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Comment by declan | Hacker News Reader

>I've been looking to purchase some land just outside the Bay Area to build a small cabin...

You can do this in the Bay Area itself, though in general the closer you want to be to a supermarket, bank, etc. the more you'll pay. If you're west of Palo Alto, Los Altos, Mountain View, Cupertino and cross the 280, you encounter rural areas very quickly. And if you head far enough into the hills, prices begin to fall rapidly relative to flatland prices.

Near Boulder Creek, for instance, you can get 2 acres for $52K that's three miles from a shopping area: https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Lorenzo-Valley/0-HARMON-GULCH-...

That's 23 miles from Cupertino via route 17 and smaller roads. Of course it helps if you enjoy living in the middle of the woods!

I've posted about this concept on HN before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9437492

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Yup, also if you head south you get more open ground and the prices fall rapidly. For example I found a some land within an hour of San Jose with 100acres for 200k. The trick is finding a lot with good water access. I'm up in San Mateo so it's a bit more of a drive. Ideally I could get somthing within an hour and a half drive at a reasonable price.

That's cheaper than I thought it would be! But if you're trying to get to a job in San Mateo from someplace like Gilroy or Hollister, that would be a bit of a hellish commute. Maybe you could pull it off more easily if you work off-hours? Also if you're within an hour's drive of San Jose you may be paying Silicon Valley prices for new construction, which tends not to be cheap.

But if you're willing to live that far from work and can find water and a nice lot, I'd give it a try. Also with a private pilot certificate you could fly an older ~$20K Cessna from South County or Hollister to KSQL pretty quickly on most days -- certainly a fraction of your effective groundspeed in 101 traffic -- and bike from there to work.

Thanks a lot for the airplane tip, I had no idea you could get a decent Cessna 172 for 20-30k. That would certainly be an awesome commute.

Quite welcome! Engineers (I take it you are one) seem to make natural pilots, in my experience.

I don't own a plane but have in the post thought idly about commuting to the SF bay area from the Sierras. I've heard of pilots doing it from Pine Mountain Lake in the foothills, for instance, and a faster plane would make living in Nevada doable.

Trade-A-Plane lists 145 Cessnas for sale under $30K, though most in that range are 152s. There are a few older 172s: http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/aircraft/Single+Engine+P...

It would be nice to have the additional capacity of a 172, especially if you want to (a) fly with two friends, for three people total or (b) you're a large or heavy person yourself, which might exceed the maximum payload of a 152 with a similarly large or heavy flight instructor or passenger. Also I don't think 152s can be IFR certified.

It is kinda funny that these older Cessnas are now cheaper than the average car! Anyway, good luck on your project!

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