live without ice cream, or that the ice-cream-free life is a fringe lifestyle.
We’ve got evidence of five people in this little thread who live or lived in Silicon Valley without cars: me, thumper1’s husband, Marian’s son, mathmom’s son, CountingDown’s son. Now, perhaps we have somehow managed to unearth the only five people in the world who have ever lived in Silicon Valley without cars. But it’s more likely that we have discovered that although most tech employees in Silicon Valley have cars, some of them don’t, and they manage to live their lives in happiness without difficulty.
If your child wants to move to Silicon Valley and live the happy car-free life, they can give it a try. Cars are sold here, so if they change their mind, they can buy one.
Personally, if I lived in SV I would want a car because I’m one of those who would flee to the beach or mountains regularly. I’ve lived in major metro areas since college and do not mind public transit for work. I’ve been on 101 in rush hour traffic and it’s noone’s idea of fun. Then again, I am on the DC beltway several times a week, and traffic is no picnic here, either.
S1 feels that driving is an imposition on his reading time and has had zero interest in learning to do so. He also is concerned about driving with his ADD. Nevrtheless, I think it’s a life skill one needs to have, even if it’s not used often, and I can see situations where not being able to drive would be a real challenge (emergency room trip for friend/relative, schlepping children, etc.)
My son lived in MV for 3 months without a car. When he returned for a 1 year internship, he shipped his car there. With a car, he seemed to travel on weekends more.