Exploring the Bay Area is my job. Here's the affordable, under-the-radar city I'd move to in a second
Patrons walk into the Del Cielo Brewing Company in downtown Martinez. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
As I drove by Martinez for the 1,000th time last year, cruising south on Interstate 680, the last thing on my mind was, "I could make a good life here."
The Contra Costa County city presents exceptionally poorly from that highway, with Martinez Refining Company maintaining 860 acres of industrial equipment that makes the skyline in "Blade Runner" look like a greenbelt. Take the off-ramp and explore? No thanks. Think I'll speed up instead.
But the Bay Area is full of surprises. And Martinez is among the best of them. As I've now explored 10 under-the-radar Bay Area downtowns for Total SF, and visited scores more on Chronicle adventures, I'm constantly thinking, "Would I want to live here?" And more frequently than I've expected in these lower-profile cities the answer is "yes." Below is the place I'd move tomorrow and a few honorable mentions.
Not that I'm looking to move. After two decades in San Francisco and Oakland, I've settled in Alameda, a city that has everything I value: bike lanes, small businesses, a historic movie theater, good sandwiches, a diverse population and four ferry terminals that ensure the bigger nearby cities are minutes away.
Alameda becomes a comparison point as I explore other towns. It's also my cost threshold; I'm not looking for a city more expensive than Alameda's median home price of $1.08 million; as determined by Redfin tracking so far in 2026. (Which my Chronicle data team friends tell me skews a little high because of a luxury property sales boomlet.)
First the honorable mentions:
Fairfax: This town is absolutely lovely. If I had the benefit of a time machine, the Marin County town of 7,500 people would be my number one choice, edging out the others for its off-the-charts bike culture, adorable independent movie theater and friendly locals. It's 35 minutes by bike to the Larkspur ferry, on trails so scenic each minute is a blessing. But while the town continues to project a middle class aura, the median sales price has crept up to $1.5 million. There are better deals.
Gestalt House is a welcoming destination for cyclists and beer enthusiasts in Fairfax. (Lauren Segal/For the S.F. Chronicle)
Livermore: Yes, that Livermore. It's surrounded by green hills, a downtown that mixes history with newer wine culture, an indie movie theater with a great beer and wine list, a farmers market filled with superb barbecue and the World's Fastest Rodeo. No city in the world has added more elements to the periodic table. (Shout out Livermorium!) Start building that long-discussed BART station and Livermore moves closer to the top.
Restaurants, shops and outdoor hang out spots line First Street and the surrounding area of the original wine country in Livermore. (Florence Middleton/For the S.F. Chronicle)
Sebastopol: The Bay Area's best town for desserts and Godzilla sculptures. I love how the wildly different demographics - farmers, ex-hippies and remote workers - seem to love the community for the same reasons. It's still a deal; under $1 million average on Redfin. But there are no great bike and transit options; traveling to San Francisco without a car would feel like its own full-time job.
A view of the sculpture garden outside the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. (Preston Gannaway/For the S.F. Chronicle)
Port Costa: This community of 194 human beings just east of Crockett along the Carquinez Strait was once one of the major grain ports of the world. Now it's a micro-village with one great bar, a post office and more Pride flags per capita than any Bay Area city. But do I want to live in a town with just enough people to float a production of "Hamilton"? (I've got dibs on Lafayette!)
Which brings us to Martinez, a city of 37,000 that's filled with lessons: The more you travel randomly in the Bay Area, the more you fall in love with the place. The more time spent exploring, the clearer it becomes how much you haven't seen yet. And old school trains are still a great way to get around.
Take the Amtrak Capitol Corridor, which passes through the city 30 times every weekday, linking Martinez to Sacramento, Berkeley, Oakland and San Jose. It's also a short bike to the waterfront, filled with kite-flying lawns, trails for dog walks and an actual shipwreck. Martinez was once a thriving ferry terminal town, and could be again.
Shoppers walk along Main Street during the weekly Sunday Farmers Market in downtown Martinez. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
The downtown is filled with historic brick buildings and warehouses that have been converted into a middle-aged adult's paradise: breweries, sprawling coffee shops and a video game arcade. There's history - Martinez is the birthplace of Joe DiMaggio and (maybe) the martini - but it's not afraid to move forward.
But the town's greatest charms sneak up on you.
There's an intimate theater to watch magic. Luigi's is a classic small-town deli with a wall of imported soda pop and a stage for concerts and comedy. Martinez hosts a sprawling Sunday farmers market that locals say feels like a family reunion.
I see two guys with ZZ Top beards flying kites and an elderly fisherman on the pier playing Donna Summer hits. A half-mile away I pass three college-aged kids with guitars and an iPad working out the chords to Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide." The city has a contentious history with beavers; the dam-builders were nearly evicted but won the residents' hearts, and grace murals in the city.
"It's not pretentious. It's very working-class, but a mix of all kinds of people," says Faded Gold Vintage owner Rachel Lowenthal, who felt like a new friend when I walked into her hip clothing store on the main drag. "I've always liked the small-town vibe, but also going in a more progressive direction."
Jesus Garibay flies a kite with his kids Santiago, 7, and Melanie, 10, at the Radke Martinez Regional Shoreline Park. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
The median home sale price ($836,000) is lower than every city I've visited except Vallejo ($510,000) and Crockett ($689,000). All that it's missing on my big list is an independent movie theater, and fast bike or public transit access to San Francisco. The North Concord/Martinez BART station is a 50-minute bike ride from downtown.
Best of all: I spent six discovery-filled hours in Martinez, and didn't see the refinery once.
I'm not going to become a Martinez resident any time soon. Alameda is great, and any future move would likely be back to San Francisco. (Mission Bay or the Richmond District lead that list; a column for another day.)
But I consider Martinez a sister city now, and plan to visit often. Preferably when Luigi's is rocking, the kites are flying, and the beavers are hosting an open house.
