Try coming out to the east bay. Mt Diablo has some really nice sightlines (you can see the moutains around Yosemite in the right conditions). And there's an area near Las Trampas where you can see Moffet Airfield, San Francisco, Oakland and Mt. Tam in the same view. It's a bit more of a drive, but less traffic.

Where is the ideal place to live right now if you also want to work in the office of a tech company?

I found commuting into SF to be a pain and heard that commuting from the east bay to SF or from SF to the south bay is also very tough. For awhile, I lived in Mill Valley (north of the GGB) and commuted in on the Ferry. I loved that experience on the days that it worked. But I also felt like I was way too tied to the ferry schedules.

If I could work from home (like I do now), I'd love to live in Sonoma again (fires aside). It's beautiful and a great place to ride your bike.

It's tough. I mean the subtext is "Where is the ideal, affordable place to live".

I'm in the Tri-Valley area, but we bought a while ago when prices were more reasonable. I'm used to long commutes, so they don't bother me so much. Pleasanton is the end of the Bart line, so you're pretty much guaranteed a seat if you use that to commute in. I work in the south bay, so for me it's car / bus on rainy days and motorcycle on the nicer ones. I can do a good chunk of work from home too, so that helps.

Livermore is a little too far out; the last couple miles of traffic are torturous. Oakland is pretty hit or miss. Berkeley is... uh... Berkeley. Fremont isn't a terrible choice, but there's always traffic no matter which direction you want to go. Anything near Milpitas smells like landfill. Walnut Creek and Lafayette are nice, but expensive.

I don't really know much about the peninsulas or Richmond.

Depends on your commute tolerance. I think the best commute is a 5 minute walk from your high rise apartment to your high rise office.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but this is exactly what I want. I'd settle for a 15 minute walk, but being able to walk to work would be incredible - commuting is by far the most stressful part about work for me.

Not being sarcastic. Had that setup for a while. Humorously despite the 5 minute commute I would still work from home because it was so quiet I was absurdly productive.

One trick is to go on weeknights after work. If you live in Sausalito you can get to Muir Woods in about 10 minutes and no one is there so there is tons of parking and free entry.

One trick is to go at the most inconvenient time possible? Thats not a trick. Its just the most inconvenient time possible.

I hear ya. Everyone has different schedules and preferences. I love hiking after work personally.