Walnut Creek to Palo Alto is a bit more than "suboptimal". Google maps says driving and mass transit could both take two hours, if not more, depending on traffic.

That means leaving at 6:30 to be at the office by 9:00. Yes, it's the Silly Valley, so 9a is early. Counterpoint: it's generally the lower-paid people who need to live further out, because the prices are so ludicrous, that also have more scheduled hours.

In just the last five years my anecdotal experience is traffic in my local South Bay neighborhood has skyrocketed on weekdays. I imagine that translates to a much longer car commute than what you remembered.

especially if you're going from WC to Menlo Park. That's an hour each way without traffic

I live in WC and worked for a while in Palo Alto - and THAT took two hours on a good (week)day.