Pacifica livability, fog and all

San Francisco Chronicle/SF Gate/Mike Moffit, 3/2/15.  "Would you want to live in Pacifica? The pros and cons of making your home next to the ocean."

Home again, breathtaking vistas,
#1 transit: auto...."no traffic",
but fix the highway just in case.

"Like many non-natives, I moved to Pacifica for the ocean. After 15 years, the seven-mile view of the rolling Pacific north of Pedro Point still takes my breath away.

Pacifica is a long, stretched-out city,  the result of several small coastal communities being rolled into one burg back in 1957. Folks in Linda Mar, at the southern end, claim the fog is not nearly as bad in their neighborhood than in Fairmont six miles to the north due to their more tropical latitude. We Fairmonters take that assertion with a grain of salt.

RECREATION: 10. Pacifica is a major Northern California surfing center, especially Linda Mar and Rockaway Beach. Great trails for hiking and mountain biking are plentiful, from Mori Point to Montara Mountain. The Pacifica Pier is ranked as one of the best fishing piers in the state. At Sharp Park Golf Course, you can play on an Alastair Mackenzie design for less than $50 a round.

TRANSIT: 2. If you depend on mass transit, Pacifica probably isn't for you. SamTrans buses serve the city, but using them to connect with BART to commute to San Francisco can be a hassle. The nearest stop to me requires a 40-minute ride to Colma BART. Driving U.S. 1 and Interstate-280 to San Francisco has the advantage of no bridges, but it  can be stop-and-go during peak commute times. Heading south on the Peninsula used to be relatively painless, but no longer. Highway 101 log jams are especially vexing."  Read article, includes 32 slides.

Note photograph:  entering Pacifica from the north by George H. Martin.

Posted by Kathy Meeh