The long goodbye

Congrats on making the move. Be sure to try out a good cup of coffee at the Half Moon Bay Coffee Company, right off Main St. Their breakfast is only bested by the pies. I used to love rising early on Saturdays and escaping the bustle of the Valley for an early breakfast on their patio.

I have had great views of Half Moon Bay from the air!

A friend of mine loves to visit the Ritz Carlton there, let me know when the housewarming party is…

Good luck to you both Robert. I hope the change turns our exactly as you want it to.

I’m not sure about the Bay area, but the real estate market in southern California has been slowing down for most of the past year. It’s also slowed greatly in Seattle, but is still a good time to sell.

Your agent Stan may be a great friend, but if you sell your house too quick, you have priced it too low and left money on the table.

Congrats, Robert, I look forward to dropping in when I’m visiting the three wonderful bookstores that town somehow sustains.

Hey Robert, Congrats on the move and the new adventure. Can’t wait to see your new perspectives now that you’re in a completely fresh and upredictable environment and out of MS.

I’ve lived in the Bay Area all my life. Grew up in Menlo Park/Palo Alto, worked and lived in the South Bay, and my last place was Moss Beach (just a few miles North of HMB), and I also lived in Pacifica a while back. Forgive all the naysayers. The summer is a bit foggy, but the winter is absolutely georgous, and the fact that the fog scares people away is only a blessing. A solitary walk on the beach can be very rewarding, and you’re just 30 minutes from the Pennisula, and 45-60 from SF and SJ. Great hikes in the hills, also good for biking, and def try out the fish shack at the intersection of Highways 1 and 92. The whole area (besides being very ag-oriented) is formerly gangster/bootlegging stomping grounds (and apparently to this day these guys still hide out in the hills on massive etates), but be sure to check out the Moss Beach Distillery for an old haunted bootlegger headquarters. Now a restaurant–the food has gone down hill lately, but the drinks are still great, the view is the best, and it over looks a marine sanctuary with great tide pool exploration.

The commute is not that bad, especially if you consider all those poor souls who come in from way out east of the bay. My company’s headquarter’s are in SJ almost in Milpitas, and it was never a deal breaker. With a liberal work schedule and telecommuting capabilities like I had when I lived there, and no doubt you will have, you can work around the horrid traffic during the normal commute hours. Don’t commute between 7-9am over 92. If you’re headed to SF, it’s faster sometimes to go all the way up Highway 1 through Pacifica to 280. Evenings, beware of the 4:30-6:30 PM time.

I’m sure with all the time you spend in the Bay Area, you know all the great attractions–besides the hills and coast, my favorite is the restaurant scene. There are a few really good ones in downtown HMB, but most of them are over the hill, and it’s a 30-40 minute drive to get into downtown Palo Alto for some of the best.

So anyway, unless you hate fog (and you could come to that, because some do, but not me–my wife did though), you will probably love HMB–it’s the best of both worlds, because you’re within striking distance of the South Bay, the Pennisula and SF, but also secluded from all that madness at the same time.

Oh, yeah, about that Halloween thing. After you’ve done a Pumpkin Festival this year, make plans to leave down from then on. It’s when they invite the rest of the world to HMB and it is a bit out of control.

OH, and I had lots of visitors, who loved a good weekend getaway at our place, or just a dinner out on the coast. Whoever brought that up, but hang out in bars to find their real friends:) No offense who ever you were.

Woops. Didn’t realize that Devil’s Slide was closed AGAIN. Guess the coastal route into SF is a no go for a while.

However, I do second the Woodside Road (Highway 84) route over Skyline and down into San Gregario and north on 1. I don’t think you can actually do that from Buck’s in 45 minutes unless you’re driving a very fast Porshe and have nerves of steel, but the drive is one of the greatest none the less.

>I don’t think you can actually do that from Buck’s in 45 minutes

heh.

paul, anytime you wanna strap into the right seat, let me know.

So, when are you having a geek housewarming party? You should be settled in by October and the weather’s great then.

Half Moon Bay. You will feel like you are up in Washington thrre alot, but what a nice place. And they get great music concerts there too.

Your commute will be crazy thought. Since the Big SLIDE at Devels SLIDE, I guess one will be closed this summer, so you will be forced to get broadband and work looking at the ocean. I wish that I had that problem.

Have fun, and enjoy life. See you down here very soon.

Congrats and welcome. I just moved 7 mi up the coast in Montara. I’m smiling every day, even when I’m trapped behind a big truck going over the hill. Hope we run into each other.

As someone who just sold a place in Palo Alto by JLS (East Meadow) I can tell you the market is NOT slowing. My house (3 bedroom recently renovated) was on the market a grand total of 2 days (1 if you count that we had an offer even before it was listed on MLS) We had 7 offers by the end of day 2, and all of them were for more than asking price.

The Peninsula (Atherton/Menlo Park to Sunnyvale/Santa Clara) RE market is still very much in demand.

As someone who grew up in Palo Alto (but am NOT an RE expert by any means) I have had quite a few coworkers and friends who have all tried the Half Moon Bay or Los Gatos Mtns commute to Palo Alto, and it ALWAYS sucked for them. Either the road had black ice and full of accidents, or the weather was too good and the traffic was horrific with everyone who wanted to go to the beach for the one non 70 degrees non foggy (or less) day in Half Moon Bay.

Good luck to you Robert in that commute as #34 said, the commute SUX even more due to the slide.

Good luck to you, sir. Changing jobs after being so associated with one of the world’s most famous companies for so long is never easy, but I’m sure you will do just fine. I have enjoyed your insights into the inner workings of MSFT for a while now, and I hope most sincerely that you will keep up your blog, even in your new place of work.

Enjoy California.

Welcome back Robert & Maryam! Good luck with the move, etc.

I can see why the Seattle market is red-hot, I was there recently (certainly not my first time or anything) and I realized just how much I loved its vibe – very artistic/creative, very down-to-earth, very nature-inspired – compared to the bit more ‘masculine’ energy of Silicon Valley. But then again you’re in Half Moon Bay which is altogether different than San Jose!

Wow. It is posts like this that caused me to unsub from your site to begin with. I checked back and here is another one. Your dentist said goodbye?! Im all for transparency but th is is not transparent. It is vapid. Stick to technology. PLEASE!

Robert,

Disregard the skeptics about your move to HMB. We’ve (my wife and I) lived in HMB for over 14 years (including the slide closure in ’95) and we’ve loved it. I’ve worked in SF, Cupertino, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and the commute is not a problem. Things are a little tough early A.M. due to the slide closure, but if you can stagger your departure, it’s no big deal. Also, whoever said is was going to be close for six months is wrong. It reopens in Sept.

The lifestyle here is awesome. Great biking on road and off, terrific hiking in Purissima Redwords and south, and of course, surfing if you’re into that. The people are great and the contract with the ‘Valley’ makes it perfect. I’d rather raise my kids where they can connect with the natural world right outside our door.

Best of luck in your new venture. If you want to have a ‘local’ show you the ropes of HMB area, please feel free to make contact.

Regards,
Michael

So I’m guessing that you didn’t move into this fine property:

http://www.burbed.com/2006/04/14/265000-for-beachfront-view-in-half-moon-bay/

Did you move to Half Moon Bay? We are planning to move over in mid-September. Any recommendations? What are your favorite places?

Thanks,

The Donahues
Mountain View

Susan: we love it! Where you moving to? Drop me a line and we’ll get together when you come to town.