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.
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.
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!
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.